It’s been a busy weekend for those at Sony of America, what with the company’s latest games console going on sale this past Friday. Fortunately, the hard work has paid off: the company now reports that it sold one million consoles in the first 24 hours of availability. And that’s not even the whole weekend’s sales figures.

The latest PlayStation, which boasts a tweaked PC architecture, went on sale on the 15th of November – with a massive launch bash in New York kicking off the console’s launch. It also marks the first time a PlayStation console has launched in a foreign market before going on sale in Sony’s home market of Japan. Strong sales for the console come after a lukewarm reception for Sony’s previous generation effort, the PlayStation 3.

The previous PlayStation to sell 1-million units on launch day was the PlayStation 2, which went on sale in March of 2000. By contrast, the PS3 only sold around 81 000 units on launch day in Japan, and its North American launch was plagued by lack of stock. This time around, Sony’s returned to form – not only did it have enough PS4 stock on hand, it also saw positive responses from buyers. This can be put down to the console’s $399 (around R4 000) launch price, which is considered an aggressive price point for new hardware. Microsoft’s Xbox One, meanwhile, will retail for $499, which analysts and industry experts think could harm its sales.

Sony’s next stop for the PlayStation 4 launch is Europe, on Friday the 29th of November. South African gamers have to wait another two weeks – until Friday the 13th of December – to get their hands on a console.