Sony’s profits are up this quarter but sales of the PS5 continue to fall at an alarming rate, as they dip below that of the PS4. Although the sharply declining sales of the Xbox Series X/S made the headlines first, especially after a disastrous Christmas last year, the truth is PlayStation 5 hardware isn’t selling as well as expected either. Sony missed its sales targets in February and while the PlayStation 5 has still sold well, it’s behind where the PlayStation 4 was at the same point in its lifetime, with the gap continuing to widen – as shown by the latest financial results.
The PlayStation 5’s lifetime total has now hit 61.7 million but year-on-year sales continue to fall, with only 2.4 million PlayStation 5 consoles sold between April and June this year, compared to 3.
3 million at the same time last year. The obvious reason for the poor performance is the lack of major exclusives and Sony’s continually poor marketing over the last couple of years, especially in terms of fan-orientated events like the summer showcases. This is in stark contrast to the fast pace of new releases at the start of the generation, with Sony attempting to compensate with third party exclusives such as Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth and Stellar Blade.
Microsoft does not release sales figures for the Xbox Series X/S but its lifetime total is believed to be around 29 million. The recently updated total for the Nintendo Switch, which first launched in 2017, is 143.42 million.
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