THE CRUNCH
The PlayStation 5 has officially passed 100 million consoles shipped, according to Sony's updated sales data. The milestone was reached on 10 November, almost exactly six years after the console launched in November 2020. That puts the PS5 nearly on par with the original PlayStation, which managed 102.4 million, and keeps it chasing the PlayStation 4's 117 million.
One caveat worth knowing: the figure is 'sell-in' units, meaning consoles shipped to retailers, not 'sell-through', which tracks machines actually bought by players. The number of PS5s in people's homes is therefore smaller than 100 million.
The pace is respectable but not record-breaking. The PlayStation 4 reached the same milestone in June 2019, five years and seven months after its launch, and the PS5 got there despite costing significantly more and suffering supply constraints early on. Only seven consoles have ever shipped more than 100 million units, all made by Nintendo or Sony, from the Wii's 101 million up to the PlayStation 2's 160 million.
Recent quarterly figures show sales gradually declining, as is typical for a console in its sixth year. Sony sold 2.6 million PS5s in the most recent quarter, down from 4 million a year earlier and the lowest second quarter since launch, though it was still up on the previous quarter's 1.6 million. Eurogamer attributes the broader downturn partly to price rises for the PS5 and PS5 Pro since 2020, while noting Sony's revenue from its existing audience has kept the bottom line healthy. The impending release of Grand Theft Auto 6, and a potentially extended hardware cycle, could yet lift current-gen sales.