The PlayStation 4 may be selling almost twice as well as the Xbox One, according to some leaked numbers from a recent Electronic Arts financial call, but Xbox One users are more valuable to developers. This is according to Ubisoft, which claims that Xbox One users spend $1.25 for every $1.00 that PlayStation 4 users spend, similar to how developers prefer releasing apps on iOS because, despite the fact that Android has significantly more users, iOS users spend more money on average.
While just about every publisher who is making a shooter is flocking to the PS4 (the new home of shooters, according to Sony), Ubisoft is staying the course with The Division, which had an extra day of lead time with the beta on Xbox One, and some light exclusives. Why? Well Ubisoft’s recent financial report might explain that decision a bit. According to the publisher, Xbox One owners spend $1.25 for every $1 that PS4 owners do, leading to a better average revenue per player count. Overall, Ubisoft netted 41% of its third quarter sales from PS4 products, 27% from Xbox One, 12% from PC, 6% from Wii, and 4% from the Xbox 360. The Wii U, sadly, was counted as an “other” with PS3 and mobile, which netted 10% — but it’s not like it supports the platform anyway. Interesting stuff! I agree with VentureBeat’s assessment that the Xbox One will likely not catch up with the PS4 in terms of hardware units sold, but if there’s one company that knows how to monetize its customers, it’s Microsoft. The fact that it can do this ensures that it is still in the fight this console generation.
