CORRECTING MISINFORMATION On incorrect interpretations from Sony/PlayStation's FY2023 Q3 Report from an analyst.

[Gods&Monsters]

A lot of lies and exaggeration about the Q3 report. Sony needs to set the record straight. Imo the issue was the pie in the sky target of 25 millions. If they had a more reasonable 20 millions target, without changing any of their record-breaking numbers, everybody would be applauding them right now. Instead, haters are jumping for joy and saying PS5s are not selling

CORRECTING MISINFORMATION
On incorrect interpretations from Sony/PlayStation's FY2023 Q3 Report:

Part 1/3

Misinformation #1) 'PlayStation is going 3rd Party & all future PS games are going Day & Date on PC per the statements from Sony's Hiroki Titoki'

Truth #1) Nothing new was actually stated regarding their plans especially regarding going 3rd Party. PlayStation is NOT putting their games on Xbox or Nintendo.

In regards to PC: the statements from Titoki meant that they intend to accelerate the plan that they already have. PlayStation DOES NOT intend to release all of their 1st Party Games Day 1 on PC & never will. They DO intend to release their multiplayer games (Like Helldivers 2, Concord, & Fairgame$) Day 1 on PC but we already knew this. Single Player Narrative Driven Games will not be going natively Day 1 on PC. They may eventually come to PC 1-2 Years later depending on various factors. In another question during the Q&A, Titoki makes clear that their focus is the continued dissemination of PS5s. They dont intend to make business decisions that harm the continued growth of PS5 or PlayStation Hardware in general.

Analysis & Speculation: PlayStation will most likely make their own PC Store which will release at the same time as their already discussed Version 3.0 of their PS+, Streaming, & GameCatalog Service. This will likely integrate Movies, Anime, & Games and will come out at the end of the PS5 Gen into the PS6 Gen. Even during the PS6 Gen, PS 1st Party Story Based Narrative Driven Games will not go Day 1 on PC (and they definitely will NOT be going to Xbox and Nintendo).

However, with the upcoming PS+ 3.0 you will be able to play ALL PlayStation games sooner via GameCatalog Game Streaming over the Internet on any device that has the upcoming version of PS+ (TVs, Phones, PCs etc) but even this service will not be a Day 1 service for single player games which PS has stated multiple times rely on SALES. Putting such games in a GameCatalog Day 1 cannibalizes the potential profits of their games & is unsustainable.

Actual Quote From COO Hiroki Totoki:

"For gaming this year the profit margin, especially the operating margin, was not really wonderful, partly because we are in a transition period with the PS5 as hardware units are expanding the user base. Unlike with PS4 or previous generations of consoles, if you look at this console's lifecycle, cost reduction within this cycle is very difficult and that is the biggest challenge for us because unlike with the PS4 and other previous generations the components to manufacture PS5s are getting more expensive.

If you think about the PlayStation console device, unlike high spec computers, it is an affordable price while also being a very safe and comfortable environment that is a great experience. That’s the wonderful thing about PlayStation consoles but compared to the past console generations the cost to build that experience went up. For example the price of memory, chips, and other components went up. So we ask: how can we, in our plans, make it affordable without relying on steep discounts, to reasonably sell PS5s to continue our commercial journey on a sustainable basis? I personally think this is important and there is an opportunity in that.

The other driver is 1st party titles. In the past when we wanted to popularise a console, 1st party titles make that console hardware popular but there is a synergy to it. So, if you have strong 1st party content, not only with our console but also other platforms like computers, 1st Party can be grown with multi-platforms and that can help operating profit to improve."

Note: PlayStation DOES NOT see PC as one platform but multiple platforms. They view each store EPIC, STEAM, & GOG as their own platforms. When they say multiplatform they mean different stores on PC they don't mean competing Consoles. This goes inline with their eventual goal of making their own PC Store.

Part 2/3

Misinformation #2) 'PlayStation has no major AAA 1st Party releases until next year. PlayStation has no games, 2024 will be a dry year'

Truth #2) They don't mean there won't be any AAA 1st Party games this year they meant that there won't be any sequels to their tent pole franchises this year which we all already knew because we obviously weren't getting Spider-Man 3, God of War Egypt, Last of Us 3, or Horizon 3 this year since the previous games in those franchises literally just came out.

They DO NOT mean that there won't be any AAA games from PlayStation or NEW IPs from 1st Party Studios this year because we already know that Concord is coming out this year. And if you count 1st Party Games from 2nd Party Studios then Helldivers 2 just came out and we already Know that Stellar Blade, Pacific Drive, Lost Soul Aside, Convelaria, and Rise of the Ronin are coming out this year too and that's not even counting massive 3rd Party Exclusives like Final Fantasy 7 Remake Part 2 Rebirth.

And there are still many amazing exclusive announcements to come in the upcoming PlayStation Showcase.

The Actual Quote:

"Regarding first-party software, we aim to continue to focus on producing high-quality works and developing live service games, 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 Ragnarök and Marvelʼs Spider-Man."

Part 3/3

Misinformation #3) ‘Sony is downgrading their Projections for PS5 console sales from 25 Million to 21 Million this Fiscal year. PS5 is failing’

Truth #3) While it is true that PlayStation is downgrading their Projections from selling 25 Million PS5s this fiscal year to selling 21 Million PS5s this fiscal year and this is a miss this projection was a bit lofty in the first place. It relied on the hope that they would sell 10 Million PS5s in Q3 instead they sold 8.2 Million PS5s. And while this is a miss, this is still an all time record high of PS5s sold in Q3 and every Quarter in Fiscal Year 2023 has seen record high PS5 sales and it is still on track to surpass PS4s lifetime sales by the end of the console generation. Compared to the competition, PS5 is still outselling the Xbox Series Consoles by more than 2 to 1.

Note: While this source isn't 100% accurate it would still be close (similar to VG Chartz). According To Take Two Over 77 Million PS5 & Xbox Series Consoles Have Been Shipped Worldwide. Sony Has Reported & Confirmed 54.8 Million PS5s Have Been Shipped. That Puts Xbox Series Sales At approximately 22.2 Million Consoles Shipped.

Addendum 1:

Misinformation #4) 'Sony is killing the PS5 they already said it's in its latter stages. PlayStation has no games'

Truth #4) The statement that was used was that the PS5 is beginning the Latter Half of its console lifecycle which is correct. A console's lifecycle is typically 8 years. PS5 released in 2020 it is now 2024. It is about to enter Phase 2 of its games and lifecycle but just to ease everyone's worries... The BEST 1st Party games on every Console come in the second half of that console's lifecycle. Almost all of the best games on PS4 came out after 4 years of it being on the market (Uncharted 4, God of War 2018, Spiderman 1, Horizon Zero Dawn)

The best 1st Party games for PS5 are yet to come!

 

[TubzGaming]

Added full thread to OP.

 

[Gods&Monsters]

Added full thread to OP.

I was actually adding all the quotes. There's no spacing anymore. Did you replace the ones I added?

It's like a big wall of text.

 

[TubzGaming]

I was actually adding all the quotes. There's no spacing anymore. Did you replace the ones I added?

It's like a big wall of text.

my bad didnt see you make the edit while i was adding the threads I have reverted it back to before i made any changes

 

[ethomaz]

Part 3/3 seems more damage control that misinformation.

In fact Sony decreased their projection from 25m to 21m… so why use excuses like “lofty”? We need to have some sense of reality and not try to find weird excuses for sales being lower than what Sony expected.

Talking about PS5 outselling Series as excuse for not reaching 25m target is another weird and low point imo… who cares about Xbox? We care about what PS sells and what happened to Sony had missed their target.

Part 2 and Part 2 are correct… these were misinformation.

 

[Infinity]

"In regards to PC: the statements from Titoki meant that they intend to accelerate the plan that they already have. PlayStation DOES NOT intend to release all of their 1st Party Games Day 1 on PC & never will." Accelerate the plan to me sounds like more aggression with ports. They want to expand beyond playstation more. If you read between the lines, that could mean day and date pc ports. Saying they do not intend to release all of their 1st party games day and date is false. You don't know the answer. Titoki said they want to improve their pc strategy. Day and date on pc will do just that.

 

[Gods&Monsters]

Part 3/3 seems more damage control that misinformation.

In fact Sony decreased their projection from 25m to 21m… so why use excuses like “lofty”? We need to have some sense of reality and not try to find weird excuses for sales being lower than what Sony expected.

Talking about PS5 outselling Series as excuse for not reaching 25m target is another weird and low point imo… who cares about Xbox? We care about what PS sells and what happened to Sony had missed their target.

Part 2 and Part 2 are correct… these were misinformation.

It was a ridiculous target. People were constantly mocking and trolling them about it. That's not normal.

You can have an official target of 21 millions, while secretly hoping to reach 25 millions, but don't make it your official target with the shareholders

 

[ethomaz]

It was a ridiculous target. People were constantly mocking and trolling them about it. That's not normal.

You can have an official target of 21 millions, while secretly hoping to reach 25 millions, but don't make it your official target with the shareholders

They underperformed in Q3 that is what happened.
The target was doable with a strong Q3 but they failed to reach it.

 

[Eggman]

The entire quote regarding "multiplatform" that people took out of context was ridiculous.

He literally just says they will be proactive in improving how they release games on PC. This can mean many things such as improving the quality of releases, advertising, using better/different studios or making better tools.

Getting Ballistic Moon to do Until Dawn is an easy example of how they improved

The second part where he mentions being "aggressive about improving profit margins" was a general statement for Playstation as a whole and not regarding their PC ports.

Yes all the headlines conflated the "aggressive profit margins" and "multiplatform" into one sentence to make it seem like like they want to be more aggressive with PC ports

In all he wasnt saying anything new or making some grand gesture about their PC plans. It was a basic vague response to something theyve said many times.

He also likely meant mobile as well as they have mentioned it many times in the past too but he dis not say mobile specifically.

 

[Gods&Monsters]

"In regards to PC: the statements from Titoki meant that they intend to accelerate the plan that they already have. PlayStation DOES NOT intend to release all of their 1st Party Games Day 1 on PC & never will." Accelerate the plan to me sounds like more aggression with ports. They want to expand beyond playstation more. If you read between the lines, that could mean day and date pc ports. Saying they do not intend to release all of their 1st party games day and date is false. You don't know the answer. Titoki said they want to improve their pc strategy. Day and date on pc will do just that.

Stop port-begging and get a PS5.

Savour these last few hours because they will wipe your programming tomorrow, bot.

 

[Gediminas]

"In regards to PC: the statements from Titoki meant that they intend to accelerate the plan that they already have. PlayStation DOES NOT intend to release all of their 1st Party Games Day 1 on PC & never will." Accelerate the plan to me sounds like more aggression with ports. They want to expand beyond playstation more. If you read between the lines, that could mean day and date pc ports. Saying they do not intend to release all of their 1st party games day and date is false. You don't know the answer. Titoki said they want to improve their pc strategy. Day and date on pc will do just that.

XbotGTP.. usual nonsense.

 

[Infinity]

Stop port-begging and get a PS5.

Savour these last few hours because they will wipe your programming tomorrow, bot.

Lol. i will be here tomorrow front and center pony.

 

[KnittedKnight]

Xbox early pains with Phil redux, even with gratuitous fan pr damage control.

David Brock may be available if Sony is in need to correct the record.

 

[Fenton]

This Takashi asshole is always eager to see PlayStation's demise.

 

[Satoru]

It's not misinformation that they will miss their sales projection by 4M, that's damage limitation. If they changed them to 24M I'd be willing to accept that all was good and they just slightly overestimated, but missing it by 4M reveals they fucked up hard and demand went to shit.

 

[Puff]

CORRECTING MISINFORMATION
On incorrect interpretations from Sony/PlayStation's FY2023 Q3 Report:

Part 1/3

Misinformation #1) 'PlayStation is going 3rd Party & all future PS games are going Day & Date on PC per the statements from Sony's Hiroki Titoki'

Truth #1) Nothing new was actually stated regarding their plans especially regarding going 3rd Party. PlayStation is NOT putting their games on Xbox or Nintendo.

To late, these Xbots or paid shills like Brad Sams or whatever they are, are spreading like a virus

 

[Evilnemesis8]

It's not misinformation that they will miss their sales projection by 4M, that's damage limitation. If they changed them to 24M I'd be willing to accept that all was good and they just slightly overestimated, but missing it by 4M reveals they fucked up hard and demand went to shit.

Not only that but they had an opportunity to re adjust their forecast in the quarterly report before this.

This is what Eric Lempel had to say about in preparation for the holidays in an interview written on the Oct 26th and the report closest to that was on Nov 9th and as was said here, number never adjusted.

Lempel said the company was on track to meet that target this year and expects “record-breaking sales,” thanks to the rebalancing of supply and demand and demand for titles like the newly released Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, which is exclusive to PS5.

Him and others at SIE would've had the numbers at that time to definitely know they were not going to meet their forecast, but they choose not to say anything.

I wil also say that even at that time, folks on InstallBase were already questioning that statement based off the estimates from many GSD/UK/Circana/JP and all other available trackers. The numbers simply were not adding up, especially considering that PS5 was never going to do 6.1M on Q4 like it did last year due to pent up demand which caused a record breaking Q4.

 

[Johnic]

The entire quote regarding "multiplatform" that people took out of context was ridiculous.

He literally just says they will be proactive in improving how they release games on PC. This can mean many things such as improving the quality of releases, advertising, using better/different studios or making better tools.

Getting Ballistic Moon to do Until Dawn is an easy example of how they improved

The second part where he mentions being "aggressive about improving profit margins" was a general statement for Playstation as a whole and not regarding their PC ports.

Yes all the headlines conflated the "aggressive profit margins" and "multiplatform" into one sentence to make it seem like like they want to be more aggressive with PC ports

In all he wasnt saying anything new or making some grand gesture about their PC plans. It was a basic vague response to something theyve said many times.

He also likely meant mobile as well as they have mentioned it many times in the past too but he dis not say mobile specifically.

The statement is a typical vague answer you give to shareholders. Nowhere does he specifically state day and date and certainly not releasing on Xbox.

With the way thing are going with xbox, he should have known everything would be taken out of context. Should have worded it better.

At the end of the day, when xbox goes 3rd party and Sony doesn't the shills will have to find another thing to bitch about.

 

[Muddasar]

Part 3/3 seems more damage control that misinformation.

In fact Sony decreased their projection from 25m to 21m… so why use excuses like “lofty”? We need to have some sense of reality and not try to find weird excuses for sales being lower than what Sony expected.

Talking about PS5 outselling Series as excuse for not reaching 25m target is another weird and low point imo… who cares about Xbox? We care about what PS sells and what happened to Sony had missed their target.

Part 2 and Part 2 are correct… these were misinformation.

It was an unrealistic target from the beginning especially when Sony decided to increase prices during this economic period.

 

[laynelane]

Considering what's happening with Xbox, all the spinning of the Q3 report wasn't exactly surprising - but came across as yet more 'Sonytoo' plus a helping of people who can't read.