The two most popular consoles of this generation, Sony's PlayStation 4 and the Nintendo Switch, might have recently broken important new milestones according to a report by Paul Hunter, Senior Gaming, Tech and Media Editor at Walmart Canada (previously Gaming Editor for Newegg and Best Buy Canada).
Earlier today, Hunter wrote on Twitter that the PlayStation 4 has now surpassed 90 million units sold. Shortly afterward, he added that Nintendo managed to sell 25 million units for the Switch.
PlayStation 4 has surpassed 90 million units sold. Up next: 100 million! pic.twitter.com/RAQrcyTYLC
— Hunter 🎮 (@NextGenPlayer) January 1, 2019
https://twitter.com/NextGenPlayer/status/1079910802369306624
The latest official figures from Sony and Nintendo were 86.1 million units for PlayStation 4 (officially announced on the occasion of the console's fifth birthday) and 22.86 million units for the Nintendo Switch. With regards to the high bar Nintendo set for the Switch a while ago, expressing confidence that they could sell 20 million units in the fiscal year that's due to close down soon in March 2019, Hunter said they might get to 17 or 18 million and fall slightly short. Of course, that's just an estimate, but Nintendo president Furukawa admitted himself a couple weeks ago that it wouldn't be easy to reach that target.
Even so, the Switch currently remains the fastest selling console of the generation in the United States, beating Sony's PlayStation 4 in this particular tally. That doesn't necessarily mean they will be able to keep the same momentum going forward, though it does show a healthy outlook for the hybrid console after the commercial failure of the Wii U.
Of course, it's worth reminding that the figures mentioned above by Paul Hunter cannot be considered official and should, therefore, be treated as a rumor for now. If true, anyway, we expect them to be confirmed soon by Sony and Nintendo with proper press releases.
About the author: With over two decades of experience in gaming journalism, Alessio Palumbo has led the gaming vertical at Wccftech since August 2015. He started working at a young age for Italian websites like Everyeye.it, Gamestar.it, Nextgame.it, and Multiplayer.it before kickstarting the indie English-language publication Worlds Factory as its founder and Editor in Chief. In the last decade, he has coordinated the overall output of Wccftech's gaming section, managed PR relations, assigned reviews, produced daily news coverage, edited gaming content as needed, and delivered game reviews. Arguably, his trademark content is the long series of exclusive developer interviews that have been cited by Wikipedia and by the biggest news media and gaming publications. His passion for technology also makes him knowledgeable when it comes to gaming hardware and tech. His favorite genres include RPGs, MMORPGs, and action/adventure games.
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