Some sales figures come straight from the hardware manufacturers, while others are estimated based on the most recently reported numbers and market analysis. Unofficial sales totals are marked with an asterisk (*)

5. PlayStation – 102.4 million



Initial release date: December 3, 1994 (JP)

Production status: Ended

Highest-rated games: Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2, Tekken 3, Gran Turismo

According to Sony, the original PlayStation's final sales total sits at 102.4 million, with over 960 million software units sold. This makes it the third-best-selling Sony console ever, as it was recently surpassed by PlayStation 4.

4. PlayStation 4 – 113.8 million




Initial release date: November 15, 2013 (NA)

Production status: Ongoing

Highest-rated games: Red Dead Redemption 2, Grand Theft Auto V, The Last of Us Remastered

PlayStation 4 has dominated the eighth generation of consoles. As of September 30, 2020, Sony has shipped 113.8 million PS4s. It holds the title of "fastest home console to reach 100 million unit sell in," according to Niko Partners analyst Daniel Ahmad, beating PS2 to the milestone by two months. To date, more than a billion software units have been sold for the console.

3. Game Boy/Game Boy Color – 118.69 million




Initial release date: April 21, 1989 (JP)

Production status: Ended

Highest-rated games: Metal Gear: Ghost Babel (Metal Gear Solid), Super Mario Bros. Deluxe, The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages

This sales figure comes directly from Nintendo and includes sales of both the original Game Boy and subsequent Game Boy Color. 501 million units of software were sold for the console — good for third on Nintendo's all-time software list.


2. Nintendo DS – 154.02 million



initial release date: November 21, 2004 (NA)

Production status: Ended

Highest-rated games: Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars, Flipnote Studio, Chrono Trigger

This sales figure comes directly from Nintendo and encompasses total sales for all systems within the DS family, including the original model, DS Lite, and DSi. Nintendo DS is also the company's best-performing system in terms of software sales, with nearly 950 million games sold.

1. PlayStation 2 – 159 million*




Initial release date: March 4, 2000 (JP)

Production status: Ended

Highest-rated games: Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3, Grand Theft Auto III, Resident Evil 4

*PlayStation 2 remains the best-selling video game console of all time. Sony's beloved system tops Nintendo DS by roughly 5 million units sold, while handily outselling every other console in existence. As of January 31, 2011, Sony had sold 150 million PS2s to retailers. While that was the last official total reported, the console would remain in production through early 2013. Niko Partners analyst Daniel Ahmad (via ResetEra) noted sales climbed to 155.1 million through March 2012. Our grand total of 159 million was reached using Ahmad's continued logic:

"In the fiscal year ending March 2013 a total of 16.5 million PS3 & PS2 units were shipped," he wrote. "PS2 was still being shipped during this period so the info we're missing is how many units were PS2 and how many were PS3. Using PS3's 80m sell in announcements as a guide you can work backwards and ultimately work out that PS2 [sales from March 2012 through the end of its production] must have been close to 4m."

Its software sales sit at a staggering 1.5 billion units, according to Sony.