PlayStation 4 — North America First, Japan Three Months Later

The PlayStation 4 was released on 15 November 2013 in the United States and Canada, at $399. That was its first launch anywhere. Europe and Latin America followed on 29 November 2013, and Japan came last of the major markets: the PS4 went on sale there on 22 February 2014, more than three months after North America, at a recommended price of ¥41,979 including tax. The Japanese date and price were announced on 9 September 2013.

Going by the dates in SIE's official history, the original PlayStation, the PS2 and the PS3 all launched first in Japan. The PS4 was the first home PlayStation for which Japan was not the first market. The 9 September 2013 release that gave the Japanese date did not explain why Japan came after North America.

From announcement to launch

The 11 June release set prices at $399 in the US, C$399 in Canada, €399 in Europe and £349 in the UK. The DUALSHOCK 4 sold separately for $59, as did the PlayStation Camera, which was not included in the box. The 21 August release listed 20 countries for the European wave, including Germany, the UK and France, plus ten in Latin America.

20 February 2013: PC-like insides

Introducing the PS4 in New York, SCEI described an architecture distinguished by both high performance and ease of development. It was a different line from the PS3's Cell.

SIE's official history notes that the 8 GB of GDDR5 was 16 times the RAM of the PS3.

The SHARE button

What the PS4 added to how consoles were used was the SHARE button on the controller. According to the announcement, a player pressed it, scanned back through the last few minutes of play, tagged a clip and returned to the game while the video uploaded. Posting to Facebook and live broadcasting through Ustream were supported; the 21 August release added Twitch streaming from launch.

SIE's official history describes the controls: hold the button for a screenshot, double-tap to start recording a video clip, and double-tap again to stop. In its 3 December release SCEI said more than 6.5 million shares had already been captured.

The first numbers

All are Sony's own estimates of units sold through to consumers.

For Japan, the 9 September release also announced limited editions. The PlayStation 4 First Limited Pack cost the same ¥41,979 including tax and added a download code for the PS4 exclusive Knack and twelve extra months of warranty; a version with the PlayStation Camera cost ¥46,179. Pre-orders opened on 5 October 2013, and 19 titles from Sony and other publishers went on sale with the console on launch day.

Later models and the total

According to SIE's official history, a slimmer, lighter model came out in 2016, and the PS4 Pro—4K-capable, with 4.198 teraflops—launched in November 2016. SIE's business data gives lifetime PS4 sales of more than 117 million units as of 30 June 2022: above the PS3's more than 87.4 million, below the PS2's more than 160 million.

Its successor, the PlayStation 5, launched in North America and Japan in November 2020. For the wider story, see the game consoles timeline.