Jim Ryan’s presentation began by reviewing the general situation of the PS5. After distributing a record 6.3 million PS5s between January and March 2023, Sony now considers itself off the hook when it comes to the issue of availability. Recall that the PS5 had initially achieved the best launch in the history of PlayStation consoles before being held back by component shortages. Current targets are for the PS5 to overtake the PS4 for good before the end of 2023 and then widen the gap thanks to demand that Jim Ryan still describes as “unprecedented” at this stage. As of March 31, 2023, the manufacturer has distributed 38.4 million PS5s worldwide, including 36 million sold to consumers.
Sony stats also reveal that PS5 users spend more than PS4 gamers at the same stage. On average, a PS5 player spent $622 between November 2020 and March 2023, compared to $479 for a PS4 player between November 2013 and March 2016. It must be said that times have changed and in-game spending (+210%) , subscriptions (+52%) and accessories (+60%) all increased strongly and more than offset the drop in the number of games purchased (-10%).
Over 14 million Extra/Premium subscribers
One of the big revelations of the presentation concerns the PlayStation Plus. We now know that of the 47.4 million PlayStation Plus subscribers communicated at the end of March 2023, 6.1 million have adopted the Extra level and 8 million the Premium level, i.e. 30% of subscribers upgraded less than a month. year after the launch of the new formulas. A quick calculation therefore allows us to deduce that 33.3 million subscribers are content for the moment with the Essential level.
PS VR2 boots better than PS VR
The other transparency exercise of the day concerns the PlayStation VR2, some analysts wanted to clumsily estimate the figures to the delight of fans of tabloid titles. In fact, the launch of the headset is far from the announced disaster since with just under 600,000 copies sold to consumers in 6 weeks, the trajectory of the device is up 8% compared to the first PS VR, which was, as a reminder, cheaper and took advantage of a larger PS4 base. So far be it from us to suggest that PS VR2 is set to be a huge success. You may know our point of view: VR, we agree, but the almost non-existent support from major publishers and the high cost of entry remain too great obstacles to hope for a lasting development of the platform.
The next major subject is that of opening up to live service games which are currently lacking in the PlayStation catalog. Sony is more than ever determined to go all out since according to estimates, investments by PlayStation studios in live services games will have reached 60% compared to 40% for traditional games by 2025. This surge in live service games will go together with a strong increase in investments in new licenses. Sony estimates that the balance of investments between existing and new licenses will have reached 50/50 during the fiscal year 2025. As can be seen below, The Last of Us and Horizon franchises will have a role to play in the live services category, but young studios like Haven and Firewalk Studios are also working on new licenses.
PlayStation studios make their mark on PC
The extension of the economic model is accompanied by the enlargement of the platforms. Like last year, Jim Ryan gives us a little update on the progress of PlayStation Studios on PC by revealing two new sales figures: 1.5 million for Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered since the release of the port on August 12, 2022 and 368 000 sales in less than a month for The Last of Us Part I, a figure that would undoubtedly have been higher if Naughty Dog had not made a technically deplorable copy. In the fiscal year ending March 31, 2023, PlayStation game sales on PC generated $250 million, Bungie included. The objective for the new fiscal year (450 million dollars) shows the desire to accelerate a good deal and the famous live games services will undoubtedly have a role to play.
At the same time, Sony Interactive Entertainment continues to quietly lay the foundations for a mobile strategy. Unsurprisingly, partnerships with specialized studios have already been established in addition to the acquisition of Savage Game Studios. It is also confirmed that several internal studios have gotten to work on mobile games. By 2025, the PlayStation Studios catalog should be balanced between consoles and PC, while mobile games will represent less than 20% of releases, according to current projections.
Finally, Sony also has the ambition to cover all the main genres (shooter, sports game, racing game, role-playing game, platform game, action game) by releasing at least two major productions each year. Speaking of games, tonight’s PlayStation Showcase should set the tone for the PlayStation catalog for years to come.