All PlayStation Console Generations & Models Released in Order

Sony has been at the top of video games for nearly three decades, from the launch of the original PlayStation in 1994, all the way to the PlayStation 5, a pioneering machine for ultra-fast storage systems and consumer ray tracing.

Here, we’re going to step back in time and revisit the launches of every major PlayStation console, retracing the brand’s history from its inception in 1991 to 2020’s PlayStation 5, touching upon a few major milestones along the way. You’ll find tons of useful information, such as launch prices, units sold, and each console’s best-selling title.

There’s also a handy FAQ section at the bottom of this page that answers many of the most popular PlayStation-related questions.

First Generation: PlayStation (1994-2006)

PlayStation (1994)

Released in 1994, the PlayStation is responsible for one of the greatest power shifts in video game history. It upset Nintendo’s long-standing dominance of the games industry and was the first console to ship 100 million units, but what many people don’t know is that the PlayStation first began as an add-on for the Super Famicom.

It’s hard to imagine now, but back in the early ‘90s, Sony was just a games industry upstart with a point to prove. At the time, Sony was one of a few companies with expertise in CD-ROM technology. Nintendo was interested in using the technology in its own consoles and approached Sony to bring the CD-ROM to the Super Famicom.

During development, Nintendo grew wary of Sony’s ambitions in the games industry and its superior R&D section. On top of this, the contract broke Nintendo’s previous licensing traditions, giving Sony control over all SNES CD-ROM titles. So Nintendo’s board quietly canceled plans for the project and began negotiations of a new contract with Philips, a Sony rival.

Enraged by Nintendo’s actions, Sony President Norio Ohga (At the time) decided Sony had to make its own console.

While other consoles before the PlayStation had dipped their toes in 3D graphics, the PlayStation was the first to fully invest into 3D CGI. This made for a significant leap in graphics quality compared to the consoles of the last generation. Its game discs also had massive storage capacity compared to the cartridges of its closest competitor, the Nintendo 64. This meant there was ample room for high-quality cinematics, complex video game assets, and audio data, allowing for longer, more expansive gaming experiences.

The PlayStation was an instant success, selling more than 100,000 units on launch day. After only six months, more than two million units had been sold in Japan. The console performed abroad as well, and by 1997, it had sold more than 2.2 million units in Europe alone.

Demand for the original PlayStation remained strong until it was discontinued in March of 2006 — more than 11 years after its international release. By 2006, nearly 8,000 unique titles had been released for the PlayStation and 962 million games sold.

Original Playstation Technical Specifications:

PS One | PS1 | (2000)

The PS One is a smaller variant of the PlayStation that was released in July of 2000. The PS One was the highest-selling console of 2000, even outselling Sony’s own PlayStation 2.

In 2002, Sony released an attachable 5-inch LCD screen add-on for the PS One, as well as a car cigarette lighter adapter to allow for gaming during travel.

Aside from the smaller form factor and fewer external video and audio connectors, the PS One is identical to the original PlayStation.

The PS One sold 28.15 million units by March of 2006 when Sony stopped producing the console. It even outsold the First generation Xbox by about 4 million units.

Original PS One Technical Specifications:

Second Generation: PlayStation 2 (2000-2013)

PlayStation 2 (PS2) (2000)

The PlayStation 2 is the best-selling console ever, selling more than 155 million units from its release in 2000 to its discontinuation in 2013. It had one of the longest lifespans of a video game console (12 years) due to strong and stable demand, even well into the next generation of home gaming consoles. By the time the PlayStation 2 was discontinued in 2013, more than 3,800 unique games were released for the console, with over 1.5 billion games sold.

The PlayStation 2 featured a built-in DVD player. The extra capacity of the DVD-ROM media format allowed for higher-quality assets in video games, which made for a significant upgrade in visual fidelity in this generation of games over the previous one.

The PlayStation 2 could also be used to watch films released on DVD, which was gradually becoming the industry standard.

The PlayStation 2 also featured backwards compatibility, allowing players to insert and play their original PlayStation games on their PS2s. This gave the console a lift in the market, as PlayStation owners could still enjoy their existing games library on the new console.

Work on a successor to the PlayStation began in secret around the time of the original PlayStation’s launch in December 1994. In 1999, Sony announced the PlayStation 2, with much of the company’s messaging positioning the new console as a challenger to the upcoming Sega Dreamcast.

However, that rivalry would never actualize, as the Dreamcast’s early success would sputter to a halt, resulting in Sega pulling out of console manufacturing. The PlayStation 2’s main competition would come from Nintendo and another games industry newcomer, Microsoft.

The PlayStation 2 launched in March of 2000, eventually releasing in other territories later in the year. On launch day, the console generated more than $250 million, trumping the Dreamcast’s impressive $97 million first-day sales. By the end of March, it had sold over 1.4 million units in Japan, and a year later, more than 10.6 million PlayStation 2s had been sold worldwide.

Original PS2 Technical Specifications:

PSX (2003)

The PSX (which was, coincidentally, the codename for the original PlayStation) is a digital video recorder and general-purpose home entertainment device released on December 13, 2003, exclusively in Japan. Although it is based on PlayStation 2 architecture and supports backward compatibility with PS1 games, the PSX was marketed by Sony Corporation and not Sony Computer Entertainment.

The PSX is notable for introducing the XrossMediaBar interface that Sony would use in its PlayStation 3 console. It was powered by a unified EE+GS chip, which combined the PS2’s Emotion Engine and Graphics Synthesizer into a single chip design.

The PSX does not work with the MultiTap and does not support games that require two or more USB ports.

The high cost of the PSX led to poor sales, and the machine was a commercial failure.

Original PSX Technical Specifications:

PlayStation 2 Slim (2004)

The PlayStation 2 Slim is a slimmer, sleeker model of the PlayStation 2 released in 2004 to coincide with the launch of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. Demand for the PS2 Slim was much greater than Sony had anticipated, and there were major supply shortages for a time after the Slim launched. The issue was exacerbated by a blockage in the Suez Canal, which prevented the delivery of PS2 Slims to the UK for a week in November of 2004.

The main hardware under the hood is virtually identical to that in the “fat” model PS2, though the smaller form factor does not allow for an HDD expansion slot, making it impossible to play games that require a hard drive, like Final Fantasy XI. Additionally, the slimline models no longer have a front-loading disc driver, replacing them with a top-loading mechanical setup, which makes them much more durable against wear and tear.

Original PS2 Slim Technical Specifications:

Third Generation: PlayStation 3 (2006-2017)

PlayStation 3 (2006)

Sony began development on the PlayStation 3 in 2001, shortly after the announcement of the Cell microprocessor, a new processing chip Sony was co-developing with Toshiba and IBM. The console launched on November 11, 2006 in Japan, followed shortly by a North America release on November 17. The PlayStation 3 was discontinued in 2017. To date, the PlayStation 3 is the only Sony console that hasn’t sold at least 100 million units (over a full console generation).

As with the PlayStation and PlayStation 2, the PlayStation 3 served to introduce consumers to a new media format, the BD-ROM (Blu-ray Disk), and came with a built-in Blu-ray player.

It was also the first Sony console to support integrated social gaming services, like PlayStation Network (PSN). The PlayStation 3 also featured backward compatibility for PS2 and PS1 games in launch models, though PS2 compatibility was removed from later “slim” models.

Microsoft’s Xbox had proven that gamers wanted more from their consoles than just a machine for gaming — they wanted a general-purpose media system that they could use to chat with friends, watch films, and browse the Internet.

Sony had previously experimented with a general-purpose media machine with the ill-fated PSX, and doubled down on the concept with the PS3, introducing an improved version of the XrossMediaBar first seen in the PSX. The PlayStation 3 featured integrated social systems, including the ability to add friends and invite them to games. It also featured a built-in browser and media player and the ability to launch special apps for streaming films and audio.

Developers expressed difficulties with coding their games for the console due to the complexity of the PlayStation 3’s processor. This led to many third-party developers shifting development priority to the Microsoft Xbox 360, with PlayStation 3 versions released later (or often not at all).

The PlayStation 3 was the first Sony console that wasn’t a success out of the gate. Manufacturing issues made it difficult for consumers to get their hands on units, and the lack of third-party support at launch made for a lackluster launch lineup.

The PS3 was also the first Sony console that didn’t outsell its competition, losing soundly to the accessible and innovative novelty of Nintendo’s Wii. It also faced stiff competition from Microsoft’s new Xbox 360, which offered similar performance, a more complete online experience, and a more robust library at the same price.

The manufacturing process for the Cell chip was expensive, and Sony would be forced to take a loss on each PlayStation 3 unit sold in order to maintain a competitive price point. The PlayStation 3 wasn’t profitable until 2010.

Original PS3 Technical Specifications:

PlayStation 3 Slim (2009)

The PlayStation 3 Slim was officially announced in August of 2009. It featured a smaller form factor, a quieter cooling mechanism, and a smaller power draw. A month later in September, the PS3 Slim was released in all major territories.

The release of the PS3 Slim helped push sales of the PlayStation 3, leading to a 1000% increase in week-on-week PS3 sales in the week of its launch, with more than 500 thousand units sold. Reportedly, this made the PS3 Slim the most successful console relaunch at the time, outselling the Xbox 360 and Wii by a ratio of 3:1.

The PlayStation 3 Slim does away with the “Spider-Man” PlayStation 3 logo that adorned the body of fat-model PS3s, replacing it with a redesigned PS3 logo etched into the Slim’s chassis. It also removes backward compatibility for PlayStation 2 games, only has 2 USB ports (compared to the original model’s 4), and does not support installing Linux.

Original PS3 Slim Technical Specifications:

PlayStation 3 Super Slim (2012)

The PlayStation 3 Super Slim was released on September 25, 2012 as part of a bundle package with Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception (250GB model) or Assassin’s Creed III (500GB Model). The Super Slim is roughly 20% percent smaller and 25% lighter than the PS3 Slim. Its design references the chrome-tipped, mirror-sheen finish of the original fat model, but retains the redesigned “PS3” logo laser-etched into the chassis.

To keep the price point low, the Super Slim has a non-motorized sliding disc cover. This makes for a more long-lasting — if slightly less convenient — disc-loading design.

Like the PS3 Slim, the PS3 Super Slim does not have PS2 backward compatibility nor support for Linux.

Critics praised the quietness of the Super Slim’s cooling system, noting that it was a significant improvement over the cooling system in the PS3 Slim. Many were also impressed with Sony’s careful cost-cutting design, which allowed for the same powerful experience as the original PS3 at a smaller form factor and much more affordable price point.

Original PS3 Super Slim Technical Specifications:

Fourth Generation: PlayStation 4 (2013-2020)

PlayStation 4 (2013)

The PlayStation 4 was launched on November 15, 2013 in North America. It was released in Europe, South America, and Australia on November 29. Japan finally saw Sony’s new console on February 22, 2014, making this the first Sony console that wasn’t released in Japan first.

The PlayStation 4 is currently the second best-selling console of all time. To date, more than 106 million PS4s have been sold worldwide. And as of December 2019, more than 1.181 billion PlayStation 4 games have been sold, making for an average of 11 games per console.

The PlayStation 4 marked a return to basics for the Japanese console maker. While the company had made its name as an innovator in the game console space, the complexity of the PS3’s Cell microarchitecture was considered a major contributor to the company’s failure to dominate in the previous generation.

To avoid repeating that mistake, Sony appointed Mark Cerny to serve as lead architect for the PS4. Cerny suggested using an APU built upon the x86-64 architecture — similar to the hardware in modern PCs — to power its new console. Developers were already familiar with the architecture, which made developing games both easier and cheaper for game studios.

The PS4 was unveiled in early 2013 at PlayStation Meeting 2013 in New York City. A few months later, Sony revealed the new console would cost $399, undercutting Microsoft’s upcoming Xbox One by $100. Excitement mounted over the months as more and more developers expressed their excitement about the new machine, with John Carmick of id Software fame saying the engineering choices Sony had made were “wise.”

Pre-launch demand for the PlayStation 4 was very strong, with over a million pre-orders placed ahead of the console’s launch.

At launch, the PS4 was a massive success, selling more than one million units in North America alone and breaking UK console launch sales records by selling 250,000 consoles in two days. By the end of the year, Sony had sold 4.2 million units and beaten out Nintendo in global console sales — the first time anyone had done so in eight years.

In 2015, the PlayStation 4 became the first gaming console to release in mainland China since consoles were first banned in 2000.

In November 2020, production of all PlayStation 4 models except the PS4 Slim was discontinued in Japan following the release of the PlayStation 5. The standard PS4 will continue to be manufactured for other markets until 2023.

Original PS4 Technical Specifications:

PlayStation 4 Slim (2016)

The PlayStation 4 Slim is a redesign of the original PlayStation 4. It is 40% smaller than the original PS4 and has a matte finish (instead of the two-tone finish of the original).

Performance-wise, it is identical to the original model PS4. The two USB ports in front were upgraded for USB 3.1 and the optical audio port was removed.

The original launch series of the PlayStation 4 Slim came with 500GB HDD, but later models came standard with a 1TB HDD.

Original PS4 Slim Technical Specifications:

PlayStation 4 Pro (2016)

The PlayStation 4 Pro is an upgraded re-launch of the PlayStation 4 architecture — a first for Sony, who had focused only on form factor redesigns for its previous consoles. It was first announced on September 7, 2016 and launched in November of the same year.

The PlayStation 4 Pro features a higher CPU clock rate than the original model (2.1GHz to the original’s 1.8GHz) and a more powerful GPU, allowing for 4K rendering and improved performance in PlayStation VR titles. The PS4 Pro also retains the port upgrades of the PS4 Slim, like USB 3.1 ports, Bluetooth 4.0, and 5.0 GHz Wi-Fi.

Many games released after the launch of the PlayStation 4 Pro were marketed as “PS4 Pro Enhanced” titles. Such titles benefited from the PS4 Pro-specific optimizations, allowing for 4K resolutions, higher frame rates, or better overall performance on PlayStation 4 Pro units.

If you like playing racing games on the PS4 this still has the biggest list of racing games on it until more come out for the PS5. Thankfully we’ve just listed the best gaming steering wheels for 2022 which are mostly tailored to work on the PS4/PS5 systems.

Original PS4 Slim Technical Specifications:

Fifth Generation: PlayStation 5 (2020)

PlayStation 5 (2020)

The PlayStation 5 is Sony’s latest home gaming console. Released in November 2020, it features several major upgrades to its predecessor, most notably support for 4K gaming at 120 frames per second, hardware-accelerated 3D audio effects, real-time raytracing, and a proprietary storage system that allows for ultra-fast data throughput, significantly cutting down on the length of loading times.

After the success of the PlayStation 4, Mark Cerny was again put in charge of the development of the PlayStation 5. The PS5 uses a custom eight-core Zen 2 processor developed in collaboration with AMD — once again using familiar architecture for cheap and easy game development.

Understanding that a growing number of players are transitioning to fully-digital libraries, Sony has made the PlayStation 5 available in two different models: a digital edition, which is cheaper but comes without a disc drive; and a physical edition, which comes with a built-in Ultra HD Blu-ray disc drive.

Using developer feedback Cerny had collected throughout the lifetime of the PS4, Sony sought to solve the biggest concerns developers had with the PlayStation 4.

One of the biggest complaints was the length of loading times, which developers like Epic Games’ Tim Sweeny considered a roadblock to the further evolution of game development.

Sony immediately began research into super-fast SSD technologies. Their solution was to create a custom chip and flash memory controller package that reduced latency, allowing for raw read speeds more than 100 times the hard drive on the PS4.

The new system’s controller was also designed with consideration for feedback from game designers and consumers. The DualSense controller adds haptic feedback to its adaptive triggers, allowing for realistic haptic simulation of minute actions, like the feeling of unsheathing a blade or drawing the string of a bow.

Despite enormous demand for the PS5 prior to launch, supply for the new console has been limited since launch due to a global semiconductor shortage. The PlayStation 5’s launch was still the largest in PlayStation history, with the console selling more than 2.1 million units in its first two weeks. Sony predicts supply issues will continue into 2022 and perhaps beyond.

Critics and consumers praised the PlayStation 5’s new haptic feedback features and the impressive visual fidelity of its games, but criticized the lack of quality titles available at launch. Many also poked fun at the console’s large size and irregular black-and-white form factor, which made it difficult to integrate into home entertainment setups.

As of July 18, 2021, Sony has sold more than 10 million PS5s, making the PlayStation 5 the fastest-selling video game console in history.

We’re expecting this number to go even higher when the highly anticipated GTA6 eventually comes out and becomes the best selling game all over again

Original PS5 Technical Specifications:

PlayStation FAQ

How Many PlayStations Are There?

To date, there are five “mainline” PlayStation models:

• PlayStation
• PlayStation 2
• PlayStation 3
• PlayStation 4
• PlayStation 5

Each generation of PlayStation consoles also saw the launch of variants for that generation’s mainline console. Up until the PlayStation 4, these relaunch variants offered redesigned form factors only. The PS4 Pro was the first console variant to offer a significant performance upgrade to its original model. Here are all the variant models:

• PlayStation
  • PS One
• PlayStation 2
  • PlayStation 2 Slim
• PlayStation 3
  • PlayStation 3 Slim
  • PlayStation 3 Super Slim
• PlayStation 4
  • PlayStation 4 Slim
  • PlayStation 4 Pro
• PlayStation 5

Is the PlayStation 5 In Stock?

Due to a global semiconductor shortage, Sony expects supplies of the PlayStation 5 will remain limited into 2022.

When Did the PlayStation 4 Come Out?

The PlayStation 4 was announced in February 2013 and launched later the same year. Here are the launch dates for each major region:

• North America: November 15, 2013
• Europe: November 29, 2013
• South America: November 29, 2013
• Australia: November 29, 2013
• Japan: February 22, 2014

When Did the PlayStation 3 Come Out?

The PlayStation 3 was announced at E3 2005 and launched at the end of 2006. Here are the launch dates for each major region:

• Japan: November 11, 2006
• North America: November 17, 2006
• PAL: March 23, 2007

When Did the PlayStation 2 Come Out?

The PlayStation 2 was announced at the Tokyo Game Show on September 20, 1999. The console launched in 2000. Here are the launch dates for each region:

• Japan: March 4, 2000
• North America: October 26, 2000
• Europe: November 24, 2000
• Australia: November 30, 2000

When Did the Original PlayStation Come Out?

The original PlayStation was announced on October 27, 1993 and was released in 1994. Here are the launch dates for each major region:

• Japan: December 3, 1994
• North America: September 9, 1995
• Europe: September 29, 1995
• Australia: November 15, 1994

What Is the Newest PlayStation Console?

The newest PlayStation console is the PlayStation 5. It was released in November of 2020 and is available in two editions: Digital and Physical. The physical edition of the PlayStation 5 comes with a built-in Ultra HD Blu-ray Disc. The digital edition does not have a disc drive.

What is PlayStation Now?

PlayStation Now is a subscription-based streaming service that allows players to stream select PS2, PS3, and PS4 titles to their PS4, PS5, or PC. Subscribers can also download hundreds of PS4 games to be played on their PS4 or PS5 console.

How Much Does PlayStation Now Cost?

PlayStation Now (PS Now) costs the same as a subscription to PlayStation Plus. Here’s a breakdown of the different PS Now subscription options:

• $9.99 for 1 month
• $24.99 for 3 months
• $59.99 for 1 year

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