Sony is absolutely soaring right now. The company is on an absolute hot streak. The PlayStation 4 is proving to be their lucky star. After a generation where it didn’t manage to come in first, it’s the cream of the crop. In fact, Sony’s latest figures from its third quarter of the 2016 fiscal year put the system at over 57.1 million PlayStation 4s shipped. It’s quite an accomplishment. But, can the PlayStation 4 beat the company’s previous best seller?
The PlayStation 2 was Sony’s best and brightest. Between 2000 and 2012, it ended up selling over 155 million systems. There were about 2,500 games released for the console worldwide. The only other game console that comes close, in terms of sales, is the PlayStation at over 102 million units. And now, it seems like the PlayStation 4 could be the system that could actually challenge its big brother.
Think about it. Right now, the PlayStation 4 is at over 57.1 million units sold. The system launched in North America and Europe in November 2013, followed by a February 2014 Japanese debut. It received over a million pre-orders ahead of launch, and by the end of December 2013, over 4.2 million had been sold. In the span of three years, it passed the 50 million mark. That’s rather substantial growth.
To compare, the PlayStation 2 launched in Japan in March 2000, North America in October 2000, and other regions in November 2000. By the time the fiscal year ending in March 31, 2001 totals came in, over 10 million had been sold. The PlayStation 4 had 10 million copies sold worldwide by August 2014, which was about the same time period. By about the three year mark, the PlayStation 2 had sold over 51 million units. At least, that’s what Sony’s fiscal year ending March 31, 2003 results said. Considering the PlayStation 4 is entering its fourth year now, the stats are incredibly similar.
The size of the PlayStation 4 library backs up the notion that this console could end up being the PlayStation 2’s successor. As I mentioned earlier, there are around 2,500 PlayStation 2 games that have been released in all regions. If you take into account games that are planned to be released on the PlayStation 4 in the near future, there are about 1,300 games in the system’s library. Considering the age of the console, that’s quite a strong start. In fact, with this many available in what’s going to be the console’s fourth year, it could very likely surpass the PlayStation 2 game library.
The PlayStation 4 is looking like it could be a record breaker. Which is exactly what Sony needs. After all, the Wii and Xbox 360 both outsold the PlayStation 3. Having a system that looks like it could be as well established as the PlayStation 2 can only lead to good things for both Sony and those of us who love PlayStation games.