Two major players in the video game sector, the Japanese Sony and Nintendo, unveiled their annual financial results on Tuesday, May 10. Main lesson: after the exceptional period of the Covid-19 pandemic, during which the results of the video game industry soared, these remained at a very high level.
For the manufacturer of the PlayStation, sales have even increased slightly (+ 3% in value), to 2,740 billion yen (20 billion euros). As for its Japanese competitor, if it does not match its record performance for the 2020-2021 financial year, it has only seen its sales fall by 3%, to 1,692 billion yen, for a net profit. almost intact, at 477.7 billion yen (−0.6%).
These results are all the more remarkable as the sector is handicapped by the shortage of semiconductors. Despite this, Sony was able to sell 11.5 million consoles, taking advantage of the novelty effect of its PlayStation 5. For its part, the Switch, which is more than five years old, still sold 23 million units. Since 2017, Nintendo has already sold more than 100 million, making it the most popular product in its history. To continue to ride on this success, Nintendo released a new version in October, equipped with a plasma screen.
Catalog Rivalry
If the results of the day are satisfactory, the outlook is more uncertain, due in particular to the shortage of semiconductors, which is prolonged, and disruptions in the production chain, linked to repeated containment measures in China. Thus, despite much higher demand, Sony was only able to sell 2 million PlayStation 5s in the last quarter, its lowest level since its launch in November 2020.
For its part, Nintendo anticipates a decline in sales of the Switch to 21 million units. In this context, the rivalry between the three market leaders will be played out in the field of game catalogs. With several highly anticipated titles, such as Splatoon 3 or two new franchise games pokemonNintendo has a rich program for the coming months.
Sony, for its part, continues to watch for opportunities to acquire new production studios. In a sector in full concentration, the Japanese does not intend to be left behind. He demonstrated it at the start of the year. Just days after Microsoft bought Activision Blizzard for $69 billion in January, it responded by acquiring the Bungie studio (Halo, destiny) for $3.6 billion.