PS3 software sales outstrip Xbox 360’s: PS3 attach rate up to 8.1

There’s a well worn saying that software doesn’t sell on the PlayStation 3, at least in comparison to the Xbox 360. However, things may be changing, since there’s been a significant improvement in both the PS3’s software and hardware sales. Despite a lower installed base, software sales on the PS3 have outstripped that of the Xbox 360 in the fiscal-2009 year.

We’ve gone into detail over PS3 hardware sales, but now it’s the chance of software. The PlayStation 3 enjoyed 115.6 million software sales in the Sony’s 2009-fiscal year (runs from May 1st 2009 to April 30th 2010), up from 2008’s 103.7 million units. Surprisingly, despite a lower hardware installed base, this performance was better than that of the Xbox 360, which achieved 103.1 million software sales. The PS3’s boost is sure to have been caused by a number of key exclusive releases, such as God of War III.

This increased software performance has also had an impact on its attach rate. That is, the average number of software units to each console sold. In its lifetime the PS3 has now sold 290.5 million software units, compared to 35.7 million PS3s. That puts the PS3’s attach rate at an impressive 8.1 copies per console. That’s now in touching distance of the Xbox 360’s 8.8 attach rate.

Just for fun, we can also compare these software sales to that of the PS1 and PS2 at the same four-year period in their lifetime. The PS1 had sold 236.0 million software units, compared to the PS2’s massive 350.0 million. We’ve included a table below illustrating the fiscal-2009 software sales for each platform (in millions) alongside their lifetime-to-date software sales, lifetime-to-date hardware sales, and their adjoining software attach rates. Enjoy mulling over it.

AttachRateGraph

Readers Comments (43)

  1. Of course last year is going to look good for Sony. They released a slim version and had some nice games come out, while MS weathered the storm and are about to release their own slim version this year. If you look at Sony’s exclusives last year they were all outsold by Halo ODST, a glorified Expansion pack. If last year was Sony’s year then clearly this is MS with Natal, Slim 360, Halo Reach, Fable 3, Crackdown 2, Metro 2033, Alan Wake, Splinter Cell Conviction, Ninety Nine Nights 2 and Gears 3 early next year. I think it’s really looking good for them.

  2. It Only Does Everything… including selling Software.
    Trey 4 Life!

  3. @crapgamer

    You spoke some truth but admit that you might of got ahead of yourself. You spoke about some very good games coming out for the 360 this year and it does look rather promising however the PS3 slim will have a whole year this time with much better games as compared to last year, sales will be much more as compared to last year. The only real good game last year was Uncharted 2 for me. This year we’ve seen God of war as well as heavy rain and MLB. Upcoming games include Socom, Final Fantasy verses 13, Final fantasy 14, gran turismo 5, modnation racers, and the highly anticipated “Agent” to name a few, throw in the multiplatform games in between the exclusives and i honestly dont see momentum slowing as of yet. Slim 360 is only rumour, Natal will have to prove its worth which clearly it hasnt as of yet. I think everybody in the industry wont deny that the ps3 stride for this year could very well be more. Microsoft are definitely feeling the heat now.

  4. The recent slew of awesome PS3 games could be to thank for this. That and the price drop, and the kind of crazy bias I see in my local GAME store.

  5. I think we can attribute this to the awesome lineup.

  6. ps3 ftw

  7. Is it only me but dont you think its because of all the chipped XBOX`s out there ? .
    Stating the obvious i know but nobody else mentions this little difference between XBOX and PS3 . Sony keep doing what your doing keeping PS3 safe from hackers .

  8. Moocows111111 May 13, 2010 @ 16:18

    Cool just .7 more XD Ps3 is catching up!, you better run XD

  9. @crapgamer

    Halo is a household name for and the biggest seller on the 360. Most of the exclusives this gen for the PS3

  10. @crapgamer

    forgive me I somehow sent my last message prematurely.

    As I was saying, most of the exclusives this gen for the PS3 are new IPs, so they aren’t going to sell as well as Halo. You’ll see how a real household name sells on the PS3 when GT5 launches this November. I guarantee that will be the top selling exclusive this year.

    Now as for the lineups I still believe Sony has MS on the ropes, but time will tell.

  11. @oextra

    GT5 is not coming out … ever. Remember how it has been coming out for the last 2 years or so now? Yeah. And the developer claimed last year it was already to be released, how he could release it right now. Now they are saying it is 90% complete? So which is it? When it finally does come out, it will not sell more than 5 million copies. Period.

    Remember all the other PS3 games that were going to sell consoles and sell Halo/COD/Gears numbers? Resistance, MGS4, Little Big Planet, Heavy Rain, God of War 3, Killzone 2, etc. Each new exclusive is claimed to be “the big one, the one that sells consoles and Halo numbers”. And yet each title comes and goes with just a blip.

    GT5, should it ever get released, will NOT sell more than 5 million. Making it an EPIC FAIL for the series that should easily sell 10+ million according to PS3 fanboys.

  12. @xbotman

    get ready to eat your hat gt5 is comming out this year plus someone sounds scared?

  13. @xbotman

    No offense but you are a fool to honestly believe GT5 won’t come out this year and especially believing it won’t sell over 5 million. GT5 Prologue as of this year sold 4.65 mil world wide and this is basically a demo of GT5.

    Each previous GT game sold just about 10 mil or more. That means the series as a whole so far has sold over 45 million games (and this doesn’t even include the PSP game or other in between GT games such as GT4 prologue).

    GT is Sony’s top selling exclusive, this plus the price drop, plus the hype, and the holiday release GUARANTEE it’ll sell well over 5 mill.

    It is after all Sony’s household name.

  14. Sony’s taking names and kicking ass. Read and weep 360 fanboys.

  15. Well of course 360 has an 8.8 ratio, they red light on you usually within a year or two. Hell, Ive been through 3, and was at least under warranty everytime the “new” (MS knows they’re refurbished ex red light systems)Xbox360 shipped to me. I have to say that Sony made a way more dependable console, that doesn’t get returned nearly as often. I love the game libraries on both systems, but Sony has definitely had some great exclusives here lately. Hopefully MS will follow suit soon, and fix their damn systems.

  16. Not surprising that the PS3 is selling more software, it’s software is simply far, far better. Look at all the great exclusives the PS3 has enjoyed the past year………..Infamous, Ratchet & Clank, 2009’s GOTY Uncharted 2, Heavy Rain, White Knight Chronicles, Demon’s Souls, God Of War 3.

    What has the Xbox 360 had? A couple of Halo spin – off’s and the god awful Mass Effect 2? Oh dear……….no wonder it’s sales have been low. Also, with Alan Wake reviewing like a polished turd and no other exclusives bar Halo: Reach for the entire year things aren’t looking any better for Microsoft’s failing console.

    Sony still has Infamous 2, LBP 2, GT 5, The Last Guardian, The Agent, Killzone 3, Final Fantasy Versus XIII, Resistance 3 and Motorstorm 3 all imminent. With PS3 exclusives pushing the graphics and quality bars higher with each new release the 360 is going to be lucky if it finishes 3rd this generation.

  17. 8.1 That’s a fucking surprise, I own 12 myself and planning to get Red Fucking Redemption

  18. I absolutely will buy GT5 when it’s come out. Can not wait to go around the top gear lap in a reasonably priced car. :D.
    I think they took so long because they want to include the newest possible version of the car that not even come out yet. Maybe manufacturer also designing concept cars especially to be introduced by the GT5.

  19. @Tom Ato

    okay, I couldn’t agree with you more.

  20. @oextra

    Please. Everyone said the same thing in 2008 and 2009. GT5 will definitely be out by the holidays. And the holidays came and went each time. Keep dreaming. And you are a fool for believing that it will have the same impact on the PS3 that no other franchise seems to be able to do.

    You Sony fanboys keep hanging on to that hope of hopes that one of the old franchises will resurrect the PS3’s fortunes and sell Halo numbers. But each one comes and goes, barely selling a few million. Pathetic, when you consider the install base now.

    Let’s review shall we. MGS4 was going to sell 10 million. Um, no. Not even close. Then it was Killzone 2, which struggled to sell half as many as Halo: ODST even. Then it going to be God of War 3, which won’t sell 5 million copies.

  21. @oextra

    However, I will say that your “Halo Envy” is both enjoyable and flattering.

    Keep in mind that even with 35 million PS3 consoles sold, PS3 fanboys do not buy games. The run their mouths and expect everyone else to buy the games, which they don’t, of course.

    Barbie Halo Adventure, if this title were to exist, would easily outsell GT5. There are too many excellent racing games out now. This type of competition did not exist back in the heyday that was GT3/GT4.

    You really just need to wake up, look yourself in the mirror and tell yourself that bought the “Gamecube of this generation”. With an online component that is only marginally better than the Wii’s.

  22. @99redbaloon

    No. They delayed and delayed GT5 because they were playing development catchup with the creators of Forza 3. Imagine the worlds “allegedly” greatest racing franchise (GT5) with no car damage!!! Some racing sim.

    And once the gaming press got on them, the GT5 team literally had to go back and make sure each car supported damage. But with release dates slipping constantly, you are likely to get the cartoony damage and not the real damage you get from even the simplest racing arcade games. It will be bolted on and look that way.

    How you can call GT5 the greatest racing sim ever, and is had no car damage, is beyond any form of reason. Sony Fanboyism to the highest degree.

    You know something else I find odd. Most Sony Fanboys don’t like showing their PSN ID, because people will now check their Trophies and what games they have played. You most often find that they have so little play time and rarely ever finish games (Trophies are great at showing others what you have played and to what level).

  23. @Tom Ato

    okay, I couldn’t agree with you more. PS3 is selling more software, it’s software is simply far, far better than 360’s. With PS3 exclusives pushing the graphics and quality bars higher with each new release the 360 is going to be lucky if it finishes 3rd this generation. Even after all this time MS has NOT given a game ( graphically ) that can make us go WOW. Where Sony and their PS3 has given us this many many times.

    GT5 once released will sell more than 5 million. People that think this wouldn’t happen are hiding their head in the sand.

  24. So. Where is the release date from Sony for GT5? Hmmmm…..

  25. @oextra

    Besides, the reality in console gaming now is the same for both consoles. No one wants to play anything anymore except Call of Duty multiplayer.

  26. Patrick Steen May 15, 2010 @ 12:13

    Xbotman, the release date will be announced at E3 in a months time.

  27. gawt damn, baby!

    @xbotman: not realy -_- FPS are usually trash, as that genre should have never gotten nearly as big as it should have……

    @xbotman (again): didnt GT5 have a release date already? or was that just a rumor?

  28. thismeinteil May 15, 2010 @ 20:32

    @ xbotman

    You’re name describes you well. Why are you even trolling? Does the new attach rate info scare you? Does the possiblity that PS3 could be in 2nd place next year scare you? Does the possibility of GT5 outperforming even Halo 3 scare you? If so, that is very sad.

    The funny thing about GT5’s development that people forget is, GT4 took over 3 1/2 years to make. And that was the 2nd to be released on the PS2 hardware, so they knew how it worked. So if GT5 does release this year, it would have been in development for around 5 years. This is with no prior knowledge of making games on the PS3, plus the TONS of new cars and features included. BTW, Alan Wake took 5 years to develop, but it’s coming out isn’t it? Are you going to mock that game when it doesn’t sell better than the PS3 exclusives you are talking about?

    Also, GT4 was released near the end of the PS2’s life, a time when people were getting excited about the new PS3, but still went on to sell 11 mil copies. With the hype this title is generating, plus the inclusion of the Nascar license, I am pretty confident that this game is going to sell at least that. My guess is 15-20 mil. units sold when all is said and done.

  29. People talk about how good Halo sold and how bad GT5 will not sell, BUT what people have to remember is Gran Turismo sold over 53 million units worldwide for the PS2 and PS3. Thats without the PSP sales. Now that is more than the total Halo series, which sold over 27 million copies worldwide. And after Halo Reach the Halo series is DEAD. If it was that good, why let it Die ?

    Now Bungie have got a new IP coming to BOTH consoles, and guess what, they said ” it will be bigger and better than the Halo series “. Bungie spent two years developing an entirely new game that will be released sometime after its “Halo” finale, “Halo: Reach” on BOTH PS3 and 360.

    “The partnership between Bungie and Activision is a big win for gamers worldwide. Combining Bungie’s creativity with the incredible power of PlayStation 3 will add serious muscle to action gaming. We look forward to extending Bungie’s ‘next big action game universe’ with PS3 users.”

    As this generation of consoles continues developers are starting to pick the PlayStation 3 as their development console of choice. This alone should tell people that Dev’s are unlocking the secrets of the PS3, which makes games better on that console than 360. Just look at the exclusive games on both consoles to see this. Theres no hiding that fact.

    So no matter what 360 fanboi’s say about the GT series, Halo is a dead series once Halo Reach gets released, and will NEVER out sell the GT series.

  30. Patrick Steen May 16, 2010 @ 04:58

    The Halo series is not necessarily dead. Microsoft are free to make games off the IP since they own it. Bungie need not develop it. So I’d expect another Halo from a non-Bungie studio.

  31. @xbotman]

    Lol i’m going to destroy your essay replies with 2 examples. So pay close attention.

    1. GT5 releases NOVEMBER 1, 2010. Check out the link here on Gamestop http://www.gamestop.com/browse/search.aspx?N=0&Ntk=TitleKeyword&Ntx=mode+matchallpartial&Ntt=gran%20turismo%205

    2. Halo can’t touch Gran Turismo total sales, and they barely caught them on an individual basis on the last game. Didn’t you read my last comment? Every main Gran Turismo game sold close to 10 mil or higher. YES HIGHER. You know what I’ll show the numbers to you as of today.

    Halo – 6.43 Million
    Halo 2 – 8.43 Million
    Halo 3 – 10.97 Million

    GT – 10.85 Million
    GT2 – 9.37 Million
    GT3 – 14.89 Million
    GT4 – 10.54 Million

    It took Halo 3 games to get the sales of a Gran Turismo game. So who’s playing catch up? Lol you fool, go troll somewhere else. You’re obviously out of your league here.

  32. Halo series is NOT being continued after Halo Reach. This has been confirmed by Bungie themselves. They are now glad to be FREE to make games and create new IP’s without MS being involved. Reason is simple, Bungie now own their rites and decide what console to release their games on. EA will not interfere in this department which is why Bungie went with EA in the first place.

  33. Patrick Steen May 18, 2010 @ 15:59

    LBDz – Microsoft owns the Halo franchise, not Bungie. Microsoft is free to develop Halo games. The Halo series from Bungie is ending…but that doesn’t mean it’s the end of the Halo series.

  34. Announced at E3 2009, Halo: Reach is a prequel to the main trilogy; it is Bungie’s last Halo game, and will be released 2010. MS may own rights, but Bungie will not be making more Halo games after Reach. If MS made another Halo, it would not be the Halo we know. It was Bungie that made Halo work, not MS. The Halo Series we know is now dead.

  35. yep i agree. MS can make more, but they know not too.

  36. Keep posting stuff like this i really like it

  37. It Only Does Everything, Well that is Apart from having usable voice chat of any kind, sounds like you are underwater talking through LW radio. Toatally unusable
    No front USB ports.
    Have to have it on to charge controller, no intellegent charge I.E as the 360 has
    To scared to play BluRay movies in case I wear out the blu ray drive as the cost of repair after the year is ridicusly high.
    Most exclusives are just plain boring
    GT5 demo was a joke
    Etc.

  38. Good posts.

    @Xbox fanboys – Stop comming on a playstation form to bash it. What kind of reaction are you expecting?

    PS3 is in a much better position (now) than Xbox. I have not seen this mentioned here, but it is hug in the outcome of sales.
    1) Numbers don’t lie, and last years numbers showed more interest in PS3 games than 360. (Stated in article)
    2) Xbox new releases will be great. However, there is limited ‘new’ interest in getting a new console. Most people getting the new Halo will have the previous Halo with the previous Xbox system. The main point here is that MS does not have great exclusives in a variety of genres. From what I have seen, PS3 has better exclusives over a variety of genres.
    3) Xbox is big in NA. PS3 is gaining everywhere else in the world. Europe and Asia combined have a larger market, and PS3 is selling more units there. (I believe this is the main reasons sales have been increasing)

    However, both systems are fun to play, and both systems have amazing games. To say one is better than the other is purely a personal preference. I prefer PS3, but I am not ignorant enough to say it is better than Xbox. I just believe that PS3 is now in a more favourable position than Xbox. I could be wrong. Time will tell.

    Maurice

  39. @ Moemoron

    Lol at your Limited intrest in the new xbox 360 s, there is a huge intrest in it, large hard drive, USB ports now has 3 rear ones, Wireless N ideal for streaming and gaming unlike the outdated wireless built into the PS3, Super quite unlike my PS3 slim that sounds loud once it gets hot .

    1] To say it has limited”New” intrest would be exactly the same for the PS3 slim compared to the phat in comparison which we know didn’t just have “Limited” intrest but the one BIG difference is the 360 S has new things ADDED whereas the slim had things taken off, I can’t even switch off my slim it has no on/off switch which is ridiculous.

    2] I have both systems 2 Xboxs and a PS3 and my personal prefrence is the 360 as I just feel it is the better gaing system and online voice chat is great, but the limited PS3 game chat is broken, no standard headsets and people using $3 blu tooth headsets just ruin it even more

    3] I prefer the 360 exclusives and the nulti format games always end up being better on the 360, RED DEAD REDMPTION is the latest example of this.

    I shall certainly be getting the 360 S I may even part exchange my PS3 slim for one as it really does not get much use .

  40. Looks like those hardware sales are now changing in a big way in favour of the 360
    “360 HW Outselling PS3 Worldwide”

    This is with the 360 S sales just of North America alone and there are large shortages, it will be released worldwide in the next couple of weeks.

    http://vgchartz.com/weekly.php?reg=World&console=&date=40349&maker=

  41. These numbers do not represent sales to consumers, only shipments (sold to retailer). Sony has over-shipped many games such as GT5 which only sold a small fraction of it’s millions shipped, to consumers.

    Soon you will begin to see GT5 pack-ins and reduced prices to sell out their batch that initially failed to sell to consumers. Much of you see already being done in the UK.

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