PS5 vs PS3 Sales Comparison - February 2025 - Sales
by William D'Angelo , posted on 06 April 2025 / 6,781 Views
The VGChartz sales comparison series of articles are updated monthly and each one focuses on a different sales comparison using our estimated video game hardware figures. The charts include comparisons between the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch, as well as with older platforms. There are articles based on our worldwide estimates, as well as the US, Europe, and Japan.
This monthly series compares the aligned worldwide sales of the PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 3.
The PlayStation 5 launched in November 2020, while the PlayStation 3 launched in November 2006 in North America and Japan and in March 2007 in Europe. This does mean the holiday periods for the two consoles do lineup.
PS5 Vs. PS3 Worldwide:
Gap change in latest month: 187,855 - PS5
Gap change over last 12 months: 5,304,831 - PS5
Total Lead: 25,310,100 - PS5
PlayStation 5 Total Sales: 74,145,787
PlayStation 3 Total Sales: 48,835,687
February 2025 is the 52nd month the PlayStation 5 has been available for. In the latest month, the gap grew in favor of the PlayStation 5 when compared to the aligned launch of the PlayStation 3 by 0.19 million units.
In the last 12 months, the PS5 has grown its lead over the PS3 by 5.30 million units. The PlayStation 5 is currently ahead by 25.31 million units.
The PlayStation 5 has sold 74.15 million units in 52 months, while the PlayStation 3 sold 48.84 million units. Month 52 for the PlayStation 5 is February 2025 and for the PlayStation 3 is February 2011.
The PlayStation 3 did not reach current PlayStation 5 sales until month 75 when it had sold 74.42 million units.
The PlayStation 3 crossed 50 million in month 54, 60 million in month 62, and 70 million in month 73. The PlayStation 3 sold 87.4 million units lifetime. The PS5 is 13.25 million units behind lifetime PS3 sales.
A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012 and taking over the hardware estimates in 2017. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel. You can contact the author on Bluesky.
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So .. even if PS5 matched the PS3 sales from this point forward (which it won't, since PS5 still has a few relevant years ahead of it and will outsell the PS3 going forward too) we simply can add those 25.3M lead to the PS3 final total of 87.4M and get the number of almost 113M. That number should be guaranteed and be the bare minimum it will do, since it's almost impossible PS5 going ahead to be outsold by the PS3 for the next months or years.
hmmm…i feel like you’re jumping the gun here. This depends entirely on how late Sony plans to drop PS6. If sooner than 2028? Then PS3 will close some of the gap, for Sony does not like to have two home consoles on the market simultaneously.
In this highly unlikely scenario it will simply be the same since PS3 is in 2011 now. so Even 2027 launch would be inline with 2013 for PS3 - the same year PS4 launched. Other than that as I already said, PS5 is and will continue to outsell the PS3 during the same period in time. Therefore 113M is still the bare minimum since its unlikely this lead will shrink given the PS3 sales from this point till its death. Even if it shrinks because of the last 1-2years of PS3 it will grow more till 2027 for sure since again PS5 is outselling it now and will most likely outsell it next year too, therefore the gap will return to the same 25M at worse. which in turn means only 1 thing - 113M bare minimum.
Tariffs and an accompanying higher console price may make it a less affordable proposition going forwards and may hamper all the current generation consoles considerably.
So... I wouldn't be trying to make any definitive predictions just yet until we know what the impacts are in 6 months time.
I don't think tariffs will have so much impact, but that was one casual prediction if PS5 keep the same lead, which honestly is pessimistic, since the most likely thing it will happen is it will grow it further. However despite this I gave pessimistic scenario in which the lead does not grow but simple remains the same, that's why the bare minimum should be 113M. If there is something to hinder those sales, it has to not just lower them, but lower them so much that they go below PS3 ones for the next 2-3 years, for that lead to shrink. Which is very unlikely. Just some small hit on the sales won't do it.
Tariffs cause inflation.
The cost of living will increase.
Peoples retirements/pensions are already being smashed.
Something will need to give and people will need to choose between food on the table... Or a gaming console.
Trump has simply screwed over the world and we -will- enter a recession like we have never seen before.
It will be the greatest of recessions that will be talked for a century later... Just like the great depression.
If Sony has to raise the price of PS5 due to tariffs and Microsoft release their next console in 2026, I see the sales of PS5 dropping quite a bit, especially with Switch 2 on the market as well (which should be able to share a lot of 3rd party games).
The tariffs is still new thing and is too early to call how will it end, the next xbox latest rumors are more for late 2027 than 2026. And again PS5 has a room to breath here since it simply needs to match the PS3, which years were 14.6M for 2011, 12M for 2012 and 8.2M for 2013, so even if PS5 drops a little, it won't be enough, it needs to drop hard in order to be outsold by the PS3 for these 3 years and for it's lead to shrink.
That is false. They were a big problem historically, which is why they were phased out across the entire planet.
Case in point... Thanks to Tariffs on Televisions, Australia's transition to colour Television was 20 years behind the rest of the world.
Tariffs is isolationist and protectionist, which often means higher priced goods, services and often an inferior product.
That's what history tells us... And that cannot be rewritten or twisted by republicans.
Consoles in the 70's/80's were also higher priced in Australia thanks to Tariffs. - The Atari 2600 higher price being a prime example.
Again, evidence and historical precedent does tell us a lot on this issue... And it's simply history repeating itself. The current American administration has learned nothing from history.
The fact is, applying a tax on China which manufactures even some or all of the parts of a console -is- going to result in a higher price.
And it is a tax. A tax that consumers pay, not billionaires or big business.
The only question is... How much will prices increase? Because an increase -is- happening, even if the USA does 100% of all the manufacturing, because costs in the USA are fundamentally higher.
...That and China has put a ban on some mineral exports needed to make some of the components in consoles as well.
LittleBigPlanet 2 just released a month earlier and Killzone 3 is releasing next month and inFAMOUS 2, SOCOM 4, Resistance 3, Motorstorm Apocalypse and Uncharted 3 are releasing later that same year exclusively for PS3!
2011 was an incredible year in terms of game releases for PlayStation.
Should pass PS3 by the end of this year, especially if GTA VI is still on track for this year (even if it misses 2025, the PS5 only needs to sell about 13 million to comfortable pass PS3, so I think it can narrowly do it without GTA VI).
PS5 is struggling very hard against PS3. Any hope of Sony doing a price cut to save the system? This 25mil lead is too small for PS5 to be comfortable.
