Disappointing News: PS5 Entering 'Latter Stage Of Its Life Cycle,' According to Sony
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Sony’s recent third-quarter earnings announcement on February 14 brought some unexpected and somewhat disheartening news for PlayStation fans. Not only did the company reveal that there will be no new titles from its major franchises for the rest of 2024, but it also indicated that the PlayStation 5 is approaching the final phase of its life cycle.
Bloomberg’s report on the earnings call highlighted Sony's projection that PS5 sales will decline in the next fiscal year, which runs from April 2024 to March 2025. Naomi Matsuoka, Sony's Senior Vice President, stated, “Looking ahead, PS5 will enter the latter stage of its life cycle. As such, we will put more emphasis on the balance between profitability and sales. For this reason, we expect the annual sales pace of PS5 hardware will start falling from the next fiscal year.”
The PlayStation 5, launched in November 2020, faced unprecedented challenges in its early years due to global supply chain issues. These shortages made it incredibly difficult to obtain a PS5 for nearly two years. When available, the consoles were often bought up by resellers and sold at significantly marked-up prices. It wasn’t until 2023 that the PS5 became more accessible, with PlayStation President Jim Ryan reassuring gamers at CES that “everyone who wants a PS5 should have a much easier time finding one at retailers globally, starting from this point forward.” Despite the hurdles, Sony confirmed that 54.7 million PS5 units have been sold since its launch—a respectable figure, though still lagging behind the 139 million Nintendo Switches sold since 2017.
Traditionally, gaming consoles have a life cycle of about seven years. However, the Nintendo Switch's enduring popularity has shown that this isn’t a strict rule. Under normal circumstances, Sony’s focus on the next generation wouldn’t be surprising. However, the PS5’s widespread availability only began in earnest in 2023, making it feel like the current generation of gaming has just begun. Coupled with the lack of major first-party releases in the near future, this news is somewhat discouraging for PS5 owners and fans.
Sony’s announcement comes at a turbulent time for the gaming industry. January saw significant layoffs across various companies, and February brought rumors that Xbox might start porting its games to Sony and Nintendo platforms—or even cease making hardware altogether—amid slower-than-expected Game Pass growth. (We may learn more about this in Xbox’s upcoming “business update” podcast on February 15.) Meanwhile, many are eagerly awaiting news of a potential Switch 2 reveal from Nintendo.