PlayStation 5 surpasses the NES with 65 million units sold

Back when the PlayStation 5 first launched, its sales were hampered by global economic issues including but not limited to the COVID-19 pandemic – affecting the availability of the much-desired system. In the years since, production of the PS5 has stabilised, with Sony’s latest and greatest now surpassing the lifetime sales of the classic Nintendo Entertainment System with over 65 million units shipped.

As part of Sony’s latest fiscal earnings report, the PlayStation maker revealed that (as of the 30th of September 2024) the PS5 has managed to sell over 65.5 million units – 3.8 million during the most recent quarter.

This puts the PlayStation 5 as the 8th best-selling home console of all time, and the 13th best-selling system in general (handhelds included); currently sandwiched between the NES (61.91 million) and the Nintendo 3DS (75.94 million).

The PS5 has been trailing ever so slightly behind the PS4 when it comes to launch-aligned sales, with the 8th-gen system selling 67.7 million units during the same period.

As mentioned however, the PlayStation 5 suffered from supply issues for its first few years on the market, and so its relative drop compared to the last-gen system can easily be explained away.

That said, with the PS5 Pro now available to purchase, it will be interesting to see how the PlayStation 5’s sales trajectory is affected by the mid-gen refresh. We will have to wait and see.

KitGuru says: When did you buy a PS5? Are you going to double-dip for the Pro? Will the PS5 eventually outsell the PlayStation 4 when all is said and done? Let us know your thoughts down below.

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