Over the entirety of the current video game console cycle, Sony’s PlayStation 4 has been the top selling system. Now the popular console has a new accolade to add to its list: At Sony’s 2020 CES press conference on Monday, the company announced that PS4 sales have officially topped 106 million units, making it the second best-selling home console in the history of video games.
The achievement makes the PS4 more popular than Nintendo’s groundbreaking Wii, as well as the original PlayStation. To date, only the PlayStation 2 has sold more systems, topping the charts at 157 million units.
But there is a caveat: PS4’s second all-time ranking does not factor in sales of handheld game systems, such as the Game Boy and Nintendo DS—both of which devices have outsold Sony’s console, to date.
The PS4’s popularity has also had a ripple effect for game makers. Since its retail debut on Nov. 15, 2013, players have bought 1.15 billion games for the system, Sony says.
Sony also announced another noteworthy video gaming milestones: Sony’s PlayStation VR headset has sold 5 million units since its debut in October 2016. In addition, PlayStation Network, the company’s online gaming service, now has 103 million active users, Sony says.
The PS4’s sales milestone is more than a bragging right for Sony—it’s an argument against the idea that the current generation of consoles could be the last (or near it). Six years ago, when the PS4 and Xbox One launched, some analysts and observers openly wondered about the fate of game systems. But hardware innovations (including VR and new subscription models), and an overabundance of quality games kept players actively engaged throughout the systems’ life-cycles.
“PlayStation is the embodiment of a creative entertainment property, with a solid foundation of technology,” said Jim Ryan, president & CEO of Sony Interactive Enetertainment. “And it’s our mission to embrace the entire creative community.… That commitment will carry us through as we launch our next generation of PlayStation.”
Sony will launch the PlayStation 5 later this year, telling players to expect hardware enhancements like a much faster hard drive (drastically reducing or eliminating load times), a 4K Blu-ray drive, and a more adaptive controller in the console’s next iteration. Critical details, including price, backwards compatibility and the console’s design will be announced at a later date.
The PlayStation is critically important to Sony’s earnings. Even though sales in its division were down 17% year-over-year in the most recent quarter, it was the second biggest contributor to the company’s overall revenue.
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