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[Physiognomonics]

Worth noting that the game division is very healthy in general, so people who were lamenting the death of Hulst because Concord should take a cold shower of reality

What? It shows exactly the contrary for first-party sales:

(+) increase in sales of non-first party games (-) Impact of deacrease in sales of first-party game software titles

So now instead of saying they sell less first-party games they say they sell too much non-first party sales! They sell more third party games, not first parties! Their plan is a failure and for some time now. Hulst strategy is not working. By the way In 2019 before Ryan they were doing record first-party sales.

And considering how many billions they are pouring into their first party games it's even more disastrous. If I was a shareholder I would ask questions. What's working is they sell a lot of PS5 and those people are buying stuff on their Playstation Store. But their strategy goes against this, they want people on PC and they want them to buy their games there, well it's not working at all.

 

[ShaiKhulud1989]

What? It shows exactly the contrary for first-party sales:

So now instead of saying they sell less first-party games they sales they sell too much non-first party sales. They sell more third party games, not first parties! Their plan is a failure and for some time now. Hulst strategy is not working. By the way In 2019 before Ryan they were doing record first-party sales.

They are having their best Q2 w/o Spider-man 2 my dude, but you should propose this spin to Takashi Mochizuki

 

[Radical_3d]

people who were lamenting the death of Hulst

What? Did he step down?

 

[Physiognomonics]

They are having their best Q2 w/o Spider-man 2 my dude, but you should propose this spin to Takashi Mochizuki

I am just reading what's in their own slides man. They are selling less and less first-party games compared to third party. First party games is PC sales and GAAS and the remnant of their first party games. Third party means Store on PS4 and PS5. This is what's working for them, the old PS3, PS4 strategy. The Ryan / Hulst strategy is a failure.

 

[Thick Thighs Save Lives]

Sony’s Profit Jumps 73%, Music And PlayStation Sales Drive Growth - BusinessToday

Sony Group Corp has raised its revenue outlook following impressive sales in music and continued growth for its PlayStation games. The Tokyo-based company now expects net revenue of ¥12.71 trillion (US$83.2 billion) for the year ending in March, slightly higher than its previous forecast. For...

www.businesstoday.com.my

Sony Group Corp has raised its revenue outlook following impressive sales in music and continued growth for its PlayStation games. The Tokyo-based company now expects net revenue of ¥12.71 trillion (US$83.2 billion) for the year ending in March, slightly higher than its previous forecast.

For the September quarter, Sony posted an operating profit of ¥455.08 billion, up 73% year-on-year and surpassing the average analyst estimate of ¥335.3 billion.

Despite being four years into the latest PlayStation hardware generation, Sony has been working to reduce its dependence on the gaming segment. However, its game division exceeded expectations, driven by both hardware and software sales, with PlayStation 5 units performing particularly well, selling 3.8 million units in the quarter, surpassing predictions.

The success of high-profile titles such as Sony’s Astro Bot and Game Science Interactive Technology Co.’s Black Myth: Wukong contributed to the stronger-than-expected earnings, compensating for the underperformance of its live-service game Concord.

Bloomberg Intelligence’s Masahiro Wakasugi commented, “Hits like Wukong delivered. The game segment is making up for a decline in image sensor demand in North America, while there’s room for growth in the music business.”

As one of the world’s largest music rights holders and publishers, Sony has benefitted from the success of streaming platforms such as Spotify. Spotify’s US-traded shares have more than doubled this year on optimism for ongoing growth. Sony’s music division also includes its smartphone games and anime publishing, both of which have gained significant popularity outside Japan.

In a move to strengthen its position during the year-end shopping season, Sony launched the PlayStation 5 Pro, a high-performance version of its flagship console aimed at countering competition from rival platforms. Looking ahead to next year, Sony plans to release major titles such as Capcom’s Monster Hunter Wilds and Rockstar Games’ Grand Theft Auto VI.

 

[Physiognomonics]

Sony’s Profit Jumps 73%, Music And PlayStation Sales Drive Growth - BusinessToday

Sony Group Corp has raised its revenue outlook following impressive sales in music and continued growth for its PlayStation games. The Tokyo-based company now expects net revenue of ¥12.71 trillion (US$83.2 billion) for the year ending in March, slightly higher than its previous forecast. For...

www.businesstoday.com.my

The success of high-profile titles such as Sony’s Astro Bot and Game Science Interactive Technology Co.’s Black Myth: Wukong contributed to the stronger-than-expected earnings, compensating for the underperformance of its live-service game Concord.

Old strategy (inherited from the likes of Yoshida) is there to save their asses. Hulst strategy is a disaster. And they are double banking on him with an emphasis on racist guidelines. What could go wrong?

 

[ShaiKhulud1989]

Old strategy (inherited from the likes of Yoshida) is there to save their asses. Hulst strategy is a disaster. And they are double banking on him with an emphasis on racist guidelines. What could go wrong?

Hulst is literally the guy behind the creaton and funding Team Asobi

 

[Thick Thighs Save Lives]

Old strategy (inherited from the likes of Yoshida) is there to save their asses. Hulst strategy is a disaster. And they are double banking on him with an emphasis on racist guidelines. What could go wrong?

 

[Killjoy-NL]

I am just reading what's in their own slides man. They are selling less and less first-party games compared to third party. First party games is PC sales and GAAS and the remnant of their first party games. Third party means Store on PS4 and PS5. This is what's working for them, the old PS3, PS4 strategy. The Ryan / Hulst strategy is a failure.

Isn't that just a lower forecast due to Concord flopping?

 

[jm89]

Sony’s Profit Jumps 73%, Music And PlayStation Sales Drive Growth - BusinessToday

Sony Group Corp has raised its revenue outlook following impressive sales in music and continued growth for its PlayStation games. The Tokyo-based company now expects net revenue of ¥12.71 trillion (US$83.2 billion) for the year ending in March, slightly higher than its previous forecast. For...

www.businesstoday.com.my

Just waiting for that takashi spin article.

 

[pasterpl]

I’ll only do it once since you’re one of the most biased users on this site.

But they’re down compared to Q2 FY2023 which had the launch of the SE Niche-Man 2 PS5 console that sold a lot.

The results are for Q2 FY2024 so they don’t include PS5 Pro numbers

But most importantly, their Operative Income (profits) for Q2 FY2023 were 5% whilst for Q2 FY2024 they are 13%.

You need to work on your reading comprehension as it is not good. Start with something easy.

I have said that;

For full year forecast they have negative decrease in first party sales while 3rd party increases. Increase in hardware profit - that sweet margin on PS5 pro

I know wat YoY means, but didn’t they have GOTY Astrobot this time…oh, understand now, it underperformed, and they didn’t have anything else to save this. Smarter approach would be to say that some people didn’t buy ps5 in Q2-24 as they were waiting for Pro release, and therefore we are seeing this in forecasted increase in hardware profits. But you are too basic to understand this.

What has sales do with being the best game of the year or not?

If the game is so great that is the best game of the year, it’s quite logical that sales should follow and should get wide appeal. Now we have got situation where there are many other games that sold more and people don’t scream about the. GOTY.

Keep in mind that if everyone bought them they’d sell 65M+ per game.

That’s unheard of for any gaming company

I know that first party attachment rate on PlayStation is low and most are playing multiplatform games. Just look at most played games charts hardly any Sony first party there outside of its launch week/month.

If it wins GOTY it'll get a boost in sales.

Knowing Sony and their greed they will release remaster GOTY edition with minimum changes /s

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

You need to work on your reading comprehension as it is not good. Start with something easy.

I have said that;


I know wat YoY means, but didn’t they have GOTY Astrobot this time…oh, understand now, it underperformed, and they didn’t have anything else to save this. Smarter approach would be to say that some people didn’t buy ps5 in Q2-24 as they were waiting for Pro release, and therefore we are seeing this in forecasted increase in hardware profits. But you are too basic to understand this.



If the game is so great that is the best game of the year, it’s quite logical that sales should follow and should get wide appeal. Now we have got situation where there are many other games that sold more and people don’t scream about the. GOTY.

I know that first party attachment rate on PlayStation is low and most are playing multiplatform games. Just look at most played games charts hardly any Sony first party there outside of its launch week/month.

Knowing Sony and their greed they will release remaster GOTY edition with minimum changes /s

 

[bitbydeath]

I know that first party attachment rate on PlayStation is low and most are playing multiplatform games. Just look at most played games charts hardly any Sony first party there outside of its launch week/month.

Typically land around 10-20M, still good numbers but low compared to Nintendo.

 

[Elios83]

Sony’s Profit Jumps 73%, Music And PlayStation Sales Drive Growth - BusinessToday

Sony Group Corp has raised its revenue outlook following impressive sales in music and continued growth for its PlayStation games. The Tokyo-based company now expects net revenue of ¥12.71 trillion (US$83.2 billion) for the year ending in March, slightly higher than its previous forecast. For...

www.businesstoday.com.my

Yup they had a fantastic quarter.
It won't stop usual haters to make up claims it's not good enough or that they're collapsing

Also:

Sony President, CFO, COO & SIE CEO Hiroki Totoki:"We plan to continue releasing major singleplayer game titles every year, from next fiscal year onwards."

 

[SweetTooth]

You need to work on your reading comprehension as it is not good. Start with something easy.

I have said that;


I know wat YoY means, but didn’t they have GOTY Astrobot this time…oh, understand now, it underperformed, and they didn’t have anything else to save this. Smarter approach would be to say that some people didn’t buy ps5 in Q2-24 as they were waiting for Pro release, and therefore we are seeing this in forecasted increase in hardware profits. But you are too basic to understand this.



If the game is so great that is the best game of the year, it’s quite logical that sales should follow and should get wide appeal. Now we have got situation where there are many other games that sold more and people don’t scream about the. GOTY.

I know that first party attachment rate on PlayStation is low and most are playing multiplatform games. Just look at most played games charts hardly any Sony first party there outside of its launch week/month.

Knowing Sony and their greed they will release remaster GOTY edition with minimum changes /s

Breath dude

 

[TheTony316]

Worth noting that the game division is very healthy in general, so people who were lamenting the death of Hulst because Concord should take a cold shower of reality

Gamers don't take showers.

 

[Bernardougf]

37% of people who bought Astro hadn't purchased any first party games for two years is a pretty good number.

it's a good idea from PlayStation to want to explore new genres with games that have a more reasonable budget because you will attract a new audience.

I one of them.. Sony's first party just sucks this gen. All subpar sequels and unnecessary remakes in the last couple of years. Astrobot was great though.

Dont count second/third party deals here, and if wasnt for them it would have been even more ridiculous.

 

[Luminoth-4545]

Hardware sales are down 1.1million year over year for the quarter but last years Q2 was Extremely strong.

PS5 Versus PS4

For the 2nd quarter of the 4th full fiscal year (orange) the 3.8 million the PS5 shipped is 0.4 million down on PS4's 4.2 million and after 16 quarters the PS5 totals 65.5 million compared to 67.7 million for the PS4. This means launch aligned the PS5 is 2.2 million behind PS4.

 

[TBiddy]

Sony needs to fear next years E3 showing from Microsoft. Or maybe the 2026 edition. It's just around the corner. I promise!

 

[Ronin_7]

74M shipped by December 31st.

 

[TheTony316]

Sony needs to fear next years E3 showing from Microsoft. Or maybe the 2026 edition. It's just around the corner. I promise!

Just wait when MS announces its next gen "eats monsters for breakfast" monster with Steam integration.

 

[Luminoth-4545]

After 4 years the PS5 has now past the NES and Game Boy (not including Game Boy Color) to become currently the 13th best selling hardware of all time, to reach the top 10 next up it has to pass the 3DS (75.94m), GBA (81.51m) and PSP (82.50m). It should pass all three by this time next year.

Shipments in millions of units. Note: all PS1 numbers and PS2 numbers up to and including FY6 are manufactured units.

 

[TheGodfather07]

77m software sold! That's alot of games! 70% sold digitally! Looks like most people don't mind those rip off digital prices. Everytime I look at the store, I'm immediately put off because of the price of games. Especially when the only benefit is no disc to put in the console. Physical has actual real advantages. I must sound like an old man living in the past, but you can't really argue the case.

 

[GHG]

Worth noting that the game division is very healthy in general, so people who were lamenting the death of Hulst because Concord should take a cold shower of reality

 

[Luminoth-4545]

For comparison, calendar year sales so far (Jan to Sep).

PS5: 10.70 million (4.50 + 2.40 + 3.80)
NSW: 6.68 million (1.96 + 2.10 + 2.62)
XBS: 2.80 million (0.80 + 0.80 + 1.20) Est.

 

[pasterpl]

Typically land around 10-20M, still good numbers but low compared to Nintendo.

By typical you mean their 2 biggest IPs (spiderman and god of war)? Don’t think Returnal was anywhere close to that, nor stellarblade (last we heard it was million, but it is 2nd party), nor Rise of Ronin, horizon fw last we have heard was 8.4m and it is cross gen, GT7 is probably now around 13m (cross gen again), helldivers did good at 11m but 60% were on PC etc. Your understanding of word typical is very different than usually accepted.

 

[mansoor1980]

Worth noting that the game division is very healthy in general, so people who were lamenting the death of Hulst because Concord should take a cold shower of reality

 

[Tiago Rodrigues]

Astrobots doesn't have enough sales. Such a well made game with no BS.

It's a small game developed by 60 people. 1.5M in like 2 months is a great result. and it's basically printing money for a while and usually these games have legs so investing in team asobi was a great thing for them and the team is safe.

A studio like MediaMolecule could only wish to be in this position tbh.

 

[Astray]

Worth noting that the game division is very healthy in general, so people who were lamenting the death of Hulst because Concord should take a cold shower of reality

They clearly saw the incoming Concord loss at some point and reflected it on their financial outlook in the previous quarter.

Explains the very muted advertising and the very quick decision to yank the game and gank the studio.

 

[SweetTooth]

Sony needs to fear next years E3 showing from Microsoft. Or maybe the 2026 edition. It's just around the corner. I promise!

What would they fear? all games will be played best with PS5Pro aka strongest console on earth.

 

[jm89]

For comparison, calendar year sales so far (Jan to Sep).

PS5: 10.70 million (4.50 + 2.40 + 3.80)
NSW: 6.84 million (1.96 + 2.10 + 2.62)
XBS: 2.80 million (0.80 + 0.80 + 1.20) Est.

So playstation shipped more this quarter then xbox entire year.

 

[ShaiKhulud1989]

They clearly saw the incoming Concord loss at some point and reflected it on their financial outlook in the previous quarter.

Explains the very muted advertising and the very quick decision to yank the game and gank the studio.

Personally, in the end I think Sony lost way less money on Concord than people suggest.

 

[KungFucius]

Really? For it's budget 1.5m in 9 weeks is actually a very healthy result. That's why Sony is highliting Astro so much in the earnings.

The problem I have with this is that the game is great and is the only family friendly 1st party game out this year. That it only sold 1.5 M out of more than 60M PS5s tells me that Sony does not have a good chunk systems in the homes of family gamers or that Nintendo is too dominant for those homes to jump in on Astro Bot. Right now PS5 is the leading non-Nintendo console by a long shot, yet it is barely at the level the PS4 was. The market is contracting and this could lead to really shitty things as Sony tries to squeeze growth out of fewer customers.

Hopefully the title keeps selling. I enjoyed it and I enjoyed watching my 5 year old have fun in between the frustration. Also my 8 year old beat most of it though he had a hard time dealing with the die and retry aspect of the challenge levels.

 

[sainraja]

Now let’s look at this data without blue tinted glasses;

Now, let's see your face after reading this thread...

 

[TBiddy]

What would they fear? all games will be played best with PS5Pro aka strongest console on earth.

It was just a joke. It's the standard excuse you know - "wait for E3!".

 

[ShaiKhulud1989]

. That it only sold 1.5 M out of more than 60M

This take is always delusional from the baseline and that's applicable to any game. 1.5mil in 8 weeks is a great result for a family platformer in a new IP on a single platform, plus Astro will have good legs thanks to reception and possible Holiday pricecuts. It's way in the green and company never highlights failures or muted successes in their financials with a special slide.

 

[GHG]

So playstation shipped more this quarter then xbox entire year.

pasterpl doesn't like this.

 

[Killjoy-NL]

Sony needs to fear next years E3 showing from Microsoft. Or maybe the 2026 edition. It's just around the corner. I promise!

Why? MS games will be coming to PS5 as well.

 

[GHG]

Why? MS games will be coming to PS5 as well.

I think that was sarcasm.

(I hope)

 

[Tiago Rodrigues]

Now let’s look at this data without blue tinted glasses;

If I am reading this right without the FX impact they are down 16% in terms of sales YoY. For full year forecast they have negative decrease in first party sales while 3rd party increases. Increase in hardware profit - that sweet margin on PS5 pro


they say that q4 negative was decrease in sales of hardware


Great for Astro bot, but this means that there is chunk of people that do not like Sony first party releases as much as this form loves them.


Definitely not GOTY material with these sales.

This post gave me a headache. The Pro released mid-way this quarter. Why would that reflect on the June / September period?

PS5 being down only 16% is amazing for 2 reasons: Spider-Man 2 bundle that they released in September last year that sold A LOT; 2023 was the peak year for PS hardware sales and the first year without supply issues. They did this without a single huge AAA game and with a price increase in certain places...how is that bad?

And Astrobot is bad news? they literally say 37% of the people that bought the game didn't buy another 1st party game over the past 2 years. That means they figured out a market for these games. That's fucking amazing for these games and they will probably encourage them more.

Sales mean nothing for GOTY nominations and wins. God of War won against Red Dead Redemption 2 and The Last of Us won against GTAV.

You sure didn't read this with blue tainted glasses but did that with green tainted ones.

PS5 shipped more units this quarter than Xbox the entire year. How's that for an actual fact?

 

[Killjoy-NL]

I think that was sarcasm.

(I hope)

Yeah, you might be right.
Can't always tell. Lol

 

[TBiddy]

I think that was sarcasm.

(I hope)

It was. I hoped it was clear enough, but I might need to clarify it, just to be sure.

 

[Tiago Rodrigues]

That Takashi guy just...complimented Playstation? Holy shit. He really had nothing this quarter did he?

 

[ShaiKhulud1989]

That Takashi guy just...complimented Playstation? Holy shit. He really had nothing this quarter did he?

There's no way to spin Q2 this glowing for Sony overall and for PS5 specifically even for Mochizuki. Unless you're pasterpl of course.

 

[Woopah]

These are excellent results, puts them back on track for their hardware target after Q1 was a bit low.

Glad that we got numbers for Astrobot.

 

[PatientGamer]

Great results all around. Whilst others are floundering, PlayStation continues to break new ground.

Selling fewer consoles, but having more concurrent players and increased average order spend is great for their business.

I'm disappointed that Astro has only sold 1.5 million units - that's embarrassingly low. Not for Sony or Team Asobi, but for all the gamers who haven't touched it. Such a good game and what this industry needs. Hopefully it'll have legs and will cement itself as Sony's proper mascot.

I didn't manage to get a PS5 Pro, but judging by what I'm seeing.. it really does look like we're at a proper generational leap from the PS4 days now.

 

[TheThreadsThatBindUs]

What's interesting is the statistic of AstroBot selling to 37% new users that have not played a Sony first party game in the last two years.

This has to be encouraging to Sony, because it suggests there's a new audience of gamer that likes what they see with AstroBot but otherwise may not be a big fan of their other first party games. Just a different type of gamer that may like Nintendo content, for instance.

Hopefully this highlights to Sony that YES, it IS a good idea to go after the "AA" space that diversifies your lineup and that these smaller scale projects are a good idea to pursue even if they don't sell gangbusters like their AAA titles. Collectively it adds up to more new users and they are still individually profitable due to less budgets allocated to them.

 

[jm89]

That Takashi guy just...complimented Playstation? Holy shit. He really had nothing this quarter did he?

Hell has frozen over.

 

[Crispy Gamer]

They'll definitely be well over 70+ million after the holiday season

 

[HeWhoWalks]

Whoever thought otherwise, is a moron.

Concord's failure is but a bump in the road.

I tried telling folks that, but I was hit with “sTuDiEs WiLl sHoW”