PlayStation: No new sequels to existing major games next year
Sony sold at least 8.2 million copies of the PlayStation 5 in the latest quarter, a record for the company. However, it seems that the peak has passed, because the company expects to sell 4 million fewer cars this year than expected. Nor should we expect major new parts of the current game series next year.
From October to December, Sony sold 8.2 million units of PS5, which is much more than the 6.3 million units in the same holiday season of 2022. It is a record, because never before have so many PS5 devices been sold in three months. : It's a previous record date, going back to the third quarter of 2022, when 7.1 million PS5 devices were sold. Although the PS5 sold out a lot, Sony expected to sell an additional 1 million units in the last quarter.
Those 8.2 million units may have been the peak for the PS5, as Sony expects to sell a total of 4 million fewer than expected in its fiscal 2023. That fiscal year ends on March 31, and Sony was already expecting to end that year with sales 25 million PS5 devices. It would then have to sell 8.6 million copies of the gaming console this quarter, and the company doesn't expect that to happen. The number is likely to reach about 4.5 million, bringing the total to about 21 million.
PS5 at end of life
The PS5 is approaching its fourth birthday. “Looking to the future, the PS5 is entering the final stages of its life,” Sony CEO Naomi Matsuoka said in the statement. Numbers Reverse Bloomberg. “As a result, we are focusing more on the balance between profitability and sales. We expect the annual PS5 sales rate to decline starting next fiscal year.” In other words: that peak has already passed, and the PS5 will still live out its expected lifespan of ±7 years.
Sony also states that there are no plans to release “new existing major franchise titles” in the next fiscal year. So there are no big gaming surprises from Sony next year. There have already been a number of big announcements, including next month's Rise of the Ronin from Ninja Gaiden maker Team Ninja. Insomniac is working on a Wolverine game, following the success of Spider-Man, but it likely won't be released until later. The Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic remake also doesn't have a release date yet. This means a quieter year will come after the busy gaming year of 2023.
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