In a refreshingly transparent financial report and earnings call, Sony president Hiroki Totoki has outlined the future of PlayStation, and expectations for the brand over the next fiscal year. As revealed, it appears the PS5 is on a gradual decline due to “its entering the latter half of the console cycle” and as a result, Sony’s focus has changed to have “a greater emphasis on the balance with profits.”
From the next fiscal year – the period ending March 2025 – it’s predicted that sales for the PS5 will slowly decline, potentially inspiring a mid-generation console refresh.
As for software, Totoki further confirmed that while the company anticipates continued success for third-party software sales due to the popularity of the PS5 and its “high level of user engagement” there will be a dip in sales for first-party software as no “major franchise titles” will launch within the next fiscal year.
“Regarding first-party software, we aim to continue to focus on producing high-quality works and developing live service games, but, while major projects are currently under development, we do not plan to release any new major existing franchise titles next fiscal year like God of War Ragnarök and Marvelʼs Spider-Man,” Totoki said.
Read: Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 Review – Swing, Swing
While there will still be major game releases within the PlayStation ecosystem, including Rise of the Ronin and Stellar Blade, it appears major first-party and exclusive releases will take a backseat in the coming fiscal year.
The news is fairly disappointing, but unsurprising – as many of Sony’s biggest studios and partners have already released major games in recent times. Blockbusters like the incoming Death Stranding 2 and Marvel’s Wolverine take time. For now, that will mean a slight gap in the release schedule for the PS5.
Despite this hurdle, Sony remains positive about the future of PlayStation, on the strength of its engaged user base and the ongoing success of recent franchise titles. As noted, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 recently hit 10 million copies sold, and the franchise overall has now sold 50 million units on PlayStation and PC. God of War Ragnarök has also reportedly made “major contributions to profits.”
The company seemingly won’t have a major flagship game to sustain this success within the next year, but that likely means we can expect big things from PlayStation in 2025 and beyond.
