Sony ends production of PS3 in Japan

After more than ten years on shop shelves, Sony has finally ceased production of the PlayStation 3, according to the official Japanese PlayStation website.

As translated by Gematsu, shipments for the standard 500GB model have now officially ‘ended’. Sony previously hinted at the end of its production run back in March, when it said ‘shipments are scheduled to end soon’, but at the time didn’t reveal an exact date.

There were three iterations of the console in total, including the Slim and SuperSlim designs that released in 2009 and 2012 respectively. However, this particular SKU of the PS3 was the last remaining model in production in Japan. Other territories, such as New Zealand, ceased production of the PS3 back in 2015, but now that it’s stopped being produced in Japan, it’s only a matter of time before all remaining territories follow suit.

Ten years is still a pretty good innings for an aging console, especially for one as troubled as the PS3. In terms of overall longevity, however, the PS2 still reigns supreme, lasting 13 years before Sony finally put an end to its production back in 2013.

To date, the PS3 has sold over 80m units worldwide, putting it just below the Xbox 360 at 84m, but once again it pales compared to its predecessors. The PS2, for instance, is still the most popular home console to date with sales of over 150m units, while the original PlayStation sold over 100m.

UK retailers have seen the writing on the wall for a while now, however, with GAME’s CEO Martyn Gibbs telling us back in October that both the PS3 and Xbox 360 "will be pretty well played through by January" of this year and that the number of sales after that "will be so low" that it won’t have any more impact on the retailer’s financials.