info@businessghana.com
Sony just had its best holiday season ever in terms of PlayStation 5 console sales with 9.5 million sold over the last three months (2024 Q3), the company announced in its earnings release. That's 1.3 million more than it sold in the same quarter last year (its previous best holiday quarter) and raises all-time PS5 sales to 74.9 million. The launch of the PlayStation 5 Pro last fall likely provided a boost for the quarter, but Sony didn't break out numbers for that console specifically.
The record quarter means that the PS5 is just 1.5 million units behind where the PS4 was at the same time in its sales life cycle. It also propelled Sony to a higher-than-expected 469.3 billion yen ($3.05 billion) profit (all divisions included).
The company also saw a boost in game sales, up to 95.9 million units sold in Q3 2024 compared to 89.7 million the previous quarter, despite a hefty drop in first party sales. That boosted game software revenue to 784 billion yen ($5.1 billion), compared to 733 billion yen in Q3 2023. On its webcast, Sony shouted out the success of Astro Bot and Helldivers 2, affirming its intention to expand its family and live service game offerings (despite axing recent games in the latter category). Meanwhile, PlayStation Network (PSN) monthly active users rose from 123 to 129 million.
Looking ahead, Sony said it had "high expectations" game sales this year, including first-party titles Death Stranding 2 and Ghost of Yotei, both set to release in 2025. We'll also see some big third-party launches, particularly Grand Theft Auto 6 set to arrive in fall 2025.
