PS5’s DualSense controller is on course to break Sony’s own Instagram likes record

PS5’s DualSense controller is on course to break Sony’s own Instagram record.

Less than 24 hours after it was posted, the game pad has amassed more than four million likes on the social media platform.

Currently the record for the most popular image post ever from a games company is Sony’s own PlayStation 5 logo reveal from January, which has received 5.36 million likes to date, most of which were generated within 48 hours.

The DualSense’s four million figure easily puts the controller in second place, ahead of the Fortnite Avengers Endgame crossover announcement from April 2019 (2.7 million likes).

https://www.instagram.com/p/B-sUIV6h9WW/?utm_source=ig_embed

With almost 24 million followers, the PlayStation Instagram account is within the top 200 most popular profiles on the platform. It has more than double the followers of Xbox (10.3 million) and almost four times the followers of Nintendo (six million).

The latest impressive social stats demonstrate the huge demand for PlayStation 5 news among game fans, as Sony Interactive Entertainment continues to drip-feed information on its next-gen plans.

Sony has adopted a cautious approach for its PS5 marketing plans in the first half of 2020, partially to avoid distracting from key PS4 exclusives Final Fantasy VII Remake, The Last of Us Part 2 and Ghost of Tsushima.

However, the situation has recently been complicated by disruption caused by the coronavirus pandemic, with at least one of the above titles delayed indefinitely.

In comparison, Microsoft has delivered four months of news and media on its Xbox Series X plans, as it attempts to wrestle back market share from its console rival.

Tuesday’s PS5 controller reveal is arguably the console’s most significant yet. DualSense is said to be “a radical departure” from Sony’s previous controller offerings, with PlayStation boss Jim Ryan claiming it “captures just how strongly we feel about making a generational leap with PS5.”

Sony’s Hideaki Nishino said the firm decided to keep “much of what gamers love” about PS4’s DualShock 4 intact, while also adding new functionality and refining the controller’s design.

As previously revealed, the PS5 controller’s flagship feature is haptic feedback, which Sony claims adds a variety of powerful sensations players will feel when they play, such as the grittiness of driving a car through mud.

The successful announcement comes weeks after a much-criticised hardware specs reveal, which was teased using PlayStation’s general social accounts but featured highly-technical content clearly designed for professionals.

At the time of publishing, a third of viewers – or over 100,000 people – who engaged with the PlayStation 5 tech reveal video on YouTube logged a dislike.

Sony revealed the official PlayStation 5 hardware specifications in March and confirmed new features related to expandable storage and 3D audio.