Sony plans to increase PS5 production & expand its game portfolio

TOKYO: As supply chain snarls resolve, Sony Group Corp said it expects to scale up manufacturing of its PS5 console, as well as announce a dramatic expansion of its games catalogue to include more PC and mobile titles.

Due to component shortages that have roiled the electronics industry, the PS5, which went on sale in November 2020, undersold its predecessor in its second year. However, in year three, it is predicted to bridge the deficit and eclipse the PS4’s installed base the following year.

Beyond the initial ramp-up, Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO Jim Ryan said at an investor event, “we’re planning for heavy further increases in console production, taking us to production levels that we’ve never achieved before,”

“things are definitely improving,” he continued, despite the fact that Covid19 lockdowns in China continue to cause supply chain concern.

Sony expects PS5 sales to reach 18 million units in the fiscal year ending in March, up from 11.5 million a year ago.

Ryan outlined a transition by PlayStation away from focusing solely on single-player games unique to its platform, stating that more PC and mobile titles, as well as live service games that allow continual updated play, will be available.

While PS4 and PS5 games are predicted to account for more than two-thirds of this year’s releases, PC and mobile games will account for nearly half of all new games by 2025.

“The initiatives to broaden our audience… will have a fundamental effect on the shape of our game portfolio,” Ryan said.

With the adjustment, PlayStation hopes to keep up with industry changes such as cloud computing and the growing computational power of smartphones, which have freed consumers from bulky gear and boosted the amount of money spent on free-to-play online games.

While there has been significant speculation that the metaverse, or the idea that users will spend more time in simulated worlds, may disrupt industry business structures, Ryan believes that many customers will continue to play games as they have in the past.

“There will be many, many individual players who prefer to enjoy games in the way that they have played them from the past 30 years or more,” he said.