Microsoft has claimed that the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S have enjoyed the biggest Xbox launch ever... although it's worth noting that the company has yet to provide any specific sales figure.
Writing on Twitter, Xbox Boss Phil Spencer said that "more Xbox consoles had been sold, in more countries, than ever before" and that Microsoft was just getting started. As I'm sure you've seen - or are in fact currently experiencing first-hand - the console has sold out in most countries. Both the Xbox Series X and Series S launched in 37 markets on November 10th, a big increase on the 13 the Xbox One launched in on the same day.
Industry analyst Daniel Ahmad pointed out that if this is the largest launch yet for Xbox, then it's already beaten the 1 million units Microsoft shifted wen the Xbox One launched. Considering the state of the world right now and the fact most of us can't even leave our houses, that's pretty damn impressive. I guess people really need video games right now.
While Microsoft might be happy to talk about massive launches, don't expect the company to release sales numbers in the near future. The company now tracks success across PC, console, and streaming, and believes talking about consoles sold merely plays into the whole "Xbox VS PlayStation" argument - an argument I think we can all agree is getting old.
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"I can promise you that I won't [start sharing console sales numbers]," Spencer told The Guardian in a recent interview. "In the last year we've had Google and Amazon and now Facebook announcing they're coming into our gaming space. I'm not gonna go compete with their numbers based on how many Xbox Series X I've sold. [Google] is never gonna talk about how many Chromecast Pros they sold. They're gonna talk about how many players they have.
"I think the people who want to pit us against Sony based on who sold the most consoles lose the context of what gaming is about today. There are 3 billion people who play games on the planet today, but maybe [only] 200 million households that have a video game console. In a way, the console space is becoming a smaller and smaller percentage of the overall gaming pie."
Good for Microsoft. Here's hoping the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S go on to have a great run, and that everybody who opted for Microsoft this generation gets everything they were hoping for.
Featured Image Credit: MicrosoftTopics: News, Xbox Series X, Microsoft, Xbox Series S
