Look out Game Boy, here comes the PlayStation 4

By Eric Abent/May 13, 2020 9:41 am EST

With the current generation coming to a close, there's a lot of interest in where the PlayStation 4 will end up in terms of sales. The PlayStation 4 is already one of the best-selling consoles of all time, as it joined the rather exclusive 100-million club last year. In Sony's most recent round of financials, we see that PlayStation 4 sales are still climbing, though the pace slowed as the company closed out its most recent fiscal year.

According to Sony's financial report (PDF) for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2020, Sony sold 1.5 million PlayStation 4s during the fourth quarter of the year, which is down from 2.6 million in the same quarter the year before. Seeing as this quarter takes place right after the holiday season, it's expected to see a major drop off in console sales, but nonetheless, those 1.5 million sales were enough to push the PlayStation 4 to a total of 110.4 million sales

With this new total, we see the PlayStation 4 closing in on the original Game Boy and Game Boy Color, which combined sold a total of 118.69 million units. If the PlayStation 4 were able to surpass the Game Boy/GBC, it would become the third best-selling console of all time, behind the Nintendo DS and the PlayStation 2.

Sony reported FY 2019/20 Game & Network Services revenues of 1,977.6 billion yen, down 14% YoY.

The decrease was driven by lower PS4 hardware and software sales compared to the prior year (end of lifecycle), partially offset by increase in PS+ sales.

2nd best year on record. pic.twitter.com/acbOl6LvBG

— Daniel Ahmad (@ZhugeEX) May 13, 2020

Unfortunately, there's little hope of the PlayStation 4 catching either of those two, as the DS sold 154 million units and the PlayStation 2 sold more than 155 million. Sony would have to move a little more than 45 million PlayStation 4 units if it wants to see it at the top of that list, and with the PlayStation 5 on the horizon, that's probably not going to happen.

Indeed, Sony's financial report shows declining console sales on the whole, as the company moved 13.6 million units in FY19 compared to the 17.8 million it sold in FY18. Still, that doesn't mean it was a bad year, as Niko Partners senior analyst Daniel Ahmad notes that even though Game & Network Services revenues were down 14% year-over-year, this year was still the second best one on record for Sony's gaming arm.