(Image source: IMAGO / Panoramic by PsnewZ / Image processing GIGA)Three decades of PlayStation that's quite a long time.
Since the European launch of the first PlayStation on September 29, 1995, Sony has released a total of five home consoles.
The PS5 has now sold over 93 million times, and the PS5 Pro has even had an upgraded version since November 2024.
But what did the range of games actually look like at each launch?To find out, let's look at the release games of all PlayStation generations and compare them with each other.
To simplify matters, we only refer to the respective line-up in Europe, as there were some significant differences worldwide.PlayStation: The start of an eraThe PlayStation started on September 29, 1995.
The gray console was launched in Europe with just 8 games - significantly fewer than in the USA or Japan.
The line-up at a glance:Air Combat Jumping Flash! Kileak: The Blood Lemmings 3D Novastorm Rapid Reload Ridge Racer WipEoutThe selection was manageable, but quite varied.
Particularly Racing game fans got their money's worth with Ridge Racer and WipEout.
This was perfectly fine in 1995 - the gaming industry was a completely different world back then.PlayStation 2: The launch king with 17 gamesThe PlayStation 2 launched in Europe in November 2000 - and immediately had an impressive line-up.
A whopping 17 games were available on the first day:Aqua Aqua - Wetrix 2 ESPN Winter X Games Snowboarding F1 Racing Championship Fantavision FIFA 2001 Gradius III & IV International Superstar Soccer Orphen: Scion of Sorcery Ready 2 Rumble Boxing Round 2 Ridge Racer V Silent Scope Smuggler's Run SSX Snowboarding Summoner Tekken Tag Tournament TimeSplitters Wild Wild RacingAt launch, the PS2 not only offered mass, but also genre diversity: everything from racing games to brawlers to RPGs was there.
Titles like Tekken Tag Tournament and SSX are still remembered today.
And the exclusive quota? Really strong with 8 out of 17 games a relationship that will probably never happen again.Fun fact on the side: Some PS2 games are now real collector's items.
Some titles are now trading for four-figure sums - so it's worth taking a look at the old shelves.PlayStation 3: Lots of mass, but also class?The PlayStation 3 took until March 2007 to arrive in Europe - significantly later than in the USA and Japan.
The advantage: There were 24 games at the European start:Blazing Angels: Squadrons of WWII Call of Duty 3 The Godfather Def Jam: Icon Enchanted Arms Fight Night Round 3 Formula One Championship Edition Full Auto 2: Battlelines Genji: Days of the Blade Marvel: Ultimate Alliance Mobile Suit Gundam: Target In Sight MotorStorm NBA Street: Home Court Need For Speed: Carbon NHL 2K7 Resistance: Fall of Man Ridge Racer 7 Sonic The Hedgehog Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07 Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Double Agent Tony Hawk's Project 8 Virtua Fighter 5 Virtua Tennis 3 World Snooker Championship 2007Quantitatively a real board but qualitatively? Many of these titles quickly disappeared into obscurity.
What is striking is the high proportion playing sports.
Real highlights like Resistance: Fall of Man or MotorStorm had to share the attention with a lot of mediocrity.By the way: If you still have PS3 games in your closet, you shouldn't sort them out too quickly.
Some titles are now worth a small fortune - one copy even changed hands for $18,500.PlayStation 4: Broad line-up, few exclusivesThe PlayStation 4 launched in November 2013 - and founded one of the most successful console generations ever.
At launch there were again 24 games:Angry Birds Star Wars Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag Battlefield 4 Call of Duty: Ghosts Contrast Escape plan FIFA 14 Flow Flower Injustice: Gods Among Us Ultimate Edition Just Dance 2014 Killzone Shadow Fall Crack Lego Marvel Super Heroes Madden NFL 25 NBA 2K14 NBA Live 14 Need for Speed: Rivals Resogun Skylanders: Swap Force Sound Shapes Great motherload Trine 2: Complete Story Putty squadThe number is correct, but a closer look shows: 19 of the 24 games were cross-gen titleswhich also ran on the PS3.
Real PS4 exclusives? Just 5.
If you wanted a real next-gen moment back then, you had to make do with Killzone Shadow Fall and the surprisingly good Resogun.PlayStation 5: Fewer games, but real hitsOn November 19, 2020 the time had come: the PlayStation 5 was released in Europe.
With 9 dedicated PS5 titles, the line-up was significantly slimmer than its predecessors:Assassin's Creed: Valhalla Astro's Playroom (preinstalled) Demon's Souls (Remake) Destiny 2: Beyond Light Destruction All Stars Devil May Cry 5: Special Edition Godfall Sackboy: A Big Adventure Spider-Man: Miles MoralesSure, there were also a lot of cross-gen titles and PS4 games that ran on the PS5 thanks to backwards compatibility.
But as a pure launch line-up? Pretty manageable.
The quality was right: Demon's Souls and Spider-Man: Miles Morales are among the strongest launch titles in PlayStation history.And the PS5 Pro (November 2024)? It came without its own launch line-up - instead there were over 50 "Enhanced" upgrades for existing titles.
It was no longer a launch in the classic sense.Conclusion: The PS2 got off to the best startThe numbers at a glance:consoleRelease gamesExclusive titleCross-GenPlayStation840PlayStation 21785PlayStation 324710PlayStation 424519PlayStation 5935The trend is clear: while the Total number of launch games rose from generation to generation, the went Share of exclusive titles further and further back - until the PS5 even fell behind the PS1 with only 9 games.
At the same time, the boundaries are blurring: what is a real launch game, what is a remaster, what is a cross-gen port?Our conclusion after 30 years of PlayStation: The PlayStation 2 had the best start.
The mix of Scope, quality and exclusivity has never been so balanced in any other generation.
The PS5 scores with individual highlights, but cannot keep up in terms of width.And the PS6? Sony hasn't set the price or release date yet - memory chip shortages make planning difficult.
The industry is not expecting a release until 2028 at the earliest.
It remains to be seen whether Sony will put together a strong launch line-up again.
History shows: It wouldn't be the first time that a PlayStation launched with a limited range of games - and still became a success.