Sony Interactive Entertainment has announced that PS5 sales have reached 21.7 million units shipped as of June 31, 2022. This means that the company managed to ship 2.4 million consoles over the last quarter, which is a slight improvement over the same period last year, thanks in no small part to improved supply. But while hardware sales improved, Sony’s software sales saw “an expected” dip, resulting in the company lowering its profit forecast by $0.4 billion.
PS5 sales increase was accompanied by an increase in PS Plus subscribers
PS Plus has gained another one million subscribers compared to the same period in the previous fiscal year. The number of subscribers stood at 47.3 million as of June 31st compared to 46.3 million a year ago.
On the software front, Sony told investors that it expected a decrease in first-party game sales. PS5 and PS4 software sold a combined total of 47.1 million units in first quarter of fiscal 2022, which is down 16.5 million from the 63.6 million sold in the same period last year. 6.4 million of the 47.1 million units sold is attributed to first-party game sales, which is down 4.1 million from the 10.5 million first-party games sold year-over-year. Sony has said that nearly 80 percent of its game sales are now digital.
Interestingly, despite an increase in PS Plus subscribers, Sony reported a drop in PlayStation Network’s monthly active users (MAUs). PSN MAUs stand at 102 million compared to 105 million in the same period last year.
Last but not least, Sony’s PlayStation division is expecting a drop in operating income due to a decrease in third-party game sales as well as expenses incurred in its acquisition of Bungie.
In other news, the latest PS5 firmware update beta seems to be preparing the console for PSVR 2’s launch, and it looks like the newly-unveiled Backbone One PlayStation Edition is the closest we’ll get to a PS Vita successor.