During the quarterly financial conference call, Sony CEO Hiroki Totoki and CFO Lin Tao talked about the state of the PlayStation business and the strategy and targets going forward.
Totoki-san mentioned during the livestreamed presentation that the PlayStation business is doing “extremely well.” The expansion of PS5, both in the number of active users and in spend per user, is “is “expected to continue and drive steady profit.”
Looking ahead, Sony seeks to capitalize on its momentum to drive “stable, profitable growth” and “invest thoughtfully to create the future of play.”
Sony expects to see stable growth in revenue of profits for the network business due to the growth of monthly users corresponding to the further expansion of the PS5 installed base.
Specifically, the company expects higher revenue and profits from PlayStation Plus and aims to maximize ARPU (average revenue per user) of the PlayStation Store through personalization and pricing optimization.
In the current fiscal year (between April 2025 and March 2026), Sony expects further growth for its first-party studios business due to user expansion driven by single-player narrative games like Ghost of Yōtei and live service games like Marathon, on top of the continued success of games that have already been launched and ongoing live services like Helldivers 2 and Destiny 2.
Sony also plans to focus on “stronger, profitable peripherals,” such as PlayStation Portal, on which the recently introduced beta cloud streaming allows users to enjoy games on the go more easily.
Totoki-san also mentioned Sony’s responses to the tariffs imposed by the United States, explaining that PlayStation has been making preparations, such as diversifying PS5 Hardware production sites and stockpiling inventory in the US.
The company expects to implement additional measures at the appropriate time, after assessing any changes in the situation going forward.
Responding to a question later in the call, Tao mentioned that Sony produces PS5 and its peripherals in four countries. While a large part of said production is in China, the supply chain has been diversified.
She also added that, at the moment, the inventory present in the US is enough for three months of distribution.
Tao mentioned that during the past 14 quarters, monthly active users for PlayStation have always been increasing year-on-year. PS4 continues to be used actively, and that’s a pretty conspicuous difference from previous generational shifts.
As the installed base of PS5 continues to increase, the transition from PS4 to PS5 will continue to happen, on top of the influx of many new users. That’s why Tao is confident that monthly active users will continue to increase even if PS5 sales may slow down.
She also added that in the current fiscal year (between April 2025 and March 2026), Sony expects to ship 15 million PS5 units, which would bring the total lifetime sales for the console as of March 31, 2026, to 92.7 million units.
That being said, she cautioned that this prediction isn’t set in stone because there is a lot of uncertainty in the market environment, including the tariffs.
As such, rather than looking at unit sales as a key metric, the company wants to look at the entire market and have a flexible approach to shipments. To a further question, Tao mentioned that the focus has shifted from PS5 units sold to monthly active users, which she indicated as a “major change in policy.”
Focusing on engagement and monthly active users rather than units sold is leading to profitability.
Speaking of the current fiscal year’s first-party lineup, Tao mentioned that Sony expects Ghost of Yōtei and Death Stranding 2 to do well among the fans since they’re sequels. Marathon involves a margin of risk since it’s a new genre for the company, so Sony has included reasonable expectations for it in its forecasts.
Sony is also expecting solid performance for third-party games, and has not included any revenue from GTA6 in its forecasts, since it has been delayed to May 2026, which is beyond the end of the fiscal year.
Tao also explained what has been changed recently
Answering a question from the Media, Totoki-san mentioned that manufacturing the PS5 in the United States is something that would have to be carefully considered going forward, and the situation isn’t that critical for now.
If you’d like to read more about Sony Interactive Entertainment’s financial performance, you can check out our dedicated article from earlier today.
