Support NeoGAF

[zedinen]

Sony Publishes "Corporate Report 2025"

1.Sony CEO (Hiroki Totoki): Expansion through SP and GaaS

2.G&NS: Sales, Operating Income and Operating Cash Flow (Billion yen)

3.Sony CFO (Lin Tao): In FY24, our strategic investments totaled 514 Billion yen (G&NS 0)

4.Strategic Investment (including flexible share repurchases) FY24-26: 1.8 Trillion yen

5.Share Repurchases, Payout Ratio (FY26 target)

6. G&NS Strategic Direction

7. Sony Group: Sales Breakdown

8. Partial Spin-off: "We plan to distribute over 80% of SFGI shares to our shareholders as a dividend in kind"

 

[Loomy]

Nothing new or outrageous in any of that. More of the same we've seen the last few reports.

This is funny and a little bit sad though. Physical at 3%. Looks like going down 1% every year. The end is nigh

 

[Topher]

 

[semiconscious]

well, great taste in music, that's for sure...

 

[PauloRoberto]

It still surprises me how sony is strong in the MUSIC department, specialy with those royalties acquisitions...

 

[splattered]

Holy crap this had me rolling

 

[Loomy]

It still surprises me how sony is strong in the MUSIC department, specialy with those royalties acquisitions...

They're numer 2 out of 3 in music publishing (#1 is UMG, and #3 is Warner). At this point if the money isn't going to Universal, it's going to Sony.

 

[asdasdasdbb]

It still surprises me how sony is strong in the MUSIC department, specialy with those royalties acquisitions...

Streaming makes them a ton of money since the artists get basically nothing.

 

[Deerock71]

Should've been 1st post.

 

[Tobimacoss]

Nothing new or outrageous in any of that. More of the same we've seen the last few reports.

This is funny and a little bit sad though. Physical at 3%. Looks like going down 1% every year. The end is nigh

Network services is all tiers PS+ correct?

So game sales and MTX revenues are basically 50% of all PlayStation income. How much of that is First party vs Third party?

Hardware is 25% roughly.

What's the Other 10%?

 

[Ashamam]

othing new or outrageous in any of that.

lol, there was the line 'eagerly awaited Marathon'. I mean I'm sure someone eagerly awaits it, so its not an outright lie....

Actually I'd be one eagerly awaiting it if they weren't wasting the rich IP on an extraction shooter...Its criminal.

 

[Loomy]

Network services is all tiers PS+ correct?

So game sales and MTX revenues are basically 50% of all PlayStation income. How much of that is First party vs Third party?

Hardware is 25% roughly.

What's the Other 10%?

We learned during the Epic v. Apple lawsuit that Sony Charges (or at least they did 5 years ago, not sure if they still do) studios to implement Cross-Play.

So that's definitely part of it. They may also charge for partner support through XDev, and god knows what other nickle and diming they're doing these days.

See Felessan 's response below

 

[DownLikeBCPowder]

Single player games, you say?

 

[Felessan]

What's the Other 10%?

As per Supplemental Information for the Consolidated Financial Results - "Others primarily includes revenue from peripherals, including PlayStation®VR" + "Other Software is revenue from sales of first-party titles and other titles published by Sony Interactive Entertainment, including add-on content, onplatforms other than PlayStation® consoles"
(based on numbers its Other+Other Software in report)

We learned during the Epic v. Apple lawsuit that Sony Charges (or at least they did 5 years ago, not sure if they still do) studios to implement Cross-Play.
So that's definitely part of it. They may also charge for partner support through XDev, and god knows what other nickle and diming they're doing these days.

No

 

[Robb]

This is funny and a little bit sad though. Physical at 3%. Looks like going down 1% every year. The end is nigh

 

[yogaflame]

I prefer physical that is why it is sad the state of physical. But i still hope ps6 will continue to support it. And the first party games shown are to few and so much resources wasted on gaas craps.

 

[Seomel]

That upcoming game slide is so sad, theres literally 3 games we know about, Saros, Intergalactic and Wolverine from 1st party. Im really dissapointed how much they bet on live service crap and it now has set them back for years on new games

 

[Panajev2001a]

Network services is all tiers PS+ correct?

So game sales and MTX revenues are basically 50% of all PlayStation income. How much of that is First party vs Third party?

If they go to PC, day and date pushing customers outside of their walled garden, a lot of that (as they are heavily third party dependent) goes up in smoke. They have almost 0% chance to get PC users to pay for PSN+ and buy third party games in their store.

 

[protonion]

When psysical dies I will go pc only.

However explain me this:

80 percent of all US PS5 sales have been for the disc-drive version

97% of consumers go digital and they pay more for the drive version?

I'm at point where I doubt every single thing these companies tells us. As far as I'm concerned they cook the numbers for their own agenda.

Like I never understood Sony's ridiculous pricing policies that killed them in Japan and slowed their sales worldwide at the same time they have record profits. Something doesn't add up.

 

[Rivdoric]

When psysical dies I will go pc only.

However explain me this:

80 percent of all US PS5 sales have been for the disc-drive version

97% of consumers go digital and they pay more for the drive version?

I'm at point where I doubt every single thing these companies tells us. As far as I'm concerned they cook the numbers for their own agenda.

Like I never understood Sony's ridiculous pricing policies that killed them in Japan and slowed their sales worldwide at the same time they have record profits. Something doesn't add up.

Well, maybe the "what if" dilemma ?
What if i want to watch a blu-ray movie, i have no blu-ray movie but still what if i were to have one ?
What if i want to play my legacy DVD collection, i sold them all but what if i were to find one left under my bed ?
What if i want to play my PS4 disc library, woops i forgot i have them all digital but still, if i were to have a PS4 disc one day ?

 

[deriks]

Nothing new or outrageous in any of that. More of the same we've seen the last few reports.

This is funny and a little bit sad though. Physical at 3%. Looks like going down 1% every year. The end is nigh

Even thou "digital software" could mean more than just games, still is a fuck ton more

I guess that we are doomed

 

[Sertyak]

When psysical dies I will go pc only.

However explain me this:

80 percent of all US PS5 sales have been for the disc-drive version

97% of consumers go digital and they pay more for the drive version?

I'm at point where I doubt every single thing these companies tells us. As far as I'm concerned they cook the numbers for their own agenda.

Like I never understood Sony's ridiculous pricing policies that killed them in Japan and slowed their sales worldwide at the same time they have record profits. Something doesn't add up.

Sony counts 100% of the revenue for Digital vs 30% for physical, then it's physical games available at retail vs all digital only games, microtransactions and old games not available anymore at retail. For new games available at retail, the split is closer to 50/50 on playstation, especially in Europe.

So it's all investor bait.

 

[Felessan]

This is funny and a little bit sad though. Physical at 3%. Looks like going down 1% every year. The end is nigh

Actually physical full game sales still 25% of total. It's just "full game sales" becomes less and less in the total pie as f2p occupy more and more.

97% of consumers go digital and they pay more for the drive version?

It's not 97% go digital, it's 3% revenue coming from physical game sales and total revenue include lot of other stuff besides digital full copy software (all hardware, dlc, mtx etc)
Actual split is 25%/75% by units and that include a lot of digital-only stuff like cheap indies on PSN.

 

[tanners]

When psysical dies I will go pc only.

However explain me this:

80 percent of all US PS5 sales have been for the disc-drive version

97% of consumers go digital and they pay more for the drive version?

I'm at point where I doubt every single thing these companies tells us. As far as I'm concerned they cook the numbers for their own agenda.

Like I never understood Sony's ridiculous pricing policies that killed them in Japan and slowed their sales worldwide at the same time they have record profits. Something doesn't add up.

Maybe, just maybe
The disc drive in PS5 not only could play PS5 physical copy,but also BD/DVD movies and PS4 discs

 

[Scrawnton]

Maybe, just maybe
The disc drive in PS5 not only could play PS5 physical copy,but also BD/DVD movies and PS4 discs

Yup this. I have a decent blu ray and 4k blu ray collection of my favorite movies and anime and I need a disc drive for it, even though my PS5 game purchases are digital.

I can't enjoy the streaming artifacts both visually and audibly when I'm trying to sit and enjoy a movie.

 

[Tiago Rodrigues]

Nothing new or outrageous in any of that. More of the same we've seen the last few reports.

This is funny and a little bit sad though. Physical at 3%. Looks like going down 1% every year. The end is nigh

This is why when people think Sony will one day invest in PC as much as consoles (so steam releases) i always have to laugh a bit. Doing that, it would kill those 30% of "add-on content", hardware is apparently 24% which i never expected...and digital software another 20%.

Their entire strategy is dependent of their own platform, their own PS store, etc...so unless they find a way for people to be on PC by using their ecosystem and outside of steam, that's never happening. Those steam releases will always be an extra for them. Their biggest business is those microstransactions

 

[vkbest]

This is why when people think Sony will one day invest in PC as much as consoles (so steam releases) i always have to laugh a bit. Doing that, it would kill those 30% of "add-on content", hardware is apparently 24% which i never expected...and digital software another 20%.

Their entire strategy is dependent of their own platform, their own PS store, etc...so unless they find a way for people to be on PC by using their ecosystem and outside of steam, that's never happening. Those steam releases will always be an extra for them. Their biggest business is those microstransactions

You forget the 3% from Physical sales and 14% from PS+. It's clear Sony want get their own Fortnite/Genshin so they can stop their dependence from Playstation hardware. The question is if they will get that before they kill their own business with those retarded decisions lately.

 

[Felessan]

You forget the 3% from Physical sales and 14% from PS+.

And 7% part of Other (accessories)
Basically all those "go third party, sell on other platforms" now contribute just 3% of GNS revenue.

 

[Tiago Rodrigues]

You forget the 3% from Physical sales and 14% from PS+.

I decided to only mention the biggest 3 segments. But honestly...this shows Sony could decrease the PS5 hardware and don't do it to keep these numbers up and it sucks to witness. Its moves like this you can tell Playstation is now ruled by suits. Old school Sony would play the long game and realize having a big userbase long term is the way to go.

 

[vkbest]

And 7% part of Other (accessories)
Basically all those "go third party, sell on other platforms" now contribute just 3% of GNS revenue.

No way they get 3% from PC sales when Physical copies is that 3%. Only Monster Hunter moves more physical sales they got digital sales on Steam.

 

[BeardSpike]

Should've been 1st post.

This or

 

[Felessan]

No way they get 3% from PC sales when Physical copies is that 3%. Only Monster Hunter moves more physical sales they got digital sales on Steam.

Not only PC sales, switch and xbox too (MLB. Destiny. Lego etc)
And yes, Sony get more revenue from other platforms than from physical sales. But there is a catch - for physical 3rd party games Sony recognize only royalties and for digital they recognize full price, so compare revenue vs revenue is very misleading. You should multiply physical by roughly 6 iirc to get comparable number to digital.
Physical vs digital is 1:10 in terms of revenue (due to different accounting treatment) but units are 1:3 even though there are lots of digital only games.

 

[vkbest]

Not only PC sales, switch and xbox too (MLB. Destiny. Lego etc)

What are your sources? No way they get more sales from 10-15 old games in 2 or 3 platforms than the full PS5/PS4 catalog.

 

[Baemono]

 

[PlayStaytion]

That upcoming game slide is so sad, theres literally 3 games we know about, Saros, Intergalactic and Wolverine from 1st party. Im really dissapointed how much they bet on live service crap and it now has set them back for years on new games

Gaas will work with Sony only when key creators with proven track record has decided to work with them. The fact that it didn't work with them before proves it's pretty much a zero-sum game.

 

[Saber]

Doubling down on the GaaS strategy that failed before? Bold strategy.

 

[Tiago Rodrigues]

Doubling down on the GaaS strategy that failed before? Bold strategy.

You want Sony to keep investing only in single player games? A genre that sells less and less each year that goes by? (even if i hate it, it's true)

 

[kruis]

I applaud Sony for investing in GaaS, the more the better -- because I want them to fail horribly at every one of those titles and learn an important lesson the hard way: never lose sight of who your actual customers are.

 

[Hector Hall]

When psysical dies I will go pc only.

However explain me this:

80 percent of all US PS5 sales have been for the disc-drive version

97% of consumers go digital and they pay more for the drive version?

I'm at point where I doubt every single thing these companies tells us. As far as I'm concerned they cook the numbers for their own agenda.

Like I never understood Sony's ridiculous pricing policies that killed them in Japan and slowed their sales worldwide at the same time they have record profits. Something doesn't add up.

The data is not homogeneous, and skewed against phisical.

Sony is giving the % of income.

Things is, for phisical third party games it's income is only the royalty, that's the 12% of the price.

While on digital, it accounts 100% as income because that's what it receives as owner of the store (they have to pay for the 70% to publisher later on)..

In units it's really the 78/22 we have been seeing last quarters, and in big releases phisical still has 40% or even 50% some as Astrobot.

 

[FUBARx89]

Live service - "Sony continues to cultivate it's live service expertise, showcasing recurring success with MLB The Show, HELLDIVERS 2, Gran Turismo, And Destiny 2, and preparing for the eagerly anticipated Marathon"

Lol. Okay Sony, you keep telling yourself Bungie is winning. Not that D2 is in the shitter right now and Marathon has been a gigantic disaster thus far.

I thought they said they'd learnt lessons from Concord. Certainly doesn't appear they've learnt anything.

 

[Topher]

You want Sony to keep investing only in single player games? A genre that sells less and less each year that goes by? (even if i hate it, it's true)

Single player sales are going to drop when single player developers stop making single player games so they can chase Gaas gold. Is gaming better off or worse because of that? And since when has Sony had a problem selling their first party single player games?

But yes.....I want PlayStation to be true to what made PlayStation so successful in the first place and it damn sure wasn't Gaas.

 

[Tiago Rodrigues]

Single player sales are going to drop when single player developers stop making single player games so they can chase Gaas gold. Is gaming better off or worse because of that? And since when has Sony had a problem selling their first party single player games?

But yes.....I want PlayStation to be true to what made PlayStation so successful in the first place and it damn sure wasn't Gaas.

Actually most sequels jow aren't selling as much as their predecessors and its not just a Sony thing… in a time costs are getting bigger and bigger

 

[Physiognomonics]

This year they removed game revenue beyond console. Meaning they don't want people to see the actual pitiful PC sales from their first part studios.

And Kojima Studios doesn't belong to Sony.

 

[Topher]

Actually most sequels jow aren't selling as much as their predecessors and its not just a Sony thing… in a time costs are getting bigger and bigger

Not selling as much as the previous game doesn't mean it sold poorly.

 

[Saber]

You want Sony to keep investing only in single player games?

Yeah, because investing heavy on GaaS has being worked alot for them, right?
If they and some people could take away their head in the sand at least they would think that singleplayer games don't resume aways in big ass AAA games.
Do remasters, remakes of old games while working on a few AAA games and they should be fine. Theres alot of old titles that Sony somehow pretend they don't exist and instead keep focusing on what? Relaunching LoU every year.

 

[Kacho]

Doubling down on the GaaS strategy that failed before? Bold strategy.

They have to unfortunately. They need to be prepared for a potential future without Fortnite and COD.

 

[kaizenkko]

Actually most sequels jow aren't selling as much as their predecessors and its not just a Sony thing… in a time costs are getting bigger and bigger

Honestly, I don't know what the basis of your argument is.

God of War Ragnarok, Spider-Man 2, and even Horizon Forbidden West all sold more than their predecessors when comparing the same time period. God of War Ragnarok sold 11 million copies in 3 months — something the 2018 God of War only achieved nearly a year after launch.

Sony's investment in GAAS has nothing to do with weak sales of single-player games. Their investment is obvious, regardless of what most people on this forum may say: they are investing in a segment in which they have no current presence, aiming to diversify their portfolio. And at the same time, they are continuing to invest in the type of games that most of their active users prefer to play.

We can all disagree with that and point out Sony's many questionable decisions regarding live-service games, but their investments in this area are not just obvious — they are strategic. Sony was the only major publisher in the market without a major hit in this segment.

 

[Men_in_Boxes]

But yes.....I want PlayStation to be true to what made PlayStation so successful in the first place...

What made them successful in the first place: Reading the market and delivering on it's preferences.

 

[Hector Hall]

Playstation Studios multiplattform sales outside Playstation will still be counted as Other Software in quarter results .

But they have removed it as a strategic area to follow and measure success. They probably see the prospects of it growing as quite weak and don't want to associate their executive bonus or perceived success to it anymore.

That doesn't mean there won't be any more ports, but executives won't aggressively pursue them to push their bonus.