More PS5 consoles on sale this year than PS4 in 2013, says PlayStation CEO

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2.1 million PS4s sold in the first two weeks

(Image credit: Sony PlayStation)

Despite (now debunked reports) that Sony would be slashing PS5 distribution due to a shortage of parts, PlayStation CEO Jim Ryan says there’ll actually be more consoles on sale at the start of this generation than there were at the beginning of the last one.

Speaking to The Washington Post, Ryan said that Sony will have more PS5 units ready to sell than it had PlayStation 4 units when the last generation kicked off in 2013. To put that in context, one million PS4s were sold on release day, a figure that rose to 2.1 million two weeks after launch.

Deciding whether to commit to early sales wasn’t an easy decision, however. Ryan says that “for quite some time, in the early part of Covid, that picture was far from clear. Just as the supply things [were] unclear, would there be any market? Would anyone be allowed to go outside? Would any shops be open?”

That seems like a sensible idea, as PS5 pre-orders around the world appear to have sold out extremely quickly, with only a few retailers still claiming to have units left to sell. If you haven’t secured one already, you’ll likely be waiting until at least the PS5 release date of November 12 in certain regions, and November 19 in others to get your hands on the new consoles.

How do the PS5's launch titles compare to its predecessors?

Ali Jones
Ali Jones
Managing Editor, News

I'm GamesRadar's Managing Editor for news, shaping the news strategy across the team. I started my journalistic career while getting my degree in English Literature at the University of Warwick, where I also worked as Games Editor on the student newspaper, The Boar. Since then, I've run the news sections at PCGamesN and Kotaku UK, and also regularly contributed to PC Gamer. As you might be able to tell, PC is my platform of choice, so you can regularly find me playing League of Legends or Steam's latest indie hit.