Sony: PlayStation Move reaches 4.1 million in worldwide sales [update]

by Griffin McElroy on Nov 30th 2010 11:30AM

Microsoft's not the only one to achieve some market penetration with its newfangled motion controller contraption -- Sony has announced that in the two months the PlayStation Move has been available in Europe and North America, and the one month the device has been on sale in Japan, the core Move controller has sold 4.1 million units.

Considering the PS3 has sold 41.6 million units to date, that means one out of every ten homes that has Sony's gaming console now also houses a Move. Or, since the Move really works best with a second controller in hand, it could mean that one out of every twenty homes owns two of the devices. Or, perhaps less likely, one out of every thirty PS3-owning families contains three Moves, for their freakish, three-armed children.

Update: There seems to be some confusion as to whether this figure represents the number of Moves actually purchased by consumers or sold to retailers. Though the U.S. press release revealing the sales posted after the jump explicitly says "sold," the Japanese press release mentions "the quantity delivered to the dealer" in a footnote. We've contacted Sony for clarification.

Update 2: A Sony representative explained that the 4.1 million actually represents Move units shipped to stores, adding "While we don't disclose our exact sell-through number, the key is that our retailers continue to ask for more Move units and are taking every unit we can supply them with based on their sales." Which, you know, would have been a cool thing to put in that press release, we think.

Show full PR text

PLAYSTATION MOVE MOTION CONTROLLER SALES REACH

OVER 4.1 MILLION UNITS WORLDWIDE

Remarkable Milestone Achieved in Just 2 Months since Its Release in September

Tokyo, November 30, 2010 - Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. (SCEI) today announced that the sales of PlayStation Move motion controller for the PlayStation 3 (PS3) computer entertainment system reached over 4.1 million units worldwide *1. The milestone was reached in just 2 months since its release in September for North America, Europe/PAL territories and Asia, and 1 month since the release in October for Japan. The number not only shows clear success of the launch of the new motion sensing controller but also indicates positive momentum going in to the holiday season and to the year 2011.

PlayStation Move motion controller is used in combination with the PlayStation Eye camera*2 to detect the precise movement, angle, and absolute position in 3D space of the user, thereby allowing users to intuitively play as if they are within the game. Delivering the most realistic and immersive experience, PlayStation Move not only captures user's motion but also player's image itself to offer new augmented reality experiences in select games.

PlayStation Move offers more than 25 supported/dedicated titles for Europe/PAL territories up to date with vast line-up of software titles from all genres and all types of audiences. Some of the successful titles include Sports Champions, Start the Party, EyePet Move Edition, MAG, SingStar Dance and more. Upcoming PlayStation Move titles include the platform-defining franchises like Killzone 3 and LittleBigPlanet 2 that will further establish PlayStation Move as the must have motion experience for casual and hard-core gamers alike.

More than 41.6 million PS3 system has been sold globally *3 and despite entering its 5th year since launch, the system is yet to record another year of success. PS3, equipped with sophisticated processing units as well as future proof cutting-edge technologies, unfolded its potential, this year, with the introduction of PlayStation Move and stereoscopic 3D capabilities. SCEI will further continue to deliver strong value to the platform and will accelerate the growth of the platform by vigorously enhancing the entertainment experience only possible on the PlayStation platform.

*1 Number as of November 2010. Cumulative number since its release date, September 15 for Europe/PAL territories and Asian countries/regions, September 19 for North America and October 21 for Japan. The number does not include sales of stand-alone PlayStation Eye camera or stand-alone PlayStation Move navigation controller.

*2 Users will need to use the PlayStation Eye camera to enjoy PlayStation Move motion controller on PS3.

*3 Number as of September 2010.

Tags: hardware, peripherals, playstation, playstation-move, ps3, sales, sony

Reader Comments (185)

Sony needs a better way at tracking Move Sales. Just trackin the controller is a worthless way to do it. Imagine how many Wiis Nintendo could say they sold if they counted Every Wiimote sale, including Wiiplay?

@Hoops

The Wand = the Move

Why do people not understand that Fact? its not the whole bundle its just the Wand the PsEye is needed but it is its on seperate accesory intirely

@zefur Oh we understand it. its just that with initial numbers, sony counted nav controllers as move controllers. And the frigging move pack in game requires 2 moves in order to play everything in single player. Move was designed in such a way that a single person might need 2 of them.

@Hoops

They DO do that, don't they?

Nintendo counts every single Wii controller regardless of where they come.

@Van Faulk - And in a way that a single household might need four of them. That doesn't mean that every household is buying four of them though. Like someone else said, tracking move camera sales would be a better indicator of install base, but 4.1 million sales (even if that means 2 million actual users or fewer) is still rather impressive for a device that has been marketed worse than any video game launch in recent memory.

What would be really interesting to me is the regional breakdown of the sales figures. Is Move only popular in Europe/Japan as the initial numbers tended to show, or is it gaining traction in the US?

@Hoops
I say why? So people online can have these Wii Vs. Kinect Vs. Move fanboy battles? Worry less about if your console of choice is number one and just enjoy your damn games.

It's obvious Kinect and Move (and the Wii obviously) are successes to their various companies.

@Hoops It says "The number includes sales tallied in North America, Europe/PAL territories, Asia, and Japan and does not account for sales of stand-alone PlayStation Eye cameras or PlayStation Move navigation controllers. "

@Van Faulk The only game that "requires" two Moves is The Fight, Everything else can be navigated with a dualshock or the Move itself.

@Hoops

Meh.

I don't see the big problem unless you're trying to have some kind of contest with Kinect, which can't be tracked the same way.

Both of these motion control systems are already huge successes. They can be tracked for marketing and demographics, but it's never going to be possible to do an apples to apples comparison.

MS has an inferior profit model in this case. Move has so many different little damn things to buy that Sony's going to make a mint with this. They are fortunate to have waited until their PS3 market penetration was this advanced and basically the same as the 360's worldwide. They will keep selling move units to the same houses that already bought some, but MS can't do that. And the Move has more games.

That's not to say Move is the most advanced... Kinect is the most advanced. It's kinda like the original PS3 vs 360 console war in reverse. The more profitable model is also the simpler system that seems to be a bit more fun and have more games.

@Dustin F
You strike some good points. Both are great devices, and the homebrew team with Kinect is going to do some AMAZING things. Both are cheap to make, so will be profitable right off the bat. I think SO far, the software goes to Playstation Move which is like being valedictorian of summer school.

I think it's inevitable that Kinect and Move will be just as successful but are impossible to compare in the typical fanboy wars. It's like comparing MP3 sales with Phone sales. The two devices are similar, but have vast differences.

@FINALBOSS They count them as controllers though, they don't count them as Wiis sold. If you buy a Move controller, Sony tells the world you just bought another move.

@Hoops

There have been many hackers / hobbyist / enthusiast that bought kinect without owning or ever intending to use it with their 360s. How do we track those sales? We don't because it's still a unit that sold. Period point blank. Same as move. Doesn't matter if one person bought two ... It's still two moves that sold.

@BananaBoat - Reading the update, I take it back: 4.1 million shipped is not nearly as impressive as 4.1 million sold. God knows how many of those are sitting on store shelves right now. At least we were allowed to feel good about Move's sales for all of a morning and part of an afternoon.

@Johnnynumber5 is powered by cell Actually no, it's a Move controller that's sold. It would be like Nintendo trying to say that every wiimote sold counts as a wii sold.

And as to your assessment that there are 'many hackers who are buying the Kinect to mod it and won't buy games for it' Really? Define Many. 100? 1000? A blip on the radar. Everyone who buys a Move will have motivation to buy at least one more Move controller either for themselves or for co-op for their family, and many more will buy more than one extra. But Sony has no way of accounting for that, and they don't want to, they want to fool gullible people like yourself into thinking they have put those in different households. They could easily just release the camera sales, since you only buy one of those, but that wouldn't make their numbers look as good, so can't do that.

@Hoops

No. Sony isn't saying PS3's sold they are saying Moves sold. Each controller is a move just like each wii mote is a wii mote sold not a wii sold. It's actually pretty elementary.

@Hoops

No that's not the same at all. Sony isn't saying ps3's sold they are saying moves sold. Each move controller that sells is a unit sold just like each wii mote sold is a unit sold. It's actually pretty elementary.

We already had the camera so we just bought two moves or two move units.

@BananaBoat

"God knows how many of those are sitting on store shelves right now. "

Surly many, but every store I go to has only a couple.

Amazon keeps running out too.

Move is a hit. It's not clear exactly how much, but it's much, much bigger than Eye or Eyetoy. Kinect is a hit too, which is great.

This ridiculous console war has led to awesome levels of competition. I personally find the Move more appealing and suspect it will sell better over the long term, but both options are selling well. Some thought the Move was a dumb rehash of the Wii that would be boring and flop, and that's just not the case.

Motion gaming is here to stay on all platforms. I look to see MS move Kinect to the PC platform quickly before someone beats them to the punch. If Sony were clever, they would find a way to get Move onto the Mac and PC.

@Johnnynumber5 is powered by cell

Yes, that's how Sony has labeled it, so they can justify fudging the numbers, but the Move doesn't work without the camera, so it's just a controller. In order to have a funcitonal move unit you need a PS3, a camera and a Move controller. If I go out and buy just the controller, even though I have a PS3, I can't do a damned thing with it. You yourself prove my point. You have bought one Move system, you have bought more than one controller for it, but there's only one camera in your house. That's what we try to use these numbers to determine, how many units are in houses. Going by Move controllers is worthless since the actual number of Moves in households is probably less than half whatever the reported number sold is since so many people like yourself have more than one at home. It's a lazy, misleading, disingenuous way for Sony to tweak their numbers and trick their stockholders into believing they are more succesful than they are.

When a developer is trying to determine how many moves are in households, they don't count you as two people because you bought 2 controllers, they count you as one because you only have one system. I want to know what the real numbers are so I can decide if it's worth purchasing or if the thing is going to stop being supported soon.

@Van Faulk

Sony only ever included _just_ the Move controller as move sales. None of their sales figures have included the nav controller or the ps eye, its only been dumb asses with no reading comprehension that have tried to imply this.

None of the Move games require 2 move controllers, even the fight can be played with 1 controller and a dualshock.. The only games I know of that support 2 move controllers are Sports champions and the fight. Again another false statement spread by dumbasses.

What difference does it really make how many different households have bought the controller ? What matters is that its selling really well still and the sales hasn't dropped off, 4 million sales is great especially considering the big hitting games are yet to be released..

Its got Socom, KZ3 and Sorcery being released for it next year, its managed to sell 4 million controllers with minimal advertisement. The move is probably a bigger success than they imagined

There is an interview with Anthon Makilov here:

http://www.videogamer.com/news/sony_on_why_ps_move_has_greater_appeal_than_kinect.html -- its quite an interesting read, pretty level headed. Its obvious they have messed around with the tech behind Kinect quite a lot.. I also didnt know the ps move only takes up 1MB ram and less than 1% processing, thats truly remarkable..

Also Joystiq, can we get a clarification on Kinect sales, is it actually units sold or units shipped to retail ? How are microsoft calculating it ?

@Van Faulk
I know in the ads it shows everyone playing with two controllers but You only need one. The second is optional and so is the navigational controller. Play all move games with just the one, even the fight which you would think you would need two but you dont the six axis can be used as a viable substitute. The second controller just adds more precision. Also since the ps eye has been out alot longer than the move wand and alot of people already probably have the ps eye it makes sense that they would only take the controllers into account when figuring move sales, but im sure they take the bundle into consideration, but regardless of how many wand are in one household sales is sales and thats all that matters even if there is a technicality wrapped around it.

@McDuckScrooged

Kinect is units sold.

The 4 million moves in this article is shipped.

@This Little Man Says His Name Is

How do you know ? Has Microsoft actually explained what they mean by sold ? Sold can mean sold to retailers, which we take as being shipped its still sold just like this Sony American announcement claimed sold..

Has Microsoft actually ever clarified what they mean by sold ?

@McDuckScrooged Wow, pulling out the Bill Clinton defense! "Can you define what the defintion of 'is' is?"

@McDuckScrooged

Yep, just selling more controllers means much more profit. These things do not cost $50 to make.

And if you have houses with many move controllers, they are more likely to buy move games than a home with one. Devs can rest assured there are large install bases for Move and Kinect.

@Hoops Correct me if I am wrong both Sony and Microsoft have said Sold, but only Sony has been asked for clarification about what they mean by sold.. So if the sony definition of sold is sold to retailers, could the microsoft definition also be the same thing ? i.e shipped not sold ?

No one has asked Microsoft to clarify what they mean by sold.. They even count the number of 360s sold as the number of 360s actually shipped, so it stands to reason that their sold is actually sold to retail i.e Shipped.. Sony and Nintendo are the only 2 console manufacturers that count consoles sold to consumers as their actual sold figure while Microsoft counts the units shipped to retailers as sold and claims this as the sold figure.

So actually my point is very valid !

@McDuckScrooged Ok, since you asked so nicely, I will be happy to correct you.

Sony never said they sold 4.1 million units. The original Japanese press released said they shipped them. It was simply mistranslated to the American release. Microsoft said sold, which translated into english is still sold.

@Hoops Your explanation does not explain this:

"No one has asked Microsoft to clarify what they mean by sold.. They even count the number of 360s sold as the number of 360s actually shipped, so it stands to reason that their sold is actually sold to retail i.e Shipped.. Sony and Nintendo are the only 2 console manufacturers that count consoles sold to consumers as their actual sold figure while Microsoft counts the units shipped to retailers as sold and claims this as the sold figure.

So actually my point is very valid ! " - Me

Sold to retailer or sold to consumer ? Huge difference between the 2 .. Stop being such a dumb ass you dont know the answer so stop pulling answers from your backside, this has never been clarified ..

@McDuckScrooged No man, Sold means sold to consumers. If the systems just went to retailers they are shipped.

@Hoops

Is that true? If MS sells the units to retailers, they are sold, from MS's POV. already.

It's a valid question.

I recall the 360 totals were inflated in this manner, not that I mind because the shipped method was a valid reflection of the 360's NA success anyway.

I think MS and Sony are using the same metric, and Joystiq probably isn't making that clear enough.

@SpikeJX

Sports champions has several activities which have substantially reduced functionality if you don't have two. Then there's the fight.

And while nav controllers aren't needed, holding onto a dualshock one handed in incredibly impractical.

@McDuckScrooged

That's a great read. Thanks for the link!

@mahouneko

bitte schön ;)

Damn you and your impossible to determine install base!

Whatever shall fanboys cling to now as fodder in the great Motion Wars?

@hunkyChunky Why do you lie or otherwise pretend to be an authority when you are not?

Microsoft has repeatedly and explicitly confirmed Kinect numbers are sold to consumers, NOT shipped (sold to retailer) numbers.

http://twitter.com/#!/aarongreenberg

Seems as though....

*puts on sunglasses*

....they've moved a lot of these.

@acefondu

Nope, boo

@acefondu YYYYYYYEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

@acefondu

It seems that you are right in saying...

*puts on sunglasses*

....they have sold a lot of units.

Oh wait...did I do that right?

@Prboi

I think you should....

*puts on sunglasses*

...be moving along.

@SamE
http://people.rit.edu/~bss6378/instantCSI/

impressive

now if there were just some more games...

I'd say tracking the sales of the Eye Camera since the day the Move was released is going to be your best and most reliable way to accurately track Move Sales, and this is something Sony could easily do. Count only the sales of the Starter pack and Camera, you can't have use the Move without the Camera. But....but....then people might realize sales aren't as rosy as Sony wants them to be... Hell throw in all sales of the Camera, even before the Move released and that's probably still more accurate (and a lesser number) than what they're trying to shove down the throats of the gullable.

@Hoops

How are they trying to deceive anyone? They're just saying how Move controllers they have sold.

@Hoops

BTW, you may want to check out * number 1 at the bottom of the press release. You may find that interesting.

@Hoops

I know quite a few gamers who already had the camera for some reason or another and decided to get Move because it just made sense, so I wouldn't go by the cam, just stick with the controller, it doesnt matter if two controllers were bought, people were buying two + Wiis per household and "+ PS2s, but nobody said just count the number of TVs sold ¬_¬

That doesnt make sense, Move is like a game, it isnt the console, it doesnt need to be counted seperately, I think the only reason people want it to be counted seperately is to see how it is performig next to Kinect, which again doesnt matter because weather or not there are two Kinects in a household is no ones business, there fact is that two Kinects were sold, Kinect isnt the Xbox, it is the camera, Move isnt the PS3 of the PS Eye, it is the controller. Stop bitching people, Jeez.

@Hoops
Are you insecure that move might actually be a success? Better yet, are you insecure that it might be fun to play?

@Bewoulf Not at all. I have a PS3, but If I'm trying to make a determination of whether or not this thing has a future and is worth my $100, I would appreciate some honest numbers so I can make that determination. I don't want to go 'gee this thing is selling great, 4 million already? I'm in' and then buy it , only to see it not be supported next year because everybody who bought a Move had to buy 4 controllers (2 for them, 2 for one other player) so that 4 million install base is really 1 million. It's deceptive and should be beneath Sony. Just give us the real numbers.

@Spunky Monkey 190906 That's a dumb analogy. You didn't need to buy 2 Wiis or PS2s just to play co-op like you do with the Move. you don't need to buy 2 Wiis or PS2s just so some games will control at their best the way you do with the Move. I'm sure there were a few people who did buy more than one Wii or PS2 for their house, but they represent way less than 1% of the Wii's sales. Anyone who buys a Move is going to be interested in getting at least one more. Every single person. Either to make the game work well in single player or just to have friends or family be able to play coop with them. It's not even close to comparable, but a nice try?

And honestly, I'd be satisfied just to see the camera numbers, because you're right, there were some camera sales before the Move, but I don't believe those sales were that high (would be interested to see them) and surely some people who bought the camera early did buy the move (those people will apparently buy anything) I think the camera sales would be a much closer approximation of the true picture than what Sony is trying to fool you with.

@Hoops
It's hard for people to grasp, the Playstation Move isn't a console or an add-on like the Kinect. It's a CONTROLLER. Why don't we track wiimote sales? Or Dual Shock 3 sales?

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Sony: PlayStation Move reaches 4.1 million in worldwide sales [update]

Reader Comments (185)

Posted: Nov 30th 2010 11:35AM Hoops said

Posted: Nov 30th 2010 11:48AM zefur said

Posted: Nov 30th 2010 12:04PM Van Faulk said

Posted: Nov 30th 2010 12:14PM FINALBOSS said

Posted: Nov 30th 2010 12:24PM BananaBoat said

Posted: Nov 30th 2010 12:28PM Bewoulf said

Posted: Nov 30th 2010 12:47PM dylanspronck said

Posted: Nov 30th 2010 12:52PM PN04 said

Posted: Nov 30th 2010 12:56PM Dustin F said

Posted: Nov 30th 2010 1:39PM Bewoulf said

Posted: Nov 30th 2010 1:59PM Hoops said

Posted: Nov 30th 2010 2:09PM Johnnynumber5 is powered by cell said

Posted: Nov 30th 2010 2:15PM BananaBoat said

Posted: Nov 30th 2010 2:21PM Hoops said

Posted: Nov 30th 2010 3:04PM Johnnynumber5 is powered by cell said

Posted: Nov 30th 2010 3:09PM Johnnynumber5 is powered by cell said

Posted: Nov 30th 2010 3:15PM Dustin F said

Posted: Nov 30th 2010 4:15PM Hoops said

Posted: Nov 30th 2010 4:48PM McDuckScrooged said

Posted: Nov 30th 2010 6:17PM SpikeJX said

Posted: Nov 30th 2010 6:34PM This Little Man Says His Name Is said

Posted: Nov 30th 2010 8:32PM McDuckScrooged said

Posted: Nov 30th 2010 8:43PM Hoops said

Posted: Nov 30th 2010 8:52PM Dustin F said

Posted: Nov 30th 2010 9:43PM McDuckScrooged said

Posted: Nov 30th 2010 11:07PM Hoops said

Posted: Dec 1st 2010 1:18AM McDuckScrooged said

Posted: Dec 1st 2010 1:30AM Hoops said

Posted: Dec 1st 2010 11:55AM Dustin F said

Posted: Dec 1st 2010 2:59PM Van Faulk said

Posted: Dec 1st 2010 6:42PM mahouneko said

Posted: Dec 2nd 2010 6:40PM McDuckScrooged said

Posted: Nov 30th 2010 11:36AM Xcrucio said

Posted: Nov 30th 2010 9:27PM Asherian said

Posted: Nov 30th 2010 11:36AM acefondu said

Posted: Nov 30th 2010 11:47AM Prboi said

Posted: Nov 30th 2010 12:28PM Bananarama said

Posted: Nov 30th 2010 12:32PM Dismissile said

Posted: Nov 30th 2010 1:20PM SamE said

Posted: Nov 30th 2010 1:35PM InfinitiProject said

Posted: Nov 30th 2010 11:39AM finalstar2007 said

Posted: Nov 30th 2010 11:39AM Golds said

Posted: Nov 30th 2010 11:39AM Hoops said

Posted: Nov 30th 2010 12:08PM Vidikron said

Posted: Nov 30th 2010 12:16PM Vidikron said

Posted: Nov 30th 2010 12:32PM Spunky Monkey 190906 said

Posted: Nov 30th 2010 12:32PM Bewoulf said

Posted: Nov 30th 2010 1:39PM Hoops said

Posted: Nov 30th 2010 2:08PM Hoops said

Posted: Nov 30th 2010 3:00PM Bewoulf said

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