PS4 Vs. Xbox One: Sony At 18.5 Million Consoles Sold As Of January 4

Sony’s eighth-generation PlayStation 4 has reached 18.5 million in sales, the Tokyo-based company announced in a Japanese press release translated by Reuters on Monday. The gaming console reached the impressive figure as of Jan. 4, just days after the holiday shopping rush came to a close.

Sony also announced it had reached 10.9 million subscribers for its PlayStation Plus, up nearly 3 million from the end of October, when subscribers were at 7.9 million. PlayStation Plus is a subscription-based service that grants users access to exclusive content. It costs $50 per year.

Despite being outsold by competitor Microsoft’s Xbox One console in November, Sony’s PlayStation 4 has otherwise maintained a steady lead in the eighth-generation market. Its worldwide launch on Nov. 15, 2013, saw 1 million devices fly off shelves within 24 hours, and more than 2.1 million PS4 consoles were sold by December 2013 worldwide. Less than one month later, more than 4.2 million units were sold.

In November 2014, Microsoft pulled ahead in the console wars, mainly due to a $50 price cut and a number of enticing bundles, including an “Assassin’s Creed” bundle, which featured Ubisoft’s “Assassin’s Creed Unity” and “Assassin’s Creed Rogue.”

The Xbox One launched on Nov. 22, 2013 one week after Sony’s PlayStation 4 reached buyers for $399. The Xbox One was priced $100 higher at $500, but Microsoft reduced the price in June of 2014, allowing buyers to purchase the device without the Kinect for $400.