Microsoft announces record sales for Xbox Series X, Series S

The Xbox Series X and Series S went on sale on November 10 internationally. Despite launching the middle of a global pandemic, Xbox has beaten all previous console launch records with its new systems, according to Xbox head Phil Spencer.

In a tweet, Spencer thanked the community for the "the largest launch in Xbox history", adding that within 24 hours "more new consoles were sold, in more countries, than ever before."

He also addressed the current stock shortages as many fans are scrambling to get orders of the new Xbox Series consoles as soon as they go live.

The XSX does have the advantage of initially launching in 37 countries, which is almost three times as many as the Xbox One launch in 2013.

Since 2015, the company has stopped divulging information about individual sales, as part of what Spencer identifies as a general strategy to focus on player numbers rather than units shipped.

Sony has sold around 113 million consoles during the PS4 lifecycle and it will be interesting to see how many Xbox Series consoles and PS5 consoles have sold worldwide during the launch period.