There are going to be buns for tea at Sony HQ, as the last few months have seen some incredibly positive gains for that there PlayStation business. I always knew video games would catch on one day. The PlayStation 4 alone shipped an impressive 1.5 million units in the three month period ending 30th September, putting its life-to-date sales at 113.6 million, that's according to a new report from Sony.
With the PlayStation 5 dropping in just a few weeks, this means the PS4 will be ending its run on an incredible high, firmly securing its spot as the second best-selling home console in history. The PS4 hit this milestone late last year, of course, but it's now comfortably ahead of the original PlayStation's 102.5 million and the Wii's 101.6 million, and unlikely to be toppled by the Xbox One's 50 million.
It is, however, still miles behind the PlayStation 2. The classic console, which turned 20 in North America this week, boasts an eye-watering 155 million units sold. I'm not sure any other console will ever come close to that.
Late last year, back when leaving the house was a thing we all did, Guinness World Records presented Sony CEO Jim Ryan and former CEO Ken Kutaragi with a certified plaque confirming that PlayStation was the best-selling home console brand of all time, helped by the immense success of the original console, the PS2, and the PS4. The PS3 also kind of helped out. Sort of.
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"Back when we were developing the original PlayStation, we had the ambition to sell 1 million units," Kutaragi said when collecting the award.
"I look back on that now with nostalgia. We launched the PlayStation platform with the aim of changing the face of entertainment. Receiving this award today, I feel the support of the players who have enjoyed our consoles over the years, and as the father of the PlayStation, I can see it has a bright future."
It remains to be seen exactly where the PS5 will fit into this incredible pantheon of consoles, but it already seems to be off to a strong start. In a recent interview with Reuters, Ryan said that "the demand as expressed by the level of pre-order has been very, very considerable". He then confirmed that Sony shifted as many PS5 consoles in the first 12 hours of pre-orders in the US as PS4 consoles sold via pre-order in its first 12 weeks.
Looking a lot further ahead, Sony recently filed trademarks for the PS6 all the way through the PS10. This obviously doesn't mean for certain that the company intends on releasing another five PlayStation consoles in the next 25 years, of course.
Featured Image Credit: SonyTopics: PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4