The PlayStation 5 console has yet to overtake the PlayStation 4 in terms of active users, four years after its release. However, as PlayStation moves all software development to the newer console, is this a major issue for the company?
Since its release in 2020, the PlayStation 5 has received numerous cross-gen exclusives that have been released on both the newer console and the now-eleven-year-old PS4. Horizon: Forbidden West and God of War: Ragnarok both launched across both systems as the generation progressed.
In a recent business meeting, Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO Hideaki Nishino revealed that PlayStation 4 users still make up 50% of the company’s user base with 49 million active players.
With most new AAA releases still available on the old console, many gamers haven’t seen a reason to upgrade to the PlayStation 5. As new titles like Black Ops 6 still receive PS4 ports, there’s little incentive to invest in the new hardware, especially so late into the generation.
In the past, this might have spelled doom for a console manufacturer such as Sony. However, PlayStation 5 users are spending more on average than ever before, making the new generation Sony’s most profitable one yet.
Compared to PS4 players, PS5 gamers spend 176% more on DLC and microtransactions, 57% more on subscriptions, and 34% more on peripherals. On the other hand, PlayStation 5 players are buying fewer full-priced releases than PS4 players, which could result in a shift for Sony’s exclusive lineup.
PlayStation’s exclusive releases have often focused on providing bombastic, cinematic single-player experiences like Uncharted, The Last of Us, or Final Fantasy. But with PS5 players engaging less with full-priced releases, resulting in poor sales of games like Final Fantasy 7: Rebirth and Stellar Blade, Sony’s internal shift towards live-service multiplayer titles like Helldivers 2 makes a lot of sense.
This trend is already planned to continue with new live-service titles already in the works under the PlayStation umbrella. Destiny 2 developer Bungie, now owned by Sony, has already revealed its extraction shooter Marathon, and the studio is also working on a successor to the Destiny franchise.
Despite this, PlayStation’s live-service expansion hasn’t gone particularly well. Infamously, Naughty Dog scrapped its multiplayer spin-off for The Last of Us years into development, and entire studios working on multiplayer titles have been shuttered.
Until PS5 players show a renewed interest in PlayStation’s typical brand of single-player games, Sony’s push towards live-service is likely to continue. While not a bad move for the average gamer, it is a heartbreaking reality for those who love the prestige of PlayStation’s exclusives.