PS4 sells most consoles in 2015 but all 3 had strong holidays

PS4, Xbox One, and Wii U strong December

Aside from revealing the continued dominance of Call of Duty, the 2015-in-review NPD data also tracked hardware performance throughout the year. Despite the lack of a killer exclusive, PS4 outsold the Xbox One in December, and throughout 2015.

Last week, Sony reported 5.7M PS4s sold over the ‘holiday’ (11/23/2015-1/3/2016) for a 35.9M total. At the start of 2015, Sony reported 18.5M consoles sold. Napkin math says 17.4M PS4s sold in 2015. Given that many of the first PS4s sold came at the end of 2013 when the new consoles launched, Sony sold more PS4s in 2015 than in 2014. Microsoft has yet to reveal Xbox One sales so we just know they’re less than 17M in 2015. Still, December was the best sales month for both consoles.

The combined sales of PS4 and Xbox One in their first 26 months is 47% higher than the combined PS3 and 360 sales over the same period.

Industry spending as a whole is slightly down in 2015, mostly with last gen and handheld sales flagging. PS4 and Xbox One software sales went up 48% year-over-year and the Wii U had its second best software selling month ever in December. As a whole, 2015 was the best year for total sales of PS4, Xbox One, and Wii U games.

Top 10 new physical software sales (in the US, all platforms) for 2015

1. Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 (Xbox One, PS4, Xbox 360, PS3, PC)
2. Madden NFL 16 (PS4, Xbox One, Xbox 360, PS3)
3. Fallout 4 (PS4, Xbox One, PC)
4. Star Wars Battlefront (Xbox One, PS4, PC)
5. Grand Theft Auto V (PS4, Xbox One, Xbox 360, PS3, PC)
6. NBA 2K16 (PS4, Xbox One, Xbox 360, PS3)
7. Minecraft (Xbox 360, Xbox One, PS3, PS4)
8. Mortal Kombat X (PS4, Xbox One)
9. FIFA 16 (PS4, Xbox One, Xbox 360, PS3)
10. Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare (Xbox One, PS4, Xbox 360, PS3, PC)