PS5 is the fastest-selling console in US history according to The NPD Group

PS5
(Image credit: Sony PlayStation)

PS5 is officially the fastest-selling console in US history, according to industry analyst The NPD Group.

The NPD Group's latest report compiled from retail data across the industry says that PS5 is the fastest-selling both in terms of unit and dollar sales - meaning it has sold the most consoles and made the most money doing it - in any console's first five months on the US market. Video game hardware sales totaled $680 million in March, finally breaking the record of $552 million set back in March 2008 (when the Wii's breakthrough sales success was still at its peak).

Speaking of successful Nintendo consoles, Switch was the best-selling hardware platform for both units and dollars in the month of March; looking at the first quarter of 2021, Switch sold the most units while PS5 made the most dollar sales. 

Both consoles and, PS5 in particular, have had constrained supply recently, which makes you wonder what these sales figures would look like if everybody who wanted to find PS5 stock or grab a cheap Nintendo Switch bundle could just do that without spending weeks hammering F5 on a store page.

It's hard to believe PS5 has been on the market for five months already, but it's true. The system got its first major PS5 update this week, enabling the ability to back up PS5 games on external storage drives and use One-Touch Play, which automatically turns on your TV along with your PS5 with supported displays.

See what we're having the most fun with on Sony's new console so far with our guide to the best PS5 games. 

Connor Sheridan

I got a BA in journalism from Central Michigan University - though the best education I received there was from CM Life, its student-run newspaper. Long before that, I started pursuing my degree in video games by bugging my older brother to let me play Zelda on the Super Nintendo. I've previously been a news intern for GameSpot, a news writer for CVG, and now I'm a staff writer here at GamesRadar.

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