Half Of PlayStation Gamers Still Use PS4 Despite PS5's Strong Sales: Here's Why

Sony Group Corp‘s SONY PlayStation 5 (PS5) is entering the second half of its life cycle, with Sony reporting that about half of its 118 million monthly active users (MAUs) are still using the older PlayStation 4 (PS4).

Despite the PS5’s strong sales of over 59 million units since its launch in November 2020, the transition from PS4 to PS5 has been slower than expected, as pointed out by gaming journalist Stephen Totilo.

“Earlier this week, Sony made headlines for PS5 reaching 59 million units sold. Good number! Sony says PS5 is in the 2nd half of its lifecycle Sony also said PlayStation has 118 million monthly active users–half still on PS4 Get that?,” Totilo tweeted. “HALF of PS players aren’t on current gen.”

Quote from Sony president Hiroki Totoki from Tues. (via Sony translator):

"Cumulative [PS5] sales is 59 million units or plus. Compared to MAU, still, about half of the people are playing on PS4. So, console generation overlap will be handled well and MAU will steadily increase"

— Stephen Totilo (@stephentotilo) May 16, 2024

This slow adoption rate can be attributed to several factors.

Why Do Many Gamers Choose To Stick with PS4 Over Upgrading To PS5?

A primary reason is that many popular games, including Fortnite, Minecraft, Roblox, GTA 5, and Call of Duty, are still available on the PS4. Mat Piscatella, Executive Director and Video Game Industry Advisor at Circana, said: "Any console that can play a majority of, or all five, of these games will be just fine for many people,"

The most played games in the US are Fortnite, Minecraft, Roblox, Grand Theft Auto V and Call of Duty.

Any console that can play a majority of, or all 5, of these games will be just fine for many people.

Stephen here is talking about PlayStation, but this impacts all consoles. https://t.co/VquRFb5vez

— Mat Piscatella (@MatPiscatella) May 16, 2024

This trend is not unique to PlayStation: similar issues affect other gaming consoles, such as the Xbox Series X and S, which are also experiencing slower sales compared to their predecessors.

Sony has faced additional challenges with the PS5, including a price increase instead of a reduction, which contrasts with the PS4’s price cuts during the same period in its lifecycle.

Sony’s president, Hiroki Totoki, remains optimistic, expecting that MAUs will rise as more PS4 players transition to the PS5 over time: “Cumulative [PS5] sales is 59 million units or plus. Compared to MAU, still, about half of the people are playing on PS4. So, console generation overlap will be handled well and MAU will steadily increase”

It’s worth noting that, in February, the company announced layoffs impacting 8% of its global PlayStation workforce and the cancellation of several in-development games.

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Image credits: Mohsen Vaziri on Shutterstock.