Sony has revealed the sales figures for the PlayStation 4 for 2013, and it turns out that the console has outsold the Xbox One by a significant margin.

Microsoft was the first console maker to claim it had passed the 3 million sales mark. At CES 2014, Sony announced the PlayStation 4 sold 4.2 million units worldwide in 2013, easily beating both the Xbox One and their own sales goals for the year. In addition, IGN reports that the PlayStation 4 is the best-selling next-gen video game console, outselling the Xbox One, and the Wii U, which has managed just 3.91 million units sold in the 11 months since it was released.

What makes this feat even more important for Sony and the PlayStation 4 is that the device is expected to be supply challenged in the foreseeable future, meaning that Sony managed to sell over 4 million units without having a steady supply of consoles to meet worldwide demand. This means users are buying the PlayStation 4 as soon as it is available in stores.

The PlayStation 4 has also managed to set a record pace for sales of a video game console in comparison to past console launches. When the Nintendo Wii launched, it was the best-selling console of all time, selling 2 million units six weeks after launch. This means that in the same amount of time, the PlayStation 4 has doubled the amount the Wii's sales, which seems to indicate that the console gaming market is very healthy and ready to expand even further despite competition from mobile and smartphone platforms.

While Sony may have the advantage over Microsoft right now, things may change fairly quickly. After all, the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One have only been available for several weeks, so things could shift in the months and years ahead. One potential factor that could cause either console to surge in sales is that neither console is available in Japan. Plus, the Xbox One is available in far fewer countries than the PlayStation 4 is currently, so Xbox One sales could improve once more countries receive the console in the future.