Sony’s PS5 sells more than 80 million units as game sales soar

It launched in the midst of the pandemic back in 2020, but Sony’s PlayStation 5 console (or PS5 as it’s known to its friends) has now sold more than 80 million units.

Japanese company Sony revealed this in its quarterly financial report (via engadget.com). This means that the PS5 has sold about as many units as the PS4 in the same time period (it has been in the market for almost five years), which is no mean feat taking into account supply issues during the pandemic. The PS4’s total cumulative sales during its lifetime top 117 million, meaning the PS5 still has a while to go in order to match the PS4’s total sales. It is closer to reaching the PS3’s total sales (87 million), which is indeed very likely to happen.

What’s clear, though, is that the PS5 has become the dominant console of this generation, its sales blowing past those of rivals the Xbox Series X and S. Actually, Microsoft’s Xbox Series X/S consoles have sold about 33 million total units (according to unofficial data on vgchartz.com) vs Sony’s 80 million… Maybe Microsoft’s decision to release two separate Xbox Series consoles (the X and S) had something to do with this. The Xbox Series X is actually a bit more powerful than the PS5, but the Xbox Series S is considerably less powerful, and is a digital only console.

Meanwhile, Sony’s PS5 has a digital version, but a Blu-ray drive can be added to it. Besides this, it’s just as powerful as the standard PS5 model. There is also the PS5 Pro model for those who crave a stronger gaming machine too…

Gamers have been buying a ton of games on the PS5, including Microsoft’s Forza Horizon 5.

It might be the fact that Sony’s PS5 has such a big user base that Microsoft has decided to begin porting its major Xbox and PC exclusives to the console. Actually, Forza Horizon 5 is this year’s top-selling game on PS5, and rumors point to Starfield coming to the console sometime next year. This would make sense taking into account that game sales on PS5 are soaring as Sony revealed in its latest quarterly report (which also revealed the PS5 topping the 80 million units sold mark as stated earlier).

The Japanese company sold 66 million video games in the quarter ending in June 30, this representing a 12 million increase when compared to the same period in the previous year. These are stunning numbers, but according to the company only about 7 million of these games were first-party releases. So these sales were not mostly powered by PlayStation exclusives, as has been the case in the past. And it may be weird for some people to see how Xbox has become one of the top video game publishers on PlayStation consoles this year too, but that’s the way it is.

Nonetheless, it’s clear that Sony’s PS5, just like its predecessor the PS4, has dominated the market over Microsoft’s consoles. It has become the must-own console for many gamers this generation, and the PS5 is likely to keep scoring hits as its fifth anniversary approaches this year.