As the next-gen console war begins anew in the New Year, Sony’s Playstation 4 is out in front with a massive 4.2 million consoles purchased worldwide between November 15th and December 28th.
Microsoft’s Xbox One, however, is trailing behind with 3 million consoles sold.
While there’s still everything to play for, with 2014 looking to be an exciting year for gamers, it would appear that the Playstation 4 is the current choice for the majority of people. This is in complete contrast to last-gen, in which Sony were forever playing catch-up with Microsoft’s Xbox 360.
Though it is only speculation at this point, there are a number of factors that could account for such a shift in brand preference. The first, and most simple, is the difference in price. Sony’s console is £80 cheaper, and for those without any specific loyalty, this is often the deciding factor.
Also a possible cause is the fact that Microsoft, when first announcing their new console at E3, declared a variety of restrictive and intrusive policies that required a daily internet connection and made it impossible to share games with friends. Realizing their mistake, Microsoft made a full 180 before launch - but it was too little, too late. This is likely to have immediately pushed many undecided gamers over to their competitor, and Microsoft has been trying to win back their allegiance ever since.
2014 has barely begun, so nothing is yet set in stone. Even so, Sony are most definitely sitting comfortably on top of the next-gen consoles in terms of sales and popularity, and this marks the start of what may be the most exciting console war in gaming history.
