It's been three years since the PS5 was released. Although it had a difficult start, particularly due to a shortage of electronic components, but also because of the pandemic, it is now one of the best-selling consoles currently. Today, Sony is revealing particularly high sales figures. The PS5 has just reached 50 million international sales. This represents an increase of 65% compared to last year. The firm expresses its gratitude in a press release official:
“Reaching this milestone in PS5 sales is a testament to the unwavering support of the global PlayStation community and their passion for the incredible experiences created by the talented developers at PlayStation Studios and our partners.” – Jim Ryan
The last time we had news of PS5 sales was last July when we learned that PlayStation was far outselling its direct competitor Xbox. It is always difficult for Sony to position itself against Nintendo. And for good reason, the two manufacturers' consoles do not have the same target audiences at all. While the PS5 is already very mainstream, the Nintendo Switch is intended to attract families, so it is not at all uncommon to have both machines in the same home.
The price increase has not discouraged anyone
The most impressive thing is still the growth in sales, which is accelerating at a crazy pace. More than 10 million consoles were sold between July and December 2023. We can feel from these figures that the period of shortage is well and truly behind us, as Jim Ryan had announced before leaving his post. The press release readily admits that “the PS5 console has seen strong momentum this year.”
The most profitable month for Sony was November. This is only half a surprise. Gamers were indeed able to benefit from Black Friday offers but also from the release of the PS5 “Slim” which saw the price of the original crash at most retailers. More powerful and sold at the same base price, it seemed obvious that the remaining stocks of the old version would sell like hotcakes at lower cost.
That's all the players who had to deal with the price hike almost a year ago were waiting for. Due to inflation, the classic and digital PS5s have seen their prices increase by 50 euros, representing an increase of between 10 and 12%.
A little more work awaits developers
Although Sony states in its message that “developers are taking full advantage of the console's advanced technology“, the reality seems quite different. Only first-party games have passed on the memo about the PS5's capabilities, including DualSense technologies that remain largely under-exploited.
PS5 sales have also been boosted by this year's excellent 2023 line-up, with Marvel's Spider-Man 2 in the first-party game line-up, as well as Alan Wake 2 and Baldur's Gate 3 for third-party games. Having the console exclusivity – even for a few months – of the GOTY 2023 is indeed not to be neglected. Will Sony be able to count on a new year like this? Nothing is less certain, but the arrival of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth on February 29 as a PS5 exclusive should help a lot.
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