After sales of the PlayStation 5 failed to meet expectations, Sony has said the console is entering “the latter stage of its life cycle.”
Sony had set an ambitious target of 25 million PS5s sold during the current financial year ending March 31, 2025, but has now revised its forecast down to 21 million after PS5 sales during the crucial holiday 2023 quarter came in lower than expected despite aggressive promotions. Sony sold 8.2 million PS5s during the third quarter of its current financial year ending December 31, 2024, up from 7.1 million sold during the same quarter the previous year, but that was not enough to hit Sony’s lofty target.
According to Bloomberg, Sony senior vice president Naomi Matsuoka said the company expects the sales pace of the PS5 to start falling from the next fiscal year, which begins April 2024 and runs until the end of March 2025.
“Looking ahead, PS5 will enter the latter stage of its life cycle,” Matsuoka is quoted as saying. “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 PS5 launched November 2020 during the height of the pandemic, and has now sold 54.7 million in just over three years. This November the console turns four years old, and with Sony now saying it has perhaps passed its peak, thoughts will inevitably turn to the next-generation and the PS6.
One game that may be set for the PS6 as a launch title is Hideo Kojima’s return to the action-espionage genre, Physint. Kojima has said work on the game is expected to begin “in earnest” at Kojima Productions after Death Stranding 2 and in partnership with Sony. Death Stranding 2 has a 2025 release window, and, based on Sony’s latest comments, probably won’t come out before April 2025. Physint wouldn’t then be expected until 2026 at the earliest, possibly 2027 or 2028. The PS4 came out November 2013. The PS5 came out seven years later, in November 2020. If this pattern repeats itself, the PS6 will come out November 2027.
Elsewhere, Sony has said it will not release any major existing PlayStation franchise games before April 2025, ruling out big sequels in the God of War and Spider-Man franchises any time soon.
Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.