Xbox One outsold PlayStation 4 in December according to the NPD Group

The release of Microsoft’s Xbox One X and countless deals on standard Xbox One systems over the holidays left many wondering just how well the system would sell in comparison to Sony’s PlayStation 4. Though the PS4 has outsold the Xbox One family over its entire life time by millions, Microsoft gained some ground after the release of the Xbox One S in 2016, which then became the best-selling console in the United States for months after its initial launch. Microsoft doesn’t provide specific hardware sales numbers anymore, but Xbox Executive Aaron Greenberg revealed that this holiday saw their highest reported Xbox One December console share ever.

Thank you to everyone who helped support @Xbox One this holiday, @npdgroup just reported our highest Xbox One December console share ever, looking forward to a big 2018! ?

— Aaron Greenberg ??????U (@aarongreenberg) January 11, 2018

This left a few people questioning if it actually outsold the PlayStation 4 in December, and Greenberg confirmed that it did according to NPD Group data, which tracks sales in the United States. However, the Nintendo Switch still outsold both of them.

Was trying to just thank folks for supporting us and the incredible success following the launch of Xbox One X. But yes Xbox outsold PS4 in December for Gen 8 consoles according to NPD data, while Nintendo also had a great month as Switch had most overall units.

— Aaron Greenberg ??????U (@aarongreenberg) January 12, 2018

While this data likely includes all systems within the Xbox One family, it looks like the $500 price tag on the Xbox One X didn’t exactly hurt sales like some speculated it would. Being the most powerful console on the market, retailers in the United States and around the world were selling out of their initial stock allotments within days.

PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds could have also played a hand in this victory as it is currently console exclusive on Xbox One in the Game Preview program. Just yesterday it was revealed that PUBG had over 3 million players on console.

Whatever other factors contributed to its success this holiday, it’s always good to see some healthy competition.