It seems like yesterday that Sony launched the PS5 in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, but now the latest PlayStation is one of the most popular consoles in the world.
Actually, Sony Interactive Entertainment boss Jim Ryan recently said the console had hit a milestone, having sold 40 million units worldwide to date.
“With the support of PlayStation fans, we have reached a milestone of 40 million PS5 consoles sold through to gamers since launch”, said Ryan on Sony’s website.
However, the PlayStation boss also highlighted the difficulties of shipping the PS5 during the pandemic, having previously apologized to gamers about the lack of availability of Sony’s latest console.
“We continued to face headwinds with the pandemic, and it took months for supply chains to normalize so we could have the inventory to keep up with demand”, said Ryan, adding that “now PS5 supply is well-stocked and we are seeing that pent up demand finally being met”.
Comparisons with PS4 sales in the same time frame are also interesting, and definitely put Japanese company Sony in a good light.
Because the thing is that the PS4 launched in November 2013 and had reached the 40 million units sold mark by May 2016.
Meanwhile, the PS5 did so in July this year (having launched in November 2020), only slightly later in its lifecycle. An incredible fact taking into account all the difficulties Sony ran into during the pandemic in order to get the PS5 into consumer’s hands…
The PlayStation 5, though, is now one of the most popular consoles in the world with a big and growing install base and thousands of games available for it, so it makes sense that Sony asked players what they thought were the top games on the platform. The results can be seen in the image below (via sony.com).
These games include the likes of Astro’s Playroom, a freebie included with the console meant to showcase its fancy DualSense controller and its haptic feedback features.
PS5 players also liked the recent Dead Space remake – with the original having been used as an example during Mark Cerny’s presentation prior to the release of the console due to tis immersive audio. The remake is one of the top-rated video games on Sony’s latest console too.
Other, more predictable names include Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II and sports best-seller FIFA 23, although like Disco Elysium also crop up in Sony’s list, showing PS5 owners are also into deep role-playing games as well as action and sports.
Others like The Last of Us Part I, a remake of the original The Last of Us game, prove to remain popular on PlayStation across generations too. The Last of Us remaster was also a hit on the PS4, a console now reaching the end of its life cycle.
It remains to be seen, though, whether the PS5 can surpass the PS4’s sales, which stand at 117 million right now. Will the latest PlayStation end up being as popular as the PS4? It is rumored that a PS5 Slim console could be coming this year, something which could give sales a boost. There’s also the possibility of Sony releasing a PS5 Pro, leading to extra PlayStation 5 sales in the future so it might well be the case that the latest PlayStation ends up being one of the most popular consoles ever made after all is said and done.
PS5 console (Sony)