Sony warns of weaker PlayStation business as game sales wobble

Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge

The profit outlook for Sony has been lowered. According to Sony, it shipped 2.4 million PS5 consoles in its recent quarter, up only 4% from the 2.3 million shipped during the same period last year. PS5 lifetime shipments have grown to over 20 million.

Software sales have plummeted over the past year. In an investor call, Sony blamed the game slump on a lack of big PS4 titles this year compared to 2021. Elden Ring was released at the same time as Sony's exclusive Gran Turismo 7, but it stole the show from the others.

Sony has lowered its annual profit forecast for its gaming business as it anticipates another fall in game sales next quarter, as well as costs associated with its recent $3.7 billion acquisition, according to a report.

Image: Bungie

The gaming industry is slowing down after a big boost during the first few months of the Pandemic. In its most recent quarter, Microsoft saw an 11 percent decline in hardware revenue, along with a 6 percent decline in content and services revenue, and a 7 percent decline in gaming revenue. While Microsoft had a strong fiscal year for Xbox revenue, the company warns that gaming revenue and Xbox content and services revenue will both decline next quarter.

The company hasn't revised its estimates yet, but it previously predicted 18 million PS5 shipments for the year. There has not been enough supply. The CFO of Sony said in an investor call that they need to meet the demand.

Photo Illustration by Grayson Blackmon / The Verge

Sony believes that supply chain disruptions are affecting PS5 shipments rather than a lack of components and hopes that will improve later this year. Sony needs to vastly improve its PS5 shipments in order to meet its projection. The company needs to hit an average of more than 5 million PS5 shipments per quarter for the rest of the year.

The Last of Us Part I remake will be released on September 2nd and God of War Ragnark will be released on November 9th.

The recent quarter saw a 11 percent year over year increase in the number of digital game sales for the PS4. Digital-only versions of the PS5 and the Pandemic have led to an increase in PS game sales. If it goes on for the rest of the year, it will be a big shift.

We won't know the impact of the new tiers until next quarter. At this point in the fiscal year, the number of PS Plus subscribers is up from last year, but down from the third quarter of the previous year. The number of monthly active users of the network decreased from the previous year.