UK-based data, research, and analytics firm Ampere Analysis shared a review of the console market in 2022. According to the analysis, Sony’s PlayStation 5 has outsold Microsoft’s Xbox X and S series by almost 11.5 million units.
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Ampere Analysis data reveals that the 2022 global console gaming market declined by 7.8% to $56.2 billion, down from $60.9 billion in 2021. Sony continued to lead the global console market with a 45% share of the total, while Microsoft and Nintendo had similar percentages, 27.3% and 27.7%, respectively.
The analysis states that the sales of both consoles, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X, were held back in 2022 due to a lack of availability. PlayStation 5 has seen a 1.3% decline, while Microsoft’s market share increased by 1.8%.
Research also suggests that the weakest area of monetization was in-game and downloadable content, which fell almost 15% as the market re-acclimatized to more normal post-pandemic consumer behavior. While games sales volume was down 7% year-on-year, higher average sales prices mitigated some of this drop.
Sony and Microsoft have been debating over Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard last year. The Sony side said Microsoft owning the Call of Duty franchise could hurt their console business and create an unfair marketplace, to which Microsoft replied through official channels, saying it has no plans to make CoD a console-exclusive game and even blamed Sony in paying developers to block content off Game Pass and other subscription services.
The comprehensive research can be read on Ampere Analysis’ website.