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Sony Focusing On PSN & PS4 Games Until 2021
In a mid-term corporate-strategy report, Sony CEO Kenichiro Yoshida laid out the company's expectations for the PS4 and the overall Game & Network Services division from now until March 31, 2021. During this time, services and software are expected to drive revenue, not hardware sales.
The company says PSN currently generates annual sales of a trillion yen with 80 million monthly active users, and that PS Plus paid subscriptions have been growing from year to year – sitting at 34.2 million at the end of fiscal year 2017.
Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO John Kodera said that gamers can expect more new IPs as well as "franchising successful IPs and refreshing existing IPs," according to Wall Street Journal reporter Takashi Mochizuki.
In regards to other PS4 sectors, Kodera said that PSVR, while growing, is below market expectations, and TV streaming service PS Vue is facing stiff competition. Improvement is needed from both areas within a realistic outlook.
[Source: Takashi Mochizuki via Gamesindustry.biz, Sony]
Our Take
Everyone wants to know when the PS5 is coming out, but now is the time for Sony to leverage the great position the PS4 is currently in. I'm excited that the company plans to use the years leading up to 2021 focusing on games – particularly new IP – which could set up the PlayStation brand nicely for the future. Let's not forget, one of Sony's greatest properties – The Last of Us – came out at the end of the PS3's life cycle. This shows that we shouldn't always be in a hurry to move on to the next system.
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