Following the Nintendo Switch presentation last week, video game tracking firm SuperData released their take on the upcoming system. Discussing Nintendo’s online plans for Switch, which include a paid subscription with free access to select virtual console games for a month, SuperData revealed just how much money PlayStation Plus and Xbox Live memberships generated in 2016:
[…] the combined earnings for the subscription service for Sony and Xbox – PlayStation Network and Xbox Live, respectively – generated around $3 billion in revenues last year, and has proven a key component in transitioning consumers to the higher-margin side of the business in digital distribution. Total earnings for digital downloads on console last year, including full game downloads and micro-transactions, was $7 billion, worldwide. SuperData estimates that the digital console market will reach $7.8 billion in 2017.
Back in June 2016, Sony revealed that there were nearly 21 million PlayStation Plus subscribers, as of April 2016. Back in October, Microsoft reported 47 million monthly active Xbox Live users in the first quarter of this current fiscal year.
As for console sales, SuperData says Sony is “dominating with an install base of almost 55 million” (PlayStation 4 sales were at 53.4 million as of January 1, 2017), and Xbox One is at 26 million. Microsoft hasn’t reported official Xbox One console sales numbers recently.
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