Sales of Xbox Series consoles have massively underwhelmed in France, with less than 120,000 units sold during the year 2024.
Journalist Oscar Lemaire took to Blue Sky to share that Xbox Series X, Xbox Series X Digital, and Xbox Series S sold less units in France than it did in Japan during 2024. As such, it’s fair to say that the current-gen Xbox consoles have under-performed in the region. That said, the journalist pointed out that Xbox Series console sales in France are in fact much better than sales during the Xbox One generation.
The histograms above show sales of Xbox hardware across different time periods. When the brand first launch in 2002 with the original Xbox, it had one of its most successful years in the country, second only Xbox 360 sales in 2009. Since then, Xbox console sales went on a decline, reaching their lowest point during the Xbox One generation. In terms of sales, the Xbox Series consoles had their best year so far in 2022. In 2024, the current-gen Xbox consoles sold around 120,000 units in Japan. The exacts sales figure for the Xbox Series consoles in France for the year 2024 isn’t available, we now know that it is below 120,000 units.
It was recently reported that Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella had faced the pivotal decision of shutting down the company’s Xbox and cloud gaming business in 2021. With Game Pass in its infancy at the time, the software giant could either invest heavily to bolster its gaming division or shut it down altogether. Nadella ended up going with the former, initiating a bold acquisition strategy that included purchasing Bethesda Studios for $7 billion in 2021 and Activision Blizzard for $75.4 billion in 2023. The acquisitions were intended to fortify Microsoft’s position in gaming and cloud services. By adding major franchises like Elder Scrolls and Call of Duty to its portfolio, the company aimed to make Game Pass indispensable to gamers, thereby driving subscription growth.
