A recent report by journalist Stephen Totilo, available through a paid subscription to GameFile, has caused significant discussion about how well Sony’s in-house game studios are performing on the PlayStation 5.
Totilo analyzed the yearly financial reports from the platform owners and found that sales of their own games are going down.
After seeing how fans reacted on social media, it seems many are missing important details and quickly forming opinions based on what they already believe.
In his graph, Totilo shows the total sales of first-party games each year, from FY18 through FY25.
He highlights the significant difference in sales figures between 2020, when the pandemic began, and 2024, the year Astro Bot and Concord were released.
In fiscal year 2020, the company sold 58.4 million units directly to consumers. However, sales fell to 28.9 million units in fiscal year 2024, which is less than half the amount sold four years prior.
I think what Totilo is getting at is that these falling sales numbers are just confirming what a lot of us PlayStation fans have been feeling – that something hasn’t been quite right with Sony’s gaming division lately. It’s like the numbers are finally backing up the idea that their performance has been a little off.
While I agree it plays a role, I think that’s a simplistic way of looking at the data, and there are deeper issues at play.
Sony’s business approach has shifted significantly since the release of the PlayStation 5. It’s important to note that these figures only reflect the number of consoles sold, not the total amount of money earned.
Here’s the important context that immediately came to my mind:
The games are more expensive
When the PlayStation 5 launched, Sony started charging $70 for its exclusive, high-profile games, starting with the game Demon’s Souls.
There have been fewer games
Towards the end of the PlayStation 4’s lifespan, Sony released a lot of exclusive games. They also experimented with new ways to play, like virtual reality with PSVR and social party games through PlayLink – remember those?
It stopped publishing indie games
During the PlayStation 3 and 4 generations, Sony published a lot of smaller, independent games, such as Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture and Alienation. More recently, they’ve allowed specialized indie publishers like Annapurna Interactive – which was actually started by former Sony Santa Monica Studio developers – to take the lead in that market.
The discounts don’t run as deep
During the PlayStation 4 era, Sony frequently offered significant discounts on its games. For example, God of War has been available for as little as $9.99 on the PlayStation Store, while God of War Ragnarok’s lowest digital price was $19.99. Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 has also seen discounts, but hasn’t dropped below $29.39 when purchased digitally.
PS Plus Extra was introduced
Honestly, I think PlayStation Plus Extra, which came out in 2022, has kind of taken the place of big sales. Now, instead of heavily discounted games, Sony adds their own first-party titles to the Extra library a few years after release. They were feeling the heat from Xbox Game Pass back then, so they tried adding Horizon Forbidden West to the service faster than usual. But it actually hurt sales – they said they saw numbers flatline and estimated the loss at around $85 million. It was a pretty big gamble that didn’t really pay off.
The industry has changed
Sony has noticed that most of its players spend the bulk of their time playing a few popular, long-lasting games, such as Fortnite and Grand Theft Auto V. This trend has become even more pronounced with the release of the PlayStation 5.
The end of the PS4 generation was unprecedentedly strong
During the final year of the PlayStation 4’s lifespan, Sony released some of its most critically acclaimed games, such as The Last of Us Part II and Ghost of Tsushima.
I believe the quality of Sony’s exclusive games has generally decreased during the PlayStation 5 era, but I expect things to improve with upcoming titles like Marvel’s Wolverine, the next God of War game from Santa Monica Studio, and Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet.
I still think the game’s maker really missed the mark with how they’ve supported the game after launch, despite having a good overall plan. We can see this by looking at how much time players are spending on successful, constantly updated games like Apex Legends and Genshin Impact.
However, I believe it’s crucial to consider the broader context. Focusing solely on a decrease in units doesn’t give us the complete picture.
Changes like the addition of PS Plus Extra, a reduction in big sales, and publishing fewer games overall – whether these were good choices or not – significantly impact the numbers we’re seeing.
Deals that combine a console with a game, which have been rare with the recent increase in prices, are significantly affecting the sales numbers. For example, in November 2018, a PlayStation 4 bundled with Marvel’s Spider-Man sold for just $200. We haven’t seen a comparable deal for the PlayStation 5, and that’s lowering the number of first-party games being sold.
The current trend is worrying, but it’s important to consider the bigger picture before drawing conclusions from the data.
I generally agree with Totilo’s point of view: I don’t think Sony’s own game studios have been performing at their best this generation, and I’m hoping to see that change in the remaining years of the PS5’s lifespan – and hopefully, today’s State of Play is a good start.
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2026-06-02 16:07