The Xbox Series family has gotten off to an excellent start, especially where sales are concerned, with Microsoft having announced earlier this year that the duo of new consoles sold more at launch than any other Xbox console to date. Microsoft, however, stopped providing sales numbers for its console sales halfway through the Xbox One generation, which means we don’t actually know how much Xbox Series X/S have sold exactly.
That said, a report published by Ampere Analysis games research director Piers Harding-Rolls has provided estimates worldwide sales data for the two consoles. According to the report, the Xbox Series X and Series S have collectively sold 6.7 million units worldwide as of the end of September 2021, of which 1.36 million units were sold in Q3 (July-September). The two consoles were estimated to have shipped 3.5 million units worldwide as of the end of 2020.
Interestingly, it also seems the cheaper, digital-only Xbox Series S has actually outsold the Xbox Series X in some “key markets”, as a result of which digital sales on the Xbox platform are significantly higher than the PS5. GamesIndustry corroborates this data as well, saying that as per its own data, the Xbox Series X and Series S are split 50/50 in terms of install base across several major markets, and that Xbox has a much higher share of digital software sales than the PS5. Call of Duty: Vangaurd, for instance, has seen 90% of its sales in the UK so far being digital.
Ampere’s report also states that as of the end of September, the PS5 has sold 12.8 million units worldwide, while the Nintendo Switch’s numbers stand at 89.7 million units. Sony and Nintendo both recently provided updated worldwide shipments for their consoles as well, with the PS5 standing at 13.4 million units and the Switch at 92.87 million units.
