Gamers are not buying as many PlayStations as Sony hoped for with archrival Microsoft, tipped to get an insight into Sony customers in the future when they sign up for an Activision Blizzard game that are set to be made available to run on Sony PlayStation, the announcement is tipped for later today.
Sony has been forced to revise its forecasts for PS5 console sales in the current fiscal year due to the company selling 4 million fewer units than expected, now instead of 25 million units the Japanese gaming Company has been forced to downgrade their forecasts.
On January 18, 2022, Microsoft announced its intent to acquire Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion. The deal was concluded on October 13, 2023, with the total cost of the acquisition amounting to $75.4 billion, ChannelNews understands that as part of their business strategy Microsoft is looking to generate revenue in the future from Sony and Nintendo customers.
And in other bad news for PlayStation owners the Company has reported that operating income dropped by 26%
, thanks to lower first party game sales and a number of aggressive hardware promotions.
Despite the poor forward forecasts and declining profits Sony did report that revenue is up 16% year on year.
A big contributor was software with Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 deliver 10 million sales despite only being launched three months ago.
In what is traditionally the busiest quarter for consoles Sony only managed to sell 8.2 million PS5 consoles over the holiday period.
Analysts claim that the PS5 is entering “the latter stage of its life cycle”, with Sony senior vice president Naomi Matsuoka claiming that the company “will put more emphasis on the balance between profitability and sales” in future as a result.
There was no mention of the impact that Microsoft and their Activision Blizzard games will have on future Sony software sales.
With no new major franchise games set to launch any time soon, Sony can expect the PS5 to keep selling at a slower rate over the coming fiscal year.
At this stage and with Nintendo set to release a new Switch console soon and PC manufacturers new AI gaming machines, PlayStation fans will be waiting a while for the next blockbuster from Sony’s internal studios with analysts claiming that Sony could be facing a double whammy with Microsoft stripping both console and software sales and Nintendo hardware sales in what is seen as a difficult market.
According to VGC, Sony president, COO and CFO Hiroki Totoki there will be no new entries from established IP until April 2025 at the earliest.
“Regarding first-party software, we aim to continue to focus on producing high-quality productions and producing live service games,” he said. “But while major projects are currently under development, we do not plan to release any new major existing franchise titles next fiscal year like God of War: Ragnarok and Marvel Spider-Man 2.”
This, combined with the PS5 “entering the latter half of the console cycle,” has led Sony to forecast a decline in hardware sales during the next fiscal year.
The platform holder has also lowered forecasts for the current financial year, now expecting Game & Network Services sales of $27.5 billion, which is 6% down from the previous guidance of $29.2 billion.
Forecasts for the segment’s operating income remain unchanged at $1.8 billion.
