Sony told investors on Thursday that development of its next PlayStation is “progressing as scheduled”, on the same day it reported that PS5 shipments fell by about a third. The company sold 2.6 million consoles in the three months to 30 September, against 4.0 million a year earlier, which takes the PS5’s lifetime total to 97.9 million.
The drop in hardware did not hurt the division’s results. Sony’s Game and Network Services segment brought in ¥1,208.5 billion in sales, up 8.6%, and operating income of ¥220.1 billion, up 83%. Part of that jump comes from last year’s quarter carrying ¥49.8 billion in one-off charges, most of them write-downs tied to Bungie, so the underlying rise is nearer 29%.
Software and subscriptions carried the quarter. Full-game sales reached 88.2 million units, first-party titles rose 30% to 8.2 million, and network services such as PlayStation Plus and advertising grew 19.5% to ¥218.3 billion. Monthly active users hit 127 million, up from 119 million a year ago. Marvel’s Wolverine, which launched on 15 September, had sold 2.4 million copies by 4 November. Sony raised its full-year forecast for the division to ¥4,830 billion in sales and ¥700 billion in operating income.
On the next console, VGC’s report on the earnings call quotes Sony’s finance chief Lin Tao saying the company intends to make “solid progress” in preparing for the next-generation platform in its next fiscal year, which starts in April 2027, and that investment in the new platform begins then. He gave no launch date, and Sony has said it has not settled on one. Tao also said Sony has agreed with suppliers the memory it needs for its projected unit sales next year, after months of rising component costs that pushed console prices up.
Supply may still be tight in the short term. Engadget noted that Sony has reportedly told distribution partners that supply constraints and high demand would limit retailers’ PS5 stock until next year, just as GTA 6 arrives on 19 November with pre-orders estimated at $750 million.
Sony described the PS5’s slowing sales as expected at this stage of a console’s life.
