Sony has announced that it has sold over 61 million PlayStation 5 (PS5) consoles, even as hardware sales have seen a notable decline. The company reported a 32% drop in hardware unit sales year-on-year, with 2.4 million PS5 consoles sold in the most recent quarter, down from 3.3 million in the same quarter of 2023, and a substantial decrease from 4.5 million units in the previous quarter.
Despite the decline in hardware sales, Sony’s game revenue saw a 12% increase year-on-year, contributing to a 33% increase in profit. This growth in revenue can be credited to an 18% increase in software sales and a 25% rise in Network Services revenue, largely driven by PlayStation Plus (PS Plus). While Sony hasn’t disclosed the exact number of PS Plus subscribers, it did reveal that the PlayStation Network now has 116 million monthly active users, up from 108 million year-on-year but a slight decrease from 118 million in the last quarter.
Software unit sales have dropped by 5% year-on-year, suggesting that the revenue increase is possibly due to higher game prices. In the recent quarter, the PS5-exclusive Stellar Blade sold a million copies by the end of June. Other significant releases include the PC version of Ghost of Tsushima: Director’s Cut and the Destiny 2 expansion, The Final Shape.
For context, Nintendo sold 2.1 million Switch consoles in the same period, indicating that while the PS5 sales lead, the Switch remains competitive in its seventh year of release. Microsoft also experienced a 42% drop in hardware sales in the previous quarter, reflecting an industry-wide decline in hardware sales.
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