Thirty years ago, the PlayStation console kicked off a new gaming era with its launch in the US and Europe. To celebrate this milestone, Sony has announced that it’ll be exploring the history of the console with PlayStation: The First 30 Years. Scheduled to ship out in 2026, you can now preorder the book for $125.
$125 | Releases Spring 2026
Published by Read Only Memories–a British publisher specializing in producing books about the history of video games–PlayStation: The First 30 Years is a hardcover 400-page book designed to be a definitive visual chronicle of the console. The book is full of unseen images from Sony’s archive of research and development materials, including prototypes, concept sketches, and development models.
Alongside the images you’ll find commentary from key figures involved in the creation of the PlayStation, like Ken Kutaragi, Teiyu Goto, and Yujin Morisawa, and there are new images captured by NASA: Past and Present Dreams of the Future photographer Benedict Redgrove. Another nod to the past here is that the art direction for this book was led by Nicole Motby and Studio.Build, the graphic-design house responsible for creating the original cover art for Wipeout, Wipeout 2097, and Wipeout 3.
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PlayStation: The First 30 Years Deluxe Edition
The $325 Deluxe Edition of the book will be limited to 1,994 copies, and it comes with several extras like exposed binding, a clamshell presentation box, and exclusive prints. At the time of writing, 50 of these books have already been sold through Read Only Memories, so it looks like this will sell out very fast.
For now, it looks like this initial release might only be through Read Only Memories, but a wider release could come through another publisher. This wouldn’t be unusual, as Read Only Memory’s books like WipEout Futurism: The Graphic Archives, Like a Hurricane: An Unofficial Oral History of Street Fighter 2, 500 Years Later: An Oral History of Final Fantasy 7, and Videogame Atlas: Mapping Interactive Worlds have been published worldwide by Thames & Hudson and with different covers.
You can also pair this with The God of War: 20th Anniversary Retrospective Set, a two-volume hardcover book collection that celebrates the franchise. Priced at $81.54 (was $100), this bundle offers artwork, behind-the-scenes materials, and exclusive interviews with the people behind the franchise. The first volume covers the original God of War Trilogy and its spin-offs, while the second volume delves deep into the development of God of War 2018 and God of War: Ragnarok.
There’s a Deluxe Edition of this as well for $160 (was $200), and it upgrades the collection with a two-piece slipcase cover, unique artwork, and a bifold portfolio containing a pair of lithographs.
In case the books above don’t catch your fancy, Sony has also teamed up with Reebok to release a line of shoes that pay homage to the original PlayStation console. There’ll be three sets of sneakers to collect: InstaPump Fury 94 for Japan, Pump Omni Zone II for the US and the Workout Plus, for the United Kingdom, and they launch in October.
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