On Thursday, Microsoft Corp announced that since the release of the console in November, the company had sold more than 5 million Xbox One consoles to the retail stores. Since early January, no sales figures had been provided by the company when the company had said that through the end of 2013 they had sold approximately 3.9 million units. The statement from Microsoft was made only a day later its rival Sony Corp said that they had sold a total of seven million units of PlayStation 4 from the six million it had announced in March. Sales to consumers have also been released by Sony, but in January, Microsoft said that it would only be releasing the sales made to retailers who carry the gaming console.

Even though there is a difference in the methodologies used by the companies, it is reinforced by the statement from the companies that since the release of the new generation consoles in 2013, Sony has still retained its lead over Microsoft’s Xbox One. The positive comparison was emphasized by Microsoft with its previous console. The company said that the Xbox One had gotten off to a strong start as its sales were quicker than the Xbox 360 by about 60%. This data was provided by the head of the Xbox division’s strategy, marketing and business, Yusuf Mehdi.

The NPD Group had revealed the retail sales data in the US for the month of March, which indicated that as compared to the previous year, hardware sales had seen a rise of about 78%, which means they are now about $395 million. This data coincides with the statement made by the software giant. However, game software didn’t do so well. The research firm revealed that sales of new PC and console videogames at the retail shops in the US fell 28% in March from the same period a year back and had now reduced to $432 million.

Another research firm said that additional revenue from subscription to internet connected multiplayer games like the World of Warcraft from Activision’s Blizzard had reduced to $84.8 million, which is a 19% decline. As far as revenue from games that are initially available for free is concerned, it only rose to $554.6 million, which is a 9.4% increase. Nevertheless, not all parts of the software industry are in a decline. Titanfall, the greatly anticipated space-age game was released by Electronic Arts on March 11^th for the PC and Xbox One and it managed to top the sales ranks in both internet-delivered and retail sales.

There was a 21% rise in videogames for consoles and PCs that were sold and delivered over the internet as they reached $297.2 million. It is suggested by the mixed sales data that the industry’s fortune is being heavily weighed down by the consumer changing habits. For months, videogame executives have been saying that the purchase of games that are created for older consoles reduced quickly than expected after Microsoft’s Xbox One and Sony’s PlayStation 4 were released in November of 2013.

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