15% of US Gamers Pre-Ordered a Next-Gen Console - 72% of Them Chose PS5 and 30% Xbox Series X - News
by William D'Angelo , posted on 02 November 2020 / 3,159 Views
Market research company VGM performed a study of video game players in the US on the next-generation consoles. Of the 511 respondents from September 23 to 25, only 15 percent of them said they were able to pre-order one of the next-generation consoles, the Xbox Series X and S, and PlayStation 5.
72 percent of the people who were able to pre-order went with the PlayStation 5 with a disc-drive, compared to 30 percent for the Xbox Series X, 10 percent for the PS5 Digital Edition, and eight percent for the Xbox Series S.
29 percent of those in the study said they attempted to pre-order a next-generation console were unsuccessful. Of those 58 percent were trying to pre-order a PS5 with a disc-drive, 40 percent the Xbox Series X, 21 percent the PS5 Digital Edition, and 11 percent the Xbox Series S.
Of the people who pre-ordered a PS5, 52 percent said that Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales was the main reason, followed by God of War: Ragnarok at 42 percent, and Final Fantasy XVI at 32 percent.
For the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S, 45 percent said Halo Infinite was the main game that got them to pre-order the console, followed by Fable at 26 percent and the next-gen Forza game at 24 percent.
42 percent of US gamers interested in the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S said they wanted to sign up for subscription programs, like Xbox Game Pass. 45 percent of gamers leaning towards PS5 said it was due to the exclusives.
63 percent of respondents also said they did not know Microsoft acquired Bethesda parent company ZeniMax.
Thanks, GamesIndustry.
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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So this is based on only 76 people.
The second paragraph says 511 people.
Only 15 % of 511 people were able to pre-order. So all pre-order numbers are based on 76 people.
Yes but this poll isn't just about people who were able to preorder the console. It's also about what people tried to preorder and why. Those answers still matter cause those are future consumers. It's not like they will never get a console now.
Sony PS5 has too much demand right now. It's reminiscent of the PS2 days. That's no knock at the Microsoft Series X as it'll sell extremely well too :) 9th gen is on the horizon
Wow, that's a bigger gap than I was expecting in the US of all places. Maybe the PS5 being available to preorder for longer has something to do with it, though. I've also seen a ton more advertising for it.
The PS5 is coming off of a strong performance by its predecessor, while the Xbox is coming off of a decidedly lackluster performance by its predecessor. Unlike with the PS3, Sony hasn’t made any significant unforced errors with PS5.
I think both are limited by available stock. Early adopters don't want a Series S (though they are gone most places as well) and MS has sold all of the series X units. Sony has also sold all PS5 units. So, there's not really any way for the spread to be any different.
Makes sense that the majority of respondents weren't aware of Microsoft acquiring Zenimax since the majority of respondents pre-ordered the PS5. The PS5 pre-orders went live on 9/16, and the announcement of the Zenimax acquisition wasn't even announced by Microsoft until 9/21.
The only thing MS’s acquisition of Zenimax means to me is that I won’t be playing any of their games that are exclusive to Xbox. Zenimax has really damaged its brand this generation, especially with Fallout 76.
The numbers in here don't make sense to me.
Its a small sample they are showing us. I am thinking both platforms should sell really well this holiday. Its down the road where you really see the sales gap.
Not surprising really, I expected this much.
Fake News
So... 102% total...
2% of people preordered both a PS5 and a XSX.
Seems about right, it's about the games. At least a perception of the games landscape, because so many didn't know about the Zenimax thing.
I expect this actually kind of accurate because I think it will take a while for Microsofts recent efforts to translate into hardware sales, particularly stuff like All Access (and xbox SS) will be targeted at the more casual gamer and become more impactful post launch. Also any power differences that benefit Xbox won't begin to be noticed until both consoles are out too.
Playstation meanwhile has just had 10months of smash console exclusive after console exclusive, most recently Fall Guys and Genshin Impact.
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