Sony PlayStation 4 Sales Top 40 Million Worldwide Ahead of PlayStation Neo Launch

The modern generation console war feels a little one sided if looking strictly at system sales. In that regard, Sony is way out ahead, having now sold more than 40 million PlayStation 4 consoles since launching the game system two and half years ago. That's around twice as many as Microsoft's competing Xbox One console.

Sony said it sold its 40 millionth PS4 console over the weekend. It's now the fastest selling PlayStation of all time, even besting the pace of the record setting PlayStation 2, which is the top selling game console of all time with over 155 million units sold to date. It took the PS2 five years and nine months to reach 100 million units shipped, a milestone the PS4 will likely achieve in less time.

Sony PlayStation 4

The PS4 came out in North America on November 13, 2013, a week ahead of the Xbox One's launch. Sony's console proved the more popular of the two from the onset (in terms of unit sales) and it's continually outpaced the competition. Microsoft hasn't issued a sales update since 2014, but the CEO of an eSports company let slip that 18 million Xbox One consoles are in the wild.

"We are delighted to announce the launch of our Tournament Builder app on Xbox One, which will enhance the Gfinity offering and enable us to reach Xbox One's 18 million users globally," Neville Upton, CEO of Gfinity, said in the release.

Upton told that the 18 million figure is an estimate "based on a variety of independent sources published earlier in the year," and the general consensus is that it's fairly accurate.

Sony expects to ship another 20 million PS4 consoles this year. If Sony's able to do that, it would likely reach the 100 million milestone sometime next year, taking half the time to get there as the PS2. That's pretty remarkable.

Sales could end up being much higher if Sony's planned update is well received. Codenamed "Neo," Sony is planning to launch an updated version of the PS4 with faster graphics for gaming at 4K Ultra HD. Rumor has it AMD's Polaris architecture will find its way inside Neo