Sony says the PS5 is the company’s most profitable console generation, but the PS4 still makes up half of its player base
The PlayStation 5 is officially Sony’s most profitable console generation to date, but more than a decade into its lifecycle, the PlayStation 4 still accounts for half of its player base. During the Sony Gaming and Network Services Business Segment presentation yesterday (May 29), Hideaki Nishino – who has just been appointed CEO of SIE’s […]
The PlayStation 5 is officially Sony’s most profitable console generation to date, but more than a decade into its lifecycle, the PlayStation 4 still accounts for half of its player base.
During the Sony Gaming and Network Services Business Segment presentation yesterday (May 29), Hideaki Nishino – who has just been appointed CEO of SIE’s Platform Business Group – shared the company’s latest figures, where he confirmed that after almost four years of cycle, revenue of the PS5 have almost reached every other console combined (via VGC).
“As you can see, the PlayStation 5 the user base continued to grow significantly, reaching half of our monthly active consoles,” said Nishino. “While PlayStation 4 is still a significant part of our business, our PlayStation 5 players are even more engaged than those of our previous generation, and we expect these trends to continue.”
According to the presentation, 97 million users make up PlayStation’s monthly active users, with PS4 taking up exactly half of its monthly active users at 49 million users.
In terms of engagement, 2.4 billion total gaming hours were spent on the PS5, while 1.4 billion were spent on the PS4.
Since 2020, the PS5 has sold 56 million units and according to Sony, users of the platform spend more money (+176%) on additional content, +57% on services and +34% on peripherals.
However, users spend 12% less money on full games, despite the PS5’s hours commitment.
Hermen Hulst, CEO of SIE’s Studio Business Group, added that Sony’s flagship games will be existing blockbuster franchises and “new intellectual property with great ambition” from “studios with a proven track record of quality and success”.
The company will also focus on expanding its live gaming services with ongoing content, while experimenting with other opportunities that will “unlock new audiences” and “target new genres.”
For several months, we have been hearing rumors about the PlayStation 5 Pro. Although Sony hasn’t announced its next major console, reports suggest that the next generation will arrive soon and will see a substantial mid-generation jump that will be “45% faster” than the original PS5.
