Sony shipped over 70 million PS4 consoles in 2017

Playstation 4 sales beat the competition into the dust

Despite not releasing any new hardware this year, 2017 has proven to be a big year for Sony's gaming operation.

As of December 6th 2017, the Japanese electronics firm has shipped more than 70.6 million PS4 consoles to customers right around the world.

The company also revealed a range of other impressive milestones for its gaming business, covering PlayStation 4, PlayStation VR and various games.

In terms of games, it's sold more than 617.8 million copies at retail stores globally and through digital copies bought from the PlayStation Store.

Following the success of the PS4, customers have also been flocking to the PS VR. According to the firm, it's shipped 2 million units to date.

As well as this, companies have created 150 titles for the virtual reality entertainment system. It's seen 12.2 million copies of them sold globally, too.

While Sony hasn't announced any plans for new gaming hardware, it confirmed that it's planning to expand its range of PS4 games. It'll be adding God of War, Detroit: Become Human and Marvel's Spider-Man to its store soon.

Sony said that 130 highly anticipated entertainment content and games are planned for PlayStation VR. They'll launch by the end of 2018.

Andrew House, chairman of Sony Interactive Entertainment, said: "We are delighted that so many people are enjoying the unique entertainment proposition of PlayStation 4, and that an emerging technology like PlayStation VR continues to gain traction.

"I cannot thank our fans and partners enough. Their support, since the launch of the very first PlayStation in 1994, has helped to make PlayStation one of the biggest console gaming networks in the world.

"We will continue to work closely with partners to maintain this momentum, and remain steadfast in making PS4 the best place to play."

Of course, Sony isn't the only gaming giant that's seen impressive sales figures in 2017. Microsoft has also had an impressive year of growth.

According to statistics from VGChartz, Microsoft has sold more than 30 million Xbox One units as of October 2017. And it's also sold nearly 200 million games for the console.

Many feared that Nintendo was beginning to lose its way, but the Switch has redeemed the company's fate. It, too, has had a stellar year.

A report by Forbes claims that the company has shipped 7.63 million Switch consoles around the globe. That's pretty impressive considering it was only released in March.