The biggest winner of Black Friday week across Europe, and particularly in the UK, has emerged. According to sales data that captures the pulse of the gaming world, Sony has secured the top spot, significantly beating its competitors. Reports indicate that PlayStation 5 models accounted for an overwhelming 62 percent of all console sales during the week.
Why did Xbox fall behind? Here are the Black Friday sales figures and analysis
Data provided by NielsenIQ and GSD and published by The Game Business proves that the holiday season was quite productive. Overall revenue across the industry increased by 14 percent, while the number of units sold grew by 7 percent. While no new games entered the European best-sellers list, the hardware market remained buoyant.
Looking at the rest of the hardware sales, Nintendo holds a significant 23 percent share. Meanwhile, Sony’s latest hardware, the PS5 Pro, delivered its best sales performance during this sales period outside of its launch week. This indicates that gamers continue to be interested in high-performance hardware.
On the Microsoft side, things didn’t go as expected. Xbox Series S and X consoles accounted for only 10 percent of total sales. Analysts believe the main reason for this is the discount rates. While Xbox consoles are offered at an average discount of around 8 percent, the PS5 Slim models have shifted the balance of power.
Despite this increase in console sales, the accessory market was in decline. Accessory sales fell by 17 percent compared to the same period last year. Joystick and headset sales saw particularly sharp declines of 27 and 28 percent, respectively. In the virtual reality sector, despite Meta Quest 3 and PS VR2 having their best week of the year, overall VR category sales fell by 7 percent.
On the production side of the industry, statements from former PlayStation executive Shuhei Yoshida attracted attention. Yoshida stated that it was difficult for Japanese studios to keep up with the game production pace of Chinese developers. Yoshida emphasized that Chinese studios can build large teams capable of working long hours, but added that a similar working model in Japan could lead to legal issues.
So, what are your thoughts on this emerging sales figure and console competition? What factors, other than pricing, do you think contribute to Xbox’s low market share?
