It has been known that this generation of gaming basically belongs to the PlayStation 4 at this point. Not that the others aren’t doing well, just that it’s clear to see who the market leader is this time around. That being said 2017 continues to be a year to remember for PlayStation. The PS4 not only had its best November since its launch but has also claimed the lion share of retail game sales in the United Kingdom.
Data provided to GamesIndustry.biz by UKIE and GfK Chart-Track shows that the PlayStation 4 has accounted for 50.2% of all physical game sales in the UK. The closest competitor was the Xbox One at 31.6% of the share of all retail games sold in 2017.
This is huge news for the PlayStation brand as this is the first time in history where a single console manufacturer has accounted for more than 50% of the market share in retail games purchased in a year. The previous best was the PlayStation 1 with a 47.9% marketshare of all retail game sales in 1998.
Another notable feat was that the PlayStation 4 was the platform with the most exclusives that topped the number one spot in the UK charts this year. The most obvious culprit was Activision’s Crash Bandicoot: N’Sane Trilogy which actually hit the chart’s top spot a total of seven times in 2017. Crash was dethroned for a single week by Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age, which ironically is another PS4 exclusive.
Other Sony top charters were Horizon Zero Dawn for a total of 2 weeks, Person 5, Wipeout: Omega Collection, Uncharted: Lost Legacy, and Gran Turismo: Sport all of which claimed the top spot for a single week.
That is a total of 15 weeks at the top spot for the various PlayStation exclusives. A feat greatly noted but not the record holding of 16 set by Nintendo back in 2009 mostly with the WiiFit.
What are your thoughts on the recent news with the success of PlayStation 4 in the UK? 2017 was obviously a stellar year for the brand but 2018 is shaping up to be even better with games like Detroit: Become Human, God of War, Days Gone, Marvel’s Spiderman, and more yet to come. Do you see history repeating itself for 2018? Sound off in the comments below.
