11 years after launch, 49M people still use their PS4s, matching the PS5

If you’re still using your aging PS4 after nearly four full years of PS5 availability, new data from Sony shows you’re far from alone. The Japanese electronics giant says the PS4 and PS5 currently have around 49 million monthly active users, suggesting a significant number of PlayStation gamers have yet to spend $400 or more to upgrade to the new console.

The new data comes from a detailed report on gaming and network services presented as part of Sony’s most recent business segment meeting. These numbers suggest that around 42% of the 117 million PS4 units ever sold are still in active use, compared to 86% of the 56 million PS5 units sold so far.

Despite the parity of active consoles, Sony also emphasizes that the PS5 is responsible for many more hours of play than the PS4: 2.4 billion for the new system compared to 1.4 billion for its predecessor (we do not know what period covers this comparison). Sony’s monthly user numbers also include any console “used to play games or (access) services on the PlayStation Network,” so an old PS4 that serves as a handy Netflix box in the bedroom friends would further inflate the figures of the old system here.

Still, it’s pretty impressive that nearly 50 million people still regularly use a console that first launched in 2013 (even considering 2016’s Pro upgrade). Part of this could be because the PS4 still has great software support well after the PS5’s release; Sony’s PSN Store listings currently include 189 “recently released” PS4-compatible games, including many “best-selling” titles that don’t require a PS5 at all. The fact that these PS4 compatible titles are also playable directly on PS5 probably helped convince some publishers to target the old console for their less graphics-intensive games.

The longevity of the PS4 also doesn’t appear to have had a significant negative impact on the PS5’s results. Sony’s gaming division has already made $10 billion in profits on $106 billion in sales over the four years of the PS5 generation, compared to $9 billion in profits on $107 billion in sales over seven years of the PS4 .

PS5 owners spent an average of $731 each on games, services, peripherals and add-on content. This represents a significant increase from the $580 nominal spend of the average PS4 owner at the same point in that console’s lifecycle, although what seems like a big increase is actually quite stable when taking into account inflation.

This gaming spending per console is now less concentrated on purchases of “complete games” – which are down 12% between the PS4 and PS5 generation – and much more on so-called complementary content – ​​which is up 176% between the generations. We think the big-spending, loot box-hunting “whales” have something to do with this increase.

Listing image by Sam Machkovech