A lot has been said about the sales of the PS4. With many claiming that console gaming was on the decline, the system has bucked that trend, instead becoming the fastest selling console in history. In fact, sales so far are on track with the PS2, which became the best selling console of all time with over 150 million units sold. The PS4 has continued its successful run, with last month’s sales hinting at an even brighter future.
In an interview with The Financial Times, president and global chief executive of Sony Computer Entertainment Andrew House spoke about the PS4 and its sales, specifically mentioning Black Friday as a key moment.
“We’ve just seen the most successful Black Friday in the company’s history,” he said in an interview with the Financial Times. “We are now trying to benchmark against the success of the PlayStation 2 — or exceed it if possible.”
The idea that the PS4 could outpace the mega successful PlayStation 2 has met with some skepticism, but if it is able to continue its current trajectory it would easily do so. However, the PS2 was famous for its extremely long life, lasting well over 10 years. Many of its sales came in those last few years, so the PS4 would have to not only sell well now, but continue to do so into 2020 and beyond.
Still, with new markets such as the Middle East and China opening up as possible sales avenues, Sony is looking at the very real possibility of the PS4 becoming the best selling console of all time. Whether or not this happens is up to the gaming community.
Once stumbling block that could come up, as Mr. House pointed out, is that gamers now expect innovation and change at a much faster pace. The PS2 went through its long life relatively unchanged, with no major shifts in its gameplay experiences other than those provided by developers. But with VR and other technologies on the horizon, many could ask for more powerful hardware much sooner than before.
Published: Dec 7, 2015 08:50 am