Sony has issued a report for the second quarter ended September 30, 2022. Although the company’s gaming revenue continued to grow, its profit significantly declined due to increased costs and other factors.

PlayStation profit drops almost 50% in Q2, while revenue continues to grow

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Sony’s gaming revenue

  • The Games & Network Services (G&NS) segment reached ¥720.7 billion ($4.87 billion) in revenue in Q2 FY2022, which is up 11.6% year-over-year.
  • PlayStation generated ¥179.2 billion ($1.21 billion) from hardware sales, which include revenue from PS4 and PS5 consoles.
  • Game sales amounted to ¥369.9 billion ($2.5 billion).
  • Add-on content (DLCs and in-game purchases) accounted for around 50.8% of this sum, followed by sales of digital (39%) and physical (10%) copies.
  • Network services (PS Network, PS Plus, PS Now, and advertising revenue) reached ¥117 billion ($791 million).

Other financial results

  • G&NS operating income (profit) was ¥42.1 billion ($284.7 million), which is down 49% year-over-year.
  • When looking at results for the first half of the fiscal year, operating profit fell 42.7% year-over-year to ¥94.9 billion ($641 million).
  • G&NS revenue increased 5% year-over-year to ¥1.32 trillion ($8.96 billion).
  • The company also raised revenue forecast for the entire fiscal year ending March 31, 2023 by ¥10 billion to ¥3.62 trillion ($24.4 billion).
  • The operating income forecast, however, was cut by ¥30 billion to ¥225 billion ($1.52 billion).

Why is Sony’s gaming profit falling?

When it comes to PlayStation’s operating income, the company listed several major reasons for the decline:

  • Increase in costs for game development;
  • ¥17.4 billion ($117.6 million) that was recorded as expenses related to acquisitions completed during the first half of FY2022, including the $3.6 billion Bungie deal;
  • High ratio of US dollar-denominated costs due to foreign exchange rates;
  • Decrease in sales of non-exclusive games, including DLCs.

Decrease in losses from hardware was the only positive factor cited by Sony.


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