The latest NPD sales analysis reveals interesting data in the face of Microsoft’s E3 press conference this year
As per NPD results out for July 2015, Sony Corporations's (ADR)'s (NYSE:SNE) PlayStation 4 once again dominated US hardware and software sales. Sony confirmed it via a statement to GamesBeat and noted the strong sales were due to Batman: Arkham Knight’s release in June and the limited edition bundles it introduced.
The surprising thing about the results was that Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) was in second place after PlayStation 4 in physical software sales. While talking to GamesBeat, NPD analyst Liam Callahan informed the increase was due to Microsoft’s introduction of backward compatibility support for Xbox One. This is potential news for Microsoft as only a few Xbox One users can play Xbox 360 games through the Xbox Preview testing. However, with Xbox One’s new feature, sales may increase once the backward compatibility is made available publicly later this year in November.
Backward compatibility on Xbox One allows the user to play Xbox 360 games at no additional cost. At the moment the feature is limited to only a select few compatible titles. However, Microsoft has stated that over 100 titles would be available at launch and more would follow once publishers start approving them. Gamers can also vote for their favorite games to bring on the system, adding incentive for customers to grab Xbox 360 games' copies they want to play. It is worth noting that many Xbox One owners must be gamers who never owned Xbox 360 and have a great catalog of games to look forward to.
The feature also gives customers an increased opportunity to switch to next generation. Since games available on Xbox 360 can now be played on the new console, customers may find it appealing to trade in their Xbox 360 for an Xbox One. Backward compatibility is scheduled to be released in November with the New Xbox Experience, which is a complete overhaul of the existing dashboard.
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