TheGamingEconomy’s Daily Digest brings you the trending stories in gaming. In today’s news: PlayStation 4 has sold 100 million units worldwide; GitHub access restricted in Iran, Syria and Crimea; and Qualcomm and Tencent announce partnership.

PlayStation 4 has sold 100 million units worldwide

Sony’s PlayStation 4 has sold 100 million units worldwide since its launch in November 2013, reportedly making it the fastest home console to reach this milestone, surpassing the PlayStation 2 and the Nintendo Wii. 3.2 million PS4 units were shifted in the first quarter of the 2019 financial year according to Sony’s consolidated financial results, up from 2.6 million in Q4 FY2018.

Also noteworthy was the fact that the PlayStation 4 full game software download ratio was 53%, making it the first quarter in which software downloads surpassed physical copy purchases. Sony has lowered its predicted sales figures for the full financial year, from 16 million units to 15 million, with the slowdown suggested to be due to the upcoming release of the next-gen PlayStation console.

GitHub access restricted in Iran, Syria and Crimea

GitHub users in Iran, Syria, Crimea, Cuba and North Korea have had their access to certain capabilities restricted, due to recent sanctions imposed by the United States against these nations. Users in these countries can no longer access private repositories, and have restrictions against their paid accounts. However affected customers will still have access to public repositories. Iran has one of the most substantial gaming markets within the Middle East, generating an annual revenue of 9.2 trillion Iranian rials (£177.5m).

In a statement on Twitter, GitHub CEO Nat Friedman said, “We're not doing this because we want to; we're doing it because we have to. GitHub will continue to advocate vigorously with governments around the world for policies that protect software developers and the global open source community.”

Qualcomm and Tencent announce partnership

Qualcomm and Tencent have announced a partnership which could include a 5G gaming phone, and optimisation of Tencent titles on devices using Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Elite gaming chips. The new gaming phone is believed to be a 5G version of the Republic of Gamers Phone II, which was revealed earlier in July.

“Mobile gaming, an important 5G use case, will soon take advantage of the next generation of connectivity,” Qualcomm China Chairman Frank Meng said in a statement. “Faster speeds, more bandwidth, and cutting edge ultra-low latency will support real-time, multi-player and immersive gaming experience.”