Microsoft said that the Xbox Series X and S launch on November 10 yesterday was the company’s biggest console launch to date. The Xbox News Wire blog post says that 3,594 games were played during the console launch and 70 percent of Series X consoles are attached to new and existing Xbox Game Pass members. Although Microsoft didn’t publish any specific number — still not reporting on its console sales since October 2015 — it said it sold “more than any prior generation”, with the Xbox Series S adding the highest percentage of new players for any Xbox console at launch.
The first Xbox surpassed one million units sold after three weeks and was said to be one of the most successful in video game history. Then in the next generation, Microsoft is said to have sold 325,902 units of Xbox 360 in the first month. Later, the company officially confirmed that more than one million Xbox One consoles were sold on day one in November 2013. Not much of a surprise since the Xbox Series X is simultaneously launched in 37 countries including the US, Japan, and South Korea. For comparison, the previous console only launched in 17 countries.
But speaking with The Guardian, Xbox CEO Phil Spencer said that they are not focusing on Xbox Series X console sales, basically repeating what they have said back in 2015. With the Xbox Game Pass’ console-PC-mobile ecosystem, it seems the team is instead focusing on the engagement behind the Xbox brand. How many players are a part of the Xbox ecosystem and how often they play games there is incredibly important these days. “We publicly disclose player numbers. That’s the thing I want us to be driven by, not how many individual pieces of plastic did we sell,” explained Spencer.
Still, the Xbox Series X launch numbers are pretty impressive, especially in these current pandemic times. Now, all we need to do is grab some popcorn and wait for Sony to announce its PS5 sales numbers. Are you on the Xbox team? More of a PS5 fan? Or just enjoy watching the arguments all over the internet? Tell me what you think in the comments below.
