Key Takeaways
- Sony executives doubted the success of original PlayStation, despite it becoming a massive hit, as other companies had failed to release successful consoles of their own.
- Ken Kuturagi faced skepticism from industry veterans about releasing the PS1, including respresentatives within Sony.
- However, the console proved to be a huge success, with PlayStation brand dominance continuing today as the PS5 greatly outsells the Xbox Series X/S.
Former president of Sony Interactive Entertainment Ken Kuturagi has recently revealed that many people at Sony believed that the original PlayStation would fail. Considering how successful the PlayStation brand has become over the years, that’s a fairly surprising statement.
The PlayStation 1 was released in 1994 in Japan and 1995 in North America. The fifth generation console competed directly against the Nintendo 64 and the Sega Saturn, greatly outselling both platforms. The PlayStation sold over 102 million units, only being surpassed by the PS2, PS4, Game Boy, Nintendo Switch, and Nintendo DS. Its debut also marks the beginning of Sony’s dominance in the console market, held by Nintendo in the two previous generations. However, this widely successful project was not greatly believed even by Sony executives for a while.
Earlier this week, Ken Kuturagi was speaking at the Tokyo Game Show, when he talked about the main difficulties of entering the console market with the first PlayStation. Back in 1993, Kuturagi was leading the PS1 development team, and they wanted to “share their passion” for the project before the launch, talking to many people from multiple countries in the industry. However, SIE’s team was met with negativity, with many executives telling them not to release the console, as “multiple companies” did the same and were not successful. Kuturagi even revealed that “even within Sony nobody believed that we would be successful.”
Ken Kutaragi Claims Many People Didn’t Think the PlayStation Would be a Success
Even within Sony nobody believed that we would be successful.
Ironically, the PS1 was a huge hit, and not only did the PlayStation 1 have many exclusive games, but it also won the console war during two generations in a row. Kuturagi stayed at the company until 2007, overseeing the successful launch of the PS2, and leaving after the PS3 failed to gain the same popularity.
Even today, gamers still fondly remember some classic PS1 games, such as the original Final Fantasy 7, Metal Gear Solid, Castlevania: Symphony Of The Night, Gran Turismo, and others. The same can be said for the PlayStation 2, which eventually became the most-sold console of all time.
Three decades after the PS1’s launch, the PlayStation brand continues to be strong. The PS5 is estimated to be greatly outselling the Xbox Series X/S, with roughly 61.7 million units sold compared to the 28.3 million sales of Microsoft’s console. A world in which Ken Kuturagi and his team had given up on releasing the PS1 due to the opinions of executives would likely be a completely different gaming market than what exists today. Luckily for all the PlayStation fans, they didn’t.
PlayStation (Original)
The PlayStation, sometimes known as the PS1 or PS One was Sony’s first formal foray into the console wars with Nintendo. It belonged to the fifth-generation of video game consoles and locked horns with the Nintendo 64 and Sega Saturn.
- Brand
- Sony
- Original Release Date
- September 9, 1995
- Original MSRP (USD)
- $299, £299
- Weight
- 3.2 lbs
