PS5 becomes Sony's most profitable PlayStation with 2x engagement rate over PS4

Gamers are spending more time on PS5, though half of PSN is still on PS4

Sony

Sony revealed that PlayStation 5 had heralded its most profitable console generation yet. The news was shared during a recent corporate strategy meeting discussing the Sony Group's financial earnings and business strategy for the near future. While the PlayStation Network’s monthly active user base is split down the middle between PS4 and PS5, the latter seems to keep players hooked for double the amount of time.

PS5 has generated $106 billion in revenue till date. / Sony

In terms of gameplay hours, Sony claims that PS5 gamers logged over 2.4 billion hours of playtime compared to PS4's 1.4 billion to date. PSN's user base comprises of 49 million PS4 and PS5 users each, and these engagement rates definitely show an impressive long term growth potential for the latter. Sony also states that users are spending more money purchasing games and services on PS5.

PlayStation PC ports will arrive following console-exclusive launch

Ghost of Tsushima was ported to PC four years after its PlayStation debut. / Sucker Punch Productions

During the presentation, Sony also clarified its strategy to attract PC gamers to the PlayStation ecosystem. Hermen Hulst, the newly promoted co-CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment, stated that only live service games will launch on day one on PS5 and PC. Single-player games will continue to be ported after they're launched on PS5 exclusively, as shown by recent ports like Ghost of Tsushima.

"On the live service side, we are releasing out titles simultaneously, so day and date on PlayStation 5 and PC," said Hulst. "But with out tentpole title - our single-player narrative driven titles that are, as you saw on the presentation, the backbone of what PlayStation Studios has delivered in recent years and in our history, we take a more strategic approach. We introduce our great franchises to new audiences, and we're finding new audiences that are potentially going to be very interested in playing, for example, sequels on the PlayStation platform. We have high hopes that we're actually able to bring new players into PlayStation at large but into PlayStation platforms specifically."

Live service games account for half of PSN revenue

51% of PlayStation Store revenue comes from live service games. / Sony

Elsewhere, Sony also revealed that live service games like FIFA, COD, Apex Legends, and Destiny 2 account for over half of revenue earned on the PlayStation Store. That statistic has remained at the same position for three fiscal years in a row at 51%, with a minor burst in FY22 at 53%. As for PlayStation Plus, the company revealed that 35% of users are subscribed to the more expensive PS Plus Extra or Premium/Deluxe tiers, up from 20% last year.

Half of PSN users are still on PS4, but spending more time on PS5. / Sony

As for single-player games, Sony revealed that Marvel's Spider-Man 2 has topped 11 million sales since its launch, while Helldivers 2 has sold over 12 million units combined on PC and PS5.

PlayStation is expected to reveal more about its upcoming games for the second half of 2024 during a State of Play broadcast later today.