When we reviewed the Xbox One S, we asked ‘who is this for?’ In the United Kingdom, at least, the answer is ‘lots of people.’
According to data obtained by MCV, the Xbox One had a 71 percent share of the hardware market last week, an increase of 76 percent over last year.
It’s tough to know how this compares to sales in other markets, or whether this will continue. PlayStation 4 sales accounted for 19 percent of market share last week, down 66 compared to last year, but a special set of circumstances is making for a sort of perfect storm here.

Xbox has typically done better in the United Kingdom when compared to other markets, and many consumers are likely hesitating to buy a PlayStation 4 right now with the significantly more powerful PlayStation 4 Pro just six weeks away from release. On top of that, there’s a new FIFA game this week, which is a huge system seller. So we have a game that pushes systems off the shelves in a market that typically likes Xbox during a time when consumers are hesitating to buy their competitor.
Microsoft has to gain a lot of momentum to push back against Sony’s PlayStation 4, so we’d need to see months and months of numbers like this, which doesn’t seem likely. With that said, Sony’s been making some missteps lately.
No Man’s Sky, which Sony pushed hard for, was so far off the mark that the developer is being investigated for false advertising. News recently broke that Fallout 4 won’t be receiving mods on PlayStation 4 due to policies within Sony. The PlayStation 4 slim and PlayStation 4 Pro were poorly received as well after their September 7 unveiling. The new system is underpowered in comparison to the upcoming Xbox Scorpio and lacking in features compared to the Xbox One S, which features a UHD Blu-ray drive, something that currently seems like a huge omission for a system touting 4K as a major feature.

Microsoft is in a good place to start building up if they can hang on.
“It’s great to see how popular both the Xbox One S and the FIFA 17 Xbox One S consoles are with fans, not just over the last week but since the Xbox One S was released in August.” said Xbox UK’s head of marketing Harvey Eagle when speaking to MCV. “4K video streaming and 4K UHD Blu-ray have been extremely well received and we believe there is no better value right now for those looking to upgrade their console.”
Harvey called out the return of Gears of War with Gears 4‘s release on October 11 and Skyrim: Special Edition, which will allow mods on Xbox One, on October 28 as making now the best time yet to own an Xbox One.
SOURCE MCV