The PlayStation 4 was built not to repeat the PlayStation 3. Sony dropped the complex Cell design for an AMD chip built on x86-64, so its first development kits were essentially modified PCs. Meanwhile SCEE CEO Jim Ryan said Sony wanted to avoid the kind of delays that had left the PS3 almost a year behind the Xbox 360.
Then Microsoft handed it an opening. The Xbox One was announced at US$499 with strict rules on how players could share game media, so Sony priced the PS4 lower and made sharing easy. Critics praised it for exactly that, and demand helped Sony top global console sales. By October 2019 the PS4 was the second best-selling PlayStation ever, behind only the PS2. Sometimes the best marketing is a rival's price tag.
Key facts
- Released
- November 15, 2013 in North America, November 29, 2013 in Europe, February 22, 2014 in JapanSource
- Launch price
- US$399.99 in North America, €399.99 in Europe, ¥39,980 in JapanSource
- Units sold
- 117 million by March 31, 2022Source
- Best-selling game
- Grand Theft Auto V, 24.66 million copiesSource
- Processor
- AMD Jaguar, 8 cores at 1.6 GHzSource
- Media
- Blu-ray and DVDSource
- Discontinued
- March 28, 2024 in JapanSource
How the PS3's lessons became Sony's second-best seller
According to lead architect Mark Cerny, work began as early as 2008, less than two years after the delayed PS3 launch. Bungie gave input on the controller, especially on making it better for shooting games, and the new controller ended up with updated buttons and analog sticks plus a touchpad. Sony then started shipping development kits, known as Orbis, to studios in 2012.
The PS4 was announced at PlayStation Meeting 2013 in New York on February 20, 2013, although the console itself only appeared at E3 that June, with a recommended price of $399 in North America. On top of that, it put playing together first: Remote Play let you continue a game on a PlayStation Vita, and Share Play let a friend take over your game online.
Later, in September 2016, Sony added a smaller Slim model and the PlayStation 4 Pro, whose upgraded GPU supported 4K in some games. The PlayStation 5 followed in November 2020, and in Japan the PS4 was finally discontinued on March 28, 2024.
The best PlayStation 4 games
Ranked by how often players recommend them, with picks other players backed counting extra. Bloodborne takes #1, and God of War is second.
1Bloodborne (2015)
2God of War (2018)
3The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (2015)
4Horizon Zero Dawn (2017)
5Marvel's Spider-Man (2018)
6Red Dead Redemption 2 (2018)
7Uncharted 4: A Thief's End (2016)
8Persona 5 (2016)
9NieR: Automata (2017)
10Rocket League (2015)
