While early data for console preorders from major online retailers in the U.S. showed that consumers clearly favored the PlayStation 4 over the Xbox One immediately following E3 2013 , the gap in sales between the two next-gen consoles may have narrowed significantly. According to the most recent pre-order data from IGN retail partners in the United States, PS4 led Xbox One in preorders by only around 10 percent.

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This data may fall in line with expectations from at least one major publisher. Based on internal discussions with Microsoft and Sony, Electronic Arts recently revealed that it expects the combined sales for both consoles to hit 10 million by the end of March 2014. While Microsoft has yet to reveal its in-house expectations for how well the Xbox One will ultimately sell, Sony's Andrew House stated at this year's Tokyo Game Show that he's hopeful that 5 million PS4 consoles will be sold during this time period. Do the math and it looks like EA is expecting a similar figure for Xbox One. Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot also recently expressed confidence in the Xbox One. "We see lots of improvement in the preorders that are coming on [Xbox One]," said Guillemot. "So no, we are not worried at all. We think it will be a big seller as well."The reason for the shift in public reception to the Xbox One may have to do with Microsoft's reversal on its originally announced policies regarding always-on connectivity and used game restrictions - policies that proved unpopular with many potential buyers. At E3, Sony took Microsoft head-on during its E3 2013 Media Briefing , announcing that the PS4 would support the lending and selling of used games and not require an online connection, two factors that likely helped lead IGN readers to declare that Sony was "winning E3" by 81% of the votes compared to Microsoft's 12% and Nintendo's 7%.So far, the actual numbers for both Sony and Microsoft are very promising. Preorders for both consoles have already shattered sales records , with Amazon claiming that day-one preorders for PS4 and Xbox One were "nearly two times that of all video game sales on Black Friday last year."Just this week, Sony reported that it sold over 1 million units in the first 24 hours of the PS4's launch in North America, putting it well on its way to reaching that 5 million goal worldwide. PlayStation 4 launched in North America on November 15th and will be released in Europe, Australia and New Zealand on November 29th. The console will launch in Japan in 2014 How well will the Xbox One do? We'll find out soon enough. The Xbox One launches globally this Friday, November 22nd.

Chuck Osborn is IGN's Managing Editor. He likes superheroes and plays Dungeon Raid on his iPhone waaaay too much. Follow his demented ravings on Twitter @ChuckOnGames