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 Stock Loses $10 Billion in Value
19.02.2024 - 21:07 / gamerant.com / Sony
Sony has lost roughly $10 billion in stock value, as shareholders reevaluate the company's investment promise in light of an adjusted PS5 sales forecast and lower-than-expected operating margins in the last fiscal quarter. This news follows Sony's controversial comments about the PS5 entering the «latter stage» of its life cycle, which prompted a wave of discontent among PlayStation users on social media.
Despite outperforming Xbox's current-generation consoles at a two-to-one ratio, it would appear that the PS5 did not meet Sony's expectations for the last quarter. Sony had previously indicated that it expected to ship 25 million PS5 units during the 2023 fiscal year, but winter quarter console sales have led the tech manufacturer to adjust this number to 21 million units. Sony CFO Hiroki Totoki explained these lower-than-expected sales with the «latter stage» comment, asserting that the console would naturally begin to sell less until the release of the PS6. Totoki also stated that no «major» new first-party titles would launch for the console until at least March 2025.
As reported by CNBC, Sony's stock has taken a dive, resulting in a calculated $10 billion loss in value. While the cut to the PS5's sales projection may have played a role in this devaluation, analysts are arguing that the operating margins for the company's gaming division are actually playing a more significant role. CNBC calculates that Sony's operating margins during the December quarter clocked in at just under 6%, a drop of more than 3% from the same period in 2022, and just half of the operating margins during the highly profitable January-to-March quarter of 2022.
Analysts are describing Sony's operating margins at «near decade lows.» At the same time, Sony's game sales are looking good, as are the sales of its digital content and expansions, leading many to wonder what exactly is behind these surprisingly low margins. There could be a number of reasons for this, but software development costs have been identified as a potential factor, as these costs appear to be rising and haven't been offset by the lower costs associated with hardware development, relative to 2020 and 2021.
This is a notably low point for the company's stock value and could come as a shock to many, as the PS5 has seen such incredible success, maintaining a significant lead over Xbox in market share during this generation. As the PS5 gets more exclusives this year and Sony scales back spending on things like acquisitions, this stock value may be expected to stabilize.
The Sony PlayStation 5 console is one of the most popular gaming machines currently with a fast SSD, a custom AMD APU, and 16GB of GDDR6 console memory, making it one of the best options on the
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pushsquare.com
05.03.2024 / 21:36
PS5 Stock: Where To Buy PlayStation 5 and PS5 Slim in March 2024 | Push Square
Update: Sony has officially released the PS5 Slim, which is slowly starting to replace the original model at retail. All the details and links you need have been added below.
gamesindustry.biz
01.03.2024 / 17:29
What led to Sony laying off 900 people? | This Week in Business
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eurogamer.net
29.02.2024 / 17:42
Sony studio Firesprite has been shedding talent amidst accusations of toxic culture, staff say
Sony-acquired studio Firesprite has recently suffered high profile exits amid accusations of a toxic workplace culture, Eurogamer has been told, as part of an investigation into the studio begun ahead of the layoffs announced by Sony this week.
thegamer.com
29.02.2024 / 12:51
Select Pokemon Amiibo Are Back In Stock At The Nintendo Store
Following Sora's release earlier this month, the Nintendo Switch's amiibo run appears to have come to an end. Big games like Super Mario Bros. Wonder and Super Mario RPG not getting their own figures coupled with the imminent announcement of a Switch successor suggest there won't be any more amiibo releases on this console, and potentially no more ever if the next console doesn't have amiibo compatibility. Nintendo is giving collectors a chance to fill gaps in their collections though, the latest reprints pulled from Pokemon's amiibo selection.
thesixthaxis.com
28.02.2024 / 13:18
Sony has cancelled unannounced games alongside layoffs – reported Twisted Metal live service game
As part of the sweeping layoffs of 900 Sony Interactive Entertainment employees, Hermen Hulst, Head of PlayStation Studios, has confirmed that there have been some game cancellations.
thesixthaxis.com
27.02.2024 / 20:37
Sony has cancelled unannounced games alongside layoffs – reported Twisted Metal live service game
As part of the sweeping layoffs of 900 Sony Interactive Entertainment employees, Hermen Hulst, Head of PlayStation Studios, has confirmed that there have been some game cancellations.
rockpapershotgun.com
27.02.2024 / 16:41
Sony announce 900 layoffs across Naughty Dog, Guerilla, Insomniac and PlayStation studios worldwide
Another day, another videogame company jettisoning a large number of people "who have contributed to our success" so as to position themselves for growth in the face of "challenging times". Today it's Sony's turn with the axe: the PlayStation publisher have announced plans to reduce their global workforce by about 8% or 900 people, so as "to future ready ourselves to set the business up for what lies ahead", in the words of outgoing president and CEO Jim Ryan.
gematsu.com
27.02.2024 / 14:55
Sony Interactive Entertainment lays off 900 staff, closes London Studio
Sony Interactive Entertainment will lay off about 900 employees across the globe, or about eight percent of its total workforce, the company announced. London Studio, which was developing an online cooperative combat game set in a fantasy London for PlayStation 5, will also close in its entirety as a result of the lay offs.
wccftech.com
23.02.2024 / 16:45
Microsoft Losing to Sony Is a Wrong Gamers’ Perception, Says Pachter; They Want to Win Business, Not Console
Following the rumors and then the confirmation from Microsoft that several Xbox exclusives (Sea of Thieves, Grounded, Pentiment, and Hi-Fi Rush) would launch on rival consoles from Sony and Nintendo, many gamers took that as an admission of defeat in the console war. However, Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter shared a completely different view in his latest appearance on Pachter Factor, believing that to be an incorrect perception of Microsoft's true gaming plans.
tech.hindustantimes.com
23.02.2024 / 02:20
What Bubble? Nvidia Profits Are Rising Even More Than Its Stock
Nvidia Corp.'s blowout earnings report lifted shares and assured the market that artificial intelligence mania is still going strong. It might also make the stock look cheaper.
techcrunch.com
22.02.2024 / 21:17
Sony’s PS VR2 is getting compatibility, possibly by end of year
PlayStation VR often gets overlooked in conversations about mixed reality. These days, it seems all anyone wants to talk about is Apple Vision Pro versus Meta Quest. But Sony has been an enduring presence in VR for years now, throughout the industry’s various ups and downs (mostly downs, if we’re being honest here).