PS5 sales dipped dramatically by 22% while PS Plus services & game sales thrive

Sony’s Q2 2024 financial results show solid growth in software and network services, even as PlayStation 5 hardware sales slightly declined just as the Microsoft-owned Xbox also experienced a decline in hardware sales recently.

The Japanese video game giant has sold 65.5 million PS5 consoles, but in the latest quarter, PS5 sales dropped from 4.9 million units to 3.8 million. On the other hand, game sales saw a big jump, reaching 77.7 million units.

The success of games like Black Myth: Wukong and Astro Bot helped drive this growth—an astronomical comparison to Xbox’s latest flop, Concord, which was shelved two weeks after its release. It was so bad that Sony had to close its creators Firewalk Studios following the fiasco.

Sony also saw strong performance in network services, with 116 million PlayStation Plus subscribers (up from 107 million year-over-year). As a result, Sony raised its full-year gaming forecast, expecting a 4% increase in sales and an 11% rise in operating income especially with the hotly-anticipated Grand Theft Auto VI and the €800-priced PS5 Pro.

The company has now committed to launching major single-player games for the PS5 every year starting in fiscal year 2025 (via Gematsu). This comes after some confusion earlier this year when the company stated there would be no major first-party games in 2024, though Astro Bot and other titles were still released.

Speaking with investors, Sony’s CEO Hiroki Totoki confirmed that major games like Ghost of Yotei and Death Stranding 2 are in the pipeline, and other first-party studios, including Santa Monica Studio, Guerrilla Games, and Naughty Dog, are working on unannounced projects.