PlayStation Was The Biggest Revenue Gainer Amongst The Major Publishers In 2022

[Unchained]

2022 was notably a year of growth in the industry, not decline

Economic confidence in 2022 took a battering. The global economy in 2022 was marked by war in Ukraine and a costly reco…

www.gamesindustry.biz

Revenue for the top 13 publishers increased by 9%. That is an extra $8 billion spent by consumers

The situation for some publishers had been favourable due to the release of strong sales for their new releases, while for others it was primarily due to the consolidation of their live service games and DLC strategies. For example, the Embracer Group more than doubled its revenue, helped with the acquisitions of development houses Saber Interactive, DECA Games, Gearbox and Easybrain in the last two years.

Take- Two saw its revenue increase by 42% as it continued to see an expansion of its "Recurrent Consumer Spending". According to Take-Two fiscal Q3 2023 financials (calendar Q4 2022), 79% of total revenue came from recurring income (namely microtransactions), an increase from the 61% contribution posted a year ago.

• Nintendo and Sony include revenue from hardware sales.
• Most of the publishers will also include revenues from mobile and other sources of income which may not be directly video game sales.
• It was not possible to get accurate data on Microsoft Xbox finances

More than one third of the contributing revenue increase came from Sony's PlayStation division. This was almost twice the contribution in revenue increase that came from the Embracer Group (PlayStation increased revenue by $3.8 billion to the Embracer Group's $1.9 billion).

By comparison, revenue growth, in dollar terms, from the Embracer Group was more than double that to EA, and EA was more than double that of Sega, Roblox or Ubisoft.

The pace of revenue growth for some publishers has been exceptional. With the release of the PS5, Sony's PlayStation division boosted gross sales from $18.4 billion in 2020 to $24.6 billion. The PlayStation division now accounts for 30% of Sony's total revenue base, an increase of three percentage points in the past two years (data based on Sony's fiscal statement nine months ending December 2022). The PlayStation division is the biggest earner for the Sony business

Obviously not every publisher did well. Nintendo lost money by a marginal amount every year during the last three years, even with record breaking games which released in 2022 such as Pokémon Scarlet and Violet and Splatoon 3. The strong release for Modern Warfare 2 did not reverse the fortunes for Activision Blizzard which saw a $1.3 billion drop in spending between 2021 and 2022 (almost two-thirds of the losses posted among the five publishers which posted a decline in dollar sales came from Activision Blizzard).

Operating Income​

A downturn in revenue does not necessarily spell a problem if the underlying fiscal situation for a company is strong and this is borne out when looking at the operating incomes. For example, Nintendo may have plateaued in revenue growth, but it was still far the most profitable publisher, as laid out in the chart below.

Nintendo's net position in 2022 reached $4.9 billion, more than twice that of Sony's PlayStation division. Even those companies that posted declines in the top income such as Activision Blizzard and Square Enix declared a healthy profit of $1.5 billion and $584 million respectively. The largest turn-around in fortune was the Embracer Group which saw its net position of $3 million in 2021 increase to $380 million in 2022, an increase so large in percentage terms it was off the charts.

In Summary​

When summarising the calendar year 2022 top line and bottom-line revenue numbers for the top publishers in the video game industry the reading is one of confidence.

Apart from the additional year-on-year 9% in spending, the net position for almost all the companies was above zero, showing profit. For the PlayStation division at Sony, Bandai Namco, EA, Embracer Group and Sega, they all declared an increase in sales and operating income.

 

[Nhomnhom]

"Acquisitions are killing your gains!"
"Lack of games is killing your gains."
"Are too many CGs killing your gains?"

 

[Dabaus]

Good for sony but id like to see them put that money into some defensive acquisitions/investments. Revenue isnt profit however. Almost seems like the more succesful they are the more excuses Microsoft has to continue this acquisition spree.

 

[Gods&Monsters]

The gaming industry makes their fortune on Playstation so a little gratitude and loyalty would be great. Nobody took their side while Activision and MS were bashing them daily in the media.

Publishers were silent about it and they all supported the acquisition too. Nintendo, Nvidia and Valve included. Garbage people.

 

[Alabtrosmyster]

It was not possible to get accurate data on Microsoft Xbox finances

I wonder how this company gets away with so much slimy practices for so long.

 

[Yurinka]

Are they sure? I was told that MS had a monopoly xDDD

 

[Gediminas]

This all just misleading as fuck.

 

[Airbus]

 

[thicc_girls_are_teh_best]

Surprised Capcom isn't on that list, at least among the top gainers. Granted though this is for 2022. They should definitely be up there for 2023 given the retail performance RE4R has been having, and SF6 will enjoy, among others.

 

[Old Gamer]

The gaming industry makes their fortune on Playstation so a little gratitude and loyalty would be great. Nobody took their side while Activision and MS were bashing them daily in the media.

Publishers were silent about it and they all supported the acquisition too. Nintendo, Nvidia and Valve included. Garbage people.

All because of concerns that "Sony will grow too large". While aiding one of the biggest threats in History.

 

[Gods&Monsters]

Are they sure? I was told that MS had a monopoly xDDD

It's not their money. They have to give it back to 3rd-parties, including Fat Kotick and MS for Minecraft and Bethesda.

 

[Cool hand luke]

Are they sure? I was told that MS had a monopoly xDDD

You were told that blocking the acquisition is a way to prevent anticompetitive practices that could lead to a monopoly, but don't have to lead to one to be undesirable.

What do they bundle the Xbox business with these days in the financial reports? Zune? Surface?

 

[Darth Vader]

You were told that blocking the acquisition is a way to prevent anticompetitive practices that could lead to a monopoly, but don't have to lead to one to be undesirable.

What do they bundle the Xbox business with these days in the financial reports? Zune? Surface?

Don't bother, they'll just say how wrong you are using some bullshit cherrypicked metrics.