By Sagar V. Mankar 
Sales trends in the US gaming market reveal that the Xbox Series X/S has fallen behind its predecessor, the Xbox One, in lifetime sales during the first 50 months since launch. Meanwhile, the PlayStation 5 (PS5) continues to outperform the PlayStation 4 (PS4) over the same period.
This data comes from Circana, a market research and technology firm, as detailed by Mat Piscatella, the company’s executive director and games industry analyst. Piscatella shared insights from Circana’s latest report, which analyzes US gaming hardware and software spending through December 2024, in a post on Bluesky.
According to Piscatella, PS5 lifetime sales are 7% higher than the PS4’s at the same stage of its life, whereas the Xbox Series X/S trails the Xbox One by 18%. Notably, this gap has widened compared to the previous year. By the end of December 2023, PS5 sales had outpaced the PS4 by 6%, while Xbox Series X/S sales lagged the Xbox One by 13%.
Overall, 2024 was challenging for gaming hardware, with total sales dropping by 25% year-over-year [29% drop in December 2024 YoY]. Despite this decline, the PS5 remained the best-selling platform in December, although its hardware sales fell by 18%. Xbox Series X/S and Nintendo Switch sales saw sharper declines of 38%. Piscatella attributed these drops to market maturity, as both the PS5 and Xbox Series X/S have moved past their peak sales periods, while the Switch has been on the market for a considerable time and now moving to the next generation with Switch 2.
December 2024 U.S. Video Game Market Highlights from Circana – December 2024 projected U.S. consumer spending on video game hardware, content and accessories declined 8.9% when compared to a year ago, to $7.5B. Spending during the 2024 year fell 1.1% compared to 2023, to $58.7B.
— Mat Piscatella (@matpiscatella.bsky.social) January 23, 2025 at 7:33 PM
According to Mat, PlayStation 5 now ranks third in lifetime hardware dollar sales in U.S. history, trailing only the Nintendo Switch and Xbox 360. The platform currently ranks eleventh in lifetime sales. While exact hardware sales figures were not provided, Sony reported in 2023 that 61 million PS5 units had been sold since its launch in November 2020. Microsoft has not disclosed specific Xbox Series X/S sales numbers either but acknowledged a decline in hardware sales as the company shifts its focus toward Xbox as a brand beyond consoles.
The report also highlighted the growing demand for all digital consoles as 49% of PlayStation 5 and 43% of Xbox Series hardware units sold in December did not include a physical disc drive. For the 2024 year, all-digital editions comprised 45% of all PlayStation 5 units sold during the year and 44% of Xbox Series.
For more insights, you can find Piscatella’s full breakdown of Circana’s report on Bluesky.
Sources: Circana, Mat Piscatella on Bluesky (via VGC)