Almost 6 years after its launch, the PlayStation 5 has officially outsold the PlayStation 3. According to new data from Sony's quarterly earnings report, which takes into account all sales between October 1 and December 31, 2025, the PlayStation 5 sold 8.1 million units in the third quarter of fiscal year 2025, bringing the total to 92.2 million units and surpassing the lifetime sales of the PlayStation 87, which is 4 million units. Despite an impressive Q3, the current-gen console has yet to surpass the PlayStation 4's impressive 117.2 million units.
Typically, the life cycle of PlayStation consoles lasts around 8 years, which means that the PS5 should be approaching its final years before being succeeded by the next generation of consoles. However, the PS5 may be stuck around longer than expected, as rumors and speculation about a delay to the PS6's release date continue to circulate online. Late last year, Sony's lead console architect, Mark Cerny, said the next PlayStation would be released “in a few years,” but now analysts say that won't be the case and is likely to be “delayed longer than expected.” With an ongoing RAM crisis currently causing prices to skyrocket, many are now speculating that the PS6 won't arrive until 2029 at the earliest. But that could be good news for the PS5, as extending its life cycle will likely see sales numbers continue to rise.
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Sony releases updated PS5 sales figures
On February 5, 2026, Sony shared its new financial report for the third quarter of fiscal year 2025, which runs between October 1 and December 31. According to the report, which was analyzed and broken down by VGC, the PlayStation 5 has achieved another sales record, now surpassing the PlayStation 3's lifetime sales. In the last three months of 2025, Sony sold 8.1 million PlayStation 5 units, bringing its total up to 92.2 million units. In comparison, the PlayStation 4 sold just 0.1 million more during the same period of its life cycle. However, the last generation of PlayStation has yet to be beaten by the PS5, as the PS4 has sold around 117 million units to date.
Although the PS5 has now passed the PS3's 87.4 million units, it still has a ways to go before surpassing the PS4's current record, and even more to beat the best-selling video game console of all time: the PlayStation 2. As of 2024, the PS2 has sold more than 160 million units, but it is not the current record holder. The original Nintendo Switch, released in 2017, is a close second, with 155 million units sold to date.
Although hardware sales were 0.9 million lower than in the same period in 2024, Sony says that its PlayStation Store software sales reached an all-time high in the third quarter of 2025. New releases such as Battlefield 6which was the best-selling video game last year, as well NBA 2K26, Borderlands 4and Monster Hunter Wildsare likely to be the driving factors behind this performance. Sony says so too Ghost of Yoteithe sequel to the 2020s Ghost of Tsushimawas also a “significant” factor. The company says so too Yotei surpassed Tsushima during the same period.
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The upcoming release of Grand Theft Auto 6which Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick recently confirmed for November 19, is also likely to boost sales of the PlayStation 5. Industry insiders have claimed that Sony will treat the next installment in Grand Theft Auto series as a PlayStation 5 exclusive, though it will also launch on Xbox Series X/S at the same time. While the company has no known exclusivity rights to Grand Theft Auto 6it has been suggested that it be treated as such to avoid launching any other major first-party titles near Rockstar's next game. Even if Grand Theft Auto 6 will also be available on Xbox, many expect it to be a blockbuster for PlayStation 5 consoles when it launches later this year.
