Unit sales of Sony PS5 worldwide 2020-2022

In the 2022 financial year, Sony sold over 19 million units of its PlayStation 5. This marked a significant increase of more than 66 percent compared to the previous financial year. It was also the highest number of PlayStation 5 annual sales reported since the console’s release. Sony's current-generation console, the PlayStation 5, was released during the holiday season in 2020 when it sold some 4.5 million units during that quarter. The PlayStation 5 ranked as the best-selling current-generation console in 2023.

PlayStation’s decades of dominance

Sony’s PlayStation brand has been a significant player in the video game industry since its inception. Sony released the first PlayStation in 1994 and has released four more versions since then. The PlayStation 2 holds the record as the highest-selling console of all time with over 158 million units sold. The popularity of Sony’s PlayStation lineup is visible in that all their previous generation home consoles are among the top-10 best-selling consoles of all time. In 2022, PlayStation dominated the global game console market with an impressive share of 87.8 percent. This market domination also translates to high annual sales revenue, as Sony’s game and network services generated nearly 26 billion U.S. dollars in revenue in FY 2022 and has been the company’s largest business segment since 2014.

PlayStation VR headset a first for home consoles

Sony’s commitment to innovation is evident in its support for new technologies. The PlayStation 4 was the first console from a mainstream game console company to support virtual reality. Sony released PlayStation VR 2 in early 2023, and its popularity quickly became clear when it accounted for around 32 percent of all extended reality (XR) headsets sold globally in the first quarter of 2023.