A recent report by Japanese publication Famitsu contained a list of estimated hardware and software sales in Japan, for the week of June 13th to June 19th, 2022. Here, it's revealed that the total sales of Xbox Series X and S consoles were double that of the PlayStation 5 (both standard and digital editions). The Xbox consoles accumulated an estimated total of 6,695 units sold, while the PlayStation 5 did not even reach half of that, at 3,035. This is particularly notable because of how poorly Microsoft's consoles have usually done in the Japanese market. The audience there is often much more drawn to their local studios, which are mostly making games within the PlayStation and Nintendo ecosystems.

The market discrepancy in Japan is quite a shocking thing the first time you hear of it. Though even in the western markets, Xbox often plays third fiddle to PlayStation and Nintendo, it's still a respectable player in the industry. In Japan, however, said fanbase has been nearly non-existent. Despite last week's success, the same Famitsu report shows that the Xbox Series X/S models have sold just over 120,000 units. To put that into perspective, just the Switch, and its various models, have sold almost 25 million units in Japan, since its release in 2017. It would appear though, that Xbox is slowly but surely earning its place in the market. This is not the first week that they've outsold PlayStation; it happened just last month as well. Prior to this, however, it hadn't happened since the launch of Xbox One in 2014.

Now, Xbox still has a long, long way to go, nobody is saying otherwise. The PS5 has still sold more than ten times the units as the Xbox Series X/S in the Japanese market, but if they can have such a dominant week, it's further proof that the Xbox brand may be returning to past heights.

This could be because of Game Pass, it is, after all, a very attractive service with a lot of quality games. Maybe some of you will say it's because of the Xbox Series S, a $300 barrier of entry to the current generation does seem like a bargain many can't refuse. But, maybe more than anything, this shows that the PlayStation 5 supply constraints are directly benefiting Xbox. Indeed, the PS5 is still the hardest console to find in retail stores, and such has been the case since its release.

However, this is not to underplay Xbox's accomplishment. If PlayStation is unable to meet demand, there are those that will tire of waiting and get the Xbox to be able to play current-gen-only games. Though PlayStation is still reigning supreme, this console generation is looking to be much more interesting than the last, with an actual vibrant competition between the two brands.