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PlayStation 5 is on a record pace in terms of hardware shipments for Sony. And while those sales reveal raw demand for consoles, Sony Interactive Entertainment is stronger than ever thanks more to its digital services. The company reported 2,656 billion yen ($25.03 billion) in revenue from its Game & Network Services segment for the fiscal year ending March 31. That is a record, according to industry analyst Daniel Ahmad. More importantly, it reveals a strong engine for consumer spending even as Sony transitions between hardware generations.
PS5 sales are fueling Sony’s revenue growth, but Game & Network Services generated a record 342.2 billion yen ($3.22 billion) in operating profits thanks to other factors.
“This significant increase [in profits] was primarily due to the impact of the above-mentioned increase in game software sales, and an increase in Network Services sales, primarily from PlayStation Plus,” reads the Sony earnings report. “[That was] partially offset by a loss resulting from strategic price points for PS5 hardware that were set lower than the manufacturing costs.”
PlayStation Plus now has 47.6 million subscribers. That is up from 41.5 million subscribers in Q4 of the previous fiscal year. And the company has 109 million monthly active players. That is down from 114 million during the last Q4, which ended around the beginning of the pandemic lock-down orders.
And those millions of players are spending a lot of money thanks to PlayStation services. The company reported 543 billion yen ($4.98 billion) in revenue from digital software. For physical software, it added revenue of 138 billion yen ($1.25 billion). But then Sony brought in a massive 912 billion yen ($8.3 billion) from add-on content.
That revenue and profits have PlayStation in the strongest position ever to start a generation. And it will likely leverage that to ensure the PS5 lives up to its potential.
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