Microsoft's Xbox One outsold Sony's PS4 for the month of April in the US, according to the NPD report out today. This marks a turnaround for the Xbox One, which has struggled to keep up with the PS4 since launch.Mortal Kombat X led software sales, with overall console and physical games sales up 3 percent year over year.
“As the best-selling console in the U.S. in April, fans set record April sales and engagement for Xbox One last month. Xbox One console sales in the U.S. increased 63 percent in April 2015 compared to April 2014 and Xbox Live comparisons showed the number of active global users (Xbox One and Xbox 360) grew 24 percent. We are grateful to our fans for their passion and support and are looking forward to sharing more on the best game lineup in Xbox history at E3,” said Mike Nichols, Corporate Vice President of Xbox Marketing.
Sony also released a statement highlighting its successes, as these companies are wont to do.
"We would like to thank fans around the world for their continued support of the PS4," the statement says. "According to NPD, PlayStation continues to lead software sales for April 2015 and PS4 remains the cumulative sales leader in the US. We are looking forward to an amazing E3."
I'd be surprised if the Xbox One caught the PS4, in the long run, but the fact that it's at least reversing its momentum is still good news for Microsoft. It's also not surprising that Playstation would continue to lead software sales, considering the massive lead it has in the install base. We should also remember that NPD only covers the US, which is historically the Xbox's strongest territory: Playstation likely continues to win elsewhere. But any news is good news for the Xbox One at this point: those price cuts and aggressive bundling throughout the holiday season may still be paying off. Like the statement says, I'm very interested to see what the company does at E3. Phil Spencer has said that he's going to focus on first-party and exclusive titles, and I'm guessing there's at least one surprise up that sleeve.
