You crazy son of a gun, you did it. We all knew this milestone was coming, but today is the day. Sony has announced that the PlayStation 5, after being on the market for just over three years, has now crossed 50 million consoles sold to consumers.
I remember when the PlayStation 5 launched back in 2020. Just like the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S, you couldn’t find a PlayStation 5 anywhere. It didn’t matter which model you were looking for — the PlayStation 5 with the disc drive or the PlayStation 5 Digital version — you couldn’t find that console anywhere.
Personally, I wasn’t able to find a PS5 until early 2021. I was buying a television from Best Buy and, by a complete stroke of luck, they had just gotten a shipment into the store. The guy who helped me with the TV, almost as a throwaway, said, “Do you plan to game on this TV? We just got some PS5s in.” Thanks for running up my Best Buy credit card, dude.
Three years later, PlayStation and Sony have obviously fixed those supply issues. The company has now sold over 50 million consoles to consumers — and there is no end in sight. Jim Ryan, President and CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment, said in a statement that “this is the first holiday season since launch that we have a full supply of PS5 consoles – so anyone who wants to get one can get one.”
“Achieving this PS5 sales milestone is a testament to the unwavering support of the global PlayStation community and their passion for the incredible experiences created by the talented developers from PlayStation Studios and our partners. We’re grateful for all of our players who have joined the PS5 journey so far, and we’re thrilled that this is the first holiday season since launch that we have a full supply of PS5 consoles – so anyone who wants to get one can get one.”
The milestone comes about a month after the company launched the PlayStation Portal, the handheld companion to the PlayStation 5 that lets PS5 owners play their games remotely. The Portal costs $199 and features an 8-inch, 1080p screen that is capable of up to 60 frames per second of gameplay.
PlayStation Portal is the perfect device for gamers in households where they might need to share their living room TV or simply want to play PS5 games in another room of the house. PlayStation Portal will connect remotely to your PS5 over Wi-Fi**, so you’ll be able to swiftly jump from playing on your PS5 to your PlayStation Portal. PlayStation Portal can play supported games that are installed on your PS5 console and use the Dualsense controller.
While Sony has fixed the PlayStation 5 supply, the PlayStation Portal has taken over as the PlayStation product that is absolutely impossible to find. When the handheld was launched last month, it immediately sold out, and while retailers have gotten stock since then, it is nearly impossible to get it before everyone else has already added it to their cart.
Even being subscribed to stock alerts at most retailers, I haven’t been able to grab one. There’s no describing the pain of seeing it available and clicking the Add to Cart button on the Best Buy website — only to be told that it is already sold out.
If you’re trying to get one for the holidays, best of luck in your endeavors. Just remember that you need to buy a PS5 to even use the Portal! Thankfully, Sony says there are plenty of those now.
