Summary
Sony has reported stunning figures for its Games & Network Services division, which encompassesPlayStationoperations, reaching a record operating income for the fiscal year that ended on March 31. 2024 was a big year forPlayStationwith releases includingHelldivers 2,Stellar Blade, andAstro Bot. 2025 is gearing up to be even more impressive with several high-profile first-party titles on the roadmap.
Theyear was certainly not without struggles for Sony, having to cut jobs and go through theConcordcatastrophe midway through 2024. However, the company had good receptions for its releases on competitors' platforms, includingMLB The Show 24on various consoles and the likes ofHorizon Zero Dawn RemasteredandGod of War Ragnarokbeing released on PC.
Sony sold 303.3 million games across all platforms, up from 286.3 million the previous year, delivering a record operating income for the fiscal year. It is an impressive feat, considering first-party sales of games fell from 39.7 million to 28.9 million. Fortunately, non-exclusive games and add-on content offered a massive boost, thanks to thestrong performance ofHelldivers 2and others. The number of active PlayStation users grew 5% to 124 million accounts. All this brought the operating income to a new record of $2.84 billion, a massive 855 million increase over the previous year. Overall, Sony’s software sales were strong and carried the division to record profits, although first-party titles weren’t the highlight.
Game Sales Responsible for Record-Setting Year for PlayStation
According to Sony’s earnings figures, the PlayStation segment struggled a bit in the last fiscal quarter compared to the rest of the year. In the last quarter, there was a decrease in both sales and operating income compared to the previous year. Still, both remained comfortably in the green. While hardware sales dropped from 20.8 million PlayStation 5 units in fiscal year 2023 to 18.5 million, software sales helped more than make up the difference.
It was a great fiscal year for PlayStation and the company in general, withSony’s share prices hitting record highsin recent months. In addition to Games & Network Services, the Music division also managed to post a record operating income. The company as a whole saw a 23% growth in operating income, primarily thanks to the Games & Network Services and Imaging & Sensing Solutions divisions.
Sony expects another impressive year from fiscal year 2025, with first-party titles to bring in a much larger portion of the profits. The company predicts an increase in operating income even with a decrease in sales figures, which would mean back-to-back record-setting years. There’s an impressive list of both PlayStation exclusives and releases on competing platforms underway.Stellar Bladereleases on June 11 for PC, withDeath Stranding 2: On the Beach’s big premierejust a couple of weeks after, on June 26.
