Nine Months In: Xbox Series X Versus PS5, Revisited

Both Sony and Microsoft released their latest-gen consoles in late 2020. The Xbox Series X and the PS5 are both absolutely monstrous in terms of gaming and computing power. They are complete powerhouses that will fuel the next generation of console gaming well into the current decade.

This isn’t the first comparison review that’s landed on Upsie, and you won’t find detailed specs here for that reason. Suffice it to say: while the two consoles understandably vary in how they accomplish the end goal, both succeed in delivering deeply impressive results, including 8K resolution and high frame rates on some titles.

Instead, this post focuses on how the competition is going, roughly nine months in. Is one console tipping the scales, or is it still an even match?

First things first, a note about availability. When the consoles first launched, they were extremely hard to find. This is normal, a result of pent-up demand running headlong into normal supply chain limitations.

But nearly a year in, it’s still hard to find both consoles in stores, and Sony executives have gone on record that they expect this to last until 2022. Unfortunately, that’s not so normal.

Both console makers are fighting the same global chip shortage affecting manufacturers across all sectors. It’s a complicated problem with no short-term resolution. Supply for both next-gen consoles is just going to be tight for a while.

At $500 each, these consoles are expensive—and that’s if you can find one at regular retail price. So most gamers are going to have to pick one or the other. And one of the biggest factors in your own decision is which games you want to play. (Your back catalog of previous-gen games may also play a factor, since all Xbox One games and nearly all PS4 games will play on their newer siblings.)

So far, on PS5, some of the biggest exclusive titles are these:

And on Xbox Series X, you’ll get exclusives like these:

In addition to these and other exclusives, there are plenty of third-party titles you can play on either console, as well.

While it’s certainly debatable and highly subjective, at the moment, PS5 seems to be coming out on top in terms of available next-gen titles.

But again, your own taste in games matters far more than what any professional reviewer has to say. If you’re a Forza or Halo fan, you’re already pretty sure which console you want to get.

One thing worth noting is Microsoft’s Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription service. It costs $15 per month and gives you access to over 100 games. You can play them on your Xbox consoles, your PC, and even stream them to Android devices. It’s a truly impressive “gaming as a service” package and one that Sony isn’t really trying to rival. Sony’s PS Plus Collection merely offers a handful of last-gen titles at this point.

Both consoles are packed to the gills with high-performance hardware, and on paper, the Xbox Series X should slightly outperform the PS5. However, it’s too early to make any definitive judgments. There just aren’t enough AAA third-party titles built to take advantage of the next-gen hardware so far. Most third-party developers still want to capitalize on the sizable market of people using PS4s and Xbox Ones — especially since the newer consoles are so hard to find.

So, pop in a third-party title on either console, and it looks incredible. But nothing is really pushing either console to its limits quite yet.

Sales numbers are a bit of a guessing game as well, but some estimates peg sales through the first half of 2021 at 10 million PS5s and 6.5 million Xbox Series X and S. If these numbers are accurate, then Sony is winning in terms of raw sales. But, to be fair, that really just means they’re winning the supply chain war.

In other words: they’re outselling because they’re out-manufacturing — not necessarily because of higher demand.