Take that, hot cakes! Sony sells 1 million PS4s in 24 hours

By Ryan Fleming Published November 18, 2013

sony sells 1 million ps4s 24 hours playstation 4 kit wires — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Following its release on November 15, Sony’s PlayStation 4 sold over 1 million units in a 24 hour period in North America alone, Sony confirmed.

So far the PS4 has only launched in North America, with the European, Australia, and Brazilian launches scheduled for November 29. The console will then debut around the world in staggered releases beginning on December 13 in Saudi Arabia and the UAE, and concluding in Japan on February 22.

Over the coming months, we are going to hear a lot about the sales results of both the PS 4 and the Xbox One, and analysts will comb through each and every financial report to try to pick a winner and loser. Regardless of what the final numbers look like though, the launch has to be seen as successful for Sony.

To put those numbers in perspective, after the PS3 debuted in Japan and then North America in November 2006, it sold 1.68 million units worldwide between launch and the end of the year. (To be fair, the PS3 faced manufacturing delays at launch, but Sony was initially only planning to release 400,000 units at launch to begin with.) It’s difficult to predict what the rest of the PS4’s launch numbers will look like, but the PS3 has a strong following in Europe, outselling the Xbox 360 by nearly 7.5 million units; in Japan that margin is closer to 8 million. North America has been the PS3’s weakest area of the three markets, trailing the 360 in sales 45 million to 27 million.

A strong debut in North America is good news for Sony, and obviously a high priority for the manufacturer. Sony has traditionally released its gaming hardware in Japan first, but the focus on launching first in North America is telling. Expect more sales numbers to follow in the coming weeks, and look for more units to move throughout the holiday seasons as retailers await their next orders.

Topics

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Ryan Fleming is the Gaming and Cinema Editor for Digital Trends. He joined the DT staff in 2009 after spending time covering…

Gaming

Take a closer look at Sony’s special-edition Spider-Man 2 PS5

The Spider-Man special edition PS5 and controller stand on a table.

Marvel's Spider-Man 2 is just over a month away, but Sony is already celebrating its launch. You can now get your hands on a special-edition PlayStation 5 based on the upcoming game. If you're curious about whether or not it's worth the price, we got a close look at the new bundle.

Sony's special package costs $600 and includes a standard PS5 and all the components that usually come with it. However, it comes packed with three specific extras that make it an enticing value: custom faceplates, a digital voucher for the upcoming game, and a nifty DualSense controller.

Gaming

Ubisoft confirms Assassin’s Creed remakes are in the works

Basim perched on a ledge overlooking Baghdad

In a company interview with CEO Yves Guillemot posted on the Ubisoft website Thursday, the executive reveals that there are remakes of Assassin's Creed games in the works, although he doesn't specify which ones.

"Players can be excited about some remakes, which will allow us to revisit some of the games we've created in the past and modernize them," he says, implying that it could pertain to games made before Odyssey. "There are worlds in some of our older Assassin's Creed games that are still extremely rich."

Gaming

Surfaced patent shows what an Xbox streaming console would’ve looked like

An Xbox Series X sits next to both Series S models.

There have been a few Xbox devices that have never come to fruition, one of which was Keystone, a prototype for an affordable game streaming device you could hook up to your TV or monitor. Thanks to a surfaced patent, we've gotten an even closer look at what it would've potentially looked like.

The patent, first spotted by Windows Central, gives us a more complete view of the device. We've previously seen the Keystone in the flesh. Microsoft Gaming head Phil Spencer is known for hiding teases and interesting collectibles on the shelf in his office. In a 2022 X (formerly Twitter) post congratulating Bethesda on Fallout's 25th anniversary, you can see a small white device on the top shelf that's actually a Keystone prototype. Xbox told Digital Trends that it was a version of the device made before it decided to "refocus our efforts on a new approach.”