Sony Computer Entertainment this week announced that the cumulative sales of the PlayStation 3 reached a milestone of 30 million units Europe and the PAL territories as of December 17, 2012 – less than six years after the platform launched in 2006.
The PS3 system has delivered high quality, award-winning entertainment experiences since its launch. Throughout its lifecycle, the PS3 system has continued to evolve with more streamlined design, larger Hard Disk Drive (HDD) capacity, and new features through software updates. In September 2012, SCE launched the new PS3 system, which has a reduced volume and weight of more than 50 percent compared to the original PS3 model, and of 25 percent and 20 percent respectively compared to the slim PS3 model launched in 2009. The new PS3 has been well received by consumers around the world.
Along with the introduction of PS3 in November 2006, SCE launched PlayStation Network, which now operates in 59 countries and regionsaround the world. PlayStation Network supports free community-centric online gameplay, exclusive games from independent developers and major publishers, and a broad range of entertainment applications across movies, music, and sports. PS3 owners can access 170,000 downloadable digital content including 57,000 game content worldwide from PlayStation Network. In October 2012, SCE redesigned PlayStation Store for PS3, offering a more streamlined and accessible store experience, including a stunning new user interface, simple search, and powerful content discovery. The new store is now available in Europe and North and Latin America with more countries and regions to follow.
PlayStation Plus, the subscription service package on PlayStation Store that offers exclusive benefits such as discounts on games or online storage for game saves, started to offer an “Instant Game Collection” in North America and Europe in July 2012. The Instant Game Collection enables PS Plus members to enjoy popular titles from third party developers and publishers as well as SCE Worldwide Studios at no extra cost. SCE has also enhanced the content offering for PS Plus members in Japan in November.
