The PlayStation 3 has been around for over a decade and for the most part, has been very successful. So much so that its discontinuation, even years after its predecessor took the stage, is still a bit solemn. Sony is ending production of the PlayStation 3 in Japan.
Sony had officially announced this on their Japanese website, which was translated by Gamatsu. The takeaway is this: "Shipments are scheduled to end soon.” However, this is just in Japan. Global production may not have an end in the near future, as places other than North America and Japan are slower to adapt to new gaming technology.
The PlayStation 3 started its life with a high barrier of entry in terms of price but was eventually lowered and with the introduction of high-quality exclusive titles like LittleBigPlanet, Uncharted 2, and The Last of Us, the PlayStation 3 soared in terms of success. It also had two iterations after the original "fat" PS3. The Slim was released in 2009, while the Super Slim (with a rocking 500GB storage) released in 2012. Eventually, they were replaced with the PlayStation 4 in 2013.
Overall, the PlayStation 3 sold around 84 million units. Since the release of the new consoles, however, Sony has stopped releasing sales numbers of last gen hardware.
