Business-centered publication Fast Company listed PlayStation among its inaugural “Brands That Matter” list for 2021, a list that celebrated companies that have an “undeniable impact on business and culture.” The list is comprised of 95 companies whose impacts are felt “far beyond the products they sell,” including Ben & Jerry’s, Feeding America, IKEA, Hulu, and more.
Fast Company included PlayStation specifically—as opposed to the wider Sony brand—because of how it is “defined and redefined modern gaming” in ways that are even surpassing the film industry. The list also notes that the PS5 continues to break records and be in high demand in the face of supply constraints thanks to the pandemic and chip shortages. “Where to buy PS5” was also the most popular shopping-related search on Google in 2020, which is a monumental accomplishment in a consumer-focused society. Clearly, PlayStation has a broad impact on not just the worlds of gaming and entertainment, but global culture as well.
This is the full excerpt from Fast Company on why PlayStation is included in the list:
“From the beginning . . . we wanted to present our customers with a new form of entertainment.” Sony executive (and eventual CEO) Kaz Hirai shared this vision for the PlayStation gaming console with Fast Company in 1997. Ever since, PlayStation has defined and redefined modern gaming as an entertainment medium that surpasses movies in their breathtaking scope, technological wizardry, and financial success.
With its latest iteration, released in November 2020, PlayStation 5 continued to push further, with its attention-demanding industrial design and its DualSense controller that lets users feel every in-game action. Sales exceeded 10 million units worldwide by July, faster than its predecessors, despite constrained supply. In as sure a sign of the kind of lust PlayStation generated, Google searches for “where to buy PS5” was 2020’s most popular shopping-related query—even beating out “where to buy toilet paper.”
PlayStation isn’t the only gaming brand that made the Brands That Matter list. Xbox also found its way onto the list, with Fast Company citing Xbox Series X|S as the company’s fastest-selling consoles ever, as well as calling the platform the “most pop-culture drenched console ever created.” Curiously, the snippet makes no mention of Game Pass, which is creating an enormous shift in how players access and consume games via the platform. Nintendo, however, was not included on the list.
You can view all 95 of Fast Company’s Brands That Matter on their site. Clicking on each one will let you read the snippet about why they were included, which range from meaningful work each is doing beyond their own space to just having “global ubiquity” and wider cultural impact as a brand.
