April 2018 NPD: PS4 Breaks Records in Staggering Month

The report wasn't very well written sadly.

They say PS4 had the highest unit sales of any April system since the Wii, but then state the highest selling hardware unit in terms of units shipped is the Switch.

Unless what they mean is the PlayStation 4 FAMILY generated a combined new record for unit sales for a console, but the top selling console if we ranked them all as individual things is the Switch, above the PS4 and PS4 Pro as individual things.

So the PS4 combined was the best seller and new April record holder, but individually its the Switch? They dont really make that clear because later they talk about the Pro (I.e. best dollar sales for hardware this month was the Pro) but other times they just say "PS4".

Thing is they never state if its the "PlayStation 4" or "PlayStation 4 family of systems". Just...PlayStation 4, which draws issue when they later mention the PS4 Pro. So it seems as though throughout the report they are talking about the individual stock keeping units.

@YummyHappyPills
To much caffeine mate

@gingerfrog Well no. If they are talking about one collective family they should say so rather than use the name of one of the SKUs as a catch all, but then use the other SKU directly later. It implies they are talking about both individually not as a family.

@get2sammyb Its only recently too, but I think the reason why is the PS4 Pro and Xbox One X at much higher price points and having such an impact on sales that it makes sense to note them individually.

Why they do that for Switch I will never understand, because there is just one. But for the Pro etc. it makes sense being notably different hardware but part of a larger bracket.

Then again I dont recall them doing that for the 3DS...huuuh.

Weird oddities.

No surprise. PS4 has accrued a staggering number of new games in 2018, with God of War, in particular, becoming a critical and commercial darling. Meanwhile, Switch and Xbone have seen bugger all in terms of exciting new releases.

Again, PS4 really earned this victory.

@Ralizah I'd say its more like when the PS4 launched.

It was mostly handed this one. Just the distance was its own doing

No surprise there.god of war is the best.word up son

It was pretty obvious God of War was going to have a big month (deservedly so), but it's great to see MLB The Show also maintained its success from the month before. And as usual Ubisoft does what it always does... just sells games regardless of the hate the company gets.

@YummyHappyPills made up numbers just to make a point.

1. PS4:. 5,000 units
2. PS4 Pro: 5,000 units
3. switch: Blue neon 6,000 units
4. Switch: Gray, 2,000 units.

PS4 best selling console.
PS4 pro most dollars generated (more expensive)
Nintendo switch noen best selling model or SKU.

In the end. More people went into the store and bought a PS4 to play PS4 games (10k) than people who went and bought a Switch to play switch games (8k). So PS4 is the best selling console

@Gamer83 Gaming bubble 101 there. We may dislike Ubisoft but the wider market doesn't care.

@Agramonte Yeah I know that. Doesn't stop the report from being poorly worded in getting that point across.

You know what would help? Actual numbers from these things

Baseball! The world's best sport, after football, basketball, hockey, lacrosse, cricket...and literally every other sport!
The videogames are funny though...
Anyway, God of War! Deserves to be top 1 game all year

@YummyHappyPills yep... They making a mess with it. - same as last month.

Exactly, like the weekly numbers out of Japan. But they do not break out the Switch SKU. But they do give actual numbers.

I was told you get numbers if you pay for the report. But can't be made public. Not sure if true.

@YummyHappyPills
I actually don't fall into the camp that dislikes Ubisoft. Hate some of its business practices for sure, but there are far worse in the industry. I'm also a bit of an oddity in this community in that I'm a big fan of the Assassin's Creed series. Obviously you're right about the bubble. Same with CoD. Never see more b**tching and complaining than when a new CoD is announced then we get the sales numbers and it's outselling everything else for the year in one month alone.

What I dont get is how DK is here, since that released in May. When do they cut April?

@AFCC Baseball is actually pretty deep as far as tactics go. You would be surprised. The real bad sport imo opinion is Rugby League, a complete lack of tactics. It still has amazing turns of skill of course and crunching hits but there is limited tactics and strategy.

Yakuza 6 has done pretty well. Heres hoping 2,3 and 4 make it over.

PS4 is a juggernaut, also amazing numbers for God of War and MLB 18. Looks like that Yakuza 6 is doing great as well.

But, but, but exclusives don’t matter!!! 😂

I'm sorry, but seeing Kratos smile, even if it's barely one at all, just looks wrong.

Ouch! Sea of Thieves. That ship sank fast.

@YummyHappyPills I believe the PS4 ‘Family’ did 320K +. NS & XB1 did 175K & 135K respectively. Numbers leaked sometime ago, hence why Sammy said the PS4 beat both combined.

Sony/PS4 really are on fire right now. From now until early September I’m interested in Detroit, Yakuza Kiwami 2, DQ11 & Spider-Man. Crazy.

This train never stop

@PS_Nation @themcnoisy
Happy to see Yakuza 6 charted. I was worried it'd be totally buried releasing so close to God of War (and to a lesser extent Labo, different markets but still there is some crossover between the PlayStation and Nintendo crowds).

@Gamer83 I will buy Yakuza 6 soon, I hope. I didn't buy it on the release date because Im still playing Yakuza 0.

@Gamer83 I'm also a fan of Ubisoft. In fact, aside from Sony's in-house teams, Ubi are probably my favourite developer at the moment. I've certainly bought more of their games in recent years than any other company.

I'm not a fan of the AC games, but have enjoyed both Watch_Dogs games, as well as all the Far Cry's, The Division, and GR Wildlands.

Anyway... remember when analysts said that consoles were going to die out? Really earned their pay with that one!

Big rewards for the people that offer great things!

The "PS4" -Pro & "Xbox One" X are named that because they are still just a PS4 and Xbox One. Each plays the same generation of games.

On the consumer end we as players benefit with improved product.

@Paranoimia
Happy they were wrong about that. I don't know how much longer we'll get 'traditional' consoles but at least we'll have one more generation after this one.

@PS_Nation
Yakuza 6, what I've played anyway, is pretty awesome. Still consider 0 the peak of the series though. Loved the story in that one.

I told you this GTA V thing was going to do well. It's only mid-table right now, because only the cool kids like me know about it. But soon it's going to really take off.

@themcnoisy ok Rugby is pretty bad too! But you gotta admit that despite having lots of tactics baseball is pretty boring to watch

@AFCC I used to watch it. Once you know whats going on it is more interesting and the commentry is usually really informative. Otherwise if you put it on accidentally without understanding, its just dudes throwing and hitting balls so it would be boring.

@themcnoisy I just think it's too...slow! They stop too much! But I would like to play it...
It's like tennis! I love it when I'm playing but for some reason watching is boring to me lol