Sony created the PlayStation console brand, first launched in Japan in 1994.
The original PlayStation was released in Japan on December 3, 1994. It was developed by Sony Computer Entertainment and used compact discs rather than the cartridges used by several competing systems of the era. The console later launched in North America and Europe in 1995 and became one of the defining products of the fifth generation of video-game hardware.
Sony began as Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo in 1946 and adopted the Sony name in 1958. Over time, it developed major businesses in electronics, entertainment, financial services, music, film, image sensors, and gaming. Sony Interactive Entertainment now manages the PlayStation business.
The PlayStation is often confused with Nintendo’s competing console family or Microsoft’s Xbox. Those brands belong to separate companies. Sony’s broader corporate identity also differs from Sony Music and Sony Pictures, which are related businesses within the Sony Group.