The pandemic is doing wonders for Sony. The company announced (PDF) a massive increase in software sales year-on-year. According to the company’s first-quarter earnings, software sales are up 83% bringing in revenue of $3.72 billion. However, the same cannot be said for hardware sales which dropped 22% at the same time. This makes sense given the current lifespan of the PS4 and the looming PS5 launch on the horizon.
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Total PlayStation revenue was 36% higher than in the same period in 2019. Sony claims 112 million PlayStation 4 consoles have now shipped worldwide. In addition, the company boasts 45 million PlayStation Plus subscribers. While the company did not reveal specific details about The Last of Us Part II and Ghost of Tsushima sales, it did cite positive sales for both games.
Sony claims the company has addressed the slight COVID-19-related issues in regards to the PS4 supply chain. The company is preparing to launch the PlayStation 5 later this year. Sony says that “no major problems have arisen” with its first-party and third-party game development. Even with the ongoing pandemic, PS5 and PS4 game development is proceeding as planned.
The company expected a further 31% increase in gaming-related revenue due to the PS5 launch later this year. However, Sony does predict a drop in profit due to the expenses surrounding the launch of the new console. While the PS5 price has yet to be revealed, Sony is bracing for a lower cost of sales ratio. This is due to selling expensive hardware at a lower margin.
We reported last month that Sony upped its initial PS5 production by 50%. The company aims to produce 10 million consoles by the end of the year. Tie company will also rely on some big first-party launch titles to push hardware sales. One is the upcoming Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales. Sony also recently announced an exclusive Spider-Man deal with Marvel’s Avengers. The game is due in September.
