Sony's PlayStation 4 is racing ahead of the game, with more than 10 million units sold since it was first launched in November last year.
The Japanese console maker announced at its 2014 GamesCon press briefing in Cologne, Germany that its latest-generation gaming console has reached the 10 million mark as of Aug. 11. Sony's head of its European arm Jack Ryan says that figure refers to the number of units sold to end-consumers, not shipped to retail stores. This is a 3 million increase from the 7 million units Sony announced it had sold as of April 6, when the company said it was struggling to keep up with demand.
The company confirmed the news in a post on the PlayStation blog, saying it is anticipating even more sales in the coming months as we head into fall and the succeeding holiday shopping rush.
"We just announced that the PlayStation 4 has sold through more than 10 million units worldwide - and more than 30 million PS4 games have been sold - since its launch less than nine months ago," writes Sony president and CEO Shawn Layden. "Rest assured that the PS4 journey has just begun, and we'll continue the momentum this holiday season with blockbuster titles."
Sony launched the PS4 in the U.S. and Canada on Nov. 29 and sold more than 1 million units in its first 24 hours. By early December, Sony has sold 2.1 million units of the PS4. Meanwhile, Microsoft's Xbox One, which was also launched during the same period, has shipped 6.1 million units to retailer stores. No details were provided as to how many of those units were actually bought by consumers.
Sony also debuted several trailers for its upcoming titles, including "Destiny," which becomes officially available on Sept. 9. The company also announced a Destiny bundle that comes with a white PS4, Sony's answer to Microsoft's white Xbox One and game bundles. The PS4 Destiny bundle is available for pre-order at $449. Also featured was the trailer for "Driveclub," which gamers are waiting to become available on Oct. 7.
Finally, Sony announced a 2.00 system update, which will bring a number of new features for the PS4, most notable of which are the ability to directly upload game footage to YouTube and a feature called Share Play.
Share Play acts like a virtual couch where players can invite their friends to a game even if they don't own a copy of it. For example, if a player is having difficulty going through a troublesome bit in "Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag," he can use Share Play to ask a friend for help.
