While we were celebrating over the holiday season, Sony's crack team of accountants and statisticians were crunching the numbers, and its results are something to behold. The PlayStation 4 sold more than 4.1 million units at retail over the holiday period, bringing its grand total up to a staggering 18.5 million. What's more, over 10.9 million users are currently subscribed to the firm's premium subscription service, PlayStation Plus.
"We are absolutely delighted that so many customers around the globe have continued to select the PS4 as their console of choice throughout this holiday season," said big-wig Andrew House in a press release. "We will continue to reinforce and deliver additional value on PS4 as the best place to play."
But as you sit and celebrate – or indeed, lament – this wildly impressive figure, perhaps spare a thought for the long suffering reporters here at Push Square Towers. Indeed, as Sony's super system continues to sell so briskly, we're very quickly running out of hyperbolic words and comparisons with which to describe its success. Feel free to give us some suggestions in the comments section below.
[source au.playstation.com]
Comments 81
...And we all thought the 3DS was beast
Well crap MS better have some serious big surprises up their sleeves if they wanna beat PS4 this year... damn Sony good for you guys!
Which i highly doubt they do.
Educated Analyst : "the Xbox One will catch up to the Playstation 4 in 2015" , Looks at sales figures:....... Oh sh!@#%* (face palm)
Congrats to PS4 on almost surpassing 20 million .
Hopefully it'll be closer to 30+ million units by the time I own one in 2016 .
Sellin' like the hot cakes they are. What were they hoping for, again? 5 million? I'm impressed by the 10 mil Plus subs tho, that's your proof of concept
@AeroZeppelin another price cut maybe...
Whow now just make tf2 for the ps4 and everything will be good
Hey PushSquare, nice new favicon!
What I've learnt from the past year marketing is now by and far by a huge margin the most important aspect of selling consoles and constant blunders don't matter when marketing is so good.
Woah the ps4 is doing just fine, massive figures! !!
Good grief!
Congratulations Sony! Now let's start getting nothing but exclusives and destroy microsoft once and for all! Let's just have Sony and Nintendo as the only game console companies out there!!!!
@JLPick Why?
And they're doing all this with "no games" according to haters. So imagine what its gonna do when the big exclusives drop.
@Jazzer94
'Marketing is now....the most important aspect of selling consoles'
I don't understand that 'now'. Marketing has always been the most important aspect. Nintendo going or multiple ommercial partners in the 80s as well as 'The Wizard', Sega in the early 90's, Sony with PS1, Nintendo's Wii ads, MS's brute force approach to spending their way into the industry and propping up XB1 in the last few months etc.
I dont agree with JLPick sorry, (no offence intended) but we need the competition to keep the console makers on their toes which drives up the quality of games and pushes the console market forward. Competition is good for the customer
@JLPick I'd rather see all three thrive honestly. Because I'm a gamer, not a loyalist. The more options there are, the better for the gaming community as a whole. That's why I've always found this whole "console war" stupid.
@electrolite77 Quote out of context much "marketing is now by and far by a huge margin the most important aspect of selling consoles"
I'm saying that marketing is like 90% of the sell compared to previous gens where games also did a lot of the talking.
@Jazzer94 I get what you're saying, but I think you're overlooking the fact that the games are doing the talking. The mainstream consumer wants Call of Duty, Grand Theft Auto, and Destiny - and they're all best on PS4.
And of course ms will catch up this year as we keep hearing. No it won't.
@get2sammyb Yes and no currently most games are best on PC but I understand you're looking at this from a purely conventional console out look, but I will say if it was more widely conveyed to the public that you can have a PC stronger than a PS4 for not much more sales may not be as high as they are but that's my whole point about marketing being so dominant now then ever many people assume the PS4 is the most powerful machine to play games on when that isn't true and at the moment the exclusives are few (though 2015 should see that change).
@Jazzer94 I think that the average consumer — who make up the bulk of the sales — will always pick a console over a PC because of the 'plug and play' nature of them. Whether it's true or not, PCs have a stigma of being unwieldy, expensive, and unnecessarily complicated.
Consoles will always be the number one platform for playing game's.
Well done Sony & with games like Bloodborne, Rime, Uncharted 4, Arkham Knight, The Phantom Pain & The Witcher 3 to name a few, 2015 is shaping up to be an excellent year & will no doubt sell more PS4's.
@get2sammyb aye, the only game I still play on a PC or laptop is football manager, PC gaming does not appeal to me at all. A console is maybe lazy but its a complete package with proper support and it takes away any stress or hassle.
@banacheck I'm afraid not, the PC and even mobile platforms massively outpace it in sheer numbers and usage.
If my maths are correct, and they are, Sony will make over £30 MILLION each month purely on Plus subscriptions and that's inevitably an escalating figure... I'd say they'd be able to comfortably sell the PS4 at a huge loss at any moment if Microsoft try and claw some ground back
@AeroZeppelin It's a good thing Sony are pushing ahead though, because if Microsoft had led this race it would be, Sony would have been out by the end, and no competition is bad for everyone =)
@benrawr not really... the difference between Microsoft and Sony is that Microsoft make around $20bn a year profit, with $80bn in actual cash stored away to spend however they like... Sony doesn't have anything pretty much, and only the PS4 is making money for the entire company. They may soon have to spin it off in order to ensure it survives, as at the moment its profits are going towards propping up the rest of the company. But may it last, as a one horse race isn't a race at all, and is bad for everyone involved -_-
@Bad-MuthaAdebisi but the good thing is they'll keep trying, innovating, bringing exclusives, and making Sony fight... this heavy competition has lead to some amazing prices on digital games, with over 40 games in my collection in just a year, and most of those I got for half the price! It's a good time to be a gamer, competition always brings out the best =)
@chris730920 it also pushes prices dooooooown =) most of my collection, which now numbers 42 games, were half price or less!
True, except for on the Playstation store, very expensive compared to buying from the shops, why can't Sony try to match retailers prices especially when the versions are digital (no packaging), I would buy more from them then, sigh...... nevermind, moan over
God know why, it's crap. I sold mine
@nekowhizz Don't you think Microsoft shareholders would rather invest that money into the divisions that are actually a success? @Benrawr is correct: Sony's philosophy at the moment is to maximise income per user through supplementary services such as PlayStation Now, PlayStation Vue, and PlayStation Plus. To sell those add-ons in big numbers, it needs a big install base.
I'm on my third one ps4. First one kept shutting down, second one keeps giving me error codes and third one I bought for my son. Kinda feel betrayed but GO SONY! KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK!
Guess all them bundles are doing there job really well. Well done Sony./
When I talked to Playstation support they had me initialize my ps4 so I ended up losing saves for 15 games including Dragon Age and gta5 so now all those games are just sitting there. Good thing I have a WiiU. Nintendo knows how to make very efficient hardware and software that you can drop kick and it still works.
@nekowhizz I don't think so. There're around 120 million PlayStations out there around 50 million XBOX's plus you have around 10 million Wii U's so I doubt the PC has that many people gaming. As for mobile phones.
@DESS-M-8 Maybe you don't know what you're talking about. Can 18.5 million people be wrong. Your opinion I guess.
@chris730920 I totally agree. If Sony and Microsoft want to lead us to a digital only future they need to seriously revise there pricing.
AMAZING Numbers + AMAZING Console Well done SONY
@get2sammyb @Jazzer94 - Any chance you 2 can stop using the word "consumer" when you mean "gamer"? The average "consumer" doesn't know what GTA or COD or AC stands for, well except AC stands for air conditioning. The average mainstream consumer owns a PC but doesn't game on it except on FB. The iPhone 6 sold 10 mil in 3 days. Thats what the consumer cares about, smartphones and tablets. Yes there are a lot of gamers in the world, and there is overlap in that number w/ the consumer, but the average consumer isn't a gamer.
Sorry to be "that guy".
The average of 4 makes sense - typical gamers will buy GTAV, TLU, AC and either COD or Battlefield. Substitute FIFA for 1 of those in the UK. It's not hard to figure out, just look at the sales numbers.
@rjejr
@get2sammyb - No fair replying w/ an animated TS gif
@get2sammyb @rjejr For once, it's not TS! I know, I had to check twice too.
@ShogunRok - Oh yeah, didn't recognize her w/ her clothes on (too soon?)
Amazing numbers. Sony ain't playing around. hopefully they keep things up and improve the games and such. Xbox and Nintendo look to be stepping up their game this year.
@rjejr
The very act of purchasing a game makes that gamer a consumer. Therefore, the use of "consumer" is entirely appropriate.
@rjejr OH NO YOU DIDN'T!
@Jazzer94 really? To be honest I have rarely seen any marketing for Playstation 4 :/
@Jazzer94
Sorry mate, looking at my original reply it was more confrontational than I intended. I generally agree with you but it's almost always been the case that the best-marketed machine wins the generation. You can see the difference between good marketing in the relative success levels of the Megadrive/Genesis and then the Saturn and Dreamcast.
Sony have got the basics right - powerful machine for the price, wide variety of software, all the third-party big hitters, brand loyalty from previous machines and PS Plus, great marketing. That's why they're selling.
In tennis this would be seen as game, set, match.
@electrolite77 No problem man, sometimes I do need to be clear internet and all.
@wittypixel I saw ads constantly in the US same with the UK.
@wittypixel I saw an ad the other day for PS4 when I was watching something on Hulu.
@WARDIE or maybe I do know what I'm talking about. How many millions buy Justin Bieber albums? Does that justify him being a great artist????
The PS4 offers no new incentive over a ps3, if anything it is a massive backward step. The Ps4 is the least "next gen" of any new generation since nes. It is to consoles what fifa 15 was to fifa 14. Slight unnecessary update. If you can name 3 genuine improvements apart from there are more shadows and more realistic hair in graphic engines now, I'd be impressed
@DESS-M-8 I smell troll.
@DESS-M-8 Bigger worlds, more things on screen at once, better draw distance. Will that do?
@rjejr Tut tut!
@DESS-M-8 - Ive kind of felt that way since the first time I walked past a Blockbuster window and saw NFL 2K on the Dreamcast and for a split second thought it was a real football game. I know things have improved immesaurably since then - SD to HD probably being the biggest jump - but I probably could have gone my whole life gaming on the Dreamcast. Heck I still play on my Dreamcast, it aint that bad. Sony PS2 hype, pirati g, Segas financial woes, whatever killed the Dreamcast it wasnt the hardware - VMU and built in modem with web browser were ahead of their time. No jump has been as big to me as PS and Saturn to Dreamcast.
@charlesnarles They only have 10 million PS Plus subscribers because PS Plus is mandatory if you want to play PS4 games online.
(I'm just stating a fact, I love the PS4 and want one badly)
@ToddlerNaruto but some of that 10 mil don't have ps4s yet. Could even be some folks with just a PSP and a Plus sub, technically.
Lots of hate for ps4, lol. Kind of an unsubstantiated argument, but nobody says you have to like PlayStation. However, every smart person I know happens to like PS. 😙
@charlesnarles I never said that the 10 million was only people with PS4s or also had a PS4 etc. Sorry if I came off like that.
You'd have to be silly to not like PS...hope I'm not sounding like a Sony fanboy xD.
@WARDIE no, that's all just slightly more graphics which is what I was sarcastically referring to
@AeroZeppelin hahaha. No.
I'm a gamer, I play absorts of formats, primarily ps3 and i just don't rate the ps4 whatsoever as a "next gen" console because it just isnt
@electrolite77 nope. People generally just blindly buy playstation for no logical reason in mass numbers. It's weird
@DESS-M-8 Well I guess the main reason for owning a PS4 is the games you can't get on last gen. But you just stick to sarcasm and your PS3.
@IronManDS - "the use of "consumer" is entirely appropriate."
Yes, the use of "consumer" is entirely appropriate for someone how buys a video game, and had the word "consumer" been used once I would not have commented. BUT when the word consumer is used as part of a phrase "The mainstream consumer" and "I think that the average consumer" (and those are direct cut and pastes BTW) then you are no longer simply equating "gamer" and "consumer" but you are equating "gamers" to the "average mainstream consumer" and gamers are not the typical consumer.
Here's an example to help shed some light on my original post which probably wasn't clear. When you see a square do you call it a rectangle? All squares ARE rectangles by definition of a rectangle, but if you were looking at a square or holding one in your hand and everybody kept calling it a rectangle you would probably be annoyed, b/c you know it's supposed to be called a square. All squares are rectangles, so then can be called that, but rectangles aren't squares. All gamers are consumers, but your average or mainstream consumer is NOT a gamer, unless you want to count Candy Crush, and none of us do.
If during any conversation you hear the phrase "mainstream consumer" or "average consumer" and immediately think of someone who spends a lot of money purchasing videogames then I apologize.
@Tasuki @Jazzer94 wow, I've seen only a handful of marketing for the ps4 lol
@DESS-M-8
If that's sarcasm it's quite funny. If it's not, and judging by your post history (endless tedious moaning, confusing of fact and opinion) it isn't, well actually it's even funnier.
@WARDIE that's just it, there are virtually no games (worth playing) available on ps4 that aren't on ps3
@electrolite77 is that in contrast to your narcissistic self righteous Sony fan boy posts?
I buy consoles for playing games.
Ps4 has no games worth playing that aren't on ps3 that warrant paying so much money for the hardware. And the power for the price is a joke. The processor is way under powered and only 8gb of ram for "next gen" it should have had 16 to ensure it delivered for next 5-7 years as a "powerhouse" that it claims to be. My laptop dumps all over a ps4 and i hardly game on it. The games that are on ps4 I could get for my laptop but they aren't worth playing anyway hence I sold the ps4.
It's just not worth the investment
@DESS-M-8
"is that in contrast to your narcissistic self righteous Sony fan boy posts?"
Narcissistic, self-righteous? Yes probably. Sony fanboy? No.
"I buy consoles for playing games." So do most people.
"Ps4 has no games worth playing that aren't on ps3 that warrant paying so much money for the hardware." In your opinion.
"And the power for the price is a joke. The processor is way under powered and only 8gb of ram for "next gen" it should have had 16 to ensure it delivered for next 5-7 years as a "powerhouse" that it claims to be. My laptop dumps all over a ps4 and i hardly game on it." Your laptop won't have cost £349
"The games that are on ps4 I could get for my laptop but they aren't worth playing anyway" in your opinion
"hence I sold the ps4. It's just not worth the investment" In your opinion, based on your personal circumstances.
This is why you find it weird. You didn't like it. But to understand why something sells you have to think a long way out of the prism of your own personal circumstanced. I have no interest in XBox One because the exclusives don't appeal but I understand it sells because other people fancy it.I currently spend most of my time on the Wii U but I can understand why someone who doesn't like Mario Kart/Bayonetta 2/Pikmin 3 etc wouldn't want one.
From an objective point-of-view I can see why the PS4 has sold. there's nothing 'weird' about it.
@DESS-M-8 So you are a graphics whore then? Thats how you sound. Granted, the PS4 is not a powerhouse when compared to a high end PC but in console terms it definitely is. This year PS4 will play host to a tonne of new games unavailable on PS3 and PC both. The graphics and world sizes are spot on for what I want from a console that cost 350. I myself look forward to whats ahead over the next few years for PS4, XBOX One and Wii U. At no point am I thinking about what games will look/play like on an overpriced gaming PC/Steam Box compared to my consoles.
@WARDIE how does owning a more powerful laptop make me a graphics whore? I hardly game on. Typical ps4 consumers are graphics wires seeming it together most powerful. I game primarily on ps3 which is the weakesthardware I have. The Ps4 is just not next gen. The nearest console to the true definition of net gen is the wii u which is actually a far better console than the ps4
@electrolite77
"is that in contrast to your narcissistic self righteous Sony fan boy posts?"
Narcissistic, self-righteous? Yes probably. Sony fanboy? No.
Well admitted
"I buy consoles for playing games." So do most people.
Taken out of context in a poor attempt at sarcasm
"Ps4 has no games worth playing that aren't on ps3 that warrant paying so much money for the hardware." In your opinion.
I'm afraid it's true. List me games on ps4 only.
"And the power for the price is a joke. The processor is way under powered and only 8gb of ram for "next gen" it should have had 16 to ensure it delivered for next 5-7 years as a "powerhouse" that it claims to be. My laptop dumps all over a ps4 and i hardly game on it." Your laptop won't have cost £349
And it does a hell of a lot more than a ps4, the price relative.
"The games that are on ps4 I could get for my laptop but they aren't worth playing anyway" in your opinion
Doesn't negate the point actually being made that there is limited format exclusivity.
"hence I sold the ps4. It's just not worth the investment" In your opinion, based on your personal circumstances.
It just isn't, it literally doesn't offer anything new or different or exclusive
This is why you find it weird. You didn't like it. But to understand why something sells you have to think a long way out of the prism of your own personal circumstanced. I have no interest in XBox One because the exclusives don't appeal but I understand it sells because other people fancy it.I currently spend most of my time on the Wii U but I can understand why someone who doesn't like Mario Kart/Bayonetta 2/Pikmin 3 etc wouldn't want one.
From an objective point-of-view I can see why the PS4 has sold. there's nothing 'weird' about it.
The wii u is a far better console full stop. It is validly odd for something to sell in such high numbers despite it offering very little. They only key point in its success I'd in what don't truly are good at. Marketing.
The same answer applies to the poor sales of the wii u and what nintendo are weak at
@DESS-M-8
Sigh. You still have your opinion and fact all confused. You still can't grasp that you not liking something doesn't mean it's a bad purchase for anyone else. These are actually really straightforward concepts. But if you think wasting your time trying to convince others you're right on a subject you can never be right on is worthwhile crack on.
P.S. I love my Wii U but if you honestly think it's only struggling because of poor marketing well, I don't know where to start.
@DESS-M-8 If you think the Wii U is more next-gen than the PS4 then your whole previous argument fails. Sure its a cool system but the PS4 has wireless remote play whereas the Wii U is wired. The PS4 has loads more third party support too which the Wii U seriously lacks.
Please explain why the Wii U is more next-gen than other consoles.
Actually don't bother with a response. I've just looked through your comment history and all you do is slate Sony and peoples reviews of PS4 games. To be honest I don't understand why you use this site as you never have anything good to say.
@WARDIE
@DESS-M-8
@electrolite77:
That's enough guys you all said what you had to say and you are not going to change other peoples opinions. If you can't have a conversation without insulting one another then please don't comment. I don't want to have to give anyone a time out. Consider this a warning.
@Tasuki Do what you must. There was no foul or offensive language being used nor was there name calling. It was a debate amongst gamers on a gaming site.
@WARDIE I play and like ps3 and don't rate ps4 at all. When I last looked, this was a playstation site, not a playstation 4 site? I'm sure they cover vita aswell or am I wrong?
I've not tried to change anyone's opinion, simply expressed mine, to which you and @electrolite77 have taken grievance to and made a pointless attempt to change my opinion.
If you love your ps4 so much play it. I think it's a waste of money, I'll sell mine and deem it worthless. Not really seeing where either of your two problems lie? Unless you just like pointlessly anonymously arguing on the Internet.
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