Microsoft:
2 10M+ sellers.
8 5M+ sellers.
21 1M+ sellers
Total of 1M+ games: 129M
Sony:
4 5M+ sellers
24 1M+ sellers.
Total of 1M+ games: 83M
It seems quite interesting how Microsoft has outperformed Sony as a publisher inspite of the difference in the level of talent available to both parties in terms of inhouse development studios. I guess it shows than Microsoft has a better idea of what makes a game appeal to a wider audience going by the results of their publishing and the gap anecdotally widens with Xbox Live and some quite strong sellers and good promotions on that service as well like for instance the Summer/Winter of Arcade promotions.
Moving forwards into the next generation Microsoft seems better able to produce hits which shift the bar in terms of console sales and appeal rather than pleasing a small vocal audience. If you use past performance to predict future success then based on the current difference in performance I would have to expect than the Xbox Next will begin life with stronger software support than the PS4 given the natural advantages Microsoft has with leveraging the still formidible Windows empire and their ability to create hits with targeted game design and marketing.
As a publisher Microsoft has taken full advantage of their relative weakness compared to Sony in internal development talent because they lack the conflict of interest between supporting extensive internal development and 3rd party support. In a world where developers are constantly folding and reforming and talent/success is unpredictable, having fewer developers and more scope for publishing promising games seems like a better strategy for success. Even if the exclusives for the most part were timed, gamer's distaste for them is probably overshadowed by their success so I would pick them doing the same again over the first 2-3 years of the next generation as well by getting first dibs on promising 3rd party titles.
Tease.
