PlayStation5 shipments reached the 75 million mark in 2024

Surprising even the company making and promoting it, apparently, the PlayStation5 seems to have had its most successful quarter yet: according to Sony’s just-published financial results (PDF), its home console managed to ship over 9.5 million units between October and December, reaching the mark of 75 million units shipped at around the same point in time the PS4 did. Units shipped is not the same as units sold, obviously – VGChartz puts the PS5’s user base at 72.31 million at the time of writing – but the uptick in sell-in numbers definitely translated to a considerable uptick in sell-through numbers too.

This is noteworthy for a few different reasons. For one, 2024 was a difficult year for the PS5 software-wise, as the only Sony-produced standout title released exclusively for it was Astro Bot (the other big Sony hit was Helldivers 2 which was also released on PC). A few third-party exclusives and the lack of strong competition from Xbox seems it was enough to counterbalance that, though.

For another, the PS5 and the PS5 Pro are more expensive or way more expensive than the PS4 and the PS4 Pro were at the same point in time respectively, even with inflation taken into account. Furthermore, the PS5 faced severe availability issues for almost two and a half years, so reaching the same milestone in more or less the same amount of time means that the PS5 actually sold faster than the PS4 (once it became easy to find).

2025 looks like it’s going to be an even better year for the PS5

Based on the above, it’s easy to see why Sony is now optimistic about 2025 when it comes to the PS5/PS5 Pro. For one, it will be a much better year in terms of exclusive games for the two systems, as Ghost of Yotei, Death Stranding 2, Phantom Blade Zero, Where Winds Meet and Sword of the Sea are all confirmed for 2025 – even Marathon or FairGame$ might make it in time for Q4. Provided they have not been already put on hold, that is.

For another, not only is competition from Xbox in terms of hardware expected to be even weaker, but Microsoft itself will be releasing no less than 7 (!) current Xbox Game Studios titles for the PlayStation5. Those, along with almost every other major third-party title offering a PS5 version, should make for a strong release schedule full of high-quality PS5 games throughout 2025.

And then there is the Grand Theft Auto VI factor to consider. A game of this magnitude would be enough to convince millions of consumers still playing on the PS4 to finally get a PS5 – or even upgrade to a PS5 Pro – all on its own in 2025, so there is that. But if rumors making the rounds on the Web are true regarding some kind of exclusive GTA VI partnership or collaboration between Take-Two and Sony, then this could be huge.

Depending on what that partnership might entail – from GTA VI PS5 or PS5 Pro bundles and exclusive content to special promotions or other joint marketing activities – it would allow Sony’s system to dominate the market during that crucial GTA VI Q3 release window. As this makes perfect sense for Take-Two as well (most GTA V/GTA Online players are still on the PS4 and the PS5 is now the dominant home console by far), it will be extremely interesting to see how this could play out when the time comes.

More customer engagement than ever, considerable room for PS5 growth

The official release date of Grand Theft Auto VI is yet to be confirmed, though, let alone an exclusive partnership between Take-Two and Sony. In the meantime, some other interesting tidbits of information released as part of Sony’s recent financial results:

• Full game sales were 95.9 million during Q4 2024, with 11.6 million of those being first-party titles. While full game sales significantly increased (from 89.7 million sold in the same 2023 quarter) first-party game sales dropped from 16.2 million. No wonder there: remasters and remakes can only get anyone so far.
  
• Over 40% of consumers who bought a PlayStation5 during the holiday period “were new to the console”, which “contributed substantially to monthly active users growth” according to Sony. So… the other 60% already had a PS5 and got another one or upgraded to the PS5 Pro? As unlikely as it is unclear, yet here we are.
  
• Network services revenue rose by 29% to $1.1 billion and PlayStation Plus sales increased by 20% “mainly due to a shift to higher tiers of service and the impact of price revisions”, according to Sony. It appears that the company’s restructuring of the PS Plus service worked as expected, then: the Essential tier is rather pricey for what it now offers, the Premium tier is definitely pricey for most people anyway, so one must assume that many players that were on Sony’s more affordable PS Plus tier of old chose to upgrade to the Extra tier because of the additional content and perks for not a lot more money that what they’d pay for Essential. Honestly, it makes sense.
  
• By the end of 2024 the number of PSN monthly active users grew to 129 million – up from 123 million compared to December 2023 – marking the highest number of monthly active users in PlayStation history. Sony has not shared how many of those players are still on PS4, but they represented more than 40% of the PlayStation user base back in May 2024. Even if that number is close to 30% now, these are still over 40 million consumers the company would really like to bring over to the PS5. If it achieves even half of that over the next 12-18 months, then a PS5 user base of 100 million by 2027 seems totally achievable right now.
  
  

It goes without saying that all of this is great news for Sony and the PlayStation brand. Whether the PS5 actually deserved this level of success or not is another matter entirely, as is whether this success can justify some of the company’s questionable choices or its embarrassingly minimal contribution to the gaming medium as a whole. These are all points of discussion worth exploring in the future, so stay tuned.