While Sony is getting ready to release its new Playstation 4 Pro in the US on November 15, a new report shows that Microsoft’s Xbox brand has been leading game-related TV advertising by a large margin during the month of October. The news came today from VentureBeat which partnered with iSpot.tv to get monthly data about the top spending gaming brands.
According to the report, 44 gaming brands spent an estimated $101.6 million on TV ads last month, with 129 ads running 22,538 times on national TV. Microsoft was the biggest spender with an estimated $39.9 million (39.3% of the total) for 16 commercials that ran 4,118 times in October. The company’s top ad was the Gears of War 4 launch trailer, which was the latest blockbuster release from Microsoft Studios last month. According to iSpot.tv, the gaming brand chose NBC, Fox and ESPN as its top networks as well as NFL football, college football and South Park as its top shows during the period.
Compared to Microsoft’s massive advertising efforts, Sony only spent an estimated $12.1 million (11.9% of the total) last month on 11 commercials that ran 1,612 times. Machine Zone, the developer of popular mobile game Game of War:Fire Age closed the top 5 behind 2K Games and Bethesda Softworks.
While we don’t have additional data about Microsoft’s TV advertising budget for the previous months, we previously reported that the Xbox One was the best selling console in the US for the third time in a row in September. Last month, the company also unveiled a new ad for its Xbox One S console, presenting it as the “ultimate games and 4K entertainment system.” As we’re now nearing the holiday season, we expect Microsoft to keep spending on TV ads as the company obviously needs to compete for mindshare against its Japanese competitor which will launch the Playstation 4 Pro next week.
