Microsoft has “let Blizzard be Blizzard” following its acquisition of the studio last year.
30.03.2024 - 16:21 / videogameschronicle.com / Jim Ryan / Miles Morales / Jordan Middler
Jim Ryan has said that the PlayStation 5 is on track to be Sony’s most successful console “across multiple vectors.”
In an interview on the Official PlayStation Podcast to mark his retirement, Ryan was asked about his thoughts on PlayStation‘s position in the games market going forward.
“I’d say right now we’re at the top of our game,” he replied. “We’ve been really clear and really consistent about what we stand for great consoles, great console gaming experience, and great games. I would say that right now we’re at the top of our game.
“PlayStation 5 is well on track to be our most successful console ever across multiple vectors and I think the games and the gaming experiences you see on PlayStation 5, lead by PlayStation Studios, are the best that we’ve ever seen.”
Ryan wasn’t clear about what vectors he was referring to. While the PlayStation 5 would have to retain its sales strength for years in order to come close to being the company’s best-selling machine, stats like player retention and engagement could be projected to eclipse the same metrics on the PlayStation 4.
In the company’s financial results for the three months ended December 31, 2023, Sony gaming division reported another record quarter in terms of revenue, with PS5 sales reaching 54.7m, but lowered its sales forecast for the year after it fell behind in its lofty hardware target.
Sony Interactive Entertainment had set an ambitious sales target of 25 million PS5s for the year ending March 2024. However, in the latest quarter, it sold 8.2 million consoles, bringing the total for the year so far to 16.4m. The company said it now expects to fall short of its original target by 4 million units (21m).
Sony launched a new PS5 Slim model in November. Once inventory of the launch model has sold out, the Slim console will become the only one available.
Ryan continued, “The number of games we’ve published so far on PlayStation 5 at this point in the cycle, way exceeds anything that we’ve ever done before.”
It’s worth noting that it’s unclear which number Ryan is referring to here, as Sony republished a large number of classic titles on both PS4 and PS5 are part of its retro offering.
While PlayStation Studios has released a large number of exclusive titles in its first four years, it has faced criticism for releasing some of the biggest games, such as God of War Ragnarok, Horizon: Forbidden West, and Spider-Man: Miles Morales on PlayStation 4 as well as PlayStation 5.
Jim Ryan will officially leave Sony on April 1st.
Sony announced in September that Ryan had made the decision to retire in March 2024 after almost thirty years with the PlayStation business.
In his own statement, Ryan cited difficulties juggling his home life in Europe and work
Microsoft has “let Blizzard be Blizzard” following its acquisition of the studio last year.
Blizzard has said that it still has discussions a console version of World of Warcraft.
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Gamers who haven’t upgraded to the PlayStation 5, this is the offer that you’ve been waiting for — the PlayStation 5 Slim Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 bundle for only $450 from Best Buy. The console already costs $500 and the game sells for $70, so you’re looking at savings of $120 if you purchase this bundle. You’re going to have to act fast though — while the supply issues of the PlayStation 5 are a thing of the past, it still flies off the shelves, so if you don’t want to wait for the next restock, you better complete your transaction as soon as possible.
After Google engineers hacked the PlayStation Portal to run PSP games natively, Sony fixed the bug, removing this unintended functionality from its latest handheld. The fix had a helping hand from engineers Andy Nguyen and Calle Svensson when the former said they «responsibly reported the issues to PlayStation,» allowing Sony to find and patch the bug.
Jim Ryan shared one last thing about PlayStation, that was clearly for the fans.
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Sony president, COO and CFO Hiroki Totoki officially begins his role as interim CEO of PlayStation today.