24 years later, Sony’s PlayStation 2 holds the crown as the highest-selling video game console of all time.
In celebration of PlayStation’s 30th anniversary, Sony’s recently published console history lists the PS2 with 160 million units sold. This marks the first official update since 2012, when sales were reported at 155 million, DigitalTrends reports.
The updated sales puts the PS2 ahead of the Nintendo DS, which has sold 154 million units since its release in 2004. The Nintendo Switch, released in 2017, trails behind at 146 million units sold, per Nintendo’s official website.
Sony’s newly released console history also highlights the sales figures of its other consoles, such as the PS4 with 117 million units sold, the PS1 at 101 million, and the PS3 at 87 million.
Handhelds such as the PSP and PS Vita and their virtual reality devices were not included in the update.
As explained by Den of Geeks’ Matthew Byrd, timing, technology, and content played a role in making the PlayStation 2 a global success. Launched in 2000, the console got a head start over competitors Xbox and GameCube, both which were released a year later.
The PS2 established its dominance with iconic games like Grand Theft Auto 3, Final Fantasy X, and Kingdom Hearts, before dropping to an affordable price of $199 in 2002.
Its built-in DVD player, backward compatibility with PS1 games, and a genre-spanning game library made the console attractive to gamers worldwide.
Sony officially halted worldwide production of new PS2 units in 2013.