Sony again reigned supreme in the U.S. console race last month.
The NPD Group released U.S. sales data from March and revealed that the PS4 ranked No. 1 in both console and software sales for the second straight month, ahead of Microsoft’s Xbox One.
The margin of Sony’s victory isn’t clear. Neither Sony nor Microsoft released the specific number of consoles they sold during March in the U.S.
“We are truly honored PlayStation 4 is the top selling console and #1 in software sales again according to NPD sales data for March 2015,” Sony said in a statement. “PS4 remains the cumulative sales leader both globally and in the United States and we want to thank gamers worldwide for their ongoing support.”
Sony reported last month that it has sold 20.2 million units since the PS4 went on sale less than two years ago, making the game console the company’s fastest-selling video game console ever.
Microsoft said that “cumulative U.S. Xbox One sales continued to outpace Xbox 360 sales at the same point in its lifecycle” in March and time spent playing games on Xbox One increased by 45 percent from this time last year.
“We’re grateful to our passionate and highly engaged Xbox One fan base and are looking forward to sharing more on games coming later this year, including the highly anticipated release of ‘Halo 5: Guardians’ on Oct. 27,” Xbox Marketing VP Mike Nichols said in a statement.
Microsoft has sold the Xbox One for $349 since Jan. 16; the PS4 has sold at $399 since launch.
Nintendo, meanwhile, said that hardware sales are up 60 percent since last year.
Consumers spent $963.7 million on video software (NPD only tracks physical game purchases), consoles, and accessories in March, down 6 percent from last year. Hardware sales were down 21 percent from 2014, which isn’t too surprising given that the Xbox One and PS4 debuted in November 2013.
