Sony Group will accelerate production of its PlayStation 5 video game console as supply chain disruptions are reduced and announced plans to expand its portfolio of personal computers and mobile phones.
The PlayStation 5, which went on sale in November 2020, sold less than its predecessor in its second year due to a shortage of components.
It is expected to close this gap and overcome the PS4 installation base in 2023.
“We are planning major increases in console production, which will take us to production levels we had never reached before,” Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO Jim Ryan said in an investor briefing.
Blockades in China continue to create uncertainty in the supply chain, but “things are definitely getting better,” he added.
Sony has forecast PlayStation 5 sales of 18 million units during the business year through the end of March, compared to 11.5 million the previous year.
Ryan said more PC and mobile titles will be offered, in addition to live service games, which offer a continuously updated game.
SEE ALSO: Sony to buy video game developer “Destiny” Bungie for $ 3.6 billion
Mobile titles Half of the new games
While PS4 and PS5 titles are expected to account for more than two-thirds of this year’s releases, PC and mobile titles will account for nearly half of new games in 2025.
“Initiatives to expand our audience … will have a profound effect on the shape of our gaming portfolio,” Ryan said.
With the change, PlayStation aims to keep pace with the changing industry that has seen cloud technology and the rising computing power of smartphones take users away from bulky hardware.
Players also spend more money on free online titles.
Amid much speculation that the metavers, or the idea that users will spend more time in simulated environments, is the future, Ryan said many consumers will continue to play as before.
“There will be many, many individual players who prefer to enjoy the games the way they have been played for the last 30 years or so,” he said.
- Reuters, with additional edition by George Russell
READ MORE:
China has granted the first gaming licenses since July last year
As China’s video game companies hit the line to end the license freeze
Enthusiastic reviews increase Japanese video game creators
George Russell
George Russell is a Hong Kong-based freelance writer and publisher living in Asia since 1996. His work has been published in the Financial Times, The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, New York Post, Variety, Forbes, and South China. Morning Post. .