Sony has record quarter but expects PlayStation 5 sales to decline
Lifetime console sales at 54.7m.
Sony had a record quarter for PlayStation sales and revenue, but expects console sales to decline in the next fiscal year.
According to its latest financial report, Sony sold a further 8.2m PlayStation 5 consoles, bringing its lifetime total to 54.7m. That's 16.4m consoles sold this financial year so far.
However, Sony has dropped its expected sales forecast across its gaming segment for the year by five percent, due to an expected decrease in hardware sales and increase in losses due to promotions.
Sony had forecast it woul- sell 25m consoles this financial year, but has now dropped this to 21m units.
"Partially due to entering the latter half of the console cycle, we're aiming to optimise sales with a greater emphasis on balance with profits," said Sony president, COO and CFO Hiroki Totoki. "So we expect a gradual decline in unit sales from next fiscal year onwards."
This also ties in with the fact Sony won't launch any major game in an existing PlayStation franchise over the next year.
There are more positives from the statement, however. Despite not detailing the number of PlayStation Plus subscribers this year (the total was 47.4m by the end of the previous financial year), the number of Monthly Active Users on PlayStation Network is at a record high of 123 million.
Further, sales of Marvel's Spider-Man 2 - the biggest release of the last quarter and likely contributor to the record hardware numbers - have now surpassed 10m units.
"Thank you for the support and making this spectacular journey possible," reads a social post from Insomniac Games.
God of War Ragnarok has also continued to sell well, reaching 15m units - an addition of 4m units in the last quarter.
Sony released its PS5 Slim model at the end of last year, which will be the only model available once inventory runs out.
This new model meant the console was in "full supply" ahead of the holiday season for the first time since launch, likely contributing to the boost in sales this latest quarter.