A surprising new report suggests that PlayStation 5 sales have now outpaced PlayStation 4 sales over the same period, suggesting gamers are eager to get their hands on Sony’s latest console. Just a few months ago, Sony Interactive Entertainment president Jim Ryan took the stage at CES 2023 to announce that the PS5 console shortage was over, saying gamers should make it “easier to find one” moving forward.
Sony’s PlayStation 5 launched in late 2020 after being officially announced the year before, with several improvements over the aging PlayStation 4. With a solid-state drive capable of delivering lightning-fast load times and a faster processor and GPU, the PS5 promises gamers the ability to enjoy some of their favorite titles with next-gen graphics features like seamless loading and ray tracing. While the company has long prided itself on having powerful consoles, that fact is attested to by years of patent filings in which Sony called Nintendo and Microsoft consoles “inferior,” supply chain issues related to the global pandemic Made it difficult for the PS5 to come out until recently.
According to a new report from market research firm Circana (formerly The NPD Group), Sony’s PlayStation 5 is now outselling the PlayStation 4 at the same point in its lifecycle. Circana executive director Mat Piscatella shared the news as part of a Twitter thread discussing Circana’s March 2023 US gaming market findings, with Piscatella stating that PS5 sales “have now outpaced PlayStation 4 time sync (29 months). ) market).” The thread also notes that the PS5 is the “best-selling hardware platform in unit and dollar terms” so far in March and all of 2023.
The fast sales of the PlayStation 5 is undoubtedly good news for Sony, as the company prepares to release highly anticipated exclusive games such as Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 and Death Stranding 2 in the coming years. But with more devices starting to hit retail shelves and gamers finally able to get their hands on the coveted console, the base PS5 may be out. Recent reports have indicated that Sony is working on new PlayStation hardware, with rumors suggesting that the company may release a new version of the console that is quite different from the expected PS5 Pro hardware update.
With industry-leading sales and several high-profile console exclusives on the horizon, the PlayStation 5 is poised to be one of the company’s most successful consoles to date. The news is also a win for gamers, with more console sales likely to translate into increased developer interest in developing games for the console. It remains to be seen, though, whether the unusual temperature change PlayStation controller revealed in a recent patent will help spur sales further.