There are roughly 66 million people living in the UK, and “well over” six million PlayStation 4 consoles have been sold in the region. This means that if you’re not a pedantic bore and are capable of basic maths, Sony’s sold a system to around 10 per cent of the British population over the past five years. Yes, we know there are caveats that can be applied to this statistic – we’re just trying to make a quite boring article sound exciting. Geez!
According to GamesIndustry.biz’s Christopher Dring, as of this weekend the console passed the one million milestone for 2018, which is actually pretty impressive when you consider that the system is getting on a bit these days. To be fair, the Xbox One – which is “just under” five million units in Britain – isn’t far behind, demonstrating just how well Sony’s doing outside of the US and UK. It also shows how much mindshare the company has, considering many third-party titles comfortably sell best on the PS4 these days.
[source twitter.com]
Comments 33
Those pesky caveats. Spoiling the fun for everyone.
To be fair theres only two console manufacturers in the UK anyway
well, i have two, and last time i checked i was one person.
there were about 7 million PS3s sold in the UK, and 9.5m x360s, and factoring in whatever the Wii sold, overall console ownership seems to be down from last gen.
To be fair I have two (a base and a pro) and I am not the only one.
UK knows what’s good then.
But if you factor a family of 5 owning one PS4, it surfs to balance things in Playstation’s favor again.
Yeah I have a base PS4 and a Pro. I’d be curious to know how many Pro owners already had a base system.
@BearsEatBeets 40% of PS4 pro’s have been sold to PS4 owners. https://www.pushsquare.com/news/2018/12/ps4_pro_has_been_a_good_example_of_necessary_evolution_says_sony
Still have my original (ie never needed replacing) since sept 2014....just wanted to share that proud little tidbit
To be honest I actually thought the numbers would be higher than that... Every man and his dog seems to have one.... also I'm on my 3rd one
@Ryall I saw that article a few minutes after posting. Still, I appreciate you replying in case I missed it, thanks.
@Marios-love-child how come you’re on your third one, just out of curiosity? 🤔
@Nightcrawler71
Probably bought the first one too soon, there wasn't a great library of games at first so I found it to be gathering dust and ended up selling it while it still had a high re-sale value.
I did eventually buy a 2nd one and then earlier this year upgraded to a white Pro model
Like others on here I have the base, resigned to the bedroom, and a Pro.
@leucocyte
'well, i have two, and last time i checked i was one person. '
just imagine the outrage if a GOG community manager tweeted this..... HAha
@ironcrow86
Same I got mine around March 2014. Its on for hours every single day and quiet as a ghost.
But is this data based on consoles online or sold at the tills and online shopping??? Some PS4 maybe not online at all ??
@JJ2
You're very lucky then I'm on my 3rd, my lauch day one lasted about a month, I got free replacement then I traded In for a launch day pro. Which is great, but noisier than a hooker at an A list celebs apartment working for tips.
still on my Day One launch model and apart from the odd disc auto eject thing it's still going strong
although i AM thinking of waiting when the PS5 comes out especially if they are doing a mid gen revision again
I'm like a lot of the people posting here. My base PS4 has been resigned to my bedroom, hooked up to my 1080p PC monitor, while my PS4 Pro sits in the living room under my 4K TV.
'the Xbox One – which is “just under” five million' Hmm if Microsoft said that then it's about 2.5 million sold for the Xbox ONE then I still can't believe some gamers want to stick and trust the Xbox brand and Microsoft after Microsoft tried to DRM all their Loyal Fans at the beginning of this Gen, oh well. Well done SONY anyway
I too have a base and Pro PS4 - but I also bought a base, an S and X XB1 too. Whether that is 'shipped' 6million or actually sold 6million too may well bring down that 1 in 10 ratio further...
What surprises me is how well Xbox is doing in the UK. If its just under 5m, that is proportionally much higher than the 'world' statistically as the PS4 is well over 2:1. At 2:1, the Xbox would be at ~3m. Obviously Japan and probably Asia in general is a 'disaster' in terms of comparative sales for MS...
@gingerfrog
Wow. That is loud !
@BAMozzy
'Whether that is 'shipped' 6million or actually sold 6million too may well bring down that 1 in 10 ratio further..'
Not really if you realise its the UK only.
Xbox doing alright in the UK being one of its best territory with the us is not really news.
@JJ2 Of course it brings the ratio down. If they have only sold say 5m (but shipped 6m), that is more like 1 in 13 based on the UK's population as the article is focussed purely on UK figures!!! Of course I realise its just the UK and my maths is based purely on the UK population!!!
The 1 in 10 is based on 6m sold in the UK but if we took the global figure of 85m PS4's sold to the worlds population of around 7.7bn means that roughly 1 for every 100 people own a PS4 so the UK's 1 in 10 is a lot higher than the overall world statistics. Shipping and selling can change the statistics and if 'half' the UK PS4 owners upgraded to PS4 Pro, that could mean just 4m PS4 owners with 2m Pro's (but still just 4m PS4 owners) which again brings the ratio down to around ~1:16 - assuming those 2m Pro owners have 2 consoles and didn't sell it). All of these factors are purely based on the UK with a population of 66m - that changes dramatically when you look at a global population of 7.7bn....
The Xbox selling 'nearly' 5m in the UK though is still a surprise considering the PS4 is outselling it by more than 2:1 globally - some may say its closer to 3:1. If that 2:1 ratio was also representative of the UK market, the Xbox would be around the 2.5-3m mark. Even a 2:3 (4m Xbox's for 6m PS4's) ratio would be a lot closer than the global market but 5:6 is a lot closer than I expected.
Wow. Crazy numbers. Love the tag line by the way. 😅
and 90% of them only play FIFA
The article was out-bored by these comments.
@BAMozzy
1. There s not 1 million ps4 waiting on shelves in the UK haha
2. Its been repeatedly reported the xbox is doing alright in the uk for years and yet another report today is no surprise if you follow gaming news.
@JJ2 1: How do you know? There is a LOT of retailers up and down the country with stock - certainly more than 1 console!! You don't have the figures any more than I do. The point was that shipped and sold can still affect the ratio and even if its 6m shipped with 1m in stock (5m sold) that's still going to affect the 1 in 10 figure which was MY point. The amount of PS4's in 'stock' is immaterial but the principal point is that if its 'shipped', coupled with the fact that a certain percentage of PS4 owners may own 2 (or more) PS4's all bring down the 1 in 10 statistic. The amount of consoles in stock - inc those in 2nd hand stores as that also affects the ratio of owners to population - bring down the statistic if the numbers are shipped. Assuming all 6m consoles were sold to just 1 person, no person buying 2 or more, the statistic is around 1 in 10 but if its shipped and considering the fact that many could own 2 or more, means that the amount of PS4 owners in the UK are less than 1 in 10. Its no point arguing with someone who has no basic grasp of maths or can apply basic principals without taking 'figures' literally. I never said that 1m were in stock - I never said that the figure quoted was just shipped either but used figures to illustrate how 'shipped' and 'sold' can reduce the statistic of 1 in 10!! You obviously just want an argument or have NO basic grasp of concepts.
Just because the Xbox is said to be doing well in the UK doesn't mean its keeping pace with the PS4 - just selling 4m compared to PS4's 6m is 'doing' well - that's above the global difference and so its 'doing well'. Anything above 2.5/3m is 'doing well' as that is what the global difference would indicate the sales of Xbox should be compared to PS4 sales. Selling ~5m is better than just doing well...
@BAMozzy
I never said xbox is doing well but at this point Ill just use my waterslide. Weeeee
@BAMozzy It's sold through.
I'm made up xbox has done well. Competition is great for consumers.
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