Today, PlayStation discussed their 2017 fiscal year in a Sony IR (Investor's Relations) Day presentation. In the report, it was mentioned that as of March 31, 2018 that the PlayStation 4 system had sold 79 million units, with 246 million games sold. Also discussed were the sales of PlayStation VR, which, while successful, fell below market expectations, and that the company would be readjusting their outlook on VR going forward. The main focus for Sony's gaming sector is to bolster the PS4's library by utilizing the company's many intellectual properties. More importance will be put on revitalizing successful IPs from the past, citing existing franchises as a pillar of strengthening sales.

The CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment, John Kodera also claimed that the PlayStation 4 was "reaching the final phase of its life-cycle", which would cause a decrease in profits. From now until the fiscal year ending in March 2021, Kodera expects lower revenue than in previous years, but intends for strong software sales to offset losses. These plans would "allow for a breather while preparing for a bigger leap for PlayStation" afterwards, in 2021.

Source

 

[Deleted User]

i hope we wont see ps5 anytime soon
i just brought ps4 pro 2 months ago.
the graphics are more than enough for me.

 

[GunzOfNavarone]

Well, that is interesting. So either he's saying that the PS5 isn't expected until 2021 or he's saying they will continue to support the PS4 until 2021 regardless of the PS5 (supposedly) launching next year.

 

[drazenm]

How poor ps4 and xbox One game libraries look so far compared to xbox 360/ps4 ones, it would be weird to end the current system cycle already. Doesn't make sense at all, graphics can't look much or any better then they do now and be affordable at the same time. I remember how cocky Sony was when they launched ps4, price was through the roof and they've hit the rock bottom.

 

[dimmidice]

What's the image showing? Profit made per sale of console?

 

[Steena]

i'm hoping the ps5 is a compatible upgrade (hopefully a big one this time around) similar to how the ps4 pro is to the ps4, they would make a huge mistake if they keep resetting the generations with all the problems that come up:

-first 2 years there are no games, mostly just full priced ports, performance is awful, price is still high and some people are waiting to make a purchase
-last 2 years there are no games, devs are prototyping their nextgen titles and waiting for the specs of the new system, nobody wants to buy the system because it becomes completely unable to run any of the new games

in an increasingly multiplatform era and cheap technology, just giving up years of your lifecycle to resets doesn't seem very good anymore.

they need to start planning the design of consoles to be more modular/with hindsight, so the flow of titles is constant and people can be offset by a half generation at all times and still play (most) of the titles, making it a matter of choice as cost/performance with 2-3 models anytime.

 

[DarthDub]

The Pro is only a little over a year and half old. We really don't need a PS5 anytime soon.

 

[ov3rkill]

I just hope FFVII Remake will make it on the PS4 and be moved to PS5.

 

[Foxi4]

I fully expect a backwards-compatible PS5 to be announced 2019, showcased in 2020 and released Holiday 2020/early 2021 - I have for a long time. The PS4 had a great run, but the race for native 4K requires new hardware, hence the PS4 Pro/Xbox One X. People forget that the PS4 was released in 2013 - it's 5 years old now, by that time it'll reach its 7-8th birthday which is the perfect point for a nextgen to enter the scene.

The Pro is only a little over a year and half old. We really don't need a PS5 anytime soon.

The PS4 is a stopgap for 2-4K/higher framerate VR users, there's no dedicated software, so effectively all software is coded for the baseline PS4 by design. There's a successor coming, make no mistake.

 

[gameboy]

ps4 entered its final phase the same year wiiu did back in 2014. only difference was that it had nba and fps support.

 

[Reploid]

And still almost none half-decent games, only shouty 'cinematic' flicks with no plot and no gameplay. modern sony for ya.

 

[Arras]

How poor ps4 and xbox One game libraries look so far compared to xbox 360/ps4 ones, it would be weird to end the current system cycle already. Doesn't make sense at all, graphics can't look much or any better then they do now and be affordable at the same time. I remember how cocky Sony was when they launched ps4, price was through the roof and they've hit the rock bottom.

They've hit rock bottom??? Are you not seeing that profit graph in the first post?

 

[gman666]

What's the image showing? Profit made per sale of console?

Overall profit made every fiscal year. Anything below the line is an initial loss due to production cost. The PS3 was very expensive to produce and cost Sony a huge chunk of profit.

 

[dimmidice]

Overall profit made every fiscal year. Anything below the line is an initial loss due to production cost. The PS3 was very expensive to produce and cost Sony a huge chunk of profit.

Jeez they lost hugely on PS3 then. If it includes software sales and such.

 

[gman666]

Jeez they lost hugely on PS3 then. If it includes software sales and such.

The graph is terrible because it doesn't add much scale. The original production cost of launch PS3's were estimated at $800+ per console. Meanwhile, the launch price was $499. I'm sure Sony is adamant in shortening the gen cycle as much as possible. Considering they suffered loss after loss during the 7th gen console cycle.

 

[DinohScene]

I barely switched to the 8th gen ;/

 

[RedoLane]

I remember that someone said in the forums yesterday that the PS4 is at the "mid point of the lifespan".
Well, whoever that guy is...YOU JINXED IT!

 

[Taleweaver]

It's pretty obvious that at some point, the market will be saturated. I mean...when everyone who wants a PS4 has one, who is still going to buy one?

But in and of itself, I wouldn't see that as a problem. Rather a luxury problem (I'm not sure what the opposite of rock bottom is (rock ceiling? ), but yeah...they've hit that). Lower the amount of PS4 production and focus more on the software...right?

 

[retrofan_k]

End of a life cycle maybe but entering a new phase of kernel exploitation for 5.01/5, which will be better than the previous ones. That will suit me fine

 

[Viri]

Is it just me, or has the exclusives for the PS4 and Xbone been pretty depressing this gen? It felt like last gen had so many more exclusives. I've thought about getting a PS4 pro when the hack came out, but looking at the games, most I can just play on PC, and it felt like a waste of money.