Despite Sony's staggered launch, more PS5 consoles were sold during next-gen launch week than Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S consoles combined.
That's according to game sales tracker, VG Chartz, which estimates that, between November 8 and November 14, Sony globally sold 1,483,910 PS5 consoles, while Microsoft sold 1,345,386 Xbox Series X/S consoles.
While the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S launched globally on November 10, Sony divided the PS5 launch in two - with the console releasing in North America, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and South Korea on November 12 - and then November 19 for the rest of the world. As this estimate only takes into account the PS5's first launch, that means the PS5 sold more consoles in these countries than the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S combined did globally.
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Record-breaking launch
According to VG Chartz, Sony sold more PS5 consoles in North America, Australia, and New Zealand during launch than it sold of its predecessor, the PS4, during its launch. However, the PS5 had a smaller launch in Japan, Singapore, and South Korea, than the PS4.
Meanwhile Microsoft had a record-breaking launch week for the Xbox Series X/S, selling more consoles than it did during the Xbox One launch. Until now, the Xbox One launch as the biggest in Xbox history - at 1.1 million sales. But the Xbox Series X/S launch has surpassed that.
Considering both the PS5 and Xbox Series X/S has been hard to come by due to Covid-related stock shortages, it's astounding to see just how many consoles were sold by both companies - though we can't help wondering what the numbers would have been like had the next-gen consoles not launched during a pandemic.
It's worth noting these numbers are estimates by VGChartz, and we'll get a better idea of launch figures when the numbers for the PS5's two launch windows are added up.
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