Gamers hoping to make a dent in PlayStation’s earnings to persuade Sony to change its mind on ending physical discs will not be pleased with the company’s most recent quarterly earnings.
For the second quarter of the 2027 fiscal year (that’d be July, August, and September), the PlayStation division reported an operating income profit increase of a whopping 83 percent from the same quarter the year prior. And this is in the exact three-month period directly following Sony’s controversial decision that was announced on July 1.
Software sales increased 10 percent, first party sales increases 30 percent, and game & network services climbed nine percent, while PSN’s monthly active users also increased from 119 million to 127 million.
But when it comes to hardware, a big drop: down 35 percent year over year, which is not surprising but also interesting at the same time. The console is near the end of its life-cycle and prices have jumped up, along with the rest of the tech industry, but interest in new consoles ahead of games like Grand Theft Auto 6 and Marvel’s Wolverine (the latter has sold 2.4 million copies, Sony announced) has some players looking to buy in now.
It’s been impossible to see any PlayStation or Sony-adjacent post in the past few months without the comment section being flooded with angry gamers posting images and memes saying “no disc, no buy” and hoping for a flip-flop on the company ending physical disc-based games starting in 2028. But, as I’ve said from the beginning, if the company does not see a dent in its profits or bottom line, then nothing is going to change.
As of Sept. 30, Sony says 98 million PS5 consoles have been sold so far. That puts it as the eighth-best-selling console ever, sandwiched between the PS3 and Nintendo Wii, but far behind even the PS4’s 117 million and PS2’s record 160 million.
Still, in light of the latest earnings, Sony says it’s increasing its sales forecast for its gaming division by six percent for the next quarter.
