PS5 Sold an Estimated 2.1 to 2.5 Million Units Worldwide on Launch Day

Based on preliminary data VGChartz estimates that the PlayStation 5 sold between an estimated 2.1 million to 2.5 million units worldwide when you combine its two launch days.

The $499 PS5 proved to be far more popular than the $399 PS5 Digital Edition, with over 75 percent of the total estimated sales.

[DeadSilence]

Damn those sales are insane but again I'll take you all back to 2013:

"Don't read too much into it." 😂

[darthv72]

...especially when you read about 3rd party resellers who scored hundreds if not thousands using bots to keep regular folk from getting one.

[RgR]

Those units will most certainly get to peoples hands eventually if they don't get bought by whales.

[S2Killinit]

Are you implying that they wouldnt have sold at regular prices if scalpers hadnt picked them up?

I think its telling that retailers are no longer pre-announcing the time orders open up because when they do, their sites crash.

[oof46]

I wish people would be able to resist buying from scalpers. The only thing giving them power is the fact that people are willing to buy the consoles at their ridiculous prices.

[darthv72]

^I've never bought from a scalper. you have to be pretty desperate to pay what they are asking. I will gladly wait my turn.

@AAA... no, not that at all. Im saying this feel good story should have a happier ending of knowing those millions sold are being enjoyed by people all around the world instead of the reality that scalpers are holding them hostage for insane ransom.

[TripleAAARating]

Lol @ darth.... you're so predictable. Alluding that the number might not have been close to 2.5 mil if it weren't for 3rd party bots, when all evidence clearly shows that the availability for PS5s @ launch was near IMPOSSIBLE to meet demand... everyone and their grandma wants one 😆.

[JEECE]

I like how you are using the fact that scalpers know they can sell the console for 2-3 times MSRP as evidence that demand isn't as strong as the numbers suggest.

[mikeslemonade]

^darth
It’s actually more desperate to camp and lurk than to spend like a extra $250 for a PS5. You’re just wasting your time and energy trying to save pennies.

[senis_kenis]

@darthv72 but somehow in my country are plenty XSX, and even more XSS, but no PS5 preorders until January, all sold out.

[SullysCigar]

You're talking about "hundreds if not thousands" out of 2.5 MILLION...I really don't expect anything other than a fractional impact on the overall sales stats.

[imtiyaz6]

There is no surprise here. PlayStation has a very high brand loyalty among consumers, it will always lead in sales unless Sony shoots themselves in the foot.

[potatoseal]

LOL Here is that article

https://arstechnica.com/gam...

[godofiron]

Thank you for providing that much needed context to me and the other 4 of us who didn't get the joke XD

[Runechaz]

you mean 2 to 2.3 millions to the scalpers..

[tombfan]

Yes, sure, great, amazing, superb, yes again, yes, yes, yes /s

[Babadook7]

Down-voters didn’t know what an /s meant?

[Dragonscale]

Shows how popular PS5 is. Not so much scalping on the xbox side lol.

[medman]

@runechaz
I managed to secure a ps5 launch day best buy in store pickup. I got a series x preorder from amazon that was delayed, buy arrived Sunday nov. 21. Got lucky. The particular best buy I got my ps5 from said they got in about 80 ps5's and about 120 series x's, which surprised me they had received more xbox's.

[GaboonViper]

Amazing achievement Sony, well done.

[Jin_Sakai]

“The $499 PS5 proved to be far more popular than the $399 PS5 Digital Edition, with over 75 percent of the total estimated sales.“

Pretty sure that’s because they made far less digital editions and you couldn’t get one.

[RgR]

Or more people still prefer the disc version since all digital is getting expensive this gen

[JEECE]

Interestingly though there is some demand explicitly for the digital edition. Like I would have been okay with either, but I got a disc version largely because they made so many more of them. But if you look on ebay, you'll see digital editions selling sometimes for within $100 of what the disc edition is selling for (and both over $900).

[cell989]

Even if more people prefer the disk version. Obviously all digital versions sold out anyway. So right now it’s not a good time to compare numbers. Everything sold out 🤷🏻‍♂️

[rpvenom]

Agreed. I feel like most retailers would only want the disc version as they would accumulate more profit dollars, though very little.. also they would want to encourage people to buy physical discs from there after the fact so selling digital versions would be stupid for them.

[Jin_Sakai]

Both are completely sold out and 75% of sales were disk edition so that’s leaves only 25% being digital editions. So they made significantly less digital editions.

“Sony has reportedly made significantly lower quantities of PlayStation 5 Digital Edition available as compared to the standard PS5.”

https://www.nme.com/news/ga...

[neutralgamer1992]

Jin

Physical gaming media sales are still more than digital. That is a fact. People misunderstand digital revenue for digital game sales. When we are talking about DR that accounts for game sales, dlc, micro transactions, ultimate team etc and EA for example makes 800+ million in ultimate team/micro transactions so you can't look at that and say digital game sales are bigger. Many of those people spending on digital revenue as in MT and ultimate team content have bought physical copies of the game

It's the same thing when people have been projecting the death if consoles for multiple generations yet the demand is higher than before. End of the day 5+ years from now 60-65% of the consoles will be disk based and 30-35% digital

[ufo8mycat]

Not surprised by this. With news that games are going to be more expensive ($70 in the US), more people opted for physical, simply because the you can get the physical versions cheaper then the digital counterparts.

[Kavorklestein]

You will be able to get the disc versions of games cheaper, But not at launch.
And saving 5 bucks on a disc game a month after launch is beans compared to whoever ends up paying 200+ more for any kind of PS5 they can find to a scalper. The disc savings are not part of the equation yet. But yes, retailers will want to sell disc versions so they can also sell games.

[MrNinosan]

” The $499 PS5 proved to be far more popular than the $399 PS5 Digital Edition, with over 75 percent of the total estimated sales.”

Even thou I believe the disc version will be the most popular by the end of this gen, this was not the case now. Sony sold every single console out there.
If there were 5 million digital version out there they would’ve sold aswell.

So we can just assume if this data is correct, that Sony made 1,5-1,9 million disc version available at launch and the rest was digital.

[kayoss]

I think the data and what was reported that people’s first choice was the disc version vs the digital version. But if they made 5 million more digital, that would be sold out too.
In short, if there were a surplus of digital vs disc, the disc version would have been the winner.

[CornholioX]

That is 2 times more sold than Xbox Series, right?

[ABizzel1]

Allegedly, yes.

There's still no confirmation from either company so it's up in the air. However, I will say it has been significantly easier getting an Xbox Series X and S than it has been getting a PS5, also this isnt' the best metric to go by, but ebay prices of Series S and X have dropped by around 20% since launch.

Series X were averaging $1,000, now they're settling in the $800 - $850 range with a rare +$750 popping up.

Series S is averaging in the $400 - $450 range.

Meanwhile, the PS5 has had marginal drop, and is still selling in the +$900 - $1,000 consistently with the rare +$800 popping up.

Take what you want from that, but it's a possible sign that the PS5 is a bit more popular than both Xbox consoles combined. But again it has been easier for me at least getting a Series X and S. Now I have all 3 consoles, so I'm pretty much done.

Good luck to everyone else.

[Kavorklestein]

On launch day, yes.

[neutralgamer1992]

By the time sony may announce something ps5 will be around 5 million. I can't believe the demand honestly it's beyond next level. Xbox has absolutely no chance at the moment. The demand for ps5 is far more than xbox. Social media wario and cheapassgamer twitter accounts alone daily people asking non stop for ps5

Personally I don't see ps5 being on store shelves till summer of 2021 at the earliest. This is ps1/ps2 era dominance all over again. Ps5 will outsell xbox by 3-1 minimum

[darthv72]

demand is high because people were getting them nabbed right from under them via scalping bots. So of course you are going to see people on social media asking daily. Its that way for both next gen systems.

If sony could do it... flood the market and that would overwhelm the bots and let regular people get one without issue. Same with MS. The scalping market will rue the day.

[RosweeSon]

Why do you think scalpers are remotely interested... becauses there’s demand they won’t scalp on products no one wants.

[potatoseal]

Scalping is a small minority compared to the overall sales.

[AndrewM]

Yeah and why did the scalper bots buy the ps5? Oh to sell to people. Shut up about bots when it comes to sold numbers. You need to stop trying to downplay the ps5. And before you say your not....yes you are.

[sinspirit]

Here we are. Another sneaky comment to discredit the demand for the other platform and then the follow up statement that has inclusion of both products in it for pretend objectivity while boosting the lower performer up by comparing it to the better performer. Coming up, a slightly positive statement about your least favorite platform to appear fair despite raiding every article trying to sway peoples opinion. Don't forget to mention that you've got both consoles and play on both.

Can we vote on stealth trolling already?

[imtiyaz6]

Scalpers are mainly for rich people who have enough money to dole out the extra $500 and don’t want to put in the work like the rest of us.

[neutralgamer1992]

darthv72

No you are wrong the demand for ps5 is at an all time high because there are more than 115+ million ps4 owners. Sony could flood the market with 10 million consoles and those would sell out before end of the year. Please stop trying to downplay the success/momentum of ps5

StormRage

Xbox is being made available too and is selling for high prices too yet it's still available when sony has made more consoles available than ms. You guys on xbox side can try to downplay all you want by December ps5 will be 5+ million and end of next year 25+ million. Playstation is a much much stronger brand than xbox and that is a fact. Xbox can have best services and features but it doesn't have games. Sony has exclusives lined up for next 12-18 months while ms has halo. 3-1 will be the margin and outside the usa this margin will be 4/5-1. Even buying bethesda doesn't change anything when those games can be played on pc

[potatoseal]

What a ridiculous assertion. I can only assume that you're salty as hell with these ground-breaking numbers.

You're overestimating the scalping market. It's only a minoroty. They seem much more prevalent because they are the only ones selling PS5's right now at this very moment.

[boing1]

Demand is very high because Sony released extremely desirable product at a reasonable price.

[CornholioX]

It also happened with PS4. It took at least 6 months until ps4 are in stock worldwide.

[savedsynner]

Sub headline : 70% of those were to bots.

[MrNinosan]

And even the bots sell them through.
Sony would’ve sold all there unita however you try to turn the page.

[SierraGuy]

Does it matter?

[potatoseal]

That's just false and misleading information

[neutralgamer1992]

Save

To the manufacturer sale is a sale regardless of who is buying it

[RosweeSon]

Sold 2 million+ and the scalpers figure quoted was around 3500. Sure that’s just U.K but that’s not even close to 7% let alone 70 🤦🏻‍♂️🤷 🏻‍♂️😂

[Mr_Luke]

Wow and i can't imagine if there were more PS5s available :O

[SmokinAces]

1.5 million to scalpers.

[Iamnothuman12]

To the suprise of absolutely no one.

[Pughski]

To bots and content creators

[Ninver]

If accurate then that's very impressive. Then again this is playstation we're talking about.

[FallenAngel1984]

Obviously more people are going to value that disc version. $100 isn’t worth neglecting such a versatile feature

[imtiyaz6]

It’s nothing when you consider the money you’ll save in sharing a new game with your friends or buying used games. The digital editions take a while for the prices to drop. I’m glad I still didn’t pay full amount on RDR2 when I bought it second hand 3 days after release. It’s been sitting in my shelf since.

[thornintheside]

depends, if you plan on using the "game share" feature, with friends or family, the disc edition makes no sense because you wouldn't be buying physical discs at all.

[S2Killinit]

Just on launch day!

[MetroidFREAK21]

Happy to be apart of that number. Been playing my PS5 WAY more than my Series X. Partially due to the Spider-Man games... they are so good. I've got a lot of single player PS4 games to play as well. I'm very excited for the future of the platform. Its a shame some of the units went into the wrong hands. Please, if you're on the hunt, be patient. Don't spend $1,000+ on the device!

[Baza]

And I wasn’t one of them ☹️

[COS]

Great numbers. 2.5 mil, probably 1.9 mil still in BoT scalpers hands lol

[JEECE]

I love all the comments saying that demand is inflated due to bots and scalpers. That's not how scalping works, lol. It only makes any sense to scalp if demand vastly outstrips demand already. If scalpers were the only thing creating that demand, they wouldn't actually be able to sell all the consoles they bought at a profit.

[Silly gameAr]

Yeah, I don't think those people use the sense that the good lord gave them. The scalpers know that people will pay double the price for a PS5 because it's in high demand. Scalpers aren't buying the PS5 for their own health. They're probably making a killing.

[JEECE]

Exactly. The idea that scalpers are just buying them to put in a stack and look at is ridiculous. If the percentage that have been sold to scalpers is really as high as people are making out (which I doubt), it would be even stronger evidence of the console's popularity.

[neutralgamer1992]

They have to somehow downplay the success of PlayStation 5 nothing new. Sony and especially Mark Cerny created a very well designed developer friendly/gamer friendly machine. it will sell regardless of how many units Sony can produce over the next 6 months. PlayStation is just a very strong brand and it's a recognition in worldwide markets is bigger than most others I think the only other brand that can compete with Sony and Playstation is Nintendo but they go for totally different market share

[jjb1981]

Through FedEx, about 750,000 never made it to their destination.

[Juvia]

Congratulations to Sony. The PS5 has blown away my expectations. They really nailed it here.

[potatoseal]

The lead starts here and it's never going dissipate.

[Bathyj]

Credit where it's due, Xbox held the lead for 2 days.

[Benficaman]

lol

[DivineHand125]

I was one of the lucky ones to order one on launch day.

[Hawk198666]

If this is true then scalpers must've got about 2M units.

[RosweeSon]

Yeah they only sold 10 to legit customers 😑🤦🏻‍♂️ 🤷🏻‍♂️😂 where do people get these mad ideas. Literally millions got to fans at least 1 nearer 2 million leaving a few hundred thousand getting resold not great but more stock has been announced and if people didn’t pay the silly prices it wouldn’t happen. Still tho it’s a minority that have ended with scalpers most have been secured by fans.

[xetiro]

PS5 Launch: 2.1 ~ 2.5M
XSX|S Launch: 1.1 ~ 1.4M

The trend of 2:1 seems set from the beginning as expected.

[OB1Biker]

That's not even counting Europe.
Edit
Sorry, Europe launch is included indeed.
Still even better than PS4 launch

[thornintheside]

wasn't the trend more like 2.5-3 : 1

[Neonridr]

solid numbers which means that the video game industry is alive and well.

[Limitedtimestruggle]

Loving the bots, scripts and scalpers fucking the entire launch up over here. A disaster launch like no other.

[Saijahn]

But but it's vgchartz..😂

[baalfadedk]

It's delayed in denmark :(

[bu3ouf91]

This is only warm up, People like me cannot wait to grap one for me and another for my brother

[Ninver]

You're a good brother.

[Einhander1971]

And who keeps saying physical media is dead:) I have the full fat version ps5.

[mafiahajeri]

Damnnnnn

[Thundercat77]

Those numbers could have been more if the units were available.

Also, have you notice how some arguments have been goind downhill?

Timeline arguments...
- We have the most powerful console this time.
- PS5 is performing better: wait til the dev tools.
- PS5 is selling better because of the scalpers.

Wow.

[GamingSinceForever]

Saying the physical is more popular than the digital is technically inaccurate. Unless there was an equal amount of both available we may never know. Sony obviously made more of the physical available. Neither are sitting on shelves right now.

[waverider]

Double of the competition. I think its a very Good numbers with covid. Amazing Start and no doubt if Sony got 5 million to sell they would be sold.

[Stanjara]

to Scalpers and youtubers. I clapped.

[Belmont85]

Which of all the alternate realities did those PS5s end up on..

[Lionsguard]

"The $499 PS5 proved to be far more popular than the $399 PS5 Digital Edition, with over 75 percent of the total estimated sales."

But they said everything is sold out..Wouldn't this just mean that there was more of the $499 model than the 399?

[Evil-Gouki]

Go buy a PS5 if you can fu****ng find one.
Rick Sanchez

[DFresh]

More like scalpers bought 2 million plus consoles.
Epic failure addressing scalpers.
T_T

[NaAsAr]

70 percent All to scalpers!!!!!

[MALVAD0]

Scalpers or not is a win win for sony the ugly side is majority of ps5 sold are not in hand of PsBoys but sold is a sold no matter what.....👍

[Bender6502]

And still I couldn't get one!

[MALVAD0]

You are not the only one amigo i need 4 ps5 son,daughter,wife and one for me i hope we get lucky and good luck get it one

[Bender6502]

It's a brilliant console with some really innovative features. Did anyone real expect anything else?

[WillyC009]

I had zero isssue getting my order in on amazon Canada. Awesome launch day sale number as well. For everyone who hasn’t gotten one, I wish you good luck heading into the Christmas season.