Sony

Sony Corporation works in consumer and professional electronics, gaming, entertainment and financial services. Although Sony was founded in 1946, it did not enter the games market for nearly 50 years.

Despite its late start, Sony has become one of the dominant forces in the industry.

PlayStation 1 Sony entered the console market on 3 December 1994 in Japan with its first console, the PlayStation (commonly called the PS1, PS or PSX).

The PlayStation was both a critical and commercial success and set Sony on its way to becoming one of the largest console makers and game publishers in the world.

It was home to many acclaimed games, including Gran Turismo, Crash Bandicoot, Final Fantasy VII and Metal Gear Solid.

This library established Sony as a major force in the games market.

PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2, released in 2000, cemented Sony’s position, selling over 155 million units during its lifespan.

It was so successful that Sony kept producing it well into the PlayStation 3’s life, finally ending production in 2013.

Its success was helped by a steady stream of high-quality games such as God of War, Ratchet & Clank and Kingdom Hearts.

PlayStation 3 Sony released the PlayStation 3 in 2006. It got off to a slow start, launching a year after the Xbox 360 and at a higher price.

It nevertheless became a commercial success, selling over 87 million units.

That success was driven by exclusive hits such as Metal Gear Solid 4, LittleBigPlanet, Killzone 2, the Uncharted series and The Last of Us.

PlayStation 4 Released in late 2013, the PlayStation 4 was a huge success, selling over 117 million units.

The PS4 saw Sony regain the lead in the console market, helped by the weak launch of Nintendo’s Wii U and the troubled reveal of the Xbox One.

Sony backed the console with a strong line-up of first-party and third-party exclusives, including Marvel’s Spider-Man, God of War, Uncharted 4, Horizon Zero Dawn, Detroit: Become Human and Bloodborne.

PlayStation 5 Sony released the PlayStation 5 in November 2020 as the successor to the PS4.

PlayStation Portable While Sony dominated the home console market, it had less success with handhelds.

With Nintendo’s DS selling extremely well, Sony entered the handheld market with the PlayStation Portable, or PSP.

The PSP sold over 80 million units, but that was well short of the Nintendo DS family’s roughly 154 million.

The PSP’s sales suffered partly because of its library. It had some notable games, but it did not get the same first-party support as Sony’s home consoles.

That lack of first-party support hurt it against the DS, which had a constant stream of strong Nintendo games.