The PlayStation 4 is the most popular game console in the world

Sony's just passed 40 million PlayStation 4 consoles sold since launch in November 2013.

Sony

That's just 25 months, in case you're wondering.

That makes PlayStation 4 the top-selling game console in the world at the moment, over Microsoft's Xbox One (~21 million) and Nintendo's Wii U (~13 million).

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About one-tenth of those owners are new owners, as of the past few months: Sony sold just over 4 million PlayStation 4 consoles between early January 2016 and May 22, 2016. That puts sales in the neighborhood of 1 million sold every month, which keeps it locked in as the fastest-selling PlayStation game console of all time.

This isn't a new position for Sony's PlayStation 4 - the console has been on top (in terms of sales) since it launched, more or less. There's been the occasional blip, with Xbox One outselling PlayStation 4 here and there, but the PS4 has largely dominated sales (and the attention of millions) since it first launched in November 2013.

How far ahead is Sony compared to the competition? Pretty far, at this point.

We know that Nintendo's console, the Wii U, is selling terribly. Compared to Sony's 40 million PlayStation 4 consoles, Nintendo had sold just under 13 million when it last reported numbers back in March 2016. Worse? The Wii U has been available for a full year longer than the PlayStation 4.

Microsoft

"Halo 5: Guardians" star Master Chief shakes hands with a fan.

As far as Microsoft goes, the company stopped reporting worldwide sales numbers for the Xbox One many months ago. Instead, Microsoft trumpets its usage numbers - how many hours people spend playing Xbox One games, for example. The closest we have to numbers is an approximation based on something that game publisher EA said during an investor call, which put the Xbox One in the neighborhood of 20 million sold (this was back in late January 2016, so we'd expect another one to three million sold since that was reported).

With Sony's PlayStation VR headset launching this fall, and great-looking, highly-anticipated games like "The Last Guardian" launching on the PlayStation 4 this year, it's unlikely that Sony will lose its pole position anytime soon.