PS4 reaches 106mil sold, PSVR 5mil, 1.15bil games, 103mil monthy active PSN users and 38.8mil PS+ subs

[LiquidSolid]

A billion games for a hugely popular system isn't really unprecedented. Both Wii and DS sold close to a billion physical games... each.

IR Information : Sales Data - Dedicated Video Game Sales Units

www.nintendo.co.jp

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"A billion game sales isn't really unprecedented, just look at two of the most successful systems ever that failed to do it." :P

It isn't unprecedented because the PS2 already did it (plus an extra 500+ mil) but it's still a huge milestone that no-one else has managed to accomplish and it's excluding indie games, F2P games, etc that've become more and more popular this gen.

 

[Omnistalgic]

Yeah, I'm with you on this one, the lower spec machine will be seen as a gimped version if it arrives at launch instead of the base level for the generation. Just offer a decent console for a decent price then do the pro model later when things settle down.

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This is more $$ out of my pocket at the end of the day. I'm with you on perception. But man that Pro needs to come like 3-6 months later lol I don't want a bunch of Playstations like I had this gen.

 

[Hieroph]

"A billion game sales isn't really unprecedented, just look at two of the most successful systems ever that failed to do it." :P

It isn't unprecedented because the PS2 already did it (plus an extra 500+ mil) but it's still a huge milestone that no-one else has managed to accomplish and it's excluding indie games, F2P games, etc that've become more and more popular this gen.

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Those Wii and DS numbers are also excluding all Virtual Console and other digital downloadable games. Just saying, a billion games is in the normal ballpark for really successful systems. And this was in an era when Nintendo was pushing two systems, instead of focusing all their effort into one system like Sony has been doing with PS4 for a long time now.

 

[riotous]

Those Wii and DS numbers are also excluding all Virtual Console and other digital downloadable games. Just saying, a billion games is in the normal ballpark for really successful systems. And this was in an era when Nintendo was pushing two systems, instead of focusing all their effort into one system like Sony has been doing with PS4 for a long time now.

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I think calling something "not unprecedented" and then bringing up 2 examples where something failed is the issue here lol

Not how they word works.

 

[Hieroph]

I think calling something "not unprecedented" and then bringing up 2 examples where something failed is the issue here lol

Not how they word works.

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Well you know, once you've got 900+ million physical games sold, and then you add in all those uncounted digital games, it sounds to me like it gets awfully close to a billion. Close as in maybe even over. Doesn't it to you?

 

[riotous]

Well you know, once you've got 900+ million physical games sold, and then you add in all those uncounted digital games, it sounds to me like it gets awfully close to a billion. Close as in maybe even over. Doesn't it to you?

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So you say they got close; not a big deal just pointing out that using the word unprecedented was flawed there.

"100 degrees is not unprecedented in this city, it was 95 last week and 96 the week before" is kind of what you said.

 

[Lionheart]

Incredible numbers.

Next gen consoles need to have a similar explosion out of the gate if we want devs to abandon last gen and develop exclusively for next gen. A slow start can hamper this and cause devs to rely even harder on cross gen ports, which will make consumers even less willing to upgrade so its vital PS5 crushes it at launch.

 

[Ryng™]

To be fair, PS2, Wii and DS suffered a lot from piracy (expecially DS...Seriusly, ALL my fiends and me had an R4 , and that was a normal thing we didn't even know it was tecnically a crime :p)

Who know what software sales would looks like withouth piracy...

 

[N.47H.4N]

Sony has everything to have the best transition for a next gen console this year.

 

[Hieroph]

So you say they got close; not a big deal just pointing out that using the word unprecedented was flawed there.

"100 degrees is not unprecedented in this city, it was 95 last week and 96 the week before" is kind of what you said.

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That's a flawed analogy and you should know it.

Thing is, we can make a pretty safe guess that with digital both Wii and DS are at over a billion games each. Problem is, we don't have the numbers so we can't say for sure. They could be at 100 million, or 200 million, or maybe even 500 million. Probably not that high tho, a conservative estimate would be somewhere around 150 million. At that point arguing that they didn't get to a billion because the physical numbers are just a nudge below is pointless.

And it's not like that makes it any less huge. But what's even bigger that PS4 blew past the one billion, and isn't going to stop any time soon. We're realistically looking at PS4 getting to 1.5 billion games or even more, and that's really huge.

 

[poklane]

Thanks to ZhugeEX on Twitter, Sony has updated the software numbers: software sales as of December 31, 2019 isn't 1.15billion, it is 1,181million, a 31 million increase. Numbers for December 31, 2018 were also updated from 876million to 924million, a 48million increase

 

[RocknRola]

Thanks to ZhugeEX on Twitter, Sony has updated the software numbers: software sales as of December 31, 2019 isn't 1.15billion, it is 1,181million, a 31 million increase. Numbers for December 31, 2018 were also updated from 876million to 924million, a 48million increase

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So, their first account was lower than the reality. The good kind of "wrong" :P

 

[Deleted member 52190]

So, their first account was lower than the reality. The good kind of "wrong" :P

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Yes, by 30M.

 

[H-I-M]

Thanks to ZhugeEX on Twitter, Sony has updated the software numbers: software sales as of December 31, 2019 isn't 1.15billion, it is 1,181million, a 31 million increase. Numbers for December 31, 2018 were also updated from 876million to 924million, a 48million increase

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You know what they say about talent.

 

[Xevross]

Nice increase. These numbers make more sense as well, the +43m 2019 software jump over 2018 looked super strange considering how strong the software lineup for 2018 was. Sure enough, 2019 SW actually adjusted down by 17mil and I'm sure a lot of that 48m extra came from 2018 itself, meaning SW is probably flat YoY.

After selling 257m software in 2019, can Sony sell another 357m+ lifetime and beat the ps2 for the all time record? I'm betting yes.

 

[Landy828]

The 1.15 BILLION games sold bit kinda breaks my mind a bit. Like.... a BILLION of something is a whole fucking lot.

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That's less than 2 games per person per year with a PS4.

To put it in perspective.

That actually is harder to understand than the "billion" number. That means there has to be people that literally buy 0 games, because some buy tons of games. 🤔

Which makes sense. The average consumer probably buys either a sports game or Call of Duty annually and that's it. Hell, some people are probably 0 attach rate because their console is essentially a Fortnite machine.

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Haha, I literally just edited in something similar about 0 games.

 

[Voke]

I've bought 100+ games this gen unfortunately... doing my part

 

[ArmGunar]

Damn, it was really sold-through number and this is a nice increase

2017 : 235.9m
2018 : 279m
2019 : 257m

Sold-through number includes download only software titles, unlike shipments data from quarterly earnings

 

[RoninStrife]

I've bought 100+ games this gen unfortunately... doing my part

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I bought 100+ also, it's been a great generation. Not bad when you consider the doom and gloom of 2011.

 

[Ivanovic]

Sony has everything to have the best transition for a next gen console this year.

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Easier said than done

 

[Komo]

it's pretty amazing that there are that many connected to the Internet.
I wonder what they define as a mau?

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launched a game for more then an 1hour a week?

 

[Transistor]

That's less than 2 games per person per year with a PS4.

To put it in perspective.

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Which makes sense. The average consumer probably buys either a sports game or Call of Duty annually and that's it. Hell, some people are probably 0 attach rate because their console is essentially a Fortnite machine.

 

[RocknRola]

Nice increase. These numbers make more sense as well, the +43m 2019 software jump over 2018 looked super strange considering how strong the software lineup for 2018 was. Sure enough, 2019 SW actually adjusted down by 17mil and I'm sure a lot of that 48m extra came from 2018 itself, meaning SW is probably flat YoY.

After selling 257m software in 2019, can Sony sell another 357m+ lifetime and beat the ps2 for the all time record? I'm betting yes.

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With games like FF7, Cyberpunk, TLOU and GoT releasing this year I feel like they're gonna be able to remain flat-ish YoY. So they should get pretty close this year alone.

 

[RocknRola]

That's less than 2 games per person per year with a PS4.

To put it in perspective.

That actually is harder to understand than the "billion" number. That means there has to be people that literally buy 0 games, because some buy tons of games. 🤔



Haha, I literally just edited in something similar about 0 games.

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We've had this discussion before, in this very thread bro :P

 

[Landy828]

I've bought 100+ games this gen unfortunately... doing my part

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We've had this discussion before, in this very thread bro :P

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Haha, ok, didn't read all 8 pages.

It still amazes me that people buy consoles and never actually buy a game. Although, with subscription based services, I expect actually buying games to disappear eventually.

I was about to buy A Plague Tale: Innocence a few weeks ago when I saw that it was coming out on Game Pass. Literally canceled out me buying it. 🤷‍♂️ I wonder if developers gain or lose from that.

 

[Xevross]

That's less than 2 games per person per year with a PS4.

To put it in perspective.

That actually is harder to understand than the "billion" number. That means there has to be people that literally buy 0 games, because some buy tons of games. 🤔



Haha, I literally just edited in something similar about 0 games.

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And the craziest part about this is PS4 actually has a fantastic attach ratio with over 11.1. Over 10 is quite rare for games consoles, for example Nintendo's highest attach ratio is 9.6 for gamecube. I believe the current record attach ratio is PS3's 11.4, so PS4 will probably take this record quite soon.

Most people just don't buy many games for their consoles.

 

[EvilBoris]

launched a game for more then an 1hour a week?

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Who knows, it might not even be as generous as that.
For example, Facebook counts a video "video" as 3 seconds+ and includes autoplay.

So when you are a platform trying to sell your services to 3rd parties, then the chances are you are going to get creative, I do not doubt this is the same for the console service platforms.

 

[lynux3]

Who knows, it might not even be as generous as that.
For example, Facebook counts a video "video" as 3 seconds+ and includes autoplay.

So when you are a platform trying to sell your services to 3rd parties, then the chances are you are going to get creative, I do not doubt this is the same for the console service platforms.

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I assume a MAU could be considered someone simply signing into said service.

 

[kradical]

Thing is, we can make a pretty safe guess that with digital both Wii and DS are at over a billion games each. Problem is, we don't have the numbers so we can't say for sure. They could be at 100 million, or 200 million, or maybe even 500 million. Probably not that high tho, a conservative estimate would be somewhere around 150 million. At that point arguing that they didn't get to a billion because the physical numbers are just a nudge below is pointless.

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Could you even buy games digitally on the DS? I don't remember that at all.

 

[chris 1515]

That's less than 2 games per person per year with a PS4.

To put it in perspective.

That actually is harder to understand than the "billion" number. That means there has to be people that literally buy 0 games, because some buy tons of games. 🤔



Haha, I literally just edited in something similar about 0 games.

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There is people playing only Fortnite or other F2P. And some people only buy used game.

 

[ANDS]

That PS+ number is really surprising.

 

[fiendcode]

Could you even buy games digitally on the DS? I don't remember that at all.

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Yes, that was the main reason to buy a DSi.

 

[Dr Richard Kimble]

Interesting to see two Japanese companies (Nintendo and Sony) that are looked at as rivals - able to both perform so outrageously well. What does this tell me? If you make really good games, people will buy the hardware required to play them.

 

[Cactuar]

Thanks to ZhugeEX on Twitter, Sony has updated the software numbers: software sales as of December 31, 2019 isn't 1.15billion, it is 1,181million, a 31 million increase. Numbers for December 31, 2018 were also updated from 876million to 924million, a 48million increase

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Sometimes your talent wins so much you begin to doubt and underestimate it, only for it to win again.

 

[Deleted member 1003]

Interesting to see two Japanese companies (Nintendo and Sony) that are looked at as rivals - able to both perform so outrageously well. What does this tell me? If you make really good games, people will buy the hardware required to play them.

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Amazing strategy isn't it?

 

[OG_Thrills]

These numbers are insane!

 

[Hyun Sai]

I understand now why so many people are so concerned for Sony next generation ! You can only have so much luck with such failed business model...

 

[Komo]

Who knows, it might not even be as generous as that.
For example, Facebook counts a video "video" as 3 seconds+ and includes autoplay.

So when you are a platform trying to sell your services to 3rd parties, then the chances are you are going to get creative, I do not doubt this is the same for the console service platforms.

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yeah with playstation I wouldn't be surprised if it was like you turned it on once this month you're a MAU

 

[fiendcode]

Interesting to see two Japanese companies (Nintendo and Sony) that are looked at as rivals - able to both perform so outrageously well. What does this tell me? If you make really good games, people will buy the hardware required to play them.

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SIE's barely a Japanese game company at this point. Leadership, priorities and workforce have shifted overwhelmingly to the west with the company.

 

[2PiR]

Why is sony having hard time selling PS+? It offers great value, why isn't more than half the people with PS4 not subscribed I wonder.

 

[Voke]

Haha, ok, didn't read all 8 pages.

It still amazes me that people buy consoles and never actually buy a game. Although, with subscription based services, I expect actually buying games to disappear eventually.

I was about to buy A Plague Tale: Innocence a few weeks ago when I saw that it was coming out on Game Pass. Literally canceled out me buying it. 🤷‍♂️ I wonder if developers gain or lose from that.

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I wonder this too. But I'm actually not surprised a lot of people don't buy games these days. The most popular ones are free. Even before this service model became popular plenty of people will buy a console only to get 5 games the entire gen. And then these five games will just each call of duty or something lol

 

[____]

Why is sony having hard time selling PS+? It offers great value, why isn't more than half the people with PS4 not subscribed I wonder.

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Lol I don't think you're reading that properly.

 

[ArmGunar]

I wonder this too. But I'm actually not surprised a lot of people don't buy games these days. The most popular ones are free. Even before this service model became popular plenty of people will buy a console only to get 5 games the entire gen. And then these five games will just each call of duty or something lol

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You are definitely too harsh guys

I don't know if you realize that 257 million games sold to consumers in 2019 is the second highest year ever for any platform in history of video games ?

The best one being 2018 on PS4 again with 279m

You can't say people buy less games or don't buy games at all these days because what PS4 accomplished with these kind of numbers is impressive, it has never been done before by any platform (including PS2)

 

[piratethingy]

The amount of subs compared too consoles sold is staggering

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did you ever clarify if you were impressed or unimpressed here? Cause people sure did jump on this, but I assumed you meant good staggering

 

[piratethingy]

Why is sony having hard time selling PS+? It offers great value, why isn't more than half the people with PS4 not subscribed I wonder.

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Man, what a weird post to read. Everything you say is the opposite of what I believe lol.

Sony is having incredible success with PS+, with almost forty million subscribers to a service that provides increasingly negligible value. Why are almost half the people with PS4 subscribed?? Crazy high number, good for Sony.

 

[Hamster Plugin]

Man, what a weird post to read. Everything you say is the opposite of what I believe lol.

Sony is having incredible success with PS+, with almost forty million subscribers to a service that provides increasingly negligible value. Why are almost half the people with PS4 subscribed?? Crazy high number, good for Sony.

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It's not really a service that is meant to deliver value. It's a paywall for basic features. Microsoft got away with it last gen and now every console maker wants your money just to use the internet. It prints money!

 

[Wackamole]

Wow, those are some huge numbers.

 

[EagleClaw]

It's not really a service that is meant to deliver value. It's a paywall for basic features. Microsoft got away with it last gen and now every console maker wants your money just to use the internet. It prints money!

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So companies want money from the consumer, and want that the consumer pays for some sort of service?

Sounds normal for me, but i'm from europe, we even pay for water at the restaurant.

 

[ArmGunar]

Sounds normal for me, but i'm from europe, we even pay for water at the restaurant.

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Damn lol what country ?
Here in France, water and bread free of course

 

[Dog of Bork]

Generally when something that was free is suddenly not free and there's been no massive improvement to that something, it's not seen as "providing a service", it's a cash grab.