Nintendo’s Switch may be hot on its heels, but the PlayStation 2 still holds the record as the best-selling console of all time; Sony now confirms that the machine has sold a whopping 160 million units since its launch in March 2000.
This isn’t the first time we’ve heard that figure, of course; Former PlayStation boss Jim Ryan casually claimed that a total of 160 million PlayStation 2s had been sold during a farewell edition of the PlayStation Podcast earlier this year, but Sony has now updated its PlayStation history page to reflect that. number, finally converting it into officially official.
The PlayStation 2’s last major sales milestone was announced in 2011, when Sony revealed that the console had surpassed 150 million sales, although it only took another year for that number to increase by another 5 million. So while sales have certainly slowed (which isn’t exactly surprising since Sony hasn’t produced a PS2 since January 2013), the fact that the console has managed to sell another 5 million units in the interim is still quite crazy.
To put this into perspective, PlayStation 5 currently has 65 million sales, while PS4 has sold 117 million units, PS3 is at the 87 million mark, and PS1 was purchased by 102 million Vib-Ribbon fans. Nintendo’s DS Handheld almost came close to matching the previously announced PS2 figure, moving 154 million units, but is now falling slightly behind. As for the Switch (currently with 146 million sales), it could still emerge victorious if Switch 2 doesn’t get in its way.
Despite all this competitive talk, 160 million PS2s sold is still an impressive achievement, and you can read more about the console’s success elsewhere on Eurogamer. Of course, it’s not Sony’s only cause for celebration, as the entire PlayStation brand will celebrate its 30th anniversary in exactly one week. And all this because of a disagreement with Nintendo.
