During PlayStation 4 everything was flooded with sun. The console was selling like hotcakes, the development teams were working at full speed, and players were enjoying interesting exclusives. PS5 It also sells well, but interest in the console is not growing as much as during the PS4 era. This can be partly explained by the small number of interesting exclusives, the so-called blockbusters, that can force players to buy a console.
Last week, the interim head of Sony’s gaming division said that PlayStation 5 enters the second half of its cycle. At this stage of life, the Japanese company expects a gradual decline in sales. Thus, the PS5 has already passed its peak. This corresponds to a reduction in forecast from 25 million units sold to 21 million between April/April 2023 and March/March 2024.
This reduction in ambition has alarmed the market. Shares fell 8.4 percent following the news. In addition to lowering the forecast for console sales, it contributed to the devaluation of the company in particular decline in profits in the video games division. Sony’s value fell $10 billion, according to a CNBC analysis based on calculations from FactSet data.
Atul Goyal, equity analyst at Jefferies, is particularly disappointed by the low operating margin. He called the current margin of 6% extremely disappointing, close to the worst performance in the last ten years. Previously, Sony’s profit margin was between 12 and 13 percent. At the same time, PlayStation is breaking records in terms of revenue from digital sales, additional content and services. Instead of falling, operating margins should have increased.
Luckily, Sony is aware of this problem. Hiroki Totoki is looking for more cost-effective development methods, and also wants to increase profits by releasing more PlayStation games on PC., even at the cost of being released at the same time as the PS5 version. This path is now being blazed by a very successful co-op shooter. Helldivers 2, which will be expanded with other live service games in the future. PS Studios will host a sci-fi event Concord from Firewalk Studios (former authors of Call of Duty, Destiny or Titanfall) or PvPvE heists Fair play$ Jade Raymond and Haven Studios. Both games will be released on PS5 and PC. This also occurs online game in the world of Horizonand The Last of Us Online was cancelled.
Source :Indian TV
