Summary
ThePlayStation 5’s latest sales figures reveal that nearly half of the PlayStation userbase has yet to upgrade from its predecessor, the PlayStation 4. Sony’s recent earnings call disclosed that thePS5has sold over 59 million units in its lifetime so far, but the monthly active user numbers show that tens of millions of PlayStation fans are still using the PS4.
Having launched in November 2020 at the height of the global semiconductor chip shortage, thePS5 faced severe stock issuesfor nearly two years - a big hindrance towards its early adoption. Consumer purchasing habits also took a hit during the same period due to employment declines, increased costs of living, and the console’s higher price tag compared to the PS4. Despite these hurdles, Sony resolved the shortages and has been selling a healthy number of PS5s ever since. Exclusive games likeFinal Fantasy 16,Stellar Blade, andSpider-Man 2offer cogent reasons to upgrade to the console, but they haven’t been enough for a huge chunk of the PlayStation userbase so far.
Sony’s latest Q4 and financial year 2023 earnings reportrevealed that the company has sold an impressive 59.3 million PS5 consoles to date. However, the company also noted that it missed out on the console’s already-reduced sales target of 21 million units for the fiscal year by about 200,000 units, while also tracking slightly behind the PS4 on a launch-aligned basis. The more surprising revelation, though, was that the reported 118 million monthly active user numbers reveal that around half the PlayStation userbase has still not upgraded to the PS5.
Around 60 Million PlayStation Users Are Still on the PS4
Sony currently gets its monthly active user data from the PS3, PS4, and PS5, with the company potentially attempting to lump PC players into it as well, now that thePSN account linking requirement forGhost of Tsushima’s PCport is in effect. However, the latest numbers show that around 60 million PlayStation users have yet to upgrade to Sony’s current-gen machine. There are several reasons why this could be the case, with the console’s price potentially being one of the biggest. The PS4 already saw permanent price drops at the same point during its lifecycle, but it’s apparently not so easy with the PS5.
Earlier this year, Sony addressed the possibility of a PS5 price cut, stating that due to the process of reducing the console’s die size being much more expensive than the PS4, the company found it unfeasible to offer the PS5 at a lower price. The sparse availability of full-fledged first-party PS5 exclusives is another big factor that has likely hampered mass adoption of the console. Blockbuster first-party titles likeGran Turismo 7,God of War Ragnarok, andHorizon Forbidden Westreleasing on the PS4 may not have necessitated spending hundreds of dollars on a PS5 for millions of fans. However, that seems to be changing, withupcoming Sony first-party games targeting only PS5hardware. The next few years will tell if the PS5 will outsell the PS4.
