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Sony has confirmed they are fundamentally changing their PlayStation business.
Sony Senior Vice President Sadahiko Hayakawa spoke in their latest financial meeting. He said this:
In the gaming business, we are moving away from a hardware centric business model more to a platform business that expands the community and increases engagement.
What Does All Of That Mean?
Genki_JPN interpreted this as part of Sony’s broader push in IP creation. Sony will now focus on their music and movie businesses. That also means consumer tech like TVs and cameras.
Sony has yet to provide their official translation/transcription for these comments. We will update this report when it comes live.
But Sony Said More Than That
Of course, most gamers will interpret “moving away from a hardware centric business model” to mean moving away from PlayStation consoles. Does that mean they won’t make a PlayStation 6? Are they stopping making PlayStation 5 consoles too? Is Sony becoming a third party?
We don’t have to wildly speculate what Sony ‘really’ means though. They also explained how their business is doing in their main financial report. Their presentation says this on page 10:
In our studio business, our live service game revenue is steadily growing thanks to the MLB The Show series, Destiny 2 and Helldivers 2, and it contributed more than 40% of our first-party software revenue during the quarter.
The report also cites their upcoming single player title Ghost of Yōtei and the recently released Death Stranding 2: On The Beach. Sony is not forgetting or disparaging their AAA single player games in this report. But Sony makes it clear that live service is now a big part of their business.
Hold On; Why Is MLB: The Show In There?
Some fans will say they have ‘moved the goalposts’ to add MLB: The Show. But if you didn’t know, add MLB: The Show is also heavily monetized. An in-game currency called Stubs can buy player cards, stadiums, uniforms, etc, to use throughout the game.
It’s the same model EA uses for their sports games. There is no question that MLB: The Show is live service. And now that Sony publishes it on all platforms they can, it’s also become a much bigger success.
It All Makes Sense Now
This explains why Sony brought Helldivers 2 to Xbox Series X|S. It also explains why they’re looking for a Senior Director of Multiplatform & Account Management.
Even if Sony fumbled Concord, and they might also fumble Marathon, this won’t discourage them from live service. Sony doesn’t talk to their investors the way they do to gamers.
Sony didn’t say anything about stopping PlayStation consoles at all. But they definitely see the money in publishing their games in all platforms, not just their consoles. Their ‘platform’ will probably be just like Xbox’s: an account that you can use in PlayStation, PC, other consoles, maybe even mobile.
At this point, it’s only a matter of which games, where, and when. We no longer have to ask if they will be doing it.
