Sony States 'PlayStation 5 Will Enter The Latter Stage Of Its Life Cycle'

So...the PlayStation 5 is having an interesting lifespan. While sitting fairly comfortable atop the conventional console market, Sony's forecast dictates some potential financial issues the brand may be facing.

According to IGN, the PS5 has failed to meet its ambitious sales expectations. The 2023 holiday holiday quarters ended up being lower than expected, as Sony had projected selling 25 million units through the fiscal year ending on March 31st, 2025. They have scaled back the ambitious goal down to 21 million, along with some other means of restructuring their mission statement. This also means there will be a long gap before PS5 customers see any major first party software before April 2025.

"Regarding first-party software, we aim to continue to focus on producing high-quality works and developing live service games", new Sony CEO Hiroki Totoki spoke during a conference call. "But while major projects are currently under development, we do not plan to release any new major existing franchise titles next fiscal year like God of War Ragnarok and Marvel's Spider-Man 2"

Some of this may have been the fallout from the latter stages of Jim Ryan's tenure at PlayStation, where the lofty goals established were very tone deaf to how the industry may be shifting. The PS5 launched in November of 2020, at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, and at this point in its lifespan, the line of first party games have been critically acclaimed, but remains very thin. The good news is, while the wait will be lengthy, some dedicated software is in development, like Marvel's Wolverine, by Insomniac Games, Konami's Silent Hill 2 Remake, Stellar Blade from South Korean studio SHIFT UP Corporation, and the upcoming Final Fantasy 7: Rebirth.

The list of exclusive PlayStation 5 titles, as of February 14th 2024: