Sony’s PlayStation 4 is officially the second best-selling home console ever. The milestone was achieved during Q2 2019, a three-month period ending September 30th (tracking in the fiscal year), during which 2.8 million units were shipped. Though somewhat reserved compared to previous quarters, that figure sent lifetime PS4 sales past 102.8 million to surpass the original Sony PlayStation and lay claim to the penultimate top spot.
PS4 now only sits behind its stablemate, the PlayStation 2, which sold in excess of an impressive 150 million units worldwide. With Sony’s next-generation PS5 hardware due out in holiday 2020, however, it seems unlikely that the PS4 will ship around 50% of its current six-year total in time to surpass that. There’s no shame in settling for the silver medal though; especially when PlayStation consoles also take the gold and bronze finishes.
Strong hardware sales this generation have no doubt been driven by some stellar software support, with the platform boasting exclusive games like God of War (2018), Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End, Horizon Zero Dawn, Marvel’s Spider-Man, and Bloodborne. That’s to name just a portion of the acclaimed library, which is still set to grow with upcoming releases like Hideo Kojima’s Death Stranding, Sucker Punch Productions’ Ghost of Tsushima, and the recently delayed Naughty Dog sequel The Last of Us Part II.
PlayStation 4 was also the first console to offer a mid-generation refresh via the PS4 Pro, which introduced better technical and visual performance when playing the same suite of games. In another first, the machine ushered in console virtual reality with the release of PlayStation VR. Support for the emerging 3D display technology also appears as though it’ll continue into the future, with a potential wireless successor coming to PS5.
During a period when overall digital revenue for the industry was down—Fortnite taking the biggest hit at a 43% decline—it’s reassuring to see that hardware is still doing well.
