It sounds like all is not well at Sony studio Firesprite, which the platform holder acquired in 2021. Despite moving into expensive new digs in its home city of Liverpool, a Eurogamer report paints an extremely grim picture of the outfit, which is allegedly bleeding staff and lost its managing director Graeme Ankers suddenly last May.
Sony Addresses Possibility of PS5 Price Drop
15.02.2024 - 19:52 / gamerant.com / Hiroki Totoki / Price Drop / Dominik Bo / Sony
Treating the PlayStation 5 to a significant discount would be «very difficult» to do right now, a senior Sony official has said. That remark was attached to a wider explanation for why the PS5 hasn't gotten any more affordable since first hitting the market in 2020.
Not only did the ninth-generation console maintain its price for nearly three and a half years and counting, it has even gotten more expensive in numerous markets since its debut. This happened ahead of its two-year release anniversary, when Sony increased the price of the PS5 in dozens of countries. The only major market unaffected by the move was the United States. The price hike was highly controversial among consumers, especially since it coincided with Sony finally overcoming the pandemic-induced supply chain issues responsible for global PS5 shortages, which prevented many from getting their hands on the console until then.
Despite the fact that the PS5 has now officially entered the «latter stage» of its life cycle, the chances of it receiving a significant price cut in the foreseeable future are slim. That's according to Sony CFO Hiroki Totoki, who said as much during a conference call with investors following the publication of the company's latest financial report. As first reported by IGN, Totoki explained that the process of shrinking the PS5 die size would be much harder (i.e., more expensive) than it was with its predecessor, concluding that a major consumer-facing price cut is hence «very difficult» to achieve.
The investor call also saw Totoki outright say that the company does not want to rely on discounts to maintain its business momentum, stating that Sony instead wants «a nice balance» between console sales, user engagement, and profitability. His comments were offered shortly after the group reduced its annual PS5 sales forecast to 21 million units, down from its previously projected 25 million. Sony also said that no new entries in major PlayStation franchises will be released until at least spring 2025, further diminishing investor confidence in its near-term console sales prospects.
The company's stock dropped by nearly seven points in after-hours trading following the February 14 financial report and has recovered one-fifth of that loss the following day. In spite of the lowered PS5 hardware forecast, Sony posted record quarterly revenue of $24.9 billion for the December quarter. The sales of its latest console have also increased to 8.2 million units in the three-month period ending December 2023, a 15% boost compared to the previous year.
Totoki was previously on record as stating that the 2022 price hike did not hurt the PS5 demand. Some 18 months later, the PS5 is around 18 million units behind the historical sales
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