PlayStation 3 lifetime sales reach 70 million units worldwide: Sony

Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE) has announced that the cumulative sales of the PlayStation 3 have reached a milestone of 70 million units shipped worldwide as of November 4, 2012 – less than six years after the platform was launched in 2006. SCE also announced that sales of the PlayStation Move motion controller surpassed 15 million units worldwide as of November 11.

The PS3 has delivered award-winning entertainment experiences since its launch. Throughout its lifecycle, the PS3 system has evolved with a slimmer design, larger hard disk drive capacity, and new features through software updates. In September 2012, SCE launched the new PS3 system, which has a reduced volume and weight of more than 50 percent compared to the original PS3 model, and of 25 percent and 20 percent respectively compared to the slim PS3 model launched in 2009.

70 million units shipped

Along with the introduction of PS3 in November 2006, SCE launched the PlayStation Network, which now operates in 59 countries and regions around the world. PlayStation Network supports free community-centric online gameplay, exclusive games from independent developers and major publishers, and a broad range of entertainment applications across movies, music, and sports. PS3 owners can access 170,000 downloadable digital content including game content that numbers at 57,000 worldwide from PlayStation Network. In October 2012, SCE redesigned the PlayStation Store, offering a more streamlined and accessible store experience, including a new user interface, simple search, and content discovery.

PlayStation Plus, the subscription service package on PlayStation Store that offers exclusive benefits such as discounts on games or online storage for game saves, started to offer an 'Instant Game Collection' in North America and Europe in July 2012. The Instant Game Collection enables PS Plus members to enjoy popular titles from third party developers and publishers as well as SCE Worldwide Studios at no extra cost. SCE has also enhanced the content offering for PS Plus members in Japan in November.

Introduced in September 2010, the PlayStation Move motion controller that enables users to play games is now supported by a wide range of titles with more than 400 as of November 2012, including Sports Champions 2, Unfinished Swan (Sony Computer Entertainment). Additionally, this month marks the global launch of Wonderbook, a new peripheral that delivers the next evolution of storytelling and a unique experience exclusively on PS3. Wonderbook uses the PlayStation Eye camera to take augmented reality to new places, while drawing players into new worlds and allowing them to interact with stories as they tilt or rotate it, or simply turn the pages.

The PS3 has gained tremendous support from 3rd party developers and publishers worldwide. Cumulative number of software titles for PS3 reached 3,590 with more than 595 million units sold worldwide. In addition, software titles that support the cross platform feature such as LittleBigPlanet 2: Cross Controller Pack, Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time are also expected to be released.