The PlayStation 3’s time is up in Japan, according to Gematsu. It was translated from the official Japanese PlayStation website that production has stopped on the 500 GB PlayStation 3, the only one left available in Japan.
The PlayStation 3 first launched in Japan in 2006, soon followed by North America. Sony revealed at launch that they had a 10-year plan for the PlayStation 3, and seem to have followed through since production is stopping three years after the PlayStation 4 was released, according to CNET.
Over 86 million PlayStation 3 units were sold during its lifetime, according to Statista. In comparison, the Xbox 360 sold over 85 million units, a small margin between that and the PlayStation 3. Although this proves that the PlayStation 3 did incredibly well before the PlayStation 4 took over, the PlayStation sold over 104 million units and the PlayStation 2, the most successful PlayStation to date, has sold over 157 million units.
In Japan alone, the PlayStation 3 sold over 10 million units, according to VGChartz. Its competitor, the Xbox 360, sold only over 1 million units in Japan. In America, The Xbox 360 outsold the PlayStation 3 by almost double; over 49 million units in comparison to over 29 million units.
Upon release, both the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4 reached similar sales of 3 million units after several months, according to DualShockers. Both the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4 also sold over 11 million games several months after their release.
The announcement of the end of PlayStation 3 in Japan comes after a report released earlier this year that said PlayStation Now would be taken away from the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita, according to Digital Spy. This could’ve been considered a hint that Sony wasn’t planning to make more PlayStation 3’s for much longer. On the official PlayStation blog, Senior Marketing Manager Brian Dunn says that the focus has shifted from PlayStation 3 to PlayStation 4.
“After thoughtful consideration, we decided to shift our focus and resources to PS4 and Windows PC to further develop and improve the user experience on these two devices,” said Dunn.
For some countries, the PlayStation 3 hasn’t been available since late last year. According to Gadgets 360, stores in India haven’t received any PlayStation 3 stock due to the lack of demand. It struggled to make way in India due to its cost of $599, selling only around 350,000 units in the country.
The Xbox 360 stopped production over a year ago according to VG24/7. Online services, though, were still supported for the console despite production ceasing. Xbox Live and the Xbox 360 online store, hardware support for any Xbox 360 and Backwards Compatibility on Xbox One from Xbox 360 were still available, also according to VG24/7.
The PlayStation 3’s successor, the PlayStation 4, has sold over 57 million units worldwide after its November 2013 release, also according to VGChartz. The Xbox One has sold only 29 million units worldwide since its November 2013 release, just surpassing the sales of the original Xbox at over 24 million units sold.
The PlayStation 3’s top ten best selling games are Grand Theft Auto V, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, Call of Duty: Black Ops, Call of Duty: Black Ops II, Gran Turismo 5, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Grand Theft Auto IV, FIFA Soccer 13, Battlefield 3, and FIFA Soccer 12, according to TechU4ria. This proves the PlayStation 3’s popularity over the course of several years, since its number one best-seller, Grand Theft Auto V, was released back in 2013 right before the launch of the PlayStation 4.
North America is rumored to follow closely after production has ceased on PlayStation 3s in Japan. There hasn’t been an official announcement from Sony on the end of the PlayStation 3. Amazon still lists a brand new PlayStation 3 for $242.97, allowing U.S. gamers to get their hands on the console before its end.
Featured image of original PlayStation 3 via Wikipedia.
