SIE Plans to Release Major Single Player Games on an Annual Basis

Following its financial results presentation, Sony Interactive Entertainment talked more about the PlayStation business. Starting next fiscal year, major single-player game titles will be released regularly on an annual basis, also as a counterbalance to potential live service risks. Meanwhile, Astro Bot has brought new players into the PlayStation ecosystem. Pre-orders for PlayStation 5 Pro are "slightly above" of PS4 Pro.

From the next fiscal year (starting April 2025), Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) will be releasing major single-player game titles on an annual basis. It will begin with Ghost of Yōtei, a sequel to Ghost of Tsushima. "We intend to build an optimal title portfolio during the current mid-range plan period that combines single-player games, which are our strength, and which have a higher predictability of becoming hits due to our proven IP, with live service games that pursue upside while taking on a certain amount of risk upon release," the company states. PlayStation Plus provides a stable revenue base, with revenue up 18% year-on-year (in dollar sales), driven by an increase in average revenue per user, primarily due to a shift to higher service tiers and the impact of price revisions.

SIE said about the two Live Service games released this year, the hit Helldivers 2 and the flop Concord: "We gained a lot of experience and learned a lot from both. (...) We intend to share the lessons learned from our successes and failures across our studios, including in the areas of title development management as well as the process of continually adding expanded content and scaling the service after its release, so as to strengthen our development management system." However, special emphasis is placed on Astro Bot, which was released on 6 September and has sold over 1.5 million copies in nine weeks. Sony emphasises that the game has appealed to different audiences, with younger age groups and families buying the title in particular compared to other titles in the portfolio. "37% of the users who purchased Astro Bot had not purchased a first-party title from us in the last two years."

As well as their own games, two third party games (a new sports title and an action RPG from China) are mentioned as contributing significantly to sales in the last quarter. Neither were named, but it is likely that they were EA Sports College Football 25 and Black Myth: Wukong.

Speaking about the recent requirement for PlayStation accounts to play Sony Interactive Entertainment's PC games, chairman Hiroki Totoki defended the move (via PC Gamer), explaining that it was probably a way of maintaining control over the games and creating a safe environment for all players. Some backlash and criticism was expected.

According to Nikkei, Hiroki Totoki also stated that pre-orders for the PlayStation 5 Pro were "slightly higher" than for the PlayStation 4 Pro at a similar point in time. The comparatively high price is not thought to have had a negative impact on sales so far, as hardcore gamers and enthusiasts are the target audience for this console. The PS5 Pro costs just under €800 at launch. The PS4 Pro was launched in November 2016 for around €400.