The Evolution of the PS4: From Launch to Best-Selling Games

It seems like yesterday that the PS4 made its debut, bringing a new control format and titles like inFAMOUS Second Son and The Order 1886. But the reality is that the console turns a decade old now in November 2023, which means it has players of Fortnite that are newer than the video game.

In this article we will remember the trajectory of the PS4, from its debut to the current years, highlighting some of its most important moments and games!

2013: the debut

The PS4 officially arrived on the market on November 15, 2013, with the complicated mission of recovering PlayStation’s image after the troubled PS3 generation. The list of video game launch titles included games such as Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag, Killzone Shadow Fall, CoD: Ghosts and Battlefield 4.

Expanding the list to the “launch window”, of some games that came out a little after the console’s debut, we can include DriveClub, Outlast, Thief and inFAMOUS Second Son.

One of the main differences noticed by the public at the launch of the PS4 was the DualShock 4, the new version of the controller. The accessory changed quite a bit compared to its predecessor, introducing a touchpad and a speaker directly into the control. The classic “start” and “select” buttons were left aside, being replaced by the new “options” and “share”, respectively.

DualShock 4. Source: reproduction.

But some of the most important changes that the PS4 made in relation to the PS3 could not be immediately seen by players, especially laymen. This is because these are new features made for the console’s hardware, the result of different policies that Sony implemented after criticism of its previous console.

As mentioned in a previous article, Mark Cerny was hired as head of architecture for the PS4 in order to help create a console that wouldn’t be a complete challenge to game development – ​​as the PS3 had been. To do this, Sony worked much more closely with developers than it did in its last generation.

Mark Cerny, the architect of the PlayStation consoles. Source: reproduction.

Cerny, in turn, took advantage of his gaming experience that began at Atari to find his philosophy for creating the PS4’s hardware architecture. Speaking about the development of the console, the engineer states:

“It was like Nolan Bushnell’s (Atari founder) famous philosophy for creating arcade games, that they should be easy to learn but difficult to master. My version of this was that the console should have a familiar architecture and be easy to develop games for in the early years of its lifecycle, but it also needs to have a rich set of features that creators can explore for years.”

This mentality can really be seen reflected in the PS4 releases, with some of its best games coming out after a few years of the video game being available on the market. But, before bringing some of these highlights, let’s keep our focus on the hardware, to remember other important moments from the PS4 era.

2016: PS4 Slim, PS4 Pro and PS VR

Maintaining a tradition established by previous PlayStation generations, Sony created a slim version of the PS4 as well. But, this time, the video game arrived in another, “tougher” version – the PS4 marked the first time that its manufacturer bet on a Pro model for the console.

First of all, it’s interesting to understand a little better why these new versions of consoles tend to appear. Without delving too deeply into details, advances in processor development generally do not take long to offer considerable improvements in the energy efficiency of components, which allows products to be delivered with the same performance, but smaller and/or heating up less.

PS4 is PS4 SLIM

Manufacturers then take the opportunity to make smaller consoles, which usually takes two or three years compared to the original launch. In the case of the PS4, however, there was a new factor in the market putting a lot of pressure on Sony: the famous 4K.

Around 2015 and 2016, TV manufacturers were investing heavily in marketing to convince the population to exchange their televisions for new devices with much higher resolution, in a configuration that became popularly known as 4K. Sony itself, in fact, is among these manufacturers.

The original PS4, however, was not designed to handle games at this resolution. Therefore, in 2016 Sony decided not to launch just the PS4 Slim as it normally would, marking the debut of the PS4 Pro together.

PS4 PRO

The Pro version of the video game was sold a lot on the premise of offering games in 4K for players to enjoy on their huge TVs, but unfortunately not all games on the platform ran completely satisfactorily at this resolution.

But the PS4 Pro wouldn’t be the only new addition to the generation. Despite its difficulty in handling the infamous 4K, the console would still be a good choice to offer better gaming in another new project for the PlayStation: virtual reality.

Still in 2016, on the third anniversary of the PS4, the PlayStation VR, or PS VR, Sony’s virtual reality headset, was officially launched. This was an important novelty introduced in the past console era, where Sony is still investing today, with the launch of a new version of the headset, the PS VR 2. Anyone who wants to delve deeper into the subject can check out this other article completely dedicated to reality virtual.

Just on its third birthday, then, the PS4 had a respectable ecosystem. The console was still sold in its original version, offering a smaller option in the form of the PS4 Slim and more capable hardware, with the famous PS4 Pro. Players with the fattest piggy banks could also experience a completely new way of playing on the PlayStation, through of virtual reality.

But all of this means nothing without the games, after all, that’s what a PlayStation is for, right? So the time has finally come to comment on some of the highlights of the past generation.

Featured Games: GOW and Friends

As has already been discussed on other occasions, the last generation certainly had some iconic and unforgettable games, which achieved immense sales, critical success or both at the same time.

Check below the list of the best-selling games on PS4, followed by the number of units sold on the console, according to data from VGChartz:

Marvel’s Spider-Man (20 million) God of War (19.5 million) GTA V (19.39 million) Uncharted 4 (16.25 million) COD: Black Ops 3 (15.09 million) Red Dead Redemption 2 (13 .94 million) COD: World War II (13.4 million) The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (12.4 million) FIFA 18 (11.8 million) The Last of Us Remastered (11.78 million) Marvel’s Spider-Man . Source: reproduction.

Seeing Spider-Man at the top of the list helps to understand Sony’s decision to buy Insomniac Studios, the game’s developer, even after working with the studio independently for so many years. In the end, of the 10 best-selling games on the PS4, four of them were made especially for the video game.

But it is interesting to highlight some other titles produced by Sony that ended up outside the Top 10.

Horizon: Zero Dawn and The Last of Us Part II were tied, with 10 million units sold, being placed in 12th and 13th place in the ranking respectively, in alphabetical order.

Ghost of Tsushima, despite having won many fans, falls to 20th position, with 8 million units distributed. It’s also worth mentioning Days Gone here, which its director found some debatable sources to say sold more than the samurai game.

Ghost of Tsushima. Source: reproduction.

But the number of game sales is not a direct testament to their quality. It is worth mentioning that many of the titles that were only available on PS4 for a long time had average ratings above 90 points.

This is the case, for example, of The Last of Us Remastered, which last appeared in the Top 10, but has an average of 95 in the Metacriticranking below only Rockstar titles.

It is also interesting to mention Persona 5, which is nowadays multiplatform, but started its “life” on the PS4 with an average of 93 and then had its Royal version reaching 95 points.

God of War achieved an average of 94 and Uncarted 4 reached 93, the same average obtained by the sequel to The Last of Us. The beloved (and forgotten) Bloodborne achieved a respectable 92 points in its average. And still showing the power of remastering games, the new version of Shadow of the Colossus achieved an average score of 91.

Bloodborne: Source: reproduction.

The generation certainly didn’t start with its best releases, but over the PS4’s 10 years, we can categorically say that the console left a very respectable legacy. And it is obvious that this was reflected in the success of the platform itself, not just its titles, and this is what will finally be discussed in the next part of the article.

2020 and beyond: PS5 and the beginning of the end

As explained in this article (and also in others) the most important hardware improvements of the PS4 in relation to the PS3 were not just the traditional performance advances that are expected from one generation to the next, but mainly technical improvements that made it easier for developers create games for the console and get the best out of it.

These changes helped result in acclaimed titles in the generation, which, in turn, positively impacts sales. Ultimately, the PS4 reached a total of 117.2 million units distributed in March 2022 – the most updated official data to the platform. The number places the console in fifth place among the best-selling in the world.

Sales numbers. Source: VGChartz

Unfortunately, Sony does not release data on the number of units sold for each PS4 model, so it is difficult to speculate on the success of its strategy of making a Pro model for the first time in the generation. But, with numbers like that, overall the birthday boy of the moment was certainly very successful.

Everything in life, however, ends one day, and that includes the good things. In November 2020, the PS5 was launched, the most recent generation of Sony consoles, which puts an “expiry date” on the PS4. However, the console still has considerable strength and has achieved above-average longevity through its success.

Until last year, Sony still manufactured new PS4 units in the West, and support for new games was promised until 2025, adding another two years of guarantee of news for those who still have the console or are even just buying it now.

So is it still worth buying a console that is already 10 years old? This question comes up a lot in the first years of a new generation, so I’m going to take advantage of the conclusion of this article to leave an opinion.

It is clear that only the person themselves can decide, after all, what is “worth it” for them or not. What I can say is that, if the person hasn’t had a PS4 until now and is thinking about buying it to save money, it could be a good idea.

It is possible to find models at more affordable prices and, since the focus is on savings, take the opportunity to invest in used and old games that appear at very interesting prices on PSN. The games listed in the highlights section of this article alone are worth the investment.

2023-11-12 17:03:45
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