Sony update: Sales of games for PS5 and Co. are weakening

The new game subscription called Playstation Plus has been available since June 2022. The previously existing online services Playstation Plus and Playstation Now will be merged. However, Sony issued a warning when presenting its latest business figures. It is questionable whether the annual result can be achieved. The background is weak sales figures for games for the PS4 and Playstation 5.

26 percent fewer game sales for the Playstation

The number of monthly active users in the Playstation Network has decreased by three percent compared to 2021 to 102 million users. In the last three months, Sony has shipped 2.4 million Playstation 5s worldwide, bringing the total number of PS5s sold worldwide since December 2020 to 21.7 million. In a year-on-year comparison, it is noticeable that 26 percent fewer video games were sold. By comparison, its competitor Microsoft saw its Xbox games and services decline just 6 percent last quarter.

According to Sony CFO Hiroki Totoki, the ongoing supply chain problems are to blame for the poor sales figures. It is uncertain whether the goal of delivering a total of 18 million Playstation 5s in the 2022 financial year can be achieved. If you want to meet the targets, you would now have to ship five million PS5s every quarter. Although sales of Playstation games are declining, more and more video games are being bought digitally from the Playstation Store. In the last quarter, 79 percent of all Playstation games sold went digital over the counter. There is only a right of return if you have not yet started the game or it is proven not to work. In the Playstation Store you only acquire a right of use, so that the publisher can add functions later.

Also worth reading: Playstation boss: Live service games will be more in demand than game subscriptions

Collection of bad sales figures for games for Playstation 5 & Co.:

• In the past quarter, Sony has to admit that 26 percent fewer video games for the Playstation were sold. After all, the sales figures in the Playstation Store could be increased, so that 79 percent of the games were purchased digitally.
• Global supply chain issues mean only 2.4 million new PS5s were shipped in the last quarter. For the 2022 financial year, Sony would actually like to deliver 18 million Playstation 5 and would now have to deliver 5 million units every quarter.

Source: Sony