Sony Is Losing Millions Of PlayStation Subscribers
Sony PlayStation announced that they lost 2 million Playstation plus subscribers, however, the company appears to be doing well with an impressive 10% increase in revenue.
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Sony lost two million subscribers to its PlayStation Plus service between July and September 2022, following the restructuring of the service and introduction of a multi-tier system. The Japanese tech giant disclosed the numbers in its latest financial reports, stating that the loss of subscribers is due to poor momentum. Regardless of its losses, the company had noted a simultaneous 10% increase in revenue.
As reported by IGN, Sony’s multi-tier PlayStation Plus subscription service has dropped from 47.3 million subscribers at the end of June to 45.4 million subscribers, which were recorded on September 30. This 4% drop is quite possibly a side-effect of restructuring and re-pricing the service back in June this year, which was Sony’s attempt to create a more approachable service that could match the one offered by Xbox. Unfortunately, PlayStation Plus fell short once again, as Microsoft still offers more for marginally less — though they hinted at a price increase as well.
Sony additionally highlighted that the subscriber ratio is significantly higher on PlayStation 5, the company’s still-elusive and coveted gaming hardware. This is quite reasonable, as the vast majority of gamers who managed to get their hands on the console without losing an arm and a leg want to play the latest titles, which are available through Sony’s subscription service. In response, Sony plans to find a solution to the ongoing shortage, cut the cord on PS4, and accelerate the adoption of PS5 gaming systems to recover user engagement going forward.
Admittedly, there has been some improvement in Sony’s PlayStation 5 availability altogether, and people don’t have to risk a ruptured spleen to get their console now. Sony did manage to produce approx. 12 million consoles this year, which is about one-third short of its end-year projections, but with more than three months until the end of FY2022, the company still has time to sell more hardware. The release of highly anticipated Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 and God of War Ragnarok are expected to fuel the sales, especially since the former title offers functionality that’s currently unavailable on other gaming platforms.
This means that the Sony PlayStation could end up reporting better numbers next quarter, though the company hasn’t actually fared that bad, considering the aforementioned 10% increase in revenue, most of which was — believe it or not — actually earned through their subscription service. Sure, the number of subscribers dropped by nearly 2 million, but a larger number of people signed up for more expensive PlayStation Plus tiers, which resulted in the aforementioned increase.
But all of this still poses a question of whether Sony PlayStation has what appears to be a rough year or its subscription service has deeper issues. The service was previously criticized for its tiers and weak classic game offerings, which pale compared to what Microsoft offers with its Game Pass. The latter has a more consistent offering catalog across all tiers, with the Ultimate tier combining PC, Xbox, and cloud gaming, offering a better-curated collection. Not to mention day-one exclusives, which is something Sony has previously ruled out for its revamped service.
