PlayStation’s Greatest Years: A 30-Year Retrospective

Sony’s iconic PlayStation brand has been a huge part of the video game industry for over thirty years, as it has been directly responsible for five home consoles, two handhelds, and multiple exclusive video games that have been appreciated and enjoyed by gamers all around the world.

Naturally, with such a long lifespan, it’s only inevitable that the brand’s performance has been much better in some years than in others. From 1994 to 2024, the following eight years have been the absolute best in PlayStation’s entire history, based on their systems, their exclusive games, their overall sales, the changes in the brand’s public perception, and the comparisons with its main competition, Microsoft’s Xbox.

1994

The Start Of A Global Gaming Empire

In December 1994, Sony released its very first video game home console, simply named PlayStation, thus marking the beginning of its long, influential, and profitable career in the gaming industry. While the PS1 wouldn’t come out in North America until a few months later, its Japanese launch is enough to cement 1994 as one of the brand’s best and most important years.

It’s important to keep in mind that the PlayStation was originally going to be an add-on made in partnership with Nintendo, but after that deal fell off, Sony released it as a separate console on its own. Considering that this was a 32-bit system capable of running 3D graphics (which was very revolutionary for the time), this means that Sony was able to overshadow its former associate and gain a new rival at the same time. On top of that, its launch lineup was nothing to scoff at, with solid 2D and 3D games that showed off the console’s capabilities, like Parodius and Ridge Racer.

1998

The Absolute Best Year For The Original PlayStation

The console war was getting quite heated during the mid-90s, as Nintendo finally released its first console capable of running 3D games, the Nintendo 64, which became the main competitor to Sony’s brand-new PlayStation console. And the competition got even more intense in 1998, when both companies published some of the best games of the fifth generation on their respective systems.

While N64 classics like Banjo-Kazooie, Mario Party or The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time came out in 1998, the PS1 was somehow doing even better, as users got to enjoy excellent titles that would become legendary classics that changed the industry forever, like MediEvil, Crash Bandicoot: Warped, Spyro the Dragon, Gex: Enter the Gecko, Resident Evil 2 and the one and only Metal Gear Solid. At the end of the day, the only undeniable winners of the console wars in 1998 were gamers themselves, especially those who owned both a PS1 and an N64.

2000

The PlayStation 2’s Launch Changed The Entire Industry Forever

The sixth generation of video game home consoles began in the year 2000, with the long-awaited release of Sony’s PlayStation 2. The graphical capabilities of this system were incredible for the time, and it made it clear that developers were finally starting to master 3D graphics in order to create detailed characters and beautiful worlds.

With a solid lineup of launch titles (like Tekken Tag Tournament, TimeSplitters and Dynasty Warriors 2), the PS2 got a very positive reception and sold a lot of units from the get-go, not to mention that its release is often considered to have been the final nail in the coffin for the Sega Dreamcast, which was discontinued the following year. This all means that, in 2000, Sony not only released an incredible console that kick-started an entire generation, but it also indirectly killed one of its main competitors.

2005

One Of The Best Years In Gaming History, And PlayStation Was Not An Exception

Based on all its high-quality software releases, 2005 is often considered one of the best years for the entire gaming industry, and the PlayStation brand benefited from this output as well. As a result, the PlayStation 2 became the #1 system to enjoy both excellent exclusives and excellent third-party releases.

After all, multiple companies released some of the best and most revolutionary games of the generation on the PS2 in 2005, like Sly 3, Devil May Cry 3, Kingdom Hearts 2, Shadow of the Colossus, and God of War, among many others. Additionally, Sony finally released its first handheld device, the PlayStation Portable, outside of Japan in March, and it immediately impressed worldwide audiences with its high-quality games and console-level graphic fidelity.

2008

The Year The PlayStation 3 Began Picking Up Steam

After the huge success and cultural impact of the PlayStation 2, making a worthy follow-up was going to be a challenging task, and unfortunately, the PlayStation 3 did not live up to the hype during its first years. Most people didn’t enjoy its software, its hardware, or its price, and it only sold relatively well because it was a solid option for consumers who wanted a cheap Blu-ray player.

But, after a lackluster start, the PS3 finally picked up steam in 2008, mainly because of all the excellent exclusives that were released during that year, like LittleBigPlanet, Resistance 2, Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, and Devil May Cry 4. Furthermore, many other third-party games that could be perfectly enjoyed on the PS3 came out in 2008, like Grand Theft Auto 4, Dead Space, Bioshock, and many more. It’s also important to point out that more and more reports of the Xbox 360’s infamous “ring of death” began surfacing during 2008, which indirectly made a lot of consumers favor the PS3 over its main competitor.

2013

The Start Of The Eighth Generation Went Great For Sony, But Xbox Was Not Doing Very Well

The end of a console generation and the beginning of the next one is always a crucial moment for hardware manufacturers, so all eyes were on both Sony and Microsoft in 2013, and fortunately, the PlayStation brand did extremely well in this regard. For starters, The Last of Us came out in June, an excellent PS3 title that is now considered one of the best video games ever made. On top of that, other solid exclusives – like God of War: Ascension and Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time – were also released this year, meaning that PS3 users still had a lot of stuff to play during the console’s final months.

But, of course, the highlight of this year was the release of Sony’s next console, the PlayStation 4, in November 2013. With its impressive graphical capabilities and solid launch line-up, this system did very well by itself, but its reputation was greatly enhanced by the poor performance of its competition. It turns out 2013 was quite a disappointing year for Xbox and its new console, the Xbox One, with Microsoft repeatedly having to go back on its word with regard to many of its questionable decisions, like its always-online requirement, its mandatory Kinect integration, or the inability to share physical games. While the company eventually got rid of all these issues, by the time the Xbox One came out, the damage had already been done, and Sony cleverly took advantage of the situation to strengthen PS4 sales during launch.

2018

Cemented The PS4 As The Undisputed Winner Of That Generation’s Console War

While the PlayStation 4 was doing alright during its first years, it still lacked a few solid system-sellers that would help it become a mainstay of the eighth generation. Needless to say, multiple solid exclusive titles were released from 2013 to 2017, but 2018 was the absolute best year in the console’s lifespan, and it quickly cemented the PS4 as the winner of the console war against Xbox One.

Some of the best PS4 exclusive titles came out during that year, like Marvel’s Spider-Man, Shadow of the Colossus, Dreams, and the God of War reboot, which would eventually win the Game of the Year in that year’s edition of the Game Awards. On top of that, many high-quality third-party video games (like Red Dead Redemption 2, Dragon Ball FighterZ, and Monster Hunter: World) were available on Sony’s system, which was the console of choice for most gamers at the time. Sony’s positive performance in 2018 finally made it evident that the PlayStation 4 was a console worth owning for any seasoned gamer who wanted to enjoy great games of all types of genres.

2024

When Astro Bot Saved The 30th Anniversary

2024 was supposed to be a huge year for PlayStation, since it marked the brand’s 30th anniversary. However, there was a big misstep in the way that almost ruined the entire year: the release and failure of Concord, Sony’s disappointing attempt at a live-service multiplayer FPS. Fortunately for the company, however, another game that released less than a month later would end up saving 2024 for PlayStation.

Astro Bot is a very fun, accessible, and enjoyable 3D platformer that’s filled to the brim with references to other PlayStation IPs, and it was such a huge critical and commercial success that it even won Game of the Year in the Game Awards 2024. Astro Bot was not only the perfect 30th Anniversary event for PlayStation fans, but it also reminded Sony that it should try to go back to its roots instead of trying to pursue more controversial projects, like live-service games. On top of that, the PlayStation 5 Pro came out in November 2024 and, despite some minor controversies, this re-edition sold relatively well during its initial months.