PlayStation 5 has been dominating UK console over the past year, and in particular the last six months.
26.10.2023 - 16:35 / videogameschronicle.com / Eric Lempel / Of Its / Sony
Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) is expecting one of the strongest seasons ever for PlayStation console sales this holiday.
That’s according to SIE senior vice president and head of global marketing Eric Lempel, who told Barron’s (via Resetera) that this will be the first Christmas shopping season that anyone who wants to buy a PS5 will be able to find one.
“Our outlook on PlayStation 5 is really strong,” he said. “We’re expecting one of the strongest seasons in our history in terms of console sales.
“It’s a combination of the great product we have and the titles that have released since launch—as well as most recently with Marvel’s Spider-Man 2.”
Released last week, Spider-Man 2 is the fastest selling PlayStation Studios game in history, shifting 2.5 million copies in its first 24 hours, according to Sony.
Lempel also described VR as a meaningful business for Sony, but one that is yet to reach its’s potential.
“The VR category is important to us. It’s a category that can help us with innovation,” he said. “It’s never going to be the only way people play games, but I’m happy that we’re in it. There are great experiences to be had and consumers really like it. But it’s a nascent business for us.”
Sony said in July that PS5 sales had topped 40 million worldwide. PS4 remains its fastest-selling console to reach the milestone, having hit 40 million sales two months sooner, but it didn’t face the same Covid-related supply issues that checked PS5’s momentum.
The company is aiming to ship 25 million PS5 consoles during its current fiscal year ending in March 2024. If achieved, it would beat a 25-year-old console sales record set when the original PlayStation shipped 22.6 million units over a 12-month period.
Sony will release a PS5 Slim in November. Like the launch model, the new one will be available in standard and Digital editions. According to the company, the new console has been reduced in volume by more than 30%, and in weight by 18% and 24% respectively compared to the current one.
Unlike the launch model, the new PS5 Digital Edition will support an attachable Blu-ray disc drive, which can be purchased separately.
PS5 Slim is expected to debut on November 8, with Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 and Modern Warfare 3 bundles on the way.
PlayStation 5 has been dominating UK console over the past year, and in particular the last six months.
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By Wes Davis, a weekend editor who covers the latest in tech and entertainment. He has written news, reviews, and more as a tech journalist since 2020.
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Esports and gaming organisation 100 Thieves has announced another round of layoffs.
Serious question here: With all of the games that came out in October (seriously, it felt like we had at least a dozen major games releases), was it actually possible for anyone to have played all of them? That’s a question that can easily apply to the whole year, as well — could anyone actually play all (or even most) of the amazing games that came out this year? I mean, the obvious answer is no, unless they’re paid to, but that’s my point. With so many games that came out this year, even a gamer that is excited for and would like to play all of them will have to prioritize certain titles over others, as a form of triage. The reason that’s important is because I fear that some great or even good games haven’t received the fair shake that they should have this year.
With solid state drives being more popular than ever, the wholesale prices of the chips they use (NAND flash) have been slowly rising since the middle of summer. However, it looks like Samsung wants to ramp things up considerably, by adding up to 20% to the price tags, per quarter, over the first half of 2024.
By Jay Peters, a news editor who writes about technology, video games, and virtual worlds. He’s submitted several accepted emoji proposals to the Unicode Consortium.
Sega has said development of its first “Super Game” is progressing steadily.
Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin is showing off a full-sized mockup of an unscrewed version of its Blue Moon lunar lander.