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By the Numbers: This Video Game Generation So Far

It’s been two and a half years since we got the PS4 and Xbox One, and three and a half since the Wii U’s debut. Since then, we have seen some pretty jaw-dropping industry numbers. Not all of the numbers have been good of course, but for an industry built on 0s and 1s, it’s only appropriate that we take a look at some of the other meaningful numbers.

First up is the biggest and probably most talked about numbers: console sales. According to Sony, as of January 2016, they had sold 35.9 million PS4s. Although Microsoft hasn’t announced any exact figures as of late, most industry estimates agree that the company has sold around 19-20 million Xbox Ones. Just last week at the Game Developers Conference, Wargaming creative director TJ Wagner announced that the two consoles are expected to sell a combined 108 million consoles collectively by 2019, or 69 million and 39 million respectively.

Continuing with sales, there are some pretty eye-popping game sales figures as well. During the 2015 holiday season alone, 35 million PS4 games were sold. On top of that, Sony sold 5.7 million consoles during the same time period. For comparison, only around 11 million Wii U consoles have been sold in the past three and a half years total.

It’s not too much of a surprise that the Call of Duty franchise has repeatedly had the best-selling games of this generation. Advanced Warfare sold 7.53 million units on the PS4 alone, with just over 5 million Xbox One copies to add to that. Last year’s Black Ops 3 did even better by most reports, but the latest installment in the Call of Duty franchise earned over $550 million in its first three days alone.  No other game or franchise even comes close to Call of Duty numbers.

Familiar titles and franchises have done well so far this generation, but more than a few new IPs have made a big splash as well. Activision’s 2014 hit Destiny broke records for new franchises earning $325 million in its first five days, but it only held that record for about a year and a half until The Division came around. The early hit of this year racked up $330 million in its first five days on sale, just eclipsing Destiny’s record. But calling The Division a new franchise does have some grey areas. 

As far as exclusives are concerned, many people are expecting big things from Uncharted 4, when it debuts for the PS4 in less than a month. Overall, the PS4 hasn’t really had any truly defining exclusives for this generation. Bloodborne has sold 2 million copies and The Last of Us Remastered has sold 4.31 million, but neither are real undeniable game changers. For Microsoft, the recently released Quantum Break has quickly become the fastest-selling Microsoft-published new IP of this generation. Of course, that’s nothing compared to the Xbox One’s biggest exclusive, Halo. The fifth game in the series sold a whopping $400 million in just its first week last year. Although not all games have available numbers, it’s pretty safe to say that Halo 5 is the best-selling Xbox exclusive of this generation.

There has been one important big picture number for this generation and gaming in general that has been steadily growing over the last few years, and that’s worldwide revenues. By next year, it’s estimated that worldwide revenues for the gaming industry will reach $91.5 billion, or a little more than the GDP of Ukraine. On somewhat of a side note, some analysts say VR and AR are expected to grow into a $150 billion dollar industry by 2020. That’s not directly tied to the current console generation, but it will certainly impact it in the coming years.

Lastly are the numbers behind brick and mortar and digital gaming sales. In 2015, digital console game sales amounted to $4 billion. That number is up an impressive 34 percent from 2014. Brick and mortar sales, on the other hand, saw a steep downturn last year. While they still accounted for more than digital sales at $5.3 billion, they were down 13 percent from the year before. Not good news if you’re a GameStop fan. Unsurprisingly, last year’s bestselling console digital download was Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare with $355 million. It was followed closely by FIFA 15 and GTA V, which had $332 million and $322 million respectively.

Microsoft surely wishes that they could raise their console sales figures a bit while the industry as a whole seems to be continually performing pretty well overall. The numbers also outline the current shift away from physical copies of games and towards digital downloads. As we head into the summer months and events like E3, keep your eyes open for more hard numbers. Companies and researchers like to use this time of year to highlight some of their biggest and best stats.


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