Xbox One Sales Put At 18 Million [Update]

Microsoft's Xbox One has sold some 18 million units worldwide since its release in November 2013, according to the chief executive of eSports group Gfinity.

The unverified statistic would suggest that PlayStation 4 is outselling Microsoft's third home console on a rough scale of two-to-one. In January, Sony revealed that PS4 sales had reached 36 million globally.

Despite Microsoft's longstanding ambiguity on sales figures--it hasn't revealed official sell-in numbers since November 2014--the 18 million installed base number comes via the chief executive of an eSports company currently partnering with the software giant.

Neville Upton, head of Gfinity, let slip the figure in a press release that was intended to publicise an eSports tournament app set to ship on Xbox One.

"We are delighted to announce the launch of our Tournament Builder App on Xbox One," Upton began, "which will enhance the Gfinity offering and enable us to reach Xbox One's 18 million users globally."

It is not clear how accurate Upton's claim is, although Microsoft partners can often be privy to privileged and sensitive information such as sales figures.

[Update: A Gfinity spokesperson has claimed that the 18 million sales figure was based on external numbers made public previously. A statement sent to GameSpot reads: “Gfinity would like to clarify that it has not sought to confirm Microsoft sales figures. The comments in the statement today is based on a variety of independent sources published earlier this year.”

In January, GameSpot sister site ZDnet claimed that it had been told from independent sources that the Xbox One has shipped 18 million units. Update ends.]

If accurate, the number would suggest that games consoles are still very popular--at least among core fans--with both systems apparently shipping a combined 54 million units in about two and a half years.

Independent analysts have estimated PS4 sales will surpass 100 million units.

However, Nintendo's Wii U has underperformed in comparison with its predecessor, the Wii. According to internal company notes, the Wii U has sold about 12 million units since its release in 2012.

In a statement sent to GameSpot, a representative for Microsoft said that its focus for Xbox One will be measuring engagement, as opposed to raw sales data.

“Since Microsoft’s FY16 Q1 earnings report in October 2015, we’ve shifted the way we measure success by focusing on monthly active users on Xbox Live," its statement reads.

"This number represents the total number of users who have signed in to Xbox Live in the past month, which we believe provides a more accurate view of engagement compared to hardware sales. Specific to Microsoft’s most recent earnings report for FY16 Q2, we saw video game revenue grow 47 percent and Xbox Live revenue increased 24 percent with active Xbox Live monthly users growing 30 percent to 48 million.

"We continue to see strong and steady growth in engagement year-over-year and look forward to bringing more unprecedented experiences on Xbox One, Windows 10 and Xbox Live later this year.”