Sony Sees Rise in H1 Sales for PlayStation, PS5 Surpasses 84 Million in Lifetime Sales

Sony has released its financial results for the first half of its fiscal year, revealing significant revenue growth in its Game & Network Services division. As a result, the company has increased its full-year forecast for games revenue, driven by the success of its network services and game software segments. The PlayStation 5 has now sold over 84.2 million units lifetime, with an additional 3.9 million units sold in the second quarter. Sony's latest first-party title, Ghost of Yōtei, has sold 3.3 million copies since its launch on October 2. Key highlights include: sales growth in network services, primarily driven by PlayStation Plus, and game software titles, which fueled expansion in Sony's G&NS segment. Network services revenue climbed 13.7% to ¥182.6 billion ($1.1 billion) compared to ¥160 billion ($1.03 billion) in the previous quarter. Monthly active users on PS Plus increased slightly to 119 million, representing a 2.5% rise compared to the same period last year. Overall game software sales rose 2.7% to ¥629.3 billion ($4 billion) compared to ¥612.3 billion ($3.9 billion) in Q2 2024. Physical software revenue grew 2.9% to ¥35.3 billion ($228.7 million), while digital software and add-on content increased 1.6% to ¥568.1 billion ($3.68 billion). Sony has revised its sales forecast for G&NS to ¥4.4 trillion ($28.5 billion) in revenue, up from ¥4.3 trillion ($27.8 billion) predicted in August. However, there is no change in the forecast for G&NS's operating income, which experienced a 13.2% decline in Q2 due to impairment losses related to Bungie's intangible assets and Destiny 2. Hardware revenue rose 5.8% to ¥230.9 billion ($1.4 billion) compared to ¥218.2 billion ($1.4 billion) in the previous quarter. The PlayStation 5 sold 6.4 million units during H1, a slight increase from the 6.2 million units sold in the same period last year, with 3.9 million units sold in the three months ended September 30. Full game software sales reached 80.3 million copies in the second quarter, up from 77.7 million in Q2 2024, with 6.3 million of these being first-party titles, driven by the success of Ghost of Yōtei, which sold 3.3 million copies in 32 days.