Sponsored By

PS4 still expected top be primary revenue driver for PS Store in 2021

It's been a good fiscal year for Sony Interactive Entertainment, but the PS4 will still be a big revenue driver in the year to come.

Bryant Francis, Senior Editor

May 26, 2021

1 Min Read
Game Developer logo in a gray background | Game Developer

It’s Sony Interactive Entertainment’s investor relations day, which means we get the chance to peek into how Sony’s doing financially in the months after the PlayStation 5’s launch.

Sony’s found itself in a strange spot as the next generation kicks off, and its investor presentation from CEO Jim Ryan reflected that. On the one hand, the PS5 has sold incredibly well, with 7.8 million units sold in the 2020 fiscal year, and about $243 million (2,656 billion Yen) in revenue during the same time period.

On the other hand, PS5 production hasn’t kept up with demand, meaning that the PlayStation 4 will still be a primary driver of revenue for the PlayStation store in 2021.

A slide from Sony’s presentation showed that the company expects the PS4 store to account to 70 percent of store revenue, with releases like Horizon Forbidden West, Far Cry 6, and Resident Evil Village.

Sony’s presentation also contained two other interesting numerical nuggets. First, Sony is continuing to invest “beyond consoles” by bringing games like Uncharted 4 to PC.

And secondly, Sony says more women than ever are part of the PlayStation playerbase. 18 percent of PlayStation 1 owners were women, but the PS4/PS5 userbase is 41 percent female.  

Sony counts both of these data points as part of the strong growth potential for its 2021 and 2022 fiscal years.

For more info from Sony’s investor relations day, you can see Jim Ryan’s full presentation here.

About the Author

Daily news, dev blogs, and stories from Game Developer straight to your inbox

You May Also Like