Sony offers some of the best consoles in the world, and these PlayStation statistics are here to show it. It’s a ubiquitous name in the world of gaming, which is why we wanted to help you learn more about these great consoles.
With that in mind, we have prepared several valuable and exciting stats and facts you’ll want to read. But before we begin listing all the stats, let’s take a look at the top 10.
Top 10 PlayStation Statistics and Facts
- PS2 is the best-selling Sony console, with 157.7 million units sold.
- The average number of games a PS4 user has is 9.6.
- Sony’s best-selling quarter was Q3 of 2013 — sold 9.8 million consoles.
- Sony has sold 7.8 million PS5 consoles by the end of March 2021.
- The PS4 was sold in over 7.6 million units in the first five months.
- By September 2020, Sony sold 34.9 million PS3 units in Europe.
- Sony will have sold around 67.3 million PS5s by the end of 2024.
- The PlayStation VR sold over 5 million units by end of January 2020.
- PlayStation holds 66.6% of the global console market.
- PlayStation 1 facts state that a total of 2,808 games were made for the console.
Essential PlayStation Statistics for 2021 and Beyond
This year and the previous one have been rough for many industries, but not so much for the gaming one. Here’s how Sony did — and is expected to do — despite the pandemic.
1. PS2 facts reveal the PS2 is the best-selling Sony console and the best-selling video game console in general, with 157.7 million units sold.
(Statista)
A very close second is the famous Nintendo DS with 154.9 million units sold, according to the latest facts about PlayStation 2 and other video game consoles.
If we were to look at the same best-selling list, we would find the PS4 in the fourth spot, with 113.2 million units sold. The original PlayStation right after it, with 102.5 million, and the PlayStation 3, with the lowest figures of 87.4 million, in the seventh spot.
2. Sony’s best-selling quarter was Q3 of 2013, when the company sold 9.8 million consoles, according to PlayStation facts and history.
(Statista)
The company sold 4.5 million units of PS4, 3.3. million units of previous PS consoles, as well as 2 million units of their PSP lineup.
It’s also interesting to mention that Playstation end of year stats reveal that Sony seems to always sell the most consoles in the third quarter of any given year. This has been a clear trend since 2011.
3. Sony has sold 7.8 million PS5 consoles by the end of March 2021, the latest facts about PlayStation 5 show.
(The Verge)
From January to March, the company sold around 3.3 million units of their latest console. The numbers are not big, but they are not small either, especially when you consider how hard it is to get the console.
The demand is high, and the company is not quite managing to meet it. However, the following few facts about the PS5 will show you there’s nothing to worry about.
4. The current predictions state that Sony will have sold around 67.3 million PS5s by the end of 2024.
(Statista)
The same PlayStation figures predicted that the company would sell 5 million units in 2020, which was pretty accurate.
The predicted numbers for 2021 are 17.9 million units. With the current number being 7.8, plus plenty of time still left in 2021, the prognosis is indeed favorable.
As for the next few years, the current forecast says 33.5 million by 2022 and 50.2 million by 2023. However, there are no forecasts for 2025 at this moment.
5. The PS4 was sold in over 7.6 million units in the first five months, according to facts about PlayStation 4.
(Essentially Sports)
Judging by the fact that the PS5 has sold 7.8 million copies in the same timeframe, we can safely say that the PS5’s future is looking incredibly bright.
Remember, these impressive numbers are despite the lack of available consoles in numerous regions.
All in all, we might be looking at the next best-selling console Sony has ever made.
6. The number of PS Plus subscribers jumped by 6.1 million in 2020–2021, the latest PlayStation statistics say.
(Essentially Sports)
These PSN statistics show that, despite the lockdown and economic problems, the number of PS Plus subscribers has still managed to jump from 41.6 million to 47.6 million in a single year.
Naturally, we have PS5 to thank for this, including the exclusives released for the console.
7. The PlayStation VR was sold in more than 5 million units by the end of January 2020, the latest PSVR sales figures state.
(Road to VR)
Unlike its competitors, Sony always releases sales figures for its Virtual Reality headset. What’s also interesting about these PlayStation VR sales figures is that the numbers have slowly risen over the years.
In early 2017, they crossed the 1 million mark, then 2 million by the end of the same year, 3 million in August 2018, and 4 million by early 2019.
8. Sony has sold the most PS4 consoles in Europe, about 47 million of them, the latest PlayStation stats for 2020 reveal.
(Statista)
The company’s second-biggest market is North America, where it sold 37.3 million PS4 units. At the same time, it also sold 19.6 million in the rest of the world. As for Japan, about 9.2 million PS4s were sold.
These incredible facts about the PlayStation 4 are as of September 2020. They haven’t changed much afterward, though, since the company released PS5 in November that same year.
9. Sony sold an average of 1.1 million units of the PS4 every month since the launch, these incredible PlayStation 4 statistics say.
(GTPlanet)
After selling 100 million units by early 2019, Sony’s PS4 also became the fastest-selling home console of all time.
No other console has managed to surpass this record, and it’s unlikely that the PS5 will break this record, judging by the slow production it experienced in the early months.
What’s also interesting about these PlayStation yearly stats is that the PS2 held this record, and the PS4 beat it by only two months.
10. The latest PS3 facts tell us that, by September 2020, Sony sold 34.9 million PS3 units in Europe.
(Statista)
Sony is usually the most successful in Europe, but North America is not far behind. The company sold about 29.4 million units of PS3 there by the same date.
Additionally, PlayStation 3 facts show that 10.5 million units were sold in Japan only, and 12.5 million were sold in the rest of the world.
Fun Statistics and Facts on Sony’s Consoles and Games
If you find playing on this console fun, you’ll probably find knowing more about it interesting too. So, here are some fun stats and facts about the console and the games you can play on it.
11. PlayStation stats show that the company holds 66.6% of the global console market, making it the most popular console.
(Stat Counter)
By comparison, the Xbox holds about half of this amount — 33.29%. Nintendo only has 0.05%, which shows why the whole console war is primarily between Sony and Microsoft.
Keep in mind that these numbers are being updated monthly, so the war continues.
12. Horizon Zero Dawn is the most expensive form of media ever made in the Netherlands.
(Gamerant)(PlayStation Lifestyle)
The latest PlayStation 4 stats tell us that this incredibly popular game cost $57.3 million(€47 million) to be made.
Judging by the fact that the game is also one of the best-selling PS4 games of all time, having sold more than 10 million copies, it certainly earned a lot of money for Sony. Of course, also for the Dutch studio that made the game.
The latest PlayStation game stats we have for Horizon Zero Dawn say that the game made more than $400 million, almost eight times the amount needed to make it.
13. PlayStation 1 facts state that a total of 2,808 games were made for the console.
(Giant Bomb)
The list included numerous popular titles, many of which have started franchises that are still with us today. For instance, Gran Turismo, the incredibly realistic racing game, did precisely that.
What’s interesting about these PS1 facts is that this game was also the best-selling game for the console, with 10.85 million units being sold.
14. The best-selling PS4 game is Marvel’s Spider-Man, having been sold in 20 million copies as of March 2021, as per PS4 facts.
(Statista)
The same PS4 fun facts tell us that the close second is Grand Theft Auto V, with 19.39 million copies sold.
Then comes Uncharted 4: Thief’s End with 16.25 million, Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 with 15.09 million, Red Dead Redemption 2 with 13.94 million, and Call of Duty: WWII with 13.4 million.
15. The average number of games a PS4 user has is 9.6, PlayStation stats for 2018 show.
(Push Square)
According to the PS4 player stats, Sony sold about 876 million PS4 games and 91.6 million units by the end of 2018.
The number is likely to be even more significant today, considering the pandemic and the amount of time people spend at home.
Many of the popular games on PlayStation consoles are esports. So we’re bound to see more competitive games on Sony consoles.
The whole esports market is expected to see 300 million regular viewers by 2023, which is not a number they’ll want to miss out on.
FAQ
What is better, Xbox or PS4?
Deciding which of the two consoles is better is entirely subjective for a lot of people. However, when we look at the consoles from the perspective of numbers, PS4 seems to be the favorite.
Some reasons for this could be that the PS4 has many more exclusive games, more third-party titles, a more user-friendly interface, and a more innovative controller.
However, that doesn’t mean you should avoid the Xbox, nor does it mean you can’t own both. Ultimately, it all comes down to what you enjoy more.
How many PS4 users are there in 2020?
No one knows the exact number of PS4 users since there’s no way of telling how many people have kept their PS4 console. However, we do know how many units of the console were sold.
As of November 2020, the month when the PS5 was released, 114.19 million units of PS4 were sold, which makes the PlayStation 4 one of the best-selling consoles ever.
If you’re looking for more PS4 stats, you should know that in early 2021, Sony discontinued the production of most PS4 console types. So coupled with the fact that PS5 receives all the hype now, we are unlikely to see the number of PS4 units sold rising.
(Statista)
How many players does PlayStation have?
According to the latest numbers from March 2021, the PlayStation Network (PSN) has around 109 million active users. However, the number had fallen a bit since December 2020, when it had 114 million active users, an all-time high.
However, it’s worth noting that the PSN network only had 50 million users in March 2014, according to the same PlayStation 4 facts. This makes the current number a sizable increase for a timeframe that saw only a single PlayStation console, the PS4, being released.
(Statista)
What is the rarest PlayStation?
Sony has made several special editions of all of its consoles. Unfortunately, many of these are extremely rare today, so it’s hard to accurately say which one is the rarest.
Rose Gold PS4 could be the rarest, as only several were made, and each costs more than $13,000. However, the PlayStation facts we found also tell us that there’s the extremely rare 10 Million Model PS1 and the 24K Gold-Dipped PS3.
Only five of the gold-dipped PS3s were ever made, so this is likely the rarest PlayStation console.
(Wealthy Gorilla)
Conclusion
There you have them, more than a dozen PlayStation statistics and facts you are bound to like. We’ve made sure to include some of the more important ones and some of the most intriguing ones.
The main goal was to make the piece enjoyable, so if you feel we’ve succeeded or if you maybe have something to add, feel free to let us know down below!
