Anyone who remembers the PlayStation 2 reigning in rental stores and living rooms in Brazil knows the weight of such a number. At the end of July 2019, Sony’s latest financial report showed that the PlayStation 4 had reached 100 million units shipped worldwide, a mark reached by June 30 that year. In the April to June 2019 quarter alone, 3.2 million consoles were shipped.
The figure that drew the most attention was the speed. Launched on November 15, 2013 in North America, November 29 in Europe and only on February 22, 2014 in Japan, the PS4 took about 5 years and 7 months to get there. For comparison, the PlayStation 2, the best-selling console in history, needed 5 years and 9 months to hit the same 100 million. The report at the time also pointed out that PS4 sales were slowing, as is natural at the end of a generation: in the fiscal year ending March 2019, 17.8 million units were sold, against 19 million the previous year.
The PS4’s trajectory helps explain the milestone. The console sold 1 million units on its launch day in North America and reached 4.2 million by the end of 2013. In September 2016, it got two new versions: the Slim model, 40% smaller, and the PlayStation 4 Pro, with more graphics power and support for 4K rendering.
What came next
The PS4 kept selling even after hitting the mark: 102.8 million in October 2019 and 117 million by March 2022. The PlayStation 5 arrived in November 2020, but during the global chip shortage Sony kept PS4 production going longer than planned to meet demand. The console was discontinued in Japan on 28 March 2024, closing the story of one of the most beloved consoles in the PlayStation family.
Where to buy
Source: Sony, via Eurogamer.
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Max Xavier
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