Wednesday, 28 July, 2021 UTC


Summary

Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) has never been shy when it comes to celebrating hardware sales milestones. With the PlayStation 5 continually out of stock, instantly snapped up when a retailer even whispers it might be getting a shipment today’s announcement is even more impressive. SIE has revealed that more than 10 million PS5’s have been sold worldwide since November 2020.
Those sales date from 12th November to 18th July 2021, making the PlayStation 5 the fastest-selling console in the company’s history. Considering the ongoing chip shortages and the pandemic those are some impressive figures, easily eclipsing sales of the PlayStation 4. This has been supported by a range of platform exclusives with Insomniac Games’ Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales selling 6.5 million copies in that same time period whilst its recent Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart title has already sold over 1.1 million copies since its launch last month.
“I can’t express enough the deep gratitude we feel for our passionate community of PlayStation fans who have embraced PS5, and the world-class development and publishing partners who bring such incredible gaming experiences to our platforms,” said Jim Ryan, president and CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment in a statement. “While PS5 has reached more households faster than any of our previous consoles, we still have a lot of work ahead of us as demand for PS5 continues to outstrip supply. I want gamers to know that while we continue to face unique challenges throughout the world that affect our industry and many others, improving inventory levels remains a top priority for SIE.
Those figures also bode well for SIE’s virtual reality (VR) plans. When PlayStation VR originally launched for PlayStation 4 back in 2016 it greatly benefited from the user base, as the headset was easy to set up and cheaper than rival PC VR headsets. Thanks to a free adapter PlayStation VR can be used with the new PlayStation 5 and some developers are making use of that extra power. nDreams’ upcoming title Fracked will feature uncapped dynamic resolution, improved framerate, and loading times on the console.
The new headset – which SIE has yet to reveal – should also benefit from this growing userbase, especially considering its not due for release this year. SIE has already teased details including the “Orb” controllers and their haptic triggers, that the headset will offer a “high-fidelity visual experience,” and that it’ll connect to the PlayStation 5 via a single cable.  
As PlayStation 5’s success continues and more details regarding the new headsets are released, VRFocus will keep you updated.