Failing to allow Sony Interactive Entertainment to realize its reference profit, the financial year having been affected in particular by unfavorable exchange rates and the costs of the acquisition of Bungie, this excellent trimester On the other hand, foreshadows a historic turnover for the PlayStation house, which aims for a result of more than 25 billion euros for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2023. Unheard of in history for a manufacturer. But let’s get back to the results of this last quarter of 2022, which are necessarily very positive overall.
Essential factor, the improvement in stocks of the PS5, distributed to 7.1 million copies over the quarter to reach a total base of 32.1 million consoles as of December 31, 2022 (of which 30 million in consumers’ homes at the same date, as a reminder). 7.1 million is by no means a record for PlayStation, which distributed 8.4 million PS4s at the same stage, but it is a real improvement on the sad volume of the last quarter of 2021 (3.9 million ). For the time being, the PS5 is still 5.6 million consoles behind on the trajectory of the PS4 at the same stage.
PS5: Sony raises an already ambitious annual target
The suspense remains on Sony Interactive Entertainment’s ability to meet its annual distribution target. At this stage of the fiscal year, 12.8 million PS5s have been distributed worldwide, so there are still 5.2 million consoles to sell between January and March to reach the 18 million goal. Knowing that the manufacturer has never delivered such a quantity of machines in the first three months of the year (the PS4 record is 3.5 million at the start of 2016), one would be tempted to say that the chances of reaching the target are weak. Except that against all odds, Sony Interactive Entertainment has raised this target to 19 million. Obviously sure of its inventory and demand, the manufacturer therefore aims to distribute 6.2 million PS5s between January and March, which would be unprecedented for all platforms combined.
The value of exclusives
On the software side, 86.5 million PlayStation games were sold between October and December 2022, including 20.8 million PlayStation Studios games, a real performance that can be attributed in large part to the box of God of War Ragnarok. Revenue from software, which includes sales of boxed and downloaded games as well as in-game purchases, is up sharply (4.2 billion euros against 3.2 billion euros). This should not hide the fact that the volume of game sales fell compared to the last quarter of 2021 (92.7 million). Except that there was a smaller proportion of PlayStation Studios games (11.3 million) and that they bring more money to the manufacturer. Note that the ratio of download sales has not changed from one year to another: 62% of sales of PS5 and PS4 games are made by download rather than boxed.
PlayStation Plus: fewer subscribers but more money
Sony Interactive Entertainment ended 2022 with 112 million monthly active users on the PlayStation Network, which is slightly better than last year (111 million). Notable detail, more than 70 million of these users are still on PS4 and have not yet been able to migrate to PS5. On the other hand, 30% of PS5 users have never used a PS4, a promising signal for an ecosystem always in search of new users.
The shoe pinches, however, on the side of PlayStation Plus subscriptions, which ended the year with 46.4 million members against 48 million a year earlier. Not sure that this result is the one expected six months after the launch of the new Extra and Premium formulas. That said, the situation is far from gloomy, because the turnover of subscriptions has paradoxically reached a new record: 864 million euros against 724 million euros a year earlier. Clearly, the number of subscribers is not taking off, but the new formulas have made it possible to bring in more money.
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