I'm more surprised how much PC gamers are paying for microtransactions tbh.

If by years, you mean since the PS4 was released then yes.

But if you look at the PS3 era until 2012, the PSN cards don't even show in the top 40. While the XBoxLive cards were mostly present in the top 10.

I know people like to say that selling more than 16million per year is the obvious reason. But how do you get to 50 million in only 3 years is the real question.

For example, the PS3 actually sold more than the 360 and yet nobody was buying PSN cards (figuratively)

How do you go from not even charting in the top 40, to the very top in less than a year?

I like to think that their success came due to  a combination of factors:

1) Sony getting the hardware right. This was a given. Sony is all about hardware and their engineers were going to do an amazing job, regarless of the outcome.

2) Sony getting the software right. This is where it gets interesting. They were humble enough to realize that they couldn't go with a foreign or proprietary architecture. And also accepted that the PSN needed to be revamped almost from the ground, so they did.

3) Sony getting the pricing right. Not only for the platform, but have you notified how cheaper are the Digital games and specially the sales compared to the previous generation on the PSN? They listened and noticed that games even when in digital get devaluated with time.

I believe that the PS4 will be sharing the market in equal terms with XBox if they only focused on the first aspect, and as far as I remember, that was the reason of the OP: Giving Sony credit for improving their weak areas in order to produce one of the mot balanced consoles (Hardware = Software = Price) that I have ever owned.

The Amazon links are there only as an example of how fast and drastically things can change with the correct attitude.

So Ps4 sold 53,5 milion consoles worldwide.

You have no idea! And games like League of Legends and maple story are both free 2 play.......... Its ssying something. 

Huh i laughed when that Ceo Of Crytek said F2p is our innevitable future i was just laughing at him,heh looks like the joke is on me.

Digital is getting bigger and bigger, makes sense the market leader sells a ton of digital cards. Also you're comparing it to PS3, the PS3 didn't require a subscription for online play.

Microsoft's actions in regards to the XB1/PC scenario  is irrelavent. True, its was a good idea to expand to more gamers, but it was executed extremely poorly. They never really gained sales from those who but it on either platform, because if you get it on X1 you get it on PC. Also from what I gather based on the people who used it, Windows 10 gaming is Windows Live gaming 2.0. XB1 games on the system (except Gears I think?). I also believe there was a Battlefield debacle or maybe CoD, I don't recall. Plus I think mods were locked out of PC games. Point is it was a 10/10 idea, but 4/10 execution. PC gamers would not flock to this

Also this. It doesn't make sense to me to intentionally remove a platform from comparison then subsequently dub PS4 based on...

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Wait OP, I tend not to go to Amazon for sales comparisons, so I may be looking at the wrong thing, but please don't tell me you are using a subscription service and physical games/hardware as a reference for digital sales.