Sony highlights that PS5 users spend much more than PS4 users thanks to additional content

Sony has reviewed its different divisions and when the turn of Game & Network Services has come, the executive director and president of Sony Interactive Entertainment, Jim Ryan, has drawn a very positive present and future scenario. The manager has presented PlayStation 5 as the largest console in the company’s history, talked about the commitment to games as a service and commented on the PC approach. This last point has revealed the sales of Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered and The Last of Us Part I.

One of the most outstanding data in the presentation is related to spending on games (physical and digital), additional content, subscriptions and accessories that are made over time by active PlayStation. A PS4 player accumulates an average cost of $479, while a PS5 player goes up to $622. In both cases, a period of three years is contemplated. This 30% increase is due to PS5 users consuming 210% more additional content. Spending on subscriptions (+52%) and accessories (+60%) also rose, but to a lesser extent, while the outlay on games fell by 10%.

With these figures driven by the purchase of additional content, it should not surprise anyone that Sony has opted to invest more money in games as a service. In 2022, the Japanese company planned to dedicate 55% of its investment to titles with this business model for fiscal year 2025. After one year, this percentage rises to 60%. Consequently, its forecast of allocating 55% of its investment in games as a service to fiscal year 2023 (the current one) advances. The remaining money will go to games with a traditional business model.

Sony detects that within the video game industry, the sale of accessories or additional content represents the main opportunity for growth. Moving this to PlayStation Studios means that teams like Naughty Dog (Uncharted) and Guerrilla Games (Horizon) have a game as a service on their hands. Haven, Jade Raymond’s team, and Firewalk Studios are also working on a project with this business model. Needless to say, Bungie with Destiny 2 is also in the same boat.

On the other hand, Jim Ryan has also shown his commitment to PC games. In this sense, Sony has revealed that the version of Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered for this platform has managed to sell 1.5 million units and generate revenue of 52 million dollars, while The Last of Us Part I has 368,000 units and $15.5 million in revenue. During the current fiscal year, Sony expects to earn $450 million from the titles. first party from PC (including those from Bungie).

Finally, comment that of the 47.4 million subscribers that PlayStation Plus has, 6.1 million are Extra, while 8 million are subscribed to the Premium option.