It’s not available in Europe or, perhaps most puzzlingly, even Sony’s home country of Japan yet, but the PlayStation 4 has already racked up 1 million sales and counting.
The next-gen console went on sale in the US on Friday – the first country in the world to receive it – and within 24 hours the magical six-figure mark had been reached. Sony president Shuhei Yoshida tweeted the news, confirming that his company’s new console was receiving a warm welcome in North America.
Sony will take the PS4 to Europe and Latin America on November 29th and finally Japan on February 22nd – a mighty long wait, we’re sure Japanese gamers will agree. With Christmas approaching and new markets set to receive the console, sales figures are projected to reach seven figures before the end of the year.
“PS4 was designed with an unwavering commitment to gamers, and we are thrilled that consumer reaction has been so phenomenal,” said Andrew House, President and Group CEO, Sony Computer Entertainment. “Sales remain very strong in North America, and we expect continued enthusiasm as we launch the PlayStation 4 in Europe and Latin America on November 29.”
1 million units sold on launch day makes the PS4 Sony’s most successful console launch to date. The previous record was held by the PS2’s launch, which totaled 980,000 sales in its first 24 hours.
It’s not all good news, however, with a number of teething problems and hitches already reported by gamers who have adopted the new console early. One of the more common faults is no video output, a fault which teardowns have shown to be caused by a loose piece of metal blocking pins in the HDMI port. This fault was picked up by IGN with their review console, though Sony has addressed the issue and claim it is isolated to a few consoles only.
We’re very much looking forward to the arrival of our pre-ordered PS4. In the meantime we’ll be looking back at our early hands-on with Sony’s newest.