by During the publication of the financial statements for the first quarter of the fiscal year, Sony shared some interesting information about the state of its gaming business. It is noted that on the eve of the end of the life cycle of the PlayStation 4 console, sales of gaming equipment and bundled games decreased by 22%. At the same time, sales of digital content (games) grew by an impressive 83% compared to the same period last year. The volume of revenue from this business segment amounted to $ 3.72 billion.Thus, during the coronavirus pandemic, people began to spend more on games and entertainment.
As a result, even taking into account the decrease in revenue from sales of game consoles, the total revenue of the PlayStation segment increased by 36% to $ 5.65 billion. This is a new record for the first quarter of the fiscal year for this segment. During the entire existence of the PlayStation 4 game console, more than 112 million devices have been sold on the market worldwide. Sony currently has about 45 million PlayStation Plus subscribers.
Sony names The Last of Us Part II and Ghost of Tsushima among the most successful game projects of the reporting period, although the last game was not released last quarter. The company also says it has addressed some of the PS4 supply chain issues related to the impact of COVID-19, and is preparing to launch a new PlayStation 5 game console. However, Sony claims there have been “no major issues” with game development. both our own and third-party developers.
By the end of the whole year, the company expects a 31% growth in gaming revenue. Basically, this will be due to the launch of the next generation gaming console. However, only modest growth in operating profit is expected. The reason for this will be the increased costs associated with the launch of the PlayStation 5. This is considered normal in the case of the release of a new expensive product with low margins.
Sony has reportedly increased its production target for the PlayStation 5 game console by 50%. The company now intends to release up to 10 million new generation consoles by the end of this year. This holiday season, Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales will likely be the most significant in-house game for the PlayStation 5. It will be the sequel to the popular 2018 game from Insomniac.
Source: The Verge
