The PlayStation 5’s lifetime sales figures almost four years into its lifespan stand at 61.7 million, Sony told investors in its latest quarterly report on Wednesday. The news comes alongside a not-unexpected quarter-over-quarter drop in PS5 sales as the console ages.
More important is that Sony’s Games & Network Services delivered increases in both sales and operating income, attributable to increased revenue from its PlayStation Plus subscription services, and the PlayStation Store.
Sales were up ¥93 billion/$633.2 million, or 12% better than the same quarter last year; operating income surged 32%, to ¥65.2 billion/$443 million.
Where does the PS5 rank in PlayStation console sales?
As for where the 61.7 million units places the PlayStation 5 among its family of consoles, it’s hard to say because the games industry — except for Nintendo — is rather inconsistent when it comes to reporting and maintaining hard sales figures. The other wrinkle is they report both units shipped (i.e. to retailers) and units sold (someone paid money for one and took it home).
The most recently reported figures had 113.5 million PS4s “sold-through” (to a consumer as of September 2020. So, eight years into its life, it’s roughly double what the PS5’s total is, four years into its life.
It should be noted that roaring demand at launch, manufacturing troubles, and chip shortages all slowed the PS5 out of the gate, with many unable to get their hands on one for six months or more.
More concerning is the apparent slowdown in sales, comparing the company’s fiscal 1st quarter this year to last year. That dropped from 3.3 million PS5’s last year to 2.4 million PS5s this year — 27%. Software sales also were off 5%, down from 56.5 million units in the same quarter of 2023, to 53.6 million units this year.
Featured image via Ideogram
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