PS5 Outsells PS3 - Sales
by William D'Angelo , posted on 25 January 2026 / 8,863 Views
Sony's latest video game console, the PlayStation 5, which is part of the ninth generation of video game consoles, has outsold the lifetime sales of the PlayStation 3, according to VGChartz estimates.
The PS5 has sold an estimated 89.44 million units worldwide through December, while the PlayStation 3 sold 87.40 million units lifetime.
Up next for the PS5 is the Nintendo Wii with 101.63 million units sold lifetime, followed by the PlayStation with 102.49 million units sold and PlayStation 4 with 117.20 million units sold.
Breaking down sales by region, the PS5 has sold an estimated 31.67 million units in North America, 31.71 million units in Europe, 7.33 million units in Japan, and 18.73 million units in the rest of the world.
This compares to the PlayStation 3, which sold 29.60 million units in North America, 30.87 million units in Europe, 10.47 million units in Japan, and 16.47 million units in the rest of the world.
Further breaking down PS5 Europe sales, the console has sold an estimated 5.59 million units in the UK, 6.19 million units in Germany, and 5.08 million units in France.
The PlayStation 5 launched worldwide in November 2020, while the PlayStation 3 launched in North America and Japan in November 2006, and in Europe in March 2007.
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 follow the author on Bluesky.
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Not deserved. The PS3 was way better than the PS5
It is very well deserved. Costs a lot less to produce than the XBSX and performs evenly with it. Very well designed console.
Absolutely. And it also innovated with 3-way SSD memory composition in order to control cost escalation there at launch (although fast SSD later became common enough that later SKUs switched to market standard options... I guess we´ll see if prices cause original approach to return i.e. using more, slower memory chips). Perhaps the slow delivery of spatial audio was a failing, but the PS3´s own problem of developer tools for it´s CPU was much worse (even if the broader concept of multicore/thread paralellism was born out as correct).
I think that generation is highly overrated:
- Almos all games running at 30 fps or less
- 570p
- Piss filter
- Call of duty and Gears of war Clones everywhere (Generic fps era)
- Most japanese developers and games went to handhelds
- Motion Controllers
-
6-12 hours games for 60 usd
But the ps3 had its pros: - ps1 and ps2 library
- dualshock 3 battery
-One of the best console designs
You forgot a slew of amzazing ps3 exclusives...ps3 gen whas amazing...
Like what??:
- Kilzone a boring and unispired fps
- Resistance another generic piss filter fps
- Uncharted ok games by all accounts but too short
- Little Big Planet zzzzzz
- MAG ??????
-
Haze hahahha
The only great exclusive that come to mind are : - MGS 4
- Demons Souls
- The Last of Us
- All the japanese games that were niche at the time: Tales of series, Persona, Ni no Kuni, etc.
Hindsight is great but at the time I was loving my 720p, sub 30fps visuals. Same with playing Ocarina at 20fps on the n64. What was your experience at the time of owning these systems?
As far as COD/Gears clones, there were so many more games outside of that it didn't really matter.
The revisionism around the PS3 is insane. It was a rubbish console. It was expensive, dropped backwards compatibility quickly, and lots of games were developed for the Xbox 360 primarily and had rubbish ports. The original was also super ugly.
I never even bought a PS3 for the entire generation. The only hardware I have not owned from the NES onwards was the PS3, PS Vita, Wii U, 3DS and Xbox One.
It's a solid console overall, comparable to X360. But not even close to what the PS5 will be when all is said and done.
Haters will start praising the PS5 when PS6 is out and is the trendy thing to shit on, trust me lol.
PS3 is by far Sony's worst home console. PS5 is already better and it will remain relevant and supported for another decade.
Nah. First party line-up sure. But in everything else the PS5 beats PS3 by a mile.
PS3 was hot, loud, third party games performed badly and it was ridiculously priced at launch in 2006 and by the time it got a reasonable price it was no longer backwards compatible.
PS5 is a way better general gaming machine.
PS5 year 1- Miles Morales, Demon Souls Remake, Kena Bridge of Spirits, Ratchet and Clank Rift Apart, Returnal
PS3 Year 1- Motorstorm, Heavenly Sword, Folklore, Resistance, Uncharted, Ratchet: Tools of Destruction
PS5 year 2- Horizon Forbidden West, GT7, GOW Ragnorok
PS3 Year 2-Metal Gear Solid 4, Little Big Planet, Resistance 2, Motorstorm Specific Rift
PS5 Year 3- FFXVI, Spiderman 2
PS3 Year 3-Killzone, Uncharted 2, Infamous, Demon Souls
Justing looking at exclusives. Although PS3 represented a more exciting technical leap and more new experiences I think PS5 had a higher quality margin to begin with. I think only Tools of Destruction actually stands up as a great game amongst PS3s launch year. The hardware & experience was more well rounded on PS5 (although diminishing returns)... but by year 3 PS3 really starts to explode in terms of superior and more diverse software offerings
You need to clean your rose-tinted glasses a bit. PS3 had inferior multiplatform ports, and for the most part did not get good exclusive games until well into its cycle. Not that PS5 is better in that regard, of course...
PS1 > PS2 > PS4 >>> PS3 => PS5
The Playstation brand is a power house... Despite PS5 being $500, and much more from scalpers with huge availability problems for like 2 and half years, it's still only behind by JUST A BIT compared to PS4.
Absolute monster let's fcken go ps5
An impressive milestone to reach!
PS3 and PS5 are my personal favourite consoles when it comes to hardware design, games and performance.
This can’t be… I thought PS3 was for sure going to win? There was only like a 25mil lead launch aligned. It was quite close if you ask me.
At least PS3 is going to win in Japan
It's going to pass Wii in 2026 and likely PS1 as well.
Any prediction on the Wii/PS1 outsell timeline? By the end of the year for sure but how soon before the end of the year is the question. Can it do it before November? After that milestone, then the true battle begins.
PS5 outsells PS3 in all regions except Japan, which I think everyone expected. I think PS5 will be at 103 million at the end of the year surpassing Wii and PS1. (Predicting 14 million for the year).
The ps3 being a year behind and and more expensive than the 360 let microsft into the game, the X1 blew it and the ps5 will hit big numbers
