Not even quite five years after launching, PS5 has sold more systems in the US than the PS3 ever did. Circana’s Mat Piscatella revealed the intriguing tidbit about Sony’s current-gen console on BlueSky, though didn’t provide exact numbers for comparison.
There were roughly 88 million PS3 systems produced by Sony from 2006 to 2016. In August, Sony revealed that 80 million PS5 units had been sold globally since the console debuted in November 2020. That means it’s a question of when, not if PS5 will top PS3 worldwide.
September 2025 US video game data fun fact – The PlayStation 5 has now surpassed the PlayStation 3 in lifetime installed base. So that’s cool. Source: Circana Retail Tracking Service. Shout out to Maki on the InstallBase forum for reminding me about this one.
β Mat Piscatella (@matpiscatella.bsky.social) October 22, 2025 at 9:46 AM
As for other Sony hardware, the company reportedly stopped issuing sales figures for PS4 in 2022, when the system sat at roughly 117 units sold. The PS2 is the best-selling system of all time, with Sony producing over 160 million consoles from 2000 to 2013. There is a chance–though possibly a small one at this point–that Switch could catch up to PS2. As of August, Nintendo had sold more than 153 million Switch systems.
That’s impressive! The PS5 has really made a strong impact in such a short time. It’s interesting to see how gaming consoles evolve and capture the market.
see how the gaming landscape has changed since the PS3 era. The rise of digital sales and online gaming has likely contributed to the PS5’s faster sales. Itβll be fascinating to see how it continues to perform in the coming years!
Absolutely, the shift towards digital sales has really transformed how games are distributed and consumed. Additionally, the growing popularity of online services and subscription models has likely contributed to the PS5’s rapid sales. It’s fascinating to see how these changes have shaped gaming habits over the years!