Sony confirms PS5 has more monthly players than PS4 for the first time
Last year Sony said PS4 and PS5 users were a 50/50 split
Sony has noted for the first time that more players are using PS5 each month than PS4.
During Sony’s business segment meeting in May 2024, Sony Interactive Entertainment shared an update on the PlayStation business. This included a slide which showed the number of monthly active users on PS4 and PS5 was around 49 million each, making for a 50 / 50 split.
The company has now held a similar meeting this year, with SIE providing a similar presentation with updated slides. Now, the same slide no longer shows exact numbers, but clearly shows PS5 taking a larger share than PS4.
It also notes that combined, there are a total of 124 million monthly active users, compared to a figure of 97 million in last year’s report.
“The PlayStation 5 offers the best way for players to experience our content, and as such, its player base has continued to grow,” SIE president and CEO Hideaki Nishino said during the presentation.
“These players are highly engaged, spending more on content and services than in prior generations. However, the PlayStation 4 remains an important access point for existing players to experience our content and services, and we remain committed to serving them.”
While discussing the upcoming PlayStation 6 during the same meeting, Nishino noted that Sony’s console business had evolved into a “multi-faceted platform”, with a significant portion of its active users still playing on PS4.
“We now have a large ecosystem of highly engaged players across both the PlayStation 5 and the PlayStation 4 generations,” he explained, “so naturally, therefore, there’s a huge interest in our next generation console strategy.
“While we cannot share further details at this stage, the future of the platform is top of mind. We are committed to exploring a new and enhanced way for players to engage with our content and services.”
Last year, while sharing that the monthly active user figure for PS4 and PS5 was roughly 50/50, Nishino said he expected PS5 to overtake its predecessor soon.
“As you can see, the PlayStation 5 userbase has continued to grow significantly, driving to half of our monthly active consoles,” he said at the time. “While the PlayStation 4 is still an important part of our business, our PlayStation 5 players are even more engaged than in our previous generation, and we expect these trends to continue.”
