Although it can be easily deduced that PlayStation 5 surpasses Xbox in hardware sales, a new report claims that sales of AAA games on Sony's consoles are outpacing sales on Microsoft's platform by nearly 80% at launch. Recently, GTA 6 fueled conversation about PS5 and Xbox Series X/S sales numbers after the biggest game of the year opened for pre-orders.
This year has been a big one for the PS5 and Xbox as both companies have become more competitive in market conditions. Xbox is now under new management who are serious about bringing Xbox back into the fold with exclusive consoles and new hardware. Sony, meanwhile, has decided to stop releasing its biggest single-player games on PC as it tries to bring more value to owning the PS5. However, the biggest console war news of late was GTA 6A pre-order window in which IGN claimed that PS5 sales outsold Xbox by nearly 8:1. Now, some news has come out about how much the PS5 will actually outperform the Xbox.
GTA 6 PS5 pre-orders are reportedly demolishing Xbox
The PS5 version of Grand Theft Auto 6 is said to be significantly ahead of the Xbox Series X/S version after just a few days.
PS5 outsells Xbox AAA by 80%
According to The Game Business (via VGC), industry analyst Christopher Dring believes that aside from PC, AAA single-player titles such as Resident Evil: Requiem or 007: First Light seeing about 75-80% of their sales in the launch month on PS5. Dring's statement is in response to recent reports that GTA 6PS5 pre-orders have outnumbered Xboxes 8 to 1, which they say probably won't be that extreme. Additionally, Dring reports confidential sales data that his Substack, The Game Business, is privy to.
Drag your weapons to fill the grid
Start
Drag your weapons to fill the grid
Easy to medium hard
However, Dring also claims that multiplayer games fared much better in terms of sales on Xbox at launch, with the platform capturing around 30% of all console sales, but still far from the competition's figure. Xbox has been known to struggle with consoles for some time, even stopping to share sales numbers in 2015. Recent efforts to revitalize the platform have been led by new CEO Asha Sharma, who to much success lowered the price of Game Pass and brought the company back to console games starting with Gears of War: E–Day this fall.
Meanwhile, Sony's PlayStation 5 continues to perform well, with the company reporting that PS5 sales have hit new highs, even as prices rise due to a persistent RAM shortage. The PS5 even seems to have exclusive marketing rights Grand Theft Auto 6which is more or less the most anticipated video game of all time. To give an indication of Xbox's current position in the market, a recent survey at GDC 2026 even states that developer interest in releasing games on Xbox is half that of PS5 and Switch 2.
Being an Xbox fan sure felt like a tough time; however, there may be light at the end of the tunnel. The recent preview of Xbox 2026 games showed plenty of promise for some of the platform's biggest upcoming games, including Fable and Gears of War: E-Daywhich could be huge hits if they hit the mark at launch. what's more Forza Horizon 6 is one of the highest-rated games of the year, which shows that Team Green and its studios have a lot going for them. Let's hope Xbox weathers the storm and regains its footing in the market.
