Revealed during its CES 2024 press conference, Sony has shared that last month it hit a record-breaking 123 million monthly active users across PlayStation platforms – that’s accounting for players logged in on PS5, PS4, PSVR, PS Portal, and anywhere else you can play Sony’s hit games. Not only is this higher than Xbox’s monthly active users, but it’s also equal to the population of Japan in 2023. It’s hard to imagine PlayStation isn’t proud of such an achievement.
Though the PS5 is selling like hotcakes, it’s yet to reach the sales records of the PS4, PS3, or PS2. Despite that, Sony’s remarkably capable next-generation console has been breaking records and smashing the competition – 2023 was the best year for PlayStation since 2014. With all the exciting new PS5 games on the way, the best PS5 games already available, and, of course, the fact that PS Plus added 251 games worth up to $8,000 in 2023, it’s not hard to see why the PS5 has such a staggeringly high number of monthly active users; there are enough games to keep us all busy for a lifetime.
Sony’s CES 2024 showcase revealed a lot of exciting news, from a car controlled by a DualSense – one of the best PS5 controllers – to a surprise tease of a new PS5 game in blink-and-you-miss-it footage. However, the most tantalizing piece of information for stat-hungry fans is the reveal of the staggering 123 million monthly active users in December 2023 – a record high for PlayStation. This comes out as roughly 1.7% of the world’s total population, or equal to the entire country of Japan going into 2024 – an absurd stat to reflect on.
According to publically available figures, this also puts PlayStation ahead of Xbox, which surpassed a record 120 million monthly active users during the last quarter of 2022, coming alongside news that overall gaming revenue for Xbox decreased by 13%. PlayStation, on the other hand, continues to grow, as reflected in this mind-boggling statistic. When you take a look at the past year for PlayStation, this growth can be explained quite well. With the launch of PSVR2 in February and PlayStation Portal in November, there are now more ways than ever to be immersed in Sony’s gaming ecosystem.
Likewise, there has also been an incredible selection of games to enjoy on these devices, from the web-swinging thrills of Insomniac’s Spider-Man 2 (now the fastest-selling PlayStation game in history) to epic highs of Final Fantasy 16 and, technically, the Game-of-the-Year winner Baldur’s Gate 3 given its delays releasing on Xbox. This comes alongside the general slate of well-received new releases in 2023, like the aforementioned BG3, The Loadout’s own GOTY winner Alan Wake 2, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, and more. With PS5 having such a large and ever-growing install base, the strong releases throughout 2023 no doubt served to push PlayStation towards this record-breaking number for the platform.
With over 123 million players now enjoying the PS5 and the rest of the PlayStation ecosystem after stock shortages over recent years, it’s time to dig into all the best games you can get your hands on. From the best PS5 RPG games to the best PS5 FPS games, there’s certainly no shortage – especially if you have PS Plus. When you’re waiting for all your new games to download, find out about how this new PlayStation patent could get you playing mammoth-sized games quicker than ever or how Naughty Dog is in danger of missing the boat with the PS5 heading into 2024.