This Is Xbox's Best-Selling Console Of All Time

After six years of the Xbox Series X|S, Microsoft is gearing up to announce its successor, currently known as Project Helix. The upcoming hardware could help the company revitalize its gaming brand after a console generation tainted by underwhelming sales numbers, layoffs, marketing missteps, and tens of billions of dollars worth of acquisitions that failed to manifest any must-play exclusives. With Helix, there's no doubt the company would like to break the record for the best-selling Xbox console of all time, a title currently held by the Xbox 360.

Following its November 2005 release, Xbox 360 sold 85.73 million units worldwide, making it the 10th best-selling gaming platform of all time. Just above it is the PlayStation 3 — the Xbox 360's primary competitor — which sold 87.4 million units. Other Xboxes don't come close; next best is the Xbox One at 57.98 million, then the Xbox Series X|S at 35.32 million (as of this writing), and finally the ahead-of-its-time original Xbox at 24.65 million.

That being said, every PlayStation home console has outsold the Xbox 360, as have the Nintendo Switch, Nintendo DS, and Nintendo Wii (another of the 360's contemporaries). Sony and Nintendo hardware performs far better in Japan than Xbox consoles, where the 360 managed to barely sell a million units. In addition to stronger international sales compared to other Microsoft consoles, the 360 outperformed the PS3 by over 16.5 million in the U.S., which definitely helped it earn its distinction as the best-selling Xbox console.

The Xbox 360 era was the height of competition between Xbox and PlayStation, and there's a case to be made that Microsoft came out on top. While similar in power to the PS3, the Xbox 360 was far easier for developers to work with. Between that and, likely, some exclusivity deals, Xbox got major third-party titles like Mass Effect and BioShock long before PlayStation. Games released on both hardware usually ran better on Xbox 360, too.

It was also a good time for Xbox's first-party offerings. "Gears of War" released in 2006 to overwhelmingly positive reviews, kicking off one of Microsoft Game Studios' most successful franchises. The following year, the Xbox 360 solidified its place as the best platform for shooters thanks to the universally acclaimed "Halo 3." Multiplayer games flourished thanks to Xbox Live and its Achievements, a system other platforms have since implemented. There was also the Kinect. While the Wii dominated the era as a cultural phenomenon that you could find everywhere from school gyms to nursing homes, the Kinect stood out by being a motion sensor that went on top of your TV rather than a controller you needed to keep in your hand.

Another factor in the Xbox 360's success was its price. The Xbox 360's two models cost $299 and $399 at launch, whereas the PS3 released the previous year at $499 and $599. That's not to say there were no issues — no one can forget about the infamous red ring of death. Still, it was an undeniably great time to be an Xbox fan, so it makes sense that the Xbox 360 would remain Microsoft's best-selling console a decade after it was discontinued.