Brotaku

Rishi Alwani, formerly of IGN India and Gadgets 360, has reported that the PlayStation 5 has outsold the Xbox Series range in 2021 by around 10 to 1. It’s estimated that the PS5 sold over 60,000 consoles in India in 2021, 90% of which were the disc version, and the Xbox Series sold somewhere in the region of 6000 consoles but it’s believed to be below that figure.

The report says that this is the result of stock issues, which is currently affecting both PlayStation and Xbox, and a lack of marketing from Xbox. According to the report, Sony has been pushing PS5 marketing with a heavy presence at brick and mortar stores and at its own retail shops. There’s also a strong positive narrative about the console within the Indian gaming community and Sony India has been blacklisting stores that sell the PS5 at an inflated price.

Sony’s PS5 marketing has also pushed Deathloop to become the biggest launch for a Bethesda title in India and the year-round marketing for Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales helped make it the best selling title of 2021 on PS5 despite the games poor launch. The report also states that cross-gen titles like Resident Evil Village are now selling better on PS5 than on PS4, even if there’s a free next-gen upgrade.

IGN India reported in 2021 that the PS5 and PS4 were on the decline due to Xbox Game Pass and that Xbox was on the rise in India. Looking through Amazon and Flipkart will show the opposite, Xbox Series consoles are readily available whilst the PS5 is out of stock. Several Indian retailers have also claimed that interest in the Xbox Series S is low. Console gaming in India however is still a minuscule market, mostly because of the cost. The average salary in India is 31,900 INR ($428), which is less than both the PS5 and Xbox Series consoles, making console gaming a luxury.