Sony says sales of its PlayStation 4 game console topped 5.3 million units as of 8 February.
Consequently, Sony beat its goal to sell more than 5 million units worldwide by March ahead of PS4’s long-awaited launch in Japan on Saturday.
The game console was first launched in North America in mid-November followed by Europe, Latin America and other parts of Asia, with Sony’s domestic market of Japan being the last country on the waiting list.
Sales of the PS4 consoles are also beating analyst expectations. For its fiscal third quarter ended 31 December, revenue for Sony’s game division jumped 65% from a year earlier to 441.8 billion yen ( £2.6 billion).
Rival Microsoft hasn’t yet released a comparable figure for its its Xbox One, which also debuted in November. In January, the company said sales had topped 3 million units through the end of last year.
Microsoft’s hardware sales are also likely to be boosted by the forthcoming title Titanfall, which is exclusive to Xbox One, Xbox 360 and PC.
For Sony, the PS4 momentum is likely to continue for now with fans in its home market eager to get their hands on the console.
The company is also preparing for a summer release of PlayStation Now, a new online service that will allow PlayStation 3 games to be played on PS4 and the Vita hand-held. The service would eventually stream high-end videogames to TVs, smartphones and other devices.
Source: Wall Street Journal
