Sony Adjusts Expectations as PS5 Enters Later Stage of Life Cycle
Following sales figures that fell short of projections, Sony has announced that the PlayStation 5 (PS5) is transitioning into what the company terms “the latter stage of its life cycle.” The revision in outlook comes after Sony’s ambitious target of selling 25 million PS5 units during the current fiscal year, ending March 31, 2025, was adjusted down to 21 million units due to lower-than-anticipated sales during the critical holiday quarter of 2023, despite aggressive marketing efforts. While PS5 sales for the third quarter ending December 31, 2023, saw an increase to 8.2 million units from 7.1 million units the previous year, it was insufficient to meet Sony’s initial ambitious projections.
According to Bloomberg reports, Sony’s senior vice president, Naomi Matsuoka, indicated that the company anticipates a decline in the PS5’s sales momentum beginning in the next fiscal year, starting April 2024 and concluding in March 2025. Matsuoka emphasized the need to strike a balance between profitability and sales as the PS5 enters this later phase of its life cycle.
Having launched in November 2020 amid the pandemic, the PS5 has amassed sales of 54.7 million units over its three-year lifespan. With Sony signaling the console’s transition into its later stage, speculation arises about the future generation, inevitably leading to discussions about the potential release of the PlayStation 6 (PS6).
In gaming news, anticipation surrounds Hideo Kojima’s upcoming project, “Physint,” rumored to be a return to the action-espionage genre. Kojima Productions, in collaboration with Sony, is poised to embark on the development of “Physint” following the completion of “Death Stranding 2,” slated for release in 2025. Given Sony’s projections, “Physint” may not see the light of day until 2026 at the earliest, potentially aligning with the timeline of a hypothetical PS6 release in November 2027, following the pattern observed with previous console generations.
Meanwhile, Sony’s decision to postpone the release of major PlayStation franchise games until after April 2025 precludes imminent launches of anticipated sequels such as those in the God of War and Spider-Man series, as the company navigates the evolving landscape of console gaming with strategic foresight.