The ten highest-selling home and handheld game consoles ever, ranked by lifetime worldwide hardware units per the manufacturers' own official figures.
Quick answer: 1. Sony PlayStation 2, 2. Nintendo Switch, 3. Nintendo DS, 4. Game Boy / Game Boy Color, 5. Sony PlayStation 4, 6. Sony PlayStation, 7. Nintendo Wii, 8. Microsoft Xbox 360, 9. Nintendo Game Boy Advance, 10. Nintendo 3DS.
Console sales are one of gaming's most argued-about numbers, so this list sticks to what Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft have actually reported. Each entry is ranked strictly by lifetime hardware units sold or shipped worldwide across the console's entire production run, counting every variant in a family together the way the manufacturer counts them. It's a useful reality check for anyone comparing generations: Sony's PlayStation 2 still sits on top decades later, Nintendo's Switch has climbed to second while still on the market, and handhelds like the Nintendo DS and Game Boy line prove they outsold most of the living-room hardware they shared shelves with.
The best-selling console ever made, and by a comfortable margin. Sony officially confirmed the 160 million lifetime figure in late 2024 via its PlayStation 30th Anniversary timeline, up from the ~155 million that had stood as the official number since 2012.
The best-selling console currently on the market and Nintendo's best-selling system of all time. The figure is cumulative across all Switch models (original, OLED, Lite) per Nintendo's life-to-date IR data as of March 31, 2026.
The best-selling handheld of all time and Nintendo's best-selling dedicated system before the Switch overtook it. The total combines all DS family models per Nintendo's life-to-date IR data.
Nintendo reports the original Game Boy and Game Boy Color together as a single line, and their combined lifetime total still ranks among the best-selling systems ever despite launching back in 1989.
Sony reported 117.2 million lifetime units as of March 2022 and announced it would stop counting further PS4 sales, making this effectively the final official figure.
Sony's debut console and the first system ever to cross 100 million units, per Sony Interactive Entertainment's official business-data figures.
Nintendo's motion-control breakout and its best-selling home console until the Switch, per Nintendo's life-to-date IR data.
Microsoft's best-selling console. The 85.8 million figure is the last total Microsoft publicly reported before it stopped officially updating Xbox hardware sales, so it stands as the standard cited lifetime number.
Nintendo's early-2000s successor to the Game Boy line, per Nintendo's life-to-date IR data.
Nintendo's stereoscopic-3D handheld, with the total combining all 3DS family models per Nintendo's life-to-date IR data.
| # | Name | manufacturer | type | release_year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sony PlayStation 2 | Sony | Home console | 2000 |
| 2 | Nintendo Switch | Nintendo | Hybrid console | 2017 |
| 3 | Nintendo DS | Nintendo | Handheld | 2004 |
| 4 | Game Boy / Game Boy Color | Nintendo | Handheld | 1989 |
| 5 | Sony PlayStation 4 | Sony | Home console | 2013 |
| 6 | Sony PlayStation | Sony | Home console | 1994 |
| 7 | Nintendo Wii | Nintendo | Home console | 2006 |
| 8 | Microsoft Xbox 360 | Microsoft | Home console | 2005 |
| 9 | Nintendo Game Boy Advance | Nintendo | Handheld | 2001 |
| 10 | Nintendo 3DS | Nintendo | Handheld | 2011 |
Consoles are ranked in descending order by lifetime worldwide hardware units sold/shipped over the entire production run, using each manufacturer's most recent official disclosure. Inclusion criteria: dedicated video game consoles (both home and handheld) from Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft. Each console family's variants are counted together exactly as the maker reports them — all Nintendo Switch models (original, OLED, Lite) as one line, the original Game Boy and Game Boy Color as Nintendo's combined single line, and all DS and 3DS family models as one line each. Figures are life-to-date totals: Nintendo IR "Dedicated Video Game Sales Units" data (life-to-date, as of March 31, 2026), Sony Interactive Entertainment business-data figures, and manufacturers' public statements. Where a maker has stopped updating a figure (e.g., PS4, Xbox 360), the last officially reported total is used and noted as such. The order is fully reproducible from these disclosed numbers.
The Sony PlayStation 2, at 160 million lifetime units sold worldwide. Sony officially confirmed the 160 million figure in late 2024 via its PlayStation 30th Anniversary timeline, extending the ~155 million that had been the official number since 2012.
Not yet. As of Nintendo's life-to-date data through March 31, 2026, the Switch has sold 155.92 million units across all models, placing it second, about 4 million units behind the PlayStation 2's 160 million.
The Nintendo DS, at 154.02 million lifetime units (all DS family models combined), making it the best-selling handheld of all time and the third best-selling console overall.
This ranking is by lifetime units over a console's full production run. Current-generation systems like the PS5 and Xbox Series haven't yet accumulated enough lifetime sales to displace these top ten, and some makers (including Microsoft) no longer publish official hardware unit totals.