PlayStation 4 still on top in July, says NPD

Microsoft may have wowed the crowd at Gamescom early this month, and may even have won hearts, but Sony is still winning wallets, at least in July and for now. Market research firm NPD has just given their report on the console gaming market in the US for the past month and Sony is only too happy to share it. That's because, despite not having new games for the season, both in general and for Sony specifically, the PlayStation 4 still ranked as the top console and its games the top software for July.

"We are truly humbled by the success of the PS4, and we would like to thank gamers for making it the top-selling console and No. 1 in software sales in the United States in July," is supposedly what a Sony representative is saying. The rivalry between Sony and Microsoft has of course gotten even tighter lately, with the top spot said to be fluctuating between the two, depending who you ask. General consensus, however, holds that the PlayStation 4 has been doing relatively better, though things might be changing very soon.

At Gamescom 2015, Microsoft laid out its ambitious plan to retake the thrown. Part of that relies heavily on captivating new titles and new features, like Windows 10 and Cortana on the console. But a lot of it also lies on Microsoft's surprise announcement of the Xbox One's backward compatibility with Xbox 360 games. To be more specific, all Xbox 360 Games for Gold title will be backwards compatible with the Xbox One.

Of course, that was early August and NPD's figures were for July. It will take some time before Microsoft will be able to sell the fruits of its plans in the market. In the meantime, Sony also has its own portfolio of heavy hitters, like Final Fantasy XV, The Last Guardian, the Final Fantasy VII remake, and Horizon Zero Dawn just to name a few. Suffice it to say, things are bound to heat up in the coming months, especially towards the holiday season.

VIA: GamesBeat