Sony Foresees a Promising Future as Unstoppable PS5 Sales Set the Pace for Next-Gen Gaming Consoles
The PlayStation 5 (PS5) has been breaking sales records and Sony has just announced another banner year for hardware sales, including over 6 million PS5s sold in the last quarter alone. The console manufacturer is now targeting an unprecedented 25 million PS5s in 2023. In its latest earnings report, Sony stated that PS5 hardware sell-in reached 6.3 million units, the highest for any PS console in the fourth quarter and 19.1 million units for the full fiscal year of FY22. Sony has also claimed that supply shortages are no longer an issue and that it can now deliver a PS5 to almost anyone in the world with no wait times.
The PS5 is on track to surpass the PS4 in many regards, with industry analysis group Circana reporting that PS5 sales have already exceeded where the PS4 was at this point in its life-cycle. With more and more games becoming “next-gen” exclusives, the trend will probably accelerate. Hogwarts Legacy was cross-gen, but its PS4 version doesn’t arrive until May 5. Horizon Forbidden West’s expansion, Burning Shores, is PS5-only, and Spider-Man 2 will be as well when it arrives later this year (reportedly around September).
The PS5’s momentum comes without any news about upgraded or streamlined versions of the hardware similar to the PS4 Pro and Slim or announcements of any new major franchises. However, Sony aims to continue creating new IP, rolling out catalog titles for PC, and strengthening live game service development, with a forecasted overall drop in sales of first-party games in 2023. The company previously claimed it would launch over 10 new online multiplayer games by 2026.
The strong sales performance of the PS5 is remarkable, considering the slow start it got off to due to Covid-induced supply chain issues, component shortages, and major game delays. Sony ended up making almost all of its major first-party games backwards compatible with the PS4, but players still decided to upgrade anyway. Now, with supply chain issues largely resolved, Sony is poised to continue its success story in the gaming console market.
