The PlayStation 5 had the biggest US launch month of any previous gaming console

Despite stock shortages and the general state of 2020 affecting people’s wallets, Sony’s latest gaming console has already broken sales records. PlayStation 5 sales for its launch month have beaten every other previous US launch, dethroning the previous record-holder of the PlayStation 4. Overall spending on video games was also over $7 billion in the US in November, which is a marked 35% increase over last year’s numbers.

According to the NPD Group, a US research company, the PlayStation 5 achieved both the highest unit and dollar sales for the launch month of any video game console in US history.

US NPD HW – PlayStation 5 achieved the highest launch month unit and dollar sales for a video game hardware platform in U.S. history. The records were previously held by the PlayStation 4, which debuted in November 2013.

— Mat Piscatella (@MatPiscatella) December 11, 2020

To the many people trying to get a PlayStation 5 and hoping for more restocks, this may come as a shock. Bots have been a serious issue for new technology releases this holiday season; however, while many people may be without a new console, bot sales are still counted as sales.

The Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S did not fare as well as last month, however, as Daniel Ahmad reports:

From the NPD (US) release

– PS5 had the biggest launch month for any console in the US, beating the previous record holder which was the PS4.

– The Switch was the top selling console in November due to high demand and sufficient supply.

– The Series X|S debuted lower than XB1 https://t.co/slkD5lE5H5

— Daniel Ahmad (@ZhugeEX) December 11, 2020

Microsoft’s new console isn’t making quite the same splash as the PlayStation 5. Part of this can definitely be attributed to Xbox Series X and S restock issues, but there’s also the fact that Microsoft is the underdog in the console gaming market. Even with the Xbox Series S being more budget-conscious than Sony’s PlayStation 5 models, Sony’s brand still holds a lot of sway with console gamers, and Xbox’s excellent Game Pass doesn’t require a console to use.

Nintendo still also saw big numbers this month, even though they did not release any new consoles. The Nintendo Switch is again on top of the best-selling unit charts, making it two years straight that the device has landed in the number one slot. While there were issues with Switch supply earlier in the year, stock for both the Switch and the Switch Lite have evened out, just in time for the holiday season. Simply having the console available to buy, while the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series consoles are chronically sold out, has helped Nintendo in moving their Switches.

How sales will be in future months, with supply constraints and the end of the holiday shopping season, remains to be seen. But, it’s clear that these new console launches are as healthy as ever, even if bots are hoarding a lot of the stock.

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