Sony Excited to Boost First Birthday Revenue as PS5 Approaches 75 Million Sales Milestone

The PlayStation 5 has achieved 74.9 million total sales after an impressive holiday period.

The console sold 9.5 million units during the third quarter of the current fiscal year, marking a significant increase compared to the 4.5 million units sold in Q3 FY23.

This surge follows the launch of the PlayStation 5 Pro, which was released on November 7, 2024. More than 40 percent of those who purchased a PS5 during this quarter were new users, leading to a substantial rise in the number of monthly active users (MAUs).

“Total unit sales of PS5 from launch through the end of December are roughly equivalent to the total unit sales of PS4 for the same timeframe following its release, despite PS5 being priced higher,” stated Sony.

“Moreover, MAUs after this equivalent duration since launch have grown significantly by about 1.4 times. This indicates a notable increase in the PS platform’s user base compared to the PS4 generation due to the PS5’s backward compatibility and our various efforts in user engagement.”

Quarterly software sales rose to 95.9 million units from 89.7 million units in the same timeframe. Despite this year-over-year growth, sales of first-party titles actually decreased to 11.6 million units from 16.2 million units in Q3.

The company stated it plans to boost profits from first-party software next year with the release of Ghost of Yōtei, among several other titles.

PlayStation MAUs reached record levels in December 2024

Discussing its broader platform business, Sony indicated that the sector is gaining traction with PlayStation Plus revenue increasing by 20 percent year-over-year on a U.S. dollar basis. The count of MAUs across PlayStation platforms in December 2024 grew by 5 percent year-over-year to 129 million—the highest figure in PlayStation’s history.

Total playtime also grew by 2 percent over the same period, marking the seventh consecutive quarter of year-over-year growth.

All this led to an increase in sales within the Games & Network Services sector (which encompasses Sony’s video game business), rising by 16 percent year-over-year to 1.6 trillion yen ($10.4 billion). Operating income surged by 37 percent to 118 billion yen ($767.2 million) during the same timeframe.

This performance has prompted Sony to revise its financial outlook.

“Considering the results of the quarter, we have adjusted our annual forecast for sales upward by 3 percent to 4 trillion 610 billion yen and operating income by 7 percent to 380 billion yen compared to our earlier estimates,” added the company.

About the Author