PS4 Vs. Xbox One: Sony Outsells Microsoft In September, 'Destiny' Remains Top-Selling Game

Despite well-known industry analyst Michael Pachter’s prediction on Tuesday, Sony’s PlayStation 4 continues to outsell Microsoft’s Xbox One in a nearly yearlong streak. Both eighth-generation consoles launched last November, with Sony holding the lead each month, leaving Microsoft struggling to keep up.

Earlier this week Pachter predicted Xbox would break its losing streak thanks to steep discounting and a bundle with a free console game. But that was not the case, as Sony announced via Twitter that it was the best-selling current-gen console on Thursday.

In September, hardware sales totaled $432.7 million, up 136 percent over September 2013 hardware sales. However, software sales decreased from the previous year, from $754 million in September 2013 to $481 million this year. Last year’s September launch of “Grand Theft Auto 5” on Sept. 17 for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 contributed to its high software sales. Console hardware sales increased more than 200 percent since last September.

“Eighth generation console hardware represented over 85 percent of overall hardware sales in September, which is the highest percentage seen in a single month since the PS4 and Xbox One launched in November 2013,” NPD Group analyst Liam Callahan said.

The PlayStation 4 is also the console of choice for playing shooter “Destiny,” which was the best-selling title last month, followed by “Madden NFL 15,” “FIFA 15,” “Super Smash Bros for the 3DS,” “Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor,” “NHL 15,” “Minecraft,” “The Sims 4,” “Disney Infinity 2.0,” and “Diablo III: Reaper of Souls.”

“The launch of Activision-published and Bungie-developed Destiny in September 2014 proved successful in a number of ways: year-to-date through September data it is the top-selling video game on a unit basis, making it the most successful launch of the year so far as well. But an even more prestigious feat was the fact that Destiny had the best launch month of all-time for any new IP in video game software,” Callahan added.