Sony has reported record PlayStation engagement for September 2026, with monthly active users reaching 127 million accounts despite ongoing boycott campaigns targeting the company’s hardware and digital distribution policies.
According to Sony’s latest earnings presentation, PlayStation monthly active users increased 7% compared to September 2025, setting a new record for the month. The figure was also 2 million higher than the previous quarter and 8 million above the same period last year.
Total playtime across the PlayStation platform increased 4% year over year during the July to September quarter. Sony said both monthly active users and playtime showed significantly stronger year-over-year trends compared to the first quarter of the fiscal year.
The company believes the results demonstrate that “the baseline of engagement is steadily improving.”
The figures come amid two separate player-led campaigns aimed at pressuring Sony. The “No Disc, No Buy” movement emerged over the summer in response to the company’s plans to discontinue physical game discs in 2028. Supporters have urged consumers to avoid purchasing games without physical releases.
Another campaign, known as “PS Blackout,” encouraged PlayStation owners to stop using their consoles in an attempt to reduce the company’s engagement figures.
However, Sony’s latest results suggest that neither campaign has produced a noticeable decline in overall platform activity. The company did not directly address either movement during its earnings presentation.
Circana analyst Mat Piscatella previously commented on the PS Blackout campaign, saying that “there was no significant change at all in player count or engagement in our tracking” that could be attributed to the protest.
Digital software sales also continued to grow, generating ¥330.8 billion in revenue during the quarter. That was higher than both the previous quarter and the corresponding period in 2025. Physical software sales, meanwhile, contributed ¥43.1 billion.
Looking ahead to the next fiscal year, Sony said it intends to “continue to enhance user engagement and further strengthen monetization through the release of strong titles and the expansion of our service.”
