Switch vs PS4 Sales Comparison - Switch Lead Nears 5 Million in August 2020 - Sales
by William D'Angelo , posted on 12 September 2020 / 5,457 Views
The VGChartz sales comparison series of articles are updated monthly and each one focuses on a different sales comparison using our estimated video game hardware figures. The charts include comparisons between the 7th generation and 8th generation platforms, as well as comparisons within the 8th generation. There are articles based on our worldwide estimates, as well as the US, Europe, and Japan.
This monthly series compares the aligned worldwide sales of the Nintendo Switch and the PlayStation 4.
Switch Vs. PS4 Global:
Gap change in latest month: 464,164 - Switch
Gap change over last 12 months: 7,320,053 - Switch
Total Lead: 4,838,114 - Switch
Switch Total Sales: 63,403,962
PS4 Total Sales: 58,565,848
August 2020 is the 42nd month that the Nintendo Switch has been available for. During the latest month, the gap grew in favor of the Switch by 464,164 units when compared to the PlayStation 4 during the same timeframe. In the last 12 months, the Switch has outsold the PlayStation 4 by 7.32 million units. The Switch is currently ahead of the PlayStation 4 by 4.84 million units.
The PlayStation 4 launched in November 2013, while the Nintendo Switch launched worldwide in March 2017. Therefore, the holiday periods for the two consoles do not lineup, which is why there are big increases and decreases.
The 42nd month on sale for the Nintendo Switch is August 2020, while for the PlayStation 4 it is April 2017. The Switch has sold 623.40 million units, while the PlayStation 4 sold 58.57 million units during the same timeframe. The PlayStation 4 did not reach current Switch sales until month 47.
The PlayStation 4 has sold 112.96 million units through August 2020. The Nintendo Switch is currently 49.56 million units behind the lifetime sales of the PlayStation 4.
A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel dedicated to gaming Let's Plays and tutorials. You can contact the author at wdangelo@vgchartz.com or on Twitter @TrunksWD.
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Ounch... :|
Hear me out, the PS4 will never regain a lead over the Switch ever again.
At this point the people who think there's no chance the Switch outsells the PS4 are like the people as late as 2019 who thought there was a chance it won't outsell the 3DS. Claims like that should mostly vanish after December when the Switch gets a 10+ million lead.
This comparation is gonna be atrocious in a few months.
Switch by the end of the year is gonna ship 77-78 million units. At the same time, PS4 will be at 67.5 million. That's like 10 million gap. And 2021 for Switch is looking like another 25-30 million year, yeah this comparation is pretty much over.
Nearly 5 million lead for Switch with an extra holiday season in PS4's favour
Switch is about to completely decouple from PS4. It's gonna be like 12 million up on PS4 at the end of this year, and still probably like 8 million up after PS4 gets its next holiday on the chart.
Will the ps4 ever cross Nintendo switch again? I don't think so. So basically I'm saying switch will win out in the end. Will it outsell PS2 and DS? Only if it somehow sells 28-49mil this fiscal year and 27-30mil next fiscal year then it has a shot but it's not as likely. Will ps5 outsell the switch and/or ps5? I hope so. I honestly hope both X-series and PS5 outsell PS4 and switch somehow though unlikely and then switch 2 comes out and outeells every damn console ever released in history because I want a damn healthy console market and I love a good competition. I don't want DS and PS2 to be the peak of gaming sales, even if those 2 are awesome consoles.
Nintendo is really taking bold shots at the competition. However, Sony PS4 is in the last years of its life now so not much of a fight the 8th gen Sony PS4 can put up against the 9th gen Nintendo Switch currently. I expect Nintendo Switch sales to grow over Sony PS4 for October as well. November will be the most interesting month from all 3 consoles with Sony PS5 in the fold. How will the Sony PS5 event next week effect October and November ? These are insane times :D
@Marth Oh I see, thank you for letting me know its launch time compared friend. I'm use to seeing same gen comparisons from other news outlets but this is cool as well :D
Switch is 8th gen.
@Coolback Switch is 8th gen friend? I thought the Wii U was Nintendo's 8th gen system? Nintendo Wii U released in 2012 then Sony PS4 and Microsoft Xbox One released in 2013, yes? Nintenso released the Switch in 2017, 5 years after the Wii U but Sony and Microsoft weren't ready for their next gen systems yet. The Nintendo Switch from outlets I follow is considered to be 9th gen which makes sense as now Sony and Microsoft are ready for their next gen systems :D
Switch was released mid-gen 8th gen. I'd say that qualifies it as 8th gen. Anyway it doesn't really matter, it's just a label. Nintendo will for now on likely be releasing systems in the middle of Sony/Microsoft lifecycles so you're gonna have to get used to Nintendo gens not lining up with the other two.
@Slownenberg Yes friend, I understand what you mean. Nintendo Switch released after 8th gen consoles Sony PS4 and Microsoft Xbox One. But the Nintendo Switch was a next generation console release. Articles combined alike wrote, before Nintendo Switch's launch, a new next-gen Nintendo system codenamed "NX" a.k.a a next gen system releasing from Nintendo after their 8th gen Nintendo Wii U :D - so the Nintendo Switch is 9th gen. And generations are now "labels", my friend? A strange way to put it. Generations represents transitional leaps in hardware, new games on new hardware, the refresh of new ecosystems. Videogame generations are more than a "label," my friend :) And Nintendo releasing a new transitional system during Sony and Microsoft lifecycle would mean the start of a new generation. Nintendo seemed to start this trend after the discontinuation of the Nintendo Wii U. I regret not ever purchasing a Wii U. Thankfully the Nintendo Switch has Wii U titles on it :D
