PlayStation Reports Overall Profits Are Down 37 Percent In Q1
Things are going well for Sony’s PlayStation 5. Lifetime PlayStation 5 shipments reached 21.7 million units during Sony’s most recent quarter. This is an increase of 0.1 million over the same time last year and an increase of 0.4 million over the quarter that ended March 31, 2022.
Yet, this same report also showed that overall profits had decreased. This is mainly due to software.
The middle of the financial reporting season is underway. Microsoft announced on July 27th that Xbox’s content and services revenue had increased by 2%. Sony’s Game & Network Services division noted that they are not doing well. They reported that overall profits had dropped 37% despite the increased shipments of consoles.
According to VGC, digital software sales make up 79% of PlayStation’s profit. This was due to a decline in third-party and first-party titles and a drop in DLC sales for third-party games. Software sales dropped 26% despite hardware sales increasing.
The Verge reports that Sony is blaming the slump on a shortage of PlayStation exclusive titles. However, they forecast that new game releases would help software sales. The highly anticipated God of War Ragnarok will launch on November 9th, and The Last of Us Part I remake will launch on September 2nd.
Sony’s three-tiered PlayStation Plus membership scheme was launched last month. However, it is unlikely that we will see the full results until the following quarterly report. A lack of interest in gaming could also contribute to loosening lockdown restrictions.
