It’s official: Sony’s marketing spend on TV adverts for PlayStation 4 in 2015 proved to be slightly higher than that of Microsoft’s for Xbox One across the same period.

According to figures published by GamesIndustry.biz, across the 12 months, Sony’s total weighed in at $31.8 million across 13 TV adverts, while Microsoft appeared to be more efficient, spending a total of $30.5 million for 15 TV spots by comparison. 

And though the expenditure of the two platform holders dipped from 2014, the report confirms that video game publishers continue to invest in marquee TV adverts to trumpet upcoming releases. Case in point: both Bethesda Softworks and Activision’s surge can be tied to the fall release of both Fallout 4 and Call of Duty: Black Ops 3, respectively. 

Landing at the top of the pack, Machine Zone spent an eye-watering $61 million alone in its Kate Upton-fronted ad campaign for Game of War, a budget in the same ballpark of a lower-tier Hollywood blockbuster. Finally, for the second consecutive year, Nintendo ran more adverts than Microsoft and Sony combined with a total of 49. 

[Source: GamesIndustry.biz]

What's shocking to me is that Nintendo spent more than both. O.o

Weird use of the term "efficient"

Nintendo spends that much on ads? and I never see any.....

I hope this will dispel the myth about Nintendo not advertising their games. gg Nintendo

I have 2 young children so when the TV is on during the day it's usually channels like Nickelodeon or Disney, advertisements for Nintendo games are on these networks constantly.

Sony seems the most efficient to me, more consoles sold but almost the same as microsoft spent.

Wouldn't hold my breath if I were you.

Based off the metric that they spent less per ad than Sony? How about overall impact on hardware sales, something that isn't easily quantifiable? I would think that Sony's cost per ad is higher because they secured advertising rights for Battlefront and Black Ops 3, which has clearly paid off considering the fact that each of those titles on PS4 has outsold any title on XB1. 

Funny that you say 'efficient' makes sense.

Sony advertising budget 2014+2015: 69.5 million

Microsoft advertising budget 2014+2015: 61.8 million

And yet the overall software and hardware sales are disproportionately skewed in Sonys favor. Not sure how that makes MS' use of a marketing budget efficient in contrast to who they compete against.

Seems logical to me. Microsoft has more to spend but succeeding in the video-game industry is more important to Sony. Nintendo running more ads but spending way less per ad makes sense, as well, given that they often advertise toward a market that watches less prime time programming.

Wrong use of the word "efficient", though. A measure of efficiency would need to include the end result, as well, and this article makes no mention of that. You can spend the most and still be the most efficient as long as you had the best ratio on your return.