// ENGADGET — GAMING
The best-selling game console of all time is over 25 years old
Sony shipped over 160 million PlayStation 2 units over its 13-year run.
You might expect newer consoles to dominate lifetime sales lists. After all, the industry is several times bigger than it was two decades ago. But all-time console sales are a blend of old and new, with Sony's second home console, the PlayStation 2, hanging onto the top spot.
However, the PS2's lead is shrinking. Based on the latest figures, Nintendo's original Switch is only a few million units behind. And unlike the PS2, it's still being sold.
A note on the figures: Sony and Nintendo report their totals as consoles shipped to retailers, which is a little different from consumer sales. Also, Microsoft doesn't publish official totals, so those numbers are analyst estimates.
Sony says the PS2 sold over 160 million units, more than any other console. How did it take the crown? For starters, it launched with a built-in DVD player, right when that market was taking off. As wild as that sounds today, this was back when physical media ruled. Come for Austin Powers, stay for Kratos.
Timing also worked in the PS2's favor. When it launched, Sega's Dreamcast was the only other new home console on the market. By the time the Dreamcast hit the US in 1999, Sony was already hyping the PS2, leading many a gamer to hold off on Sega's new console. (The fact that Sega bailed quickly on the Sega CD, 32X and Saturn didn't help with consumer confidence.) And the GameCube and original Xbox didn't launch until late 2001, after the PS2 had already gained a foothold.
To top it off, the PS2 stayed on the market for ages. Sony didn't stop making it until 2013, the same year its "grandchild," the PS4, launched. The PS2 also benefited from price cuts, dropping from $299 at its US launch to $199 in 2002, and eventually to $99 in 2009. By then, it was an attractive option for people who wanted a still-capable gaming system on the cheap.
All those hardware sales led to staggering software numbers: more than 1.5 billion PS2 games sold. Its best-selling titles were Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas at 17.3 million units, Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec at 14.9 million, and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City at 14.2 million.
Kicking off the era of the hybrid console, the Switch launched in 2017 with a novel concept: a mobile gaming device that you could also connect to a TV. It didn't take long to see Nintendo had a winner on its hands after the Wii U's disappointment. Helping out was the fact that its flagship launch game was an open-world classic, with The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild making the Switch's proposition instantly clear.
The result? Nintendo has shipped over 156 million Switch consoles as of June 2026, including all variants. The original model was followed by the cheaper and portable-only Switch Lite and the higher-end Switch OLED, which added a bigger and better screen.