Sony's PlayStation 5 console has now sold 7.8 million units as of 31st March 2021, meaning it has beaten the PS4's previous record for hardware sales during a console's first fiscal year on the market. It managed to sell 7.6 million systems to consumers during that same time frame. Demand for the console has been at an all-time high for a number of months now, translating into 3.3 million units shipped in the previous quarter alone. And that's during a global pandemic combined with a shortage of key components. Incredibly impressive results.
For the hardware manufacturer, this translates into a new industry record for revenue. Sony has once again beat the record it set with $25.04B in revenue across the fiscal year 2020, which is only the second time it has managed to break the $20B barrier. PlayStation itself then recorded profits of $3.23B across the fiscal year, making it the company's most profitable stretch since fiscal year 2018.
As for the PS4, it sold another 5.8 million units, taking its total sales to an impressive 115.9 million as of 31st March 2021. This translated into 338.9 million PS5 and PS4 games sold within the 2020 fiscal year, with 58.4 million of them published by Sony. For the fourth quarter, 79% of sales were for digital versions, which resulted in the PS Store's biggest revenue results ever. It generated more than $13.71B.
Sony must surely be proud of these impressive results for the console's first six months on the market, but will continue to wonder what could have been had the supply constraints not been a thing. Are you one of the 7.8 million PS5 owners at the moment? Let us know in the comments below.
[source twitter.com, via resetera.com]
Comments 87
That's massively impressive considering what's been happening in the world.
That's PS4 and Sony exclusives doing the heavy lifting here. PS5 is only now starting its run with Returnal, Resident Evil Village and Ratchet and Clank. Still, PS5 is an impressive bit of hardware and I think once the games start rolling in and the stock becomes readily available PS5 will truly spread its wings.
The King of Gaming playa. Word up, son.
Not bad considering you can’t walk into a shop and buy one, and when they do appear online they are usually gone within minutes.
In my humble opinion, the ps3 to ps4 generation transition was probably slower because the ps3 had its issues and some people may have waited longer to make the jump, plus after what has happened in the last year globally, some people may have more disposal income to invest in the ps5. Also the ps4 was a major success and the ps5 is massive jump in tech.
Great news for Sony and the future of this generation though. Kudos...
I'm more impressed with PS4 sales figures. Would they have been PS5 sales if the console had been more readily available?
Even though this overshadowed by scalpers, it wouldn't be unrealistic that it would had sold this many regardless.
I still don't see the appeal in my opinion, glorified PS4 Pro.
Sony deserve the success. It's all about great games.
Now I wish Sony invest in Studios (Housemarque?) and new fresh IPs. .
Well deserved, the only console PS5 taking next generation seriously, with the Dualsense controller and games dedicated to the PS5 new generation, and starting to utilise next generation capabilities.
This is what we pay our money for and move forward to next generation, not loads of backward compatibility and tarted up old games at 120fps.
I’m glad to see that PlayStation is still top dog.
@eltomo
Ridiculous comment.
When you have one then make an informed comment.
It’s a superb piece of hardware.
With BC & digital libraries you’ll see less people jump between consoles so this makes.
Personally I’m not even trying to get a PS5 till March2022 as it’s impossible to find.
You just know the Christmas stock is just going to be madness. Not worth the stress.
Really great to see PlayStation and Xbox showing such great sales figures.
Console gaming is dead, they said 😏
Do these numbers still warrant £70 games?
Hopefully £70 gaming gets reduced due to the larger PS5 install base 👍🏻
Unreal numbers.
Managed 2 get me boy 1 for Xmas but I'm still waiting to be in the right place right time. If my boy lived with I wouldn't mind so much but he is with his mom so missing out on the ps5 acton sadly. There are so many games I wanna play too but waiting till I have a ps5 to play them. Miles morales and the upcoming ratchet are just 2.
@Hurblyburbly Honestly it really is incredible.
I turned my PS4 Pro back on the other day to get the free Days Gone theme. I goofed around on it for a bit, then switched back to my PS5.
The difference is like magic.
No regrets getting ps5 day one. Use it every day.
@eltomo "a glorified PS4 Pro" .... what?
@Jacko11 Microsoft hasn’t shared xbox series s/x official sales yet but rumor is that the Xbox series x/s sales is almost half of that of the ps5 sales which is bad.
Wonder what the sales would have been without corona/part shortages? Probably easily 10m+ right?
@4kgk2 no, but there’s this
https://www.purexbox.com/news/2021/04/xbox_hardware_revenue_up_232_percent_thanks_to_continued_demand_for_xbox_series_xs
And thats enough for me to make that comment 😂
@eltomo It seems you are salty because you haven't got one. The ps5 ***** on the ps4 pro from a great height. The ps5 is truly next gen with the 3d audio, haptics,ssd, adaptive triggers etc. Also, i have a ps5 since the UK launch, and it is just amazing how it looks.
The g.o.a.t 👑 sony .even with the pandemic and not having enough stock PlayStation is still doing legendary things.salute.word up son
@Jacko11 this doesn’t tell us nothing really lol.
@Shepherd_Tallon I did exactly the same thing, and the ps4 UI was so laggy and slow.
@eltomo. Stop doing drugs its not healthy for you.because you talking nonsense.stuff that doesn't make sense.you a hater .you should go play your x box and Nintendo.it will make you feel better🤔.because the ps5 is the best console ever made.legendary piece of hardware.theyres always a hater.and you just said something that doesn't make any sense at all.dual sense for you😲.word up son
Proud owner of ps5, can't wait for returnal and ratchet & clank rift apart 😃
@eltomo You prefer the company doing lots of talking then? Each to their own I suppose. I’d advise you not to look at the ratchet and clank stuff if you don’t want the eyes to melt right out your face.
@Nightcrawler71 Within seconds. To scalpers who ask 30%-200% more.
This is great news and proof that the scalpers haven't made nearly the impact as people think they've had.
@velio84 I think most people on PlayStation are just getting on with actually playing the system. Lots of Xbox players praising gamepass while their own fan base is just online spouting nonsense and watching Dealer videos telling them every three hours ON the hour that the Xbox has yet another upgrade. I’m fully expecting the series x to be about 300% bigger physically by the end of the gen 🤣
The biggest news from the financial reports is that Sony has committed 20B Yen(~$183M) increase year on year to aggressively increasing in house development personnel, that doesn’t even include the deals with external studios for published games.
Using the simple industry math of $100k per year per person, that’s around 1800 developer staff increase. The calculation is not perfect, as it likely misses out some additional costs associated with expansion, although the 100k does account for working space, tools etc.
Anyway that’s a lot of extra staff. We’ve already seen huge growth in GG, Santa Monica, insomniac. How much more growth are these core teams going to see? A quick google search shows all major first party studios have 20+ openings advertised right now.
I wonder if there will be completely new studios?
@4kgk2 dude I was just being positive, allow it
@eltomo Not quite how I would describe PS5 (quite significantly more powerful with faster loading times), but yeah, at the moment, doesn't appeal to me either. My biggest gripe is that only a couple of games coming to PS5 I can't play on PS4, and the better resolution/performance isn't worth the £450 so I don't see the need to upgrade yet. I am sure that in a year or two though it should be more appealing then.
And the fan boys will keep telling us that its not possible for Sony to continue without a 40% game price increase and all those MX are needed in every game. Gaming has never been more profitable, which is a great thing but lets keep this in mind when looking at costs to players
Been saying since day one, it plays PS4 games with faster load times and better graphics and somewhat different feel from the controller.
There's one game on it that is really a PS5 only game, Returnal, the other available exclusives would run on a PS4 and there's 2022 games getting a PS4 release.
I can deal with load times, PS4 is pretty quick and live without ray tracing.
And with that, what else does PS5 offer? Unreleased and unseen games.
@lyallop Yeah that's it! Obviously the bar has been raised with the new console, but it really felt sluggish in comparison.
@MS7000 yeah, might have been a bit harsh judging by the reactions 😅 I do get annoyed with friends trying to promote a PS5 to me, must have rubbed off in here.
I stand by the lack of appeal.
Sony just shows everyone it doesn't even need £70 game prices to make fat cash and everyone on here is praising them? Talk about blind fanboyism. I thought that was an xbot trait.
@eltomo
It depends on the point if view. For me the Ps4 Pro had no appeal at all. So the jump from ps4 to ps5 is really appealing even only looking at the resolution and playing on a huge screen instead of a 1080p screen.
Then there are all the other advantage like fast loading, dualsense etc etc and of course Demon Souls and new gen games.
Now like I said its matter of perspective. Every one is different. Not a matter of argument really who care who likes what?
@God_of_Nowt Do you ever actually do any developing? You're on here alot!
These are impressive results! My brother and I both got PS5s in December and are happy with them. I keep getting the "LAN cable unplugged" error, though. I hope Sony fixes that.
@LiamCroft I'm confused. So the PS4 had sold 114.9 million (as of December 31, 2020. It's sold another 5.8 million units, taking its total sales 'to an impressive 115.9 million as of 31st March 2021'. Does that mean it sold 5.8 million over the last fiscal year (Apr 2020-Apr 2021) and actually it's only sold 1 million from Dec-Apr?
Either way impressive sales for the newcomer AND the old timer!
Honestly, this makes me even more depressed. It means that demand is at an all time high while at the same time production is lagging way behind, meaning that most of us have little to no hope of getting a PS5. Reading all of the stories of parts shortages, 2022 is looking like it might be too optimistic.
Come on then, mr developer? What is the reasoning behind the price hike, other than greed? Capcom are showing they can sell at £55, give Sony/ms a 30% slice and still make a profit that they are happy with. Sony get ALL of the ps studio's game price from ps store!
At a time where revenue is breaking records, do you honestly expect me to believe the hike is out of necessity? Do me a favour, ps5 is for payers, not the players.
Pity there is still no real reason to buy one yet, and with still some scalpers about I'm gona wait till at least oct/Nov time. There is ZERO incentive to get one right now so I'm really suprised by that. Always hate this cross gen period when games cleary designed for next gen are dumbed down to try fit old gen, cyberpunk, watchdog legions etc to name a few was same when ps3/4 I wish they just went - you know what this just ps5 only, sorry there won't be a ps4 version end of. I know it can't and won't work that way but would give me an incentive to buy one because if I don't then I can't play these new games, so I'm in limbo really with varying factors to purchase one
Nice,
Since I started playing on consoles I realized - Playstation usually gets the games - no begging, waiting or guessing.
You get a Playstation first each generation (build out from there) I guess most follow the same rule.
I am one of the 7.8 million people who own a PS5. I am also an owner of a Series X.
The Series X gets more game time since it's not the primary streaming device in the household. Currently playing Yakuza 0 and before that was playing Nier: Automata. I plan to get Resident Evil Village for Series X as well. In fact, any multi-platform games that pique my interest I will buy for Series X.
The PS5 gets used a lot too, but mostly for streaming (wife and kids). I just finished Ratchet and Clank, and now I am replaying God of War in 60fps. I have already played Astro's Playroom, Miles Morales, and completed a single playthrough of Demon's Souls.
I am not sure if I want Returnal. While I like the premise and the atmosphere, I just don't know if I will like the arcade gameplay.
I am really looking forward to Ratchet & Clank Rift Apart as well as Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade. After that, I am not even sure what's left on the Sony-exclusive side for 2021.
The same can be said about the Microsoft side. I love Game Pass, I like the consideration for the back catalog of games, and I like the ease of Smart Delivery; but there isn't much from Microsoft's first-party studios aside from Halo Infinite in 2021.
I am happy I upgraded to the new consoles for their speed and super stable gameplay, but really, I could have waited.
2021 - the year of the backlog!
@God_of_Nowt (Bows down) Perfect retort.
@God_of_Nowt I have the money to pre-order all of the games for this year and beyond. lets get that straight, my money is not the issue. I'm a digital owner (thats all i could get hold of). I have no games pre-ordered as i can't bring myself to pay that for Returnal and Ratchet, when i was paying £55 to play Tlou2 and Ghost. Mr developer wasn't meant as insult so, you don't have to worry about that now.
Can you answer my question now?
@Unlucky13
Cheer up man. Keep trying it's going to work out. 👍
I'm really no genius and I managed to get one.
When you realise PS5 is more expensive than PS4 was but then it's selling more units, that shows its more a matter of crazy demand that not going to stop any time soon.
Don't give up and good luck.
@Loftimus <Looks at Sony, looks at Microsoft>. Are you actually complaining about the capitalist drive of Sony?
@GamingFan4Lyf I’m sorry that you have to deal with the “year of the backlog” while humanity is psychologically on its knees thanks to covid.
Ps. I buy all my multiplatform games on ps5!
@God_of_Nowt and the only deal for psn credit is 10% off of £90 psn. Why would i lockdown an extra £20 to Sony when they are the reason i'm pissing about like that?
@JJ2 Oh I gave up months ago trying to get one online. Its beyond hopeless, and only leads to me being depressed each time that I fail. I'm waiting until I don't have to fight for one, and can just walk into a store and buy one off of the shelf.
And 6 million of those sales belong to bots.
@sanderson72 That's correct, I believe. The 5.8 million PS4 consoles are across the entire fiscal year, whereas the one million statistic you have cited would be from December 2020 to now.
Hardly a surprise there's a lot of good games coming out for it. Can't imagine what the Sales would have been if there wasn't a stock shortage atm.
@wiiware Same. Finally something to look forward to. So many people on here complaining about game Prices when all you have to do is shop around. Weird how they still can't grasp that simple concept.
I really hate these articles. Record numbers because crime rings are buying them all up, doesn't count.
Are they readily available to regular people yet?
@Dezzy70 This sarcasm right??? Sony made a huge U-turn to highlight BC and also made sure that most PS5 exclusives actually appeared on PS4 at the same time. That's not moving forward.
@KayOL77 All the more reason for people to game to escape the reality of every day life - no matter if it's brand new games, old games, Xbox, Playstation, Nintendo, or PC. Enjoy what you enjoy!
@eltomo
Once you experience the load times of native PS5 games, it’s really hard to go back.
It’s the quality of life improvements that make the PS5 so good. But the load times is the big one. It’s not ROM cartridge fast, but it’s the closest we’ve ever gotten to it since Cartridge systems went the way of the of the dodo.
If stock wasn't an issue, the number would be higher than 7.8 million.
Can only imagine what PS5 would be selling if things were normal.
@Gamer83
It would easily be over 10 million already.
@TheRedComet
Yeah, if not that high, 8.5-9 mil, which would still be extremely impressive.
well done Sony & well-deserved it is a brilliant console.
@__jamiie
Yes they did a bit, but they are moving forward now in May and June, more so than any other new console. Also the dualsense controller with feedback when used correctly ie Astrobots a PS5 exclusive I might add on launch day is the best controller I have ever used.
I think Demon Souls a real top remake was also a PS5 exclusive, though not my type of game.
@TheRedComet
The PS5 loading, especially with all the graphics and data is way faster than the switch cartridge.
In Bowers Fury, when you fight Bowers a good few times it has to load that part then reload the level after the fight is over.
It well takes you out of the game, which spoils it some what, and it is hardly that graphical.
@GamingFan4Lyf PS5 has had a better start than the PS4, at least, which took years to amass some decent exclusive games.
As for myself, I'll be waiting a good while for this generation to actually get going before buying in, like I should have done last gen (although still having access to P.T. is kind of a nice reward for being an early-ish adopter with the last Playstation console). Between PS4 and Switch, there's more new games releasing right now than I have time to play (thus, I'll not be tapping into my own backlog much this year).
@Dezzy70 I've played my friend's PS5 but I'm holding off for now. There's nothing to make me even want to bother to try to track one down at the minute. I have a backlog as long as Dhalsim's arms so until there's a slim model and some must have exclusives that appeal to me, I can wait.
Well done Sony and PlayStation. Wish you continued success.
@__jamiie
Yes it is tough to find a PS5 at the minute
It’s crazy really. But I’m looking forward to Returnal and definitely Ratchet and Clank.
And more hoping for HZD 2 later this year.
Really enjoyed the first game.
Also Far Cry 6, as I seem to like that series.
How many are for sale on Ebay?
@Dezzy70 "This is what we pay our money for and move forward to next generation, not loads of backward compatibility and tarted up old games at 120fps"
It would be nice if they did have load of backward compatibility and tarted up old games at 120fps since there really isn't many actual next gen games... Like 95% of the games we're playing right now are old games. I don't think I've play an actual next gen game since Demon's Soul in November.
@Floki
It’s a nice to have yes as I’m play GOT on my PS5 and I’m grateful for it.
I just want more new next generation PS5 games and focus on producing those.
May and June see two PS5 exclusive in-house studio games, so that a good start and move forward to me.
@Dezzy70 The thing is that providing backwards compatibility and 120FPS doesn't take focus off producing next gen games as that two completely different teams if not two completely different departments.
You can focus on next gen and still provide this features especially if you do what Microsoft is doing and provide this stuff at a system level, and don't require developers to go back and tweak games.
EDIT: I do have to the praise Microsoft System/Software engineers as those guys don't play around. If anything... That Sony's PlayStation actual internal team can learn from.... As there is really no reason it should have taken them this long to offer an off toggle for Auto HDR, fix the 120hz modes, and not have VRR support by now.
@eltomo
The PS4 Pro does 4.2 Teraflops. The PS5 does 10.28. PS5 also has ray-tracing. It's a huge leap. The load times on the PS5 are also amazing, saving minutes over the PS4P.
@Snick27
3,860 in the U.S. 625 in the U.K. And that includes the empty boxes and accessories. Nice try though.
@TDCinFL Well it stands to reason that the PS5 will be faster at most things than the PS4 given the years that have gone by (bit embarrassing if it wasn't)
However, I would say this; the load times on a PS4 Pro with a decent SSD in its SATA3 slot does save minutes over the stock HDD. As fast as the PS5? No but a lot faster than the standard PS4 with its mechanical HDD. It's all about the technological advances.
@eltomo To a certain extent, you're right about the PS4 games with titles slated into 2022 and beyond no doubt. PS4 juggernaut is too financially critical for developers to ignore any time soon. Heck, we're even seeing a PS5 exclusive arrive on the old stager fairly soon (the not brilliant Godfall) and given the visuals of titles like Biomutant it looks to be continuing for some time to come.
Either way, congrats to Sony for a console that a lot of people want though not everyone can get one yet. Only another 108 million units to go and see if it can outsell its dad (let's face it, nothing is ever going to get close to the stratospheric heights of the PS2)!
Now Sony should release the numbers how many ps5 units went to the scalpers... its still hell to procure one from my experience. Tired of searching like a hawk when drops happen. Just make a lot and drop it only thru your direct website. Make it harder for scalpers somehow like one unit per ip address
@__jamiie I'm waiting for the ps5 pro. I got a ps5 at launch but I'm using it as a ps4 because not many ps5 games in the library yet. I also have a giant backlog of games. Something like 84 games in my external ssd alone...
@Enigk seems silly to wait all this time until the PS4 is coming to an end, then buy a PS4 just because you can't immediately get a PS5.
And how many of those lie in the basements of scalpers?
If 8 million sold, how on earth is it that a few thousand units getting scalped is allegedly so severely impacting the supply chain?
Are they holding back millions of units for some reason?
What the hell is going on here?
It's past time to ask some serious questions here about the narrative being painted.
Sony said there would be NO shortage of PS5 units. Despite the pandemic. Did everyone forget?
Retailers are literally still filling pre orders from over 6 MONTHS ago. NOBODY can get their hands on a PS5 in Europe. And all though it may be slightly better in the U.S. It's still bad.
If you ask me, there is no way in hell they sold 8 million to actual consumers, but time will tell and expose the depth of this potential coverup.
PS. Don't bother coming at me with "salty this salty that" from people who got their hands on a PS5. Unless you have some real facts to back up your optimism. The situation is an absolute disaster for the vast majority of consumers. It is in fact so bad, games that where originally intended as PS5 exclusives, like GOW, are now being made for the PS4. Signaling the game developers expect a shortage of stock for a very, very long time.
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