
Sony has recorded its strongest ever Q2 revenue stream as part of a new quarterly fiscal report, generating $5.86 billion in revenue and $0.751 billion of profit from July to September of this year. As for how this translates to PlayStation 5, the system sold 3.3 million units during Q2, bringing total sales up to 13.4 million as of September 2021. The quarter was also Sony's second strongest outside of a holiday window.
Elsewhere, PS4 shifted 200,000 units, which is a significant but understandable decrease after 1.5 million consoles were sold during the same quarter last year. To date, PS4 has now sold 116.6 million. Elsewhere, PS Plus subscribers are back up to 47.2 million following a Q1 2021 loss of 1.3 million members. Another 900,000 subscribers brought in inside Q2 sees the total return to normality. The number of monthly active users is down once again, though, rounding off at 104 million.
While Sony continues to break revenue records and sell more PS5 systems than any of its previous consoles at this point in its lifespan, you have to wonder where the company would be with sales if supply could match demand. Sony has continued to say it's working hard to match demand, but it may still be a while yet before a PS5 is easily obtainable.
[source sony.com, via videogameschronicle.com, resetera.com]
Comments (81)
It’s a wonderful behemoth of a machine, worthy of its success. I do wonder if folks who haven’t been able to find a PS5 because of the stock issues will eventually give up on getting one. It must be frustrating.
I want ps5 slim (with horizontal design) since my ps5 is a little too big 😃
Roll on all the "they're all sitting in scalpers garages etc" comments. 🙄🤣
Not to dismiss the concerns people have, but it puts in to context the comments from folks jumping to PC because there are no console or generation exclusives anymore.
The wider market is clearly happy with PlayStation, even if some folk here have issues.
Sucks that people are moving to pc, I expect a huge dip next quarter /jk
@Shepherd_Tallon Your comment is still true, but you gotta wait till next quarter to prove your point.
I don't care, I don't have one yet * sits in the corner *
Joke aside, that's quite impressive. I just hope everyone will finally be able to buy one next year or two without relying on scalpers
I still am unclear why the PS5 is not in stores. It made sense at the start of the pandemic, but now? If they are not doing stores, then sell only from the Sony website and require a PSN account. Continuing to sell PS5s to retailers who sell via unpredictable online random restock windows, where scalpers/bots vacuum them up, is just the same mistake over and over. Add in the increasing supply chain and chip issues and I feel like there could be a perfect storm of non-availability for consumers that will catch up and start hitting Sony's bottom line.
It would be interesting to see the sales if PS5 would be available for everyone from day 1. But we will never find out lol
Think the subscriber increase was helped by the $1 offer a couple of months ago.
Will be interesting to see how PS5 does. With PS4 still releasing games and possibly of exclusives going to PC.
The need for a PS5 getting lower by the day.
I’m glad it’s selling well, I just wish it deserved it.
I've got 50 of them if anyone is interested. Using them as bookends at the minute.
Amazing! I wonder if this generation will be extended due to the current demand for PS5 and also due to development difficulties stemming from the pandemic. Instead of 6-7 year turn around on console generations maybe we will see 8-9.
@lolwhatno I take it you have facts to back up that statement? Most of the people who buy and play on consoles have no interest in pc gaming. And I say this as a pc gamer for over 25 years.
Sony put HZD on pc over 18 months ago, then days gone, and we knew GOW was getting ported aswell and still it's the fastest selling Sony console of all time. As long as they don't go day and date the demand will be high for a long long time.
I'd bet that the ps5 will comfortably out sell the ps4.
@Serialsid hey man, thanks for giving your opinion on the subject (not being sarcastic, your opinion is appreciated). Just wanna say that: "/jk" (means joking)
@lolwhatno my bad, I'm obviously to old for some of these forums. Should have asked my kids!
@Amnesiac nope but I'm also not actively looking right now either, I want one but I want there to be a stack of games first. Horizon 2, Gotham Knight, Little Devil Inside & GoW Ragnarök being on PS4 makes it pointless for me to make the leap when I can already play the games I wanna. There's only Ratchet that I wanna play right now that's next gen only (across PS5 & XSX) so I don't feel like I'm missing anything.
@fR_eeBritney It doesn't deserve its sales?!
It's such a great console, and I have been able to buy three additional ones for friends and family in the past year simply by being patient and signing up to stock informer alerts. The whining about not being able to get one that accompanies ever news post like this is getting tiresome.
As is the assertion that "nobody needs one". When you factor in what I got for my PS4 Pro I essentially paid about a day's wage to upgrade to a system with vastly superior loadtimes, that can often play AAA PS4 games at double the framerate and have also enjoyed at least four exclusives (DS, Rift Apart, Returnal and Deathloop). That's just in its first year.
The system has a very good future ahead.
@lolwhatno I had this whole comment written out, then I realised that you might be joking 😂
@Shepherd_Tallon
You know I thinks it's pretty great that the PC community is finally getting to experience some of Sony's best. In the end more people are going to play great games and be able to share their experiences about these great games. As for it effecting overall sales of the PS5 it may somewhat but overall not enough to make a significant difference is my guess. First off these aren't day one releases being ported straight to PC the day the console game launches. There older games. I believe 2-3 years old right. 2nd there will always be a market for folks that want to play on Console. There's plenty of folks that just want to hit the power button sit back in there comfortable chair, kick there feet up and play hassle free plug and play gaming. I'm one of them as I'm sure the majority of people who console game.
Congrats to Sony. I mean, there really is no real incentive to getting a PS5 (or a Series X|S for that matter) until real exclusives start releasing. I mean, Sony actually has more than Microsoft at the moment, but the rest of Sony's "heavy hitters" are all cross-gen games.
My PS5 is currently a glorified 4K Blu-ray player and probably will be until Christmas - assuming I get Deathloop as a gift. If not, then it will continue to be a glorified 4K Blu-ray player until Horizon Forbidden West comes out. I have played everything else already and essentially wore out it's purpose for the time being.
I guess I should make note that my PS5 is an exclusives-only machine (as is my Nintendo Switch). My Series X is my everything else machine.
The only reason I use the PS5 as my 4K Blu-ray player is because the BD Player app on Xbox doesn't fully support every audio format nor does it support higher than 48Khz (I have some audio DVD's that go up to 96/24). So +1 to Sony there.
All these while there's a shortage that's huge imagine if there were no stock problems O__O GO PS5!!! ^__^
@Shepherd_Tallon Lmao, yep opened pushsquare to 3 notifications and I literally said out loud: I'm dead lol (glad nothing happened)
@Kopite That’s a good way to go about it. I took a gaming hiatus right when the PS2 launched (yes, I’m old) and didn’t wind up buying one until two years later. I definitely felt spoiled for choice when buying games when I finally picked one up.
My PS5 towers above my Series S next to it like a big beautiful guardian. Both excellent and deadly silent machines.
@Rafie I don’t think it’s earned them really, no.
It has the potential to be a great console but I think we’re a long way away from seeing it achieve that potential.
Sony are still riding high on the mega success of the PS4 and they don’t have any competition at the moment. It’s made them complacent. No need to ‘sell’ a console when people are buying it anyway 🤷
Still nothing worth upgrading for, a point proved by the State of (Nothing to) Play, but I suppose a PS5 is better than a PS4 Pro - but not even close to £450 better.
Once the next gen exclusives turn up, I'll reconsider it but at the moment, the old stager is revelling in all the new releases.
@OMG_Waffles I completely agree with all of that. Word for word.
I would even go so far as to point out that XBOX consoles are selling better than they ever have, and they put exclusives on PC at launch.
@wiiware I too really want a PS5 slim. I don’t love how did and overly modern this one looks in my setup. But I’m still lucky to have it and a series X. It’s going to be a great Gen.
@GamingFan4Lyf I’m with you , my PS5 and Switch are exclusive machines. My series X is my main platform. It comes down to the type of games I play and those are games that I prefer the offset thumb sticks. If Sony didn’t have their thumb sticks in that position I would buy more shooters and racing games on it. But when I played ratchet and clank on my new C1 LG oled. That was the best next Gen game so far. Cant wait for Sony and Microsoft to leave the last Gen behind and start showing the power of the new machines. Kinda bums me out God of War will be on PS4 as that’s my favorite Sony exclusive. But I know it will be amazing still. Santa Monica is just to good at what they do , I love it.
@Shepherd_Tallon
Funny that you say that because I'm in the market for Xbox SX as well 😂 Hopefully they will be available by the time the new Outer worlds and Elder Scrolls games are released.
Not surprised, Sony made a fantastic console.
47 million PS+ users!... I just need a fraction of them to show up and Racing in GT7 is going to be fantastic 😀
Something worth pointing out is PS5 sold 13 million units and ratchet , demon souls and returnal are only at 1.3 and 1.2 million with Returnal not even that high. That’s like less than 10 % of the install base. That means the average consumer that are buying these are playing 3rd party FiFi and madden type games. Ratchet is so much fun and a visual treat, would have liked to see that sell closer to 2 or 3 million by now. It’s so worth it. But at $70 dollars and a aging series maybe it’s time to get these down to $50 for the holidays and see if they get more attention.
Pretty much on par with Switch's first year after all - and feels more or less deserved for the actual experience-enhancing features the console ultimately came to boast. I may not be in the market for it due to the lack of one specific feature, but it still feels reassuring that even Switch's home peers aren't entirely mired in short-term aesthetic bubblegums alone.
@Shepherd_Tallon console gaming is still console gaming, exclusives or not. For all the potential rough edges and variable odds of them being patched later, every console port is still something anyone would be excused for expecting to be geared towards specific hardware, not a bottomless pit of numerous machines, configurations and user behaviours (like the habit of running a game beside two antivirus programs, five chat clients and a Chrome with 20+ tabs) oh so vaguely covered by the lore of "recommended specs". Even if I have any difficulties running a game on a console, that's typically a question for the devs, not my prompt to disable this, enable that, update these, reinstall/uninstall those and perform a daedra summoning ritual while balancing on my tongue. Adolescents may have more time for all that tinkering, along with more time for PC gaming and home consoles in general, so maybe that's why they're more sensitive to the exclusives buzz. When you're older and fully employed, even if you can afford enough home time for home machines, you'll want to spend that time playing a game rather than trying to get it to work. Installations and patch downloads obstruct that on consoles, too, but they're just as common on PC on top of the aforesaid woes anyway.
@Rural-Bandit
For all that Sony has done right these past years I think pricing there console exclusives at $70 has definitely hurt day one sales. Inflation is running rampant due to the supply chain breaking down. Folks are struggling to make ends meet more so now then when I'm sure the decision was made to increase game pricing pre-pandemic. When you grocery bill goes up $50 a week as does your utilities and everything else that it cost to live a life the last thing you're going to be looking to spend money on is a video game. Unfortunately I think this is kind of a perfect storm scenario, it sucks.
@Rural-Bandit Microsoft is in an interesting position as it could feasibly leave X1 behind for good once Cloud support is officially available for X1 and people are able to Series X games on X1 via streaming.
In fact, if you look at the most up to date list of Series X|S games, Halo Infinite is the last Microsoft Studios game to support Smart Delivery - which means it could be last games Microsoft develops that natively supports the X1 platform.
On the Sony side, with Horizon, God of War, and Gran Turismo all being cross-gen and releasing in 2022, I just don't see a major first-party PS5-exclusive title dropping until 2023.
@OMG_Waffles I nabbed a Series X back in March when I had the chance for those exact games plus Avowed and Fable, just in case there's still a shortage when those games release. These days you never know. 😂
I'll admit though I haven't played anything on it really since buying it.
@nhSnork Yup, again, I more or less agree, word for word.
@OMG_Waffles I agree with you. The price hike has been met with some folks even being able to afford it and still waiting on price drops. Tho you are spot on about the economic struggles with many people. Will I pay $70 for God of War ? Yes but I won’t pay $70 for to many others and i am blessed financially if I wanted to.
Single player games to me are wait for price drops and play them when I have the time to finish them in a week or so. Multiplayer games I can pick up for a match or two and run out the door and feel like I completed something if that makes sense. Plus you don’t want to wait to long for online games. But that’s my 2 cents on how I spend my cents and dollars. Agree with your points completely tho.
My wife bagged one from argos yesterday morning bang on 8am when they dropped for my mate...he was a bit confused when he got a text from her with a pic of it attached at lunch time..she met us at work and gave it to him..he was holding it like it was a new born baby..any way he is now very happy and i guess this weekend we are both on back 4 blood..
@Shepherd_Tallon
It's probably going to be a good 2-3 years before the studios that Microsoft purchased start to bear their fruit. But oh man there's going to be a landslide of MS games dropping in that time frame. I definitely want to snag a Xbox before that happens. Just can't find them anywhere right now except 2nd hand sellers, same with the PS5. I'm not dropping a thousand plus on a video game console. At that price point I might as well just start building a high-end gaming PC😛
@GamingFan4Lyf Much like how the only reason MCC was fixed in 2018 was to pave the way for PC ports in 2019-2020, I think the extension of PS4 support may be a result of Sony's strategy to bring more games to PC. Then PS4 support stops when the PC gaming standard uses SSD.
@OMG_Waffles God yeah, I'd definitely suggest waiting for now. You'll get one at retail eventually. Don't let them rip you off.
I got very lucky at launch with the PS5. Very lucky.
And with the Series X, by pure chance one day I checked GameStop and they were in stock. We were celebrating a thing with work and I figured feck it, I'll buy this to mark the occasion.
But yeah, eventually Series X will have some massive single player WRPGs that I will have to own. Starfield, Avowed, Fable, Elder Scroll. Some of them are years away, but others are on the horizon.
It'll be nice to have the two platforms battling on the exclusives front again, rather than trying to out-do each other on services.
This shocks me with how anti consumer Sony is.
@Amnesiac I know Argos in UK have plenty of stock (PS5) but can’t sell until Sony authorise. Stockpiling for Christmas?
It isn't very surprising that the PS5 is doing this well, even with all of the supply shortages. I just hope that more exclusives come out, because I don't really want to drop $500 on a console just to play a few games on it. (And this is coming from the guy who bought a Wii U just to play Yoshi's Woolly World.)
@fR_eeBritney clearly the people who bought a PS5 think it is deserving of a sale
This "success" will most likely just fund more games on PC, so not really a reason to spend 500+ euros on a PS5 yet.
@uptownsoul or they just want a console for casual play and they don't care either way (which is mos likely the majority of the PS playerbase)
@fR_eeBritney True, I agree.
I’ve still never seen one available in store! Crazy really considering how long it’s been out now.
@Rural-Bandit "Something worth pointing out is PS5 sold 13 million units and ratchet , demon souls and returnal are only at 1.3 and 1.2 million with Returnal not even that high. That’s like less than 10 % of the install base."
Yeah but with the exception of the Spidey's, GoW's, TLOU's & Uncharted type exclusives, most PS4 exclusives never reached 10% install base either...
@RayNick but they still found it deserving of a sale
@Grumblevolcano That won't sit well with PlayStation diehards at all!
If the supply was available, this thing would be at 22 million sold. Easily.
@uptownsoul nah, in my experience it's pretty much the only option out there, that's all there is to it, not much thought put into it
@Shepherd_Tallon Exactly. Playstation has powerful momentum. Some will jump to pc. Loads won't. And it will attract new players. I'm a console player, and I'll choose playstation until that is not an option.
Glad Sony is doing well, I have a PS5 & XSX. Seems like many of us are saying the same thing, but I’ll add my e-spit to the pile.
Although most titles are cross gen that’s to be expected (given deep universal chip shortages) and should not present a qualitative issue with proper scaling.
Sony does need to ramp up game production since MS is coming out with a giant amount of AAA titles over the next few years.
And for those promoting Sony Direct as the solution to scalping, it can’t be done because all retailers must be included. Excluding them would create huge trouble since product support would drop.
@RayNick Sorry, what is the only option?
@RayNick there's always an option not to buy it...So the people deciding to buy it believe it was deserving of that sale
@GamingFan4Lyf Yeah Phil said only up to 2 years of cross Gen support. But some games like say Hellblade 2 will be series exclusive. Sony just has such a large PS4 install base that from a money perspective it just makes sense for them to continue that until the PS5 is in more homes. Plus Sony heavily relies on PlayStation money as a company. So they have to think some about their bottom line. Microsoft writes off business expenses on their taxes larger than Sony. They can really take whatever approach to gross Gen and cloud as they want.
@uptownsoul guess that makes sense and that’s a good point. I just hear everyone shout about their exclusives and while they are good , not always my type of games. But they are good games I would think they would carry a higher attach rate. Most of the 13 million PS5 players are hardcore gamers that searched and found a console so Sony gave hardcore type games earlier like demon souls and Returnal and to see the numbers that low I just was a little shocked by it. Personally ratchet and clank was so much fun and great to look at. Was it worth $70, that’s subjective. But to me that is a great experience and I really would like to see it gain more sales not for just sales numbers sake , but so gamers can experience it and see the great work done by the studio.
@Shepherd_Tallon exactly!
@RayNick whatever you need to tell yourself, buddy.
Ps5 is unstoppable.people trust sony a lot with theyre first party. Studios games.and the ps5 console.with everything thats in it.and with bluepoint now and sony planning buying more studios.sony PlayStation the g.o.a.t. 🐐. 👑.word up son
@Rural-Bandit True, but that was said pre-COVID too before game after game is getting a delay. But it's looking like that 2-year plan is sticking almost prophetically despite game delays.
And, yes, Sony relies heavily on the PlayStation branding. Xbox is simply a business expense to Microsoft. I am okay with this because Game Pass is a big result of Microsoft's wallet.
I know people criticize it and wonder how it's even sustainable to Microsoft and my only answer is "Trillion dollar company b*tches!"
Arrogant? Probably. Do I care? Nope.
@KayOL77 Buying a Playstation. Unless you prefer shooters, Xbox or Nintendo aren't even an option for the casual crowd in my country, since MS never made an attempt to market Xbox here and Nintendo has increased its standard hardware and software price since the switch released.
@uptownsoul
by that logic sure, but it's not like they care either way. As i've stated above, people here just buy a PS not because of its quality or because of what it offers but because it has become synonymous with gaming. PC gaming has increased dramatically here as well, so if MS and Nintendo actually gave a darn, PS wouldn't sell as much as it has (in my country).
@naruball ok i guess. Not sure what you are referring to though.
@GamingFan4Lyf Hahaha and that’s not wrong, it helps to have a trillion dollars. Here’s my thing with gamepass and streaming services. I use Apple Music and it runs at a slight profit to breaking even for Apple. Spotify runs at a loss , do you see people going out and buying cd’s? Netflix now turns profit but when it was smaller it wasn’t raking in cash, yet over time they built exclusive content to keep you subscribed. Services take time to build long term profits but even at a loss or break even scenarios they keep you in their ecosystems. Apple Music is a break even but if they can sell you a iPhone and AirPods they are happy. Gamepass is no different if you buy an Xbox and controllers along with DLC and play games there MS is doing what the services is designed to do. Once games like Halo, Forza , Elder scrolls 6 , StarField and many others hit and stay on the service it is going to continue to gain attention from gamers and competitors.Gamers baffle me they are in a industry that is tech the only thing that stays the same in tech is it’s constantly changing and evolving. Yet they act like change or something new is bad. Companies know there is different ways to make money. Gamepass and PlayStation now have a chance one day down the line to make more money then retail. Just as music and movie subscriptions do now. To the people that say I like to own my games, that’s great get in your car drive to the store and purchase a game. But don’t think that’s the only way to make money for the industry, also why are we complaining about getting a good deal in the first place ? And why are people that don’t want to use the service complaining anyways. It’s not like it replaced your way of purchasing and playing. Now that Microsoft has finally seen the light that they can’t ignore the money gaming can make them if they invest more time money and interesting ideas to it. They are going to be a force they weren’t before. Sony will continue to do well and come up with ways to sell and distribute their games the best way they deem best for their company and we all win. Nintendo needs to step up a gamepass like service for their old games and make sure the selection and quality is high with them and I would subscribe to it in a second also. Long story short it takes spending money to make money as the old saying goes in business and a company with a trillion dollars is doing their best to do that. Gamepass rocks and is here to stay.
People think the PS5 is quality enough (and offers enough) to make the purchase...otherwise they wouldn't have made the purchase.
So end of the day: the people who spent $400-$500 on a PS5 think it deserved that sale
I think that’s shipped right?
Previously mentioned sold through is 10 million.
@Rural-Bandit You Do You bud. I don't know why your extolling your opinion on gamepass on a ps site celebrating a ps milestone, but whatever. Very happy ps owner here, and that's that.
@JJ2 Yes but none of them are on shop shelves, ergo they are sold through.
@RayNick May I ask what country you live in?
@KayOL77 Greece
@KayOL77
Fair point. I just thought it’s best if the reports mention it for clarity.
@KayOL77 me and other one of my PlayStation and Xbox buddy’s where discussing it like grown ups. You know the industry as a whole. You be a good little PS5 owner and let me and the others that own all 3 and enjoy them all have the non biased conversations. I can come on here or any site and say whatever I want in response to other persons Xbox and gamepass related questions , cause my money goes to all 3 platform holders. As I don’t marry one piece of plastic. That’s how I do me bud.
The scalping prices are virtually the same on eBay still, although volume is down. That suggests there's a lot of demand left to fill.
Xbox Series S scalping prices, by comparison, are now only slightly above the actual cost. People have enough S' to fulfill their desire
@Rural-Bandit You got my opinion on the subject. Nobodies telling you what you can and can't post. And nobodies telling me that I can't respond to your posts.
@KayOL77 just read all the comments and you would know what started the gamepass discussion. Once again I want all 3 to do well and they all are. The industry is healthy so enjoy it
@Rural-Bandit Your right, the industry is currently very successful.
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