The console wars continue to rage on, as always. Nothing gets the gaming market fired up quite like being at loggerheads with competitors. There’s never usually a clear winner, but for the UK, the PS5 seems to be outshining the rest.
According to Gamesindustry.biz, a report from GfK – a data and market intelligence analyst – reveals Sony’s current-gen system has been doing remarkably well in the UK. Between November 2022 and October 2023, the PS5 had a 43% market share. However, over the past six months, this has increased to 51%, giving a majority slice.
GfK boss Dorian Bloch says this rise could be down to “unrestricted sales on the standard PS5 hardware model, aggressive price promotions in July and August, and the recent EA Sports FC 24 bundle.”
The upcoming Slim model as well, perhaps?
Compare that to platform rivals like Xbox, in which figures indicate a three percent drop in the same time frame. This means the Microsoft console went from a 26% market share to just 23%. Similarly, the Switch experienced a much bigger drop, which is down to 34% from 25%.
Whether these trends will change is up for debate. The holiday period is almost upon us, with Black Friday deals inbound. Both the digital and disc drive versions of the PS5 Slim are available now at some US retailers, but folks in the UK are still waiting for the new model to drop.
Bloch goes on to say that the fourth quarter of the year (basically Christmas) accounts for up to 55% of hardware unit sales. In which case, “there is still a lot to play for at the time of writing.”
