
For over a decade, the PS2’s official sales total sat at 155 million units, as Sony stopped reporting sales of the system in 2012. It was always assumed the final number was higher, as the console wasn’t officially discontinued until a year later, and there would have been leftover inventory that filtered its way into the retail chain. But we never knew the final figure until recently.
In an off-the-cuff comment during the Official PlayStation Podcast, ex-CEO Jim Ryan said the system had sold 160 million units, and that number’s now been confirmed as part of a 30th Anniversary retrospective on the brand’s website.
“PS2 is one of the best-selling video game consoles of all time, with over 160 million units sold worldwide since 2000,” the infographic reads.
The number is pertinent, because the Nintendo Switch had been closing in. As of 30th September, the Mario maker had shipped 146 million units of its hybrid hardware. With this relatively new number released by Sony, it’ll need to shift another 14 million units to take the crown.
To be honest, that total still seems achievable. While the Switch is naturally beginning to slow down in its twilight years, we reckon it’ll continue to sell steadily after its successor is introduced, which many are expecting next year.
In fact, based on forecasts alone, the company expects the Switch to top 154 million units by April 2025, which would put it just six million units behind the PS2 at that point. Assuming it achieves these targets, we think it’s inevitable the Sony system will eventually be dethroned.
[source playstation.com]
Comments 68
Need Hermen to give a cheeky update next year to say they’ve found some more paperwork behind the printers saying they actually sold 165m
I mean, it was still selling when we got that 155 million number so…
@DonJorginho Don't rule it out.
It will probably pass it and that's fine records are meant to be broken. That said it's time for a new Switch asap, I tried playing the other day on my giant TV and the games basically look like PS2 games to me 🤷
I need to buy another one tbh… for the collection like. 160,000,001 😉
The PS2 will ALWAYS be the G.O.A.T.!
Also, are Switch Lites counted as part of that number, since technically they are more handhelds than actual consoles?
They found some votes somewhere
People still need that cheap DVD player.
Hang on. Why wouldnt you report to investors that you very cheap, at the time 12 year old system sold an extra 5m in that period?
“Mwahahahaha you’ll never catch the PS2 Nintendo!!”
If Nintendo adopts the PS2 strategy and keeps Switch around as a cheap budget console with a million games that also run on the successor, it could significantly overshoot the PS2's milestone. 42+ million of that 160 million total came after the device was already replaced by Sony with the PS3.
Granted, perhaps it won't enjoy as much of a strong tail end due to it not being a good cheap option for playing DVDs.
@IslandLogic Yes they are. Switch Lites play the same games. It's the same device, just in a different form factor.
I remember in the early 2010s seeing Sony TVs that had PS2s built in, I can see those counting towards the sales figures.
The number is conveniently round as I assume they made 5 million more units in that final year and they were all shipped out to retailers so I can't see them raising the number again unless they forgot about that other factory that made a few million units.
I hope the Switch dethrones PS2, honestly. I know this is a PlayStation site, but, man… the Switch has been a special console.
Sony best ever console and era the console that had loads of genres for everyone to play
@get2sammyb @DonJorginho Just release a PS2 mini with classic games pre installed. Problem solved! Another X-million units sold to nostalgia if done really well and priced right.
(I’ll take my consultancy bag now Sony, you’re welcome 😂)
@Ralizah Can you play 1,2, Switch on a Switch Lite?
Nice, but everyone and their Zelda amiibo will still celebrate Switch as the new all-time bestseller once it hits 155+ million. Official data are one thing but the official data no longer publicly tracked for over a decade with an update that just so happens to coincide with another newer console finally breathing down the previous (and already ever so marginal) champion's neck are just that much harder to take at face value. Or do they want Microsoft to take note of this exploit?😆 And to reiterate my comment on Ryan's claims earlier, I don't even have a reason to doubt PS2 kept selling past 2013... but how many customers past 2013 would be seeking out a retail iteration of an officially discontinued console versus a second hand unit with blackjack and hard drives and sometimes even maintenance like renewed thermal paste?
The only part defying goalpost movement suspicions is that they're still phrasing this new plank as "one of the best-selling consoles of all time", which sounds like they still deem the trophy pass inevitable.
@father_noo from what I recall, Lite might be challenged by select stuff in one of the Mario Party titles (that required lining up the interacting consoles just so) and more obviously by the Labo lineup, but 1, 2, Switch ironically checks out - the game focuses on detached joycons and Lite retains the ability to connect separate ones. In fact, that's basically what keeps its family name justified - between the connectivity and the option to prop the thing against a vertical surface in lieu of a native stand, it still technically has a tabletop mode besides the emphasized handheld one.
This is a little bit hilarious now with Sony continually moving the goal posts.
Every time switch gets closer they up the limit 😂 or that’s how it feels at least.
@father_noo I mean, it'd be an awful experience, but there's nothing stopping you from hooking up joycons and huddling around the tiny screen with friends to play it, right?
Nintendo gives a **** on whether the Switch will overtake the DS and the PS2 or not. The price per unit almost never changed, the prices for Nintendo titles are very stable, they still earn good money from it. Hermen and his pride are more important for SIE‘s corporate culture than for anyone out there.
And Nintendo will probably keep on earning for two more years. Because there will always be 8 year olds whose parents won’t spend 400 USD on a Switch 2 but will spend 150 USD for a Switch Lite bundle instead.
Much more critical for them is how to tell the story of the Switch 2. There are so many things that can go wrong, I‘m very curious how they will approach it.
@Ralizah just like nothing evidently stops many people from jumping through hoops to connect a Switch Lite to a TV.😄
even more impressive is the fact that the switch never had a single MSRP drop in 7 years! meanwhile, the ps2 saw at least 6 price drops and eventually sold at just $99. if nintendo permanently drops the price of the switch by 20% next year, i expect it will beat the ps2 record within a couple years time. nintendo will likely keep manufacturing switch hardware until the record is beaten. that doesn't change the fact that the ps2 is the greatest console ever made, of course
With Switch Lite likely not being replaced for a while and the substantial price gap between the flagships once OG is discounted, it's highly likely for Switch to surpass 160 mil. But as PS2 wasn't in a hybrid era and Switch isn't desired as a cheap platform for other media, the comparisons are pretty arbitrary. Still, what a generation it's been, and the best is yet to come!
The switch just appeals to such a wide demographic which helps it enormously. I have one and enjoyed my time using it but some games just look like ass in handheld. Tried playing Xenoblade this year for the first time since i pre ordered it for release near a year before. My god I may as well have smeared vaseline in my eyes.
Sony are no saints but I don't understand why Ninty doesn't get the flack it should. No mainline Mario in 7 years which is ironically longer than the hiatus Sonic went on after the Mega drive. Their release games still command top whack, they remove and make ltd runs of games and more remasters than Sony and Microsoft combined, Pokémon is a mess and still shifts millions. I love some of their IPs and have fond memories of the N64 and GC but they slack big time.
The best time for gaming was the 90's up until the early mid 00's for me. So many genres are dead, Devs and publishing houses killed off and the entire industry is crumbling while it's anchors itself on AAA liber service and gacha games. Glad I was able and lucky enough as a kid to experience the MD, SNES, PSX SATURN, N64 and the DC.
I kinda want a PS2. There a couple broken ones lying around…I hardly play what I have now though. Plus aren’t practically all the non-Final Fantasy RPGs expensive at this point for it?
I’ll never accept the switch taking over for the simple fact the switch lite is included in that number and that is a handheld no matter how Nintendo fanboys try to twist that it’s not
ps2 is great but the ps3’s better
wii u is better than the switch
@LavenderShroud add a hardrive and play ps2 roms, very easy to do and fun for the authentic experience ( I have mine filled with the singstar games for the mrs 🤣).
I would like to know what the vita’s lifetime sales ended up being.
I'll single handedly push the Switch past the PS2. I've bought and sold so many of them over the years.
@Fartingale According to Google it's sold between 15 and 16 million.
Many households have multiple switches, I got one friend who's got like 5 or 6 floating around, and he's not even a collector, just got one for each family member for some reason.
@MeanBeanEgg It doesn't matter if it's part of the family or not. The Lite is only a handheld so it shouldn't count towards the best selling home console.
There's over 6 million of them sold in Japan as well.
It's funny watching some people / Nintendo fanboys doing the hoopla saying Sony is lying about PS2 160 million numbers just because Switch is "closing in". As if lying about the numbers will give Sony massive marketing boost over Nintendo or something lol. Fking hilarious 🤣
Anyway. PS2 was another golden age of gaming. So many amazing games which never been replicate by any console including Switch. I doubt we will get another "PS2 era" again...
If there's one console that deserves to overthrow the PS2 then it's the Switch. Although as someone has mentioned they are including the Lite sales which is an handheld only, in fact the "Switch" aspect about the console is completely missing with the Lite. The PS2 sales are more impressive considering it was an home console only and catered to one market whilst the Switch caters to both home and handheld markets.
I still prefer PS2 games library than Switch in term of 3rd party games such as Dance Dance Revolution games, K-1 games, Monster Rancher 4, Para Para Paradise, 3D cartoonish platformer games, etc.
I don't want the switch overtaking the crown of most sold consoles simply cause I didn't end up loving it. It's one of my least favorite Nintendo consoles ever. In a better world, the gamecube would've gone neck and neck with the ps2. And the DS and maybe to a certain extent the 3DS would've taken the crown despite being purely handhelds
Look I still have one hooked up to my TV So I like the console but HOW? They stopped manufacturing them back in the early 2010s. Some one is clearly fudging numbers. HOW?
When Sony and Microsoft release handheld counterparts to their home consoles, will those totals be added to the main home console sales? Or is that just for Nintendo?
@Robocrop_Duster Older consoles still sell in poorer countries. In their main run they're too expensive because console prices don't tend to scale for each country. So to make up an example, a PS4 could cost a month's wages on some countries until more recently. And apply that to each console generation.
This has the look of Sony rummaging under the sofa cushions for some spare change. 😂
@nomither6 I agree on both counts surprisingly. The WiiU was a horrible console and the gamepad was HEAVY but the software was better than anything on the Switch. The fact that a lot of the best Switch games are WiiU ports is proof of that.
@PuppetMaster the only reason Sony stopped updating the PS2 numbers was it would've made the PS3 early on look really bad. They really dropped the ball in those early years and having the PS2 still killing it would've looked even worst.
Where does one buy a new ps2?
@breakneck That's possible. PS3 first two years was quite a mess for Sony and they worked really hard to turn the table. So, either they didn't show PS2 numbers to make PS3 looks good or they just forgot to update in the mid of those mess.
I mean, Sony also just update PSP numbers from 76.4 million to 80 million units and i'm sure they did it not because the 3DS is closing in lol.
@MrMagic @MeanBeanEgg @IslandLogic You’re all doing it backwards. The Switch is a handheld with TV out, the SwitchLite is a handheld without TV out. It’s one of the best selling consoles same as the DS. Nintendo always referred to Switch as a “hybrid” console, home, tabletop and handheld. If they start reporting they have the best selling “home” console in a couple of years I’ll call them on it, b/c it isn’t. All models are handhelds, some just have tv out, so you wouldn’t remove the Lite, you just don’t call Switch a “home” console. 🤷🏻♂️
@rjejr Yeah that's what I meant, it can become the best selling console ever but if you're going to categorise it then it can never take the title of best selling home console because of the Lite.
Kind of sad that all Sony really have to brag about is past glories now. That's how going out of business starts "we were the best" lol
@father_noo
I guess the more appropriate question would be ..... Would you actually want to play 1, 2 Switch on a Switch lite.
It's a terrible game even on a standard Switch.
Nothing more than a tech demo for the Joy-Cons
If they started selling PS2s, games, and accessories, I'd buy them. Lose memory cards and add HDMI and I'd be in..
I'm a big fan of both Nintendo and Sony so have no particular bias one way or the other, but this does seem a rather odd and convenient time to suddenly shift the goal posts lol
I do think Switch probably won’t pass PS2’s sales. I wouldn’t be surprised if Nintendo stop making the Switch not long after the Switch 2 releases. They haven’t really given it a price cut either, which if they were going to they would have done it by now, certainly for its last Xmas before its successor releases.
Whereas the PS2 was still being made 6 years after the PS3 released, had big price cuts and was actively sold in some markets where PS3 wasn’t as affordable.
But we shall see!
Whether it does or doesn't get (technically) overtaken, the PS2 will remain the best selling HOME console of all time because the Switch Lite's aren't home consoles.
The world's population has grown 32% since the PS2 was released. I won't be impressed until the Switch has sold 32% (and counting) more than the PS2.
The Switch being a hybrid both a handheld and console then its only fair that Playstation adds their total original PSP sales to the PS2s 160m😂
@somnambulance Switch isn’t so special. Hell, it has fewer great games than PlayStation. Nintendo just always wins hearts and minds. It’s why they can sell 10 year old software at full price and catch 0 flack for doing so.
Sony can’t release the actual numbers? Anyway Nintendo doesn’t really care but sales trajectory (without a price cut) show they will still pass 160 M. Price cut just determines how long that will take.
@AhmadSumadi Nintendo wins hearts and minds with solid first party exclusives. For me, I’d say the Switch first party line-up has been stronger than any other console, PlayStation included, and I say this as someone that play primarily on PS. It’s all subjective either way, but the Switch has honestly become my personal favorite console of all time, even if I prefer to play my PS5 most of the time now.
@PuppetMaster I think you have it the wrong way round. It seems to me that there are plenty of people (Herman included) desperate to see the PS2 stay on top.
The Switch is a home console. I have never played mine in handheld mode.
And in the grand scheme of things, the PS5/PS5 Digital/Pro sales will all be bundled together. Therefore the Switch Lite counts.
People need to accept that and stop crying.
Also, the PS3 is the best PlayStation ever, not the PS2.
@__jamiie That's just your fanboys brain playing tricks on you.
What Sony or Hermen wants is more profits. So they doesn't give a damn if Switch sold more than a dead hardware who doesn't give any income nor profits for years.
@Stale-Bread Maybe you should wash your eyes
Kidding, but sure, visuals are also a personal taste thing, but I for my end enjoyed Xenoblade 3 a lot and like the visuals on my 55 inch TV. Ha dheld is a different story, though.
Also, it depends how you count Mario Mainline games. If you only count 3D as Mainline, you are correct. Besides that, many would count Wonders as a full fledge Mario experience.
Then, if you look at it from a company view and have a look at the sales, you cannot deny, that Nintendo took a very good approach in addressing the needs of millions of people. Obviously not Hardcore - highfidelity-loving Gamers, which are a niche.
I personally would love to see a much more powerful Switch. The again, it would directly compete with Sony and Xbox, which we can see how good this goes for Microsoft!
And I would like to add, that a powerful console does not make great games automatically. I'm especially disappointed how bad Devs utilized the base PS5. When I bought my PS5 Pro, then I could finally start utilizing Hardware promises that have been made for the Standard PS5 like 120Hz and VRR.
I specifically bought my new TV 3bd of 2021 with these features in my. Now, with a new iteration of Hardware, I might be ae to utilize it. Sony and PS5 Devs should get flacked for it much more as well, no?
I had a PS2. It was rarely used. So not sure why people say it was the best console. For me it was the PS3. I used to play all day everyday on that. Same on PS4, but PS3 had free online.
@rjejr As long as Sony is including PlayStation TV with their Vita sales, then every Switch SKU is fair game.
@MrMagic Yeah I have to think Nintendo is smart enough to NOT say "best selling home console ever" and just say "best selling console ever" and leave it to the rabid gamer fanbois to fight amongst themselves whether a "Console" by default means a "home console" or not. I think Nintendo is helped out by the proliferation of consoles like Steamdeck. I have to think in a generation or 2 they all get TV out and that's that.
@bronZfonZ " PlayStation TV with their Vita "
That's just a matter of counting on 2 hands rather than 1 hand though. And I say that as someone who owns a Vita TV. 😂
@PuppetMaster Then why are they mentioning more sales for the PS2??? 😂 Also, the Switch has been a more profitable system for Nintendo than the PS2 was for Sony.
@__jamiie Duh??? Because they're celebrating PS 30th anniversary. They mention all PS hardware sales numbers on their website except PS5, Vita and PSVR. They also updated PSP numbers from 76.4 million to 80 million.
And PS2 was released two decades ago where money has different value than today. So obviously Switch looks like more profitable than PS2.
Suggestion for you: stop thinking with your fanboys brain.
Stop being ridiculous. I'm talking about with inflation factored in. Switch hardware has been sold for a profit since launch, has sold more games and has an online service. These things alone make it more profitable.
Also, as I've said here many times before, I own all 3 consoles and have had every PlayStation since launch. You calling me a fanboy doesn't make it true.
Leave A Comment
Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...