Lifetime sales of Sony Interactive Entertainment’s second game console, the PS2, are over 160 million units, based on the latest information.
Speaking during the PlayStation Podcast to commemorate his time at Sony Interactive Entertainment, former President Jim Ryan discussed his run with the PlayStation brand, from starting up the first offices in Europe before the launch of the PS1, to his retirement next month as CEO.
Podcast host Sid Shuman asked Ryan about what comes to his mind when he thinks about his work with PlayStation during the 90s, the 2000s, the 2010s, and the 2020s. In response, Ryan associated the 90s with Ridge Racer, the 2000s with 160 million units, which is the sales milestone that the PS2 reached, the 2010s with the Uncharted series, and the 2020s with launching the PS5 during a pandemic.
Before now, an updated lifetime sales figure for the PS2 had not been revealed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. It was previously estimated by analysts that the console had sold over 155 million units. We now have concrete stats with regards to the console’s lifetime sales. It will be interesting to see whether the Nintendo Switch can eventually surpass this figure.
The PlayStation 2 was released in Japan on March 4, 2000, North America on October 26, 2000, Europe on November 24, 2000, and Australia on November 30, 2000. It succeeded the PSX/PS1 and is the second console launched under the PlayStation brand. Competing with Nintendo’s GameCube, Sega’s Dreamcast, and Microsoft’s Xbox, it became the best-selling video game console, with over 160 million units sold worldwide, nearly triple the combined sales of its competitors.
The console was announced back in 1999, after Sony had developed the console following the success of its predecessor. The highlight of the system was its Emotion Engine processor, co-developed by Sony and Toshiba, touted to be more powerful than personal computers. The PS2 supported backward compatibility for its predecessor’s DualShock controller and games.