Sony Celebrates One Year of Releasing the PlayStation 5
Sony announced on November 12, 2021, that it has been one year since the PlayStation 5 console has been released for public consumption. Though they did not speak of the number of consoles that have been sold in this particular article, they did talk about what were the most popular games, and the amount that has been currently released for the PlayStation 5. As of September 30th, 2021, there have been over 360 games released for the PlayStation 5 console, with 25 games currently in development in the PlayStation Studios. What may be the most surprising (but also not as surprising, considering how the past year has been) there have been about 4.6 billion hours of gameplay globally on the PlayStation 5 console, with 26 million hours which have been broadcasted.
Interestingly enough, the top ten games for the console are not released from PlayStation 5. The top game is Fortnite, with Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War following, and then the sports games of FIFA 21 and NBA 2K21, with Assassin’s Creed Valhalla rounding the top five. Destiny 2,MLB The Show 21,Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Demon’s Souls and NBA 2K22 are the lower five, but still can not be discounted, with the sheer amount of gameplay hours that have been invested with all ten games. But while there is a high interest in the PlayStation 5 console and what it offers, there is still the elephant in the room: the console shortages.
Jim Ryan, President and CEO Sony Interactive Entertainment did touch on this lightly on the matter, saying that shipping as many consoles as possible was his “top priority”, and that they thank consumers for their patience. However, Ryan did not touch on the chip shortage that is affecting the entire gaming industry. Sony Chief Financial Officer Hiroki Totoki did cover in an investor’s conference that it wasn’t just the chip shortage that was the problem. This is also a logistics problem. Basically, the problem can be boiled down to that even if there is chip availability, shipping them to production facilities is unpredictable, making it more difficult to say when the consoles can be made and orders can be fulfilled. That may not be as surprising as it should be, with the holiday shipping season already in full swing, which will no doubt ensure that there will be delays for those getting last-minute presents, or just trying to get the best Black Friday deal possible.
Still, with the sheer amount of games on the console, the possible VR experience, and the various PlayStation 5 accessibility features, it’s no wonder it’s still a hot item to get. We’ll just have to be patient (or not) for when consoles, among other products, can become more accessible.