Microsoft admits Sony’s PlayStation 4 outsold the Xbox One
Microsoft submitted a document to the Brazilian competition authority revealing that the Xbox One sold less than half of competitor Sony’s PlayStation 4, GameLuster reported.
Using Google Translate on the Portuguese text from item 46 on page 17 of the document reveals the following:
“Sony has surpassed Microsoft in terms of console sales and installed base, having sold more than twice as many [as] Xbox in the last generation.”
GameLuster said it confirmed the translation with a Spanish-speaking staff member who could partially read the Brazillian Portuguese.
Considering that Sony’s lifetime PS4 sales sit at approximately 117.2 million units as of March 2022, this places Xbox One sales below 58.6 million consoles.
Microsoft’s 27-page submission to the Brazilian Administrative Council for Economic Defense (CADE) also claims that Sony pays developers “blocking rights” to prevent them from adding their titles to Xbox’s subscription service, Game Pass.
The “blocking rights” were reportedly contract clauses prohibiting developers from adding their titles to Game Pass if they were published on PlayStation.
Microsoft submitted the documents to CADE in response to Sony’s opposition to its acquisition of Activision Blizzard.
As part of its reasoning against the acquisition, Sony said the deal would be anti-competitive since it could give Microsoft exclusive rights over Call of Duty.
At the start of the year, Microsoft Gaming chief executive officer Phil Spencer said Call of Duty would remain on PlayStation if the acquisition goes through.
However, Microsoft has previously dropped support for PlayStation as soon as it discharged its contractual obligations.
For example, after acquiring Bethesda in 2020, Microsoft said it would honour existing contracts and released Deathloop and Ghostwire: Tokyo on PlayStation.
When Microsoft announced Redfall and Starfield from the same developer a few months later, it emerged that these titles would be exclusive to Xbox and Windows computers.
Additionally, upcoming titles from game development studios acquired by Microsoft, like Grounded and Pentiment from Obsidian Entertainment, will not release on PlayStation.
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