Sony has vowed to aggressively invest in first-party games and work on more partnerships with external studios to improve their software output.
When it comes to first-party games, Sony has been quite successful during the PlayStation 4 generation. They have launched some new IPs while bringing their marque franchises to the spotlight as well. They are continuing to invest in their first-party studios and have high expectations ahead with games like the God of War sequel, Horizon Forbidden West, and Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart.
In a conference call after releasing their latest earnings, Sony’s chief financial officer Hiroki Totoki talked about their upcoming sales forecast. Sony is expecting their next fiscal year to be as strong as this one, which was set a new record for them. They are expecting sales to be up 9% which should be driven by the growth of the PS5. They know the semiconductor shortage is affecting stock and shipments but they are still hoping to achieve more than 14.8 million sales in a fiscal year. This record was previously set by the PS4 in its launch year.
Sony is investing 184 million to bolster the development at their Sony Worldwide Studios. They are also creating more partnerships with external studios like Haven Entertainment, which was recently announced to be developing a new IP for PlayStation under the direction of Jade Raymond. Other examples include a new IP from ex-Bungie developers which is a multiplayer AAA game exclusive to PlayStation.
PS5 has continued to set a new sales record for Sony despite the stock and manufacture issues. It has now sold over 7.8 million units placing it above the PS4 during a similar time frame. Sony is also enjoying a boost in digital sales and a strong first-party output with continued sales of games like The Last of Us Part 2 and Ghost of Tsushima.
