The PS4 has not said its last word, far, very far from it since it is still a hit, even more than the PS5 in fact. As incredible as it is, the players chose!
Recently, Sony took stock of its finances for the last quarter and revealed that it had sold nearly 59 million PS5s since launch. A very good score. Over the last period alone, the PS5 would have even sold up to five times more than the Xbox Series. The PlayStation branch is therefore doing quite well. But when you take a closer look, there’s something wrong.
Half of PlayStation players are… on PS4!
Of the nearly 118 million PlayStation console users, 59 million are currently on PS5. The figures are dizzying, but they are intriguing. More than half of my players are currently playing… on PS4! Finally, 2 million have not left their PS3. As analyst Daniel Amad points out, while the PS5 sold 59 million consoles, the PS4 sold nearly 60 million units, which is no small thing. Yes, at least as many players are still on the previous generation of consoles and don’t seem to want to migrate, it’s a little worrying at a time when the PS5 Pro should not be long while the current generation of consoles is at least half of its lifespan. At least, commercially, as we see here, after more than 3 years of PS5, the PS4 is still present en masse.
A difficult start for the PS5 and a lack of “leap” between generations
We then wonder what can explain such a sedentary lifestyle on the part of players. The first reasons are obvious, the price and current living conditions. Not everyone has, no longer has, between €500 and €550 to pay for a PS5, especially when a PS4 costs much less. Not to mention the price of games, the average of which is between €60 and €80 for the biggest PS5 hits. Added to this is the cost of living which has continued to increase almost everywhere since Covid19. A pandemic which has also seriously impacted the launch of this new generation of consoles with numerous shortages, so that no one seems to have really assimilated the change of gen, where as a general rule it is an event. This period of crisis has also allowed the PS4 to explode all expectations. Locked at home, consumers rushed to the available consoles, and to the extent that the news did not come out…
We can also mention the lack of technological leap. Where it was a real shock to go from the PS1 to the PS2 or even from the PS2 to the PS3 here, it’s a little less the case even if, obviously, there is a serious performance gain between the two machines . But obviously, not enough to push the consumer to jump on the new fashionable bike at all costs.
A real lack of exclusive PS5 games
Finally, we could also talk about the lack of games exclusive to the PS5, the “system sellers” which would push players to change consoles. It’s a fact, the developers and especially the big publishers, have been more than cautious in regarding the change of platform on this generation of consoles and some have still not taken the plunge. Large licenses in particular, such as Call of Duty and EA FC (formerly Fifa) have continued to provide PS4 versions of their annual games for years.
Here again, this doesn’t really make you want to change creameries, even if this argument can also be seen the other way around. Namely that if publishers do not migrate, it is also and above all because players do not change platforms and therefore, the console fleet is clearly not as advantageous. And at a time when game development is becoming more and more expensive, it’s hard to prove them wrong. It’s a bit like a snake biting its own tail.
The PS4 is not ready to die!
Regardless, the PS4 is still a smash hit, the games are selling quite well and there are still a lot of players enjoying their old machine. Perhaps the upcoming arrival of the PS5 Pro will reshuffle the cards, we’ll see. As it stands, the 2013 dinosaur still lives and it would not be surprising to think that it will still hold the candle for a while in the shadow of its colossal little sister which, for its part, will continue to explode sales and to dominate the market. Finally, to dominate… outside Nintendo territory only, since Big N is the big winner of the famous “console war”. From the top of its 141 million Switches sold, Nintendo clearly has no reason to be ashamed of the competition, especially as it prepares the imminent arrival of the succession, which we all call Nintendo Switch 2 for the moment .