By: Thomas Horvath

Video games are some of the most common items in the modern day, with 65 percent of adult Americans playing them. Many people play video games on consoles, with some of the most popular being the Xbox, Playstation, and Nintendo Switch. With Xbox and Playstation, they both dropped new consoles relatively recently, so there is no console that almost everyone is playing on for them, unlike with the Switch. These are the giants of gaming, with each being owned by very successful companies. Nintendo is purely a gaming company, while Microsoft owns the Xbox and Sony owns the Playstation. Since these companies are so successful, which one is the most popular and has the best sales?

While Nintendo may not be as big a company as Sony or Microsoft, its numbers are nothing to knock at. While the previous Nintendo console, the Wii U, was a major commercial failure, the Nintendo Switch has sold more than 111 million units as of August 2022. This makes sense, as Nintendo has always been a very family-oriented company, sort of like the Disney of video games. With IPs such as Pokemon and Super Mario, its main audience is children, which majorly affects the sales of a company relating to entertainment. 

With Xbox, its newest console, the Xbox Series X, has only sold around eight million units. While that may sound low, its previous consoles, Xbox 360 and Xbox One have sold around 130 million units together. This is much lower than its opposing consoles, despite Xbox seeming like the most popular console.

Sony has been majorly successful with its consoles, with its newest console, the Playstation 5, already selling roughly 21 million units. Its previous console, the Playstation 4, has sold more than 116 million units worldwide. If the PS5 sells as much as its predecessor, that would make it the most popular console of the big three.

At the end of the day, Nintendo has the highest console sales, but why? This is likely due to Nintendo having many exclusive brands and franchises, while other consoles have much fewer. This could also be due to the Japanese video game market having high demand in the States. At the end of the day, all of these companies are wildly successful, and there is no definitive best console out of them, as it all depends on preference.