Sony has shipped 97.9 million PlayStation 5 consoles worldwide, which leaves the platform about 2.1 million units short of 100 million. Gematsu reports that the number comes from the company’s financial results for the three months ended 30 September 2026. The same update puts Marvel’s Wolverine at 2.4 million copies sold as of 4 November.
Fewer consoles, more games
Hardware was the weak spot. According to Engadget, Sony sold only 2.6 million PS5 consoles in the quarter, against 4 million a year earlier. Engadget links the drop to RAM shortages and tariffs that have made consoles expensive and hard to find, and suggests supply, not demand, is the likelier cause. Shipments count units sent into the sales channel rather than units bought by players, so they trail what’s actually on shelves.
Software and services more than made up for it. The gaming division posted a nine percent rise in revenue and an 83 percent jump in profit year on year. PS5 and PS4 software combined sold 88.2 million units, up 7.9 million on the same quarter a year earlier, and 8.2 million of those were first-party titles, up 1.9 million. Digital downloads made up 78 percent of full-game software sales, up from 72 percent, which fits with the disc-versus-digital debate that has dogged Sony this year.
That shift shows in the money too. Engadget reports software sales of ¥708.5 billion (about $4.48 billion), against ¥629.3 billion a year earlier, while network services grew 19.5 percent to ¥218.3 billion. PlayStation Network now counts 127 million monthly active users, up eight million from 119 million a year ago. Sony no longer publishes PlayStation Plus subscriber numbers, so monthly active users is the closest gauge of the service’s reach.
Wolverine’s sales so far
Engadget reports that Insomniac’s Marvel’s Wolverine has sold 2.4 million units as of 4 November, roughly 50 days after launch. We reported earlier that the game sold 1.9 million copies in its first three days, so the new figure implies about half a million more over the following weeks. Sony hasn’t said whether the 2.4 million includes both digital and physical sales, though a third of launch sales were discs despite Sony’s phase-out plans.
For context, Engadget notes Ghost of Yōtei had reached 3.3 million units by Sony’s latest figures, having launched on 2 October 2025. Critics have been cooler on Wolverine, which became Sony’s lowest-scoring PS5 game so far on review aggregates. Sales haven’t followed the scores down, though.
The road to 100 million
Engadget expects the PS5 to cross 100 million in the holiday quarter. It also flags a possible squeeze: Grand Theft Auto VI is due on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S on 19 November, and Sony reportedly told distribution partners that “temporary market supply constraints and high demand” would limit retailer stock until next year. We haven’t seen UAE or GCC stock or pricing information tied to these results, so regional availability is unconfirmed.
When will the PS5 reach 100 million shipments?
Sony hasn’t given a date. At 97.9 million shipped as of 30 September, it needs another 2.1 million units, and Engadget expects it to get there in the holiday quarter.
Does 97.9 million mean that many people own a PS5?
No. Sony’s figure counts consoles shipped to retailers and distributors, not units sold to players, so actual ownership will differ slightly.
How many people use PlayStation Network?
Sony reports 127 million monthly active users as of 30 September 2026, up eight million from a year earlier.
