Sony president: PSN has 118M MAUs, half are on PS4. What does Sony need to do to bring them over to PS5?

[Yurinka]

If someone already has Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, how interested are they in getting Mario Kart 9 plus a new system. Is it worth 460 dollars to upgrade from Mario Kart 8 to 9?

Well, MK8 was basically the same game than MK7 and a ton of people bought MK8. Make sure a ton of people will buy MK9. A game that I assume this time will be brand new and since the start designed as a GaaS.

The Switch will fallout probably within a year or 2 of the switch 2 releasing. And the PS4 and Xbox One won't be far behind.

Yes, unlike Sony normally MS and Nintendo quickly discontinue a console soon after releasing its successor to focus their sales there.

Sony home consoles normally last 11/12+ years. This November PS4 will be 11 years old, so very likely Sony will discontinue it a year or two from now.

 

[Yurinka]

Once the supply chain issues resolved, they probably should have picked up PS4 production again, but they probably felt like it was too late.

I wonder if they could have sold the PS4 for profit or breakeven for 200 dollars and maybe the PS4 Pro for 250-300 and if they realized engagement would stay this strong if they would have rethought that.

But what I tell these PC Doomsayers is that the evidence of people still actively playing on their PS4 suggests that they haven't moved to PC. 118 MAUs is evidence that Sony can still sell more than 118 million units in this generation (those MAU numbers are still rising, as more people are buying PS5 that never owned PS4s). They can probably get that number towards 150 with a Playstation handheld and a PS6.

They don't report the PS4 hardware sales (should be small), but they continue being sold.

Remember Bloomberg lied saying that Sony planned to discontinue PS4 but had to produce 1M consoles more due to the lack of PS4 stock. Sony said that they never had planned to discontinue PS4 there and that they were going to continue making more PS4. As of now, PS4 harwdare still isn't discontinued.

 

[mibu no ookami]

Well, MK8 was basically the same game than MK7 and a ton of people bought MK8. Make sure a ton of people will buy MK9. A game that I assume this time will be brand new and since the start designed as a GaaS.

Mario Kart 7 released in the 3DS in 2011 and didn't sell nearly as well as Mario Kart 8. Mario Kart Wii sold significantly better. It's a completely different experience. Mario Kart 8 wasn't enough to push Wii U sales. It sold well because the Switch sold well, but what is the hook for people to buy Switch 2? Nintendo is going to have to overcome that.

Yes, unlike Sony normally MS and Nintendo quickly discontinue a console soon after releasing its successor to focus their sales there.

Sony home consoles normally last 11/12+ years. This November PS4 will be 11 years old, so very likely Sony will discontinue it a year or two from now.

The PS4 was already discontinued. I think you're confusing discontinued and unsupported and Sony barely supports the PS4 now with the only real releases it sees from SIE being MLB The Show.

With the ending of the Switch and Sony likely having to put an MLB game on Switch 2, that almost certainly won't last for more than another year.

 

[Zzero]

It's a similar problem that Nintendo has when it releasing new systems.

If someone already has Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, how interested are they in getting Mario Kart 9 plus a new system. Is it worth 460 dollars to upgrade from Mario Kart 8 to 9?

That's a tall order.

Similarly, people don't feel the need to jump from CoD on PS4 to PS5 since it's the same game in large part, but this audience is more willing than Nintendo's to get the next game if it isn't available on the current system, they'll buy the new system.

Epic has already cut off support for some older phones.

The Switch will fallout probably within a year or 2 of the switch 2 releasing. And the PS4 and Xbox One won't be far behind.

Sadly, Nintendo has already dropped blatant hints about keeping Switch alive ("supporting the ecosystem") for years to come. 3DS and DS both lived multiple years after their "successor" came out, and that is pretty much guaranteed to happen here too. The Pokemon Company, among others, won't let it not happen, though Nintendo proper is also on-board.

 

[Box]

They could start by actually releasing games.

 

[mibu no ookami]

They don't report the PS4 hardware sales (should be small), but they continue being sold.

Remember Bloomberg lied saying that Sony planned to discontinue PS4 but had to produce 1M consoles more due to the lack of PS4 stock. Sony said that they never had planned to discontinue PS4 there and that they were going to continue making more PS4. As of now, PS4 harwdare still isn't discontinued.

It absolutely is. You can see that it is no longer sold on PS Direct in any region and you can see the weekly sales of it in Japan, which is clearly leftover inventory based on the numbers.

 

[mibu no ookami]

Sadly, Nintendo has already dropped blatant hints about keeping Switch alive ("supporting the ecosystem") for years to come. 3DS and DS both lived multiple years after their "successor" came out, and that is pretty much guaranteed to happen here too. The Pokemon Company, among others, won't let it not happen, though Nintendo proper is also on-board.

The Switch 2 will likely be BC with Switch, which means it'll be almost certainly treated as a Switch Pro for the first few years with games releasing for both.

That is going to stunt Switch 2 sales tremendously and Nintendo probably thinks that is a good idea, but Sony will be releasing a handheld within the next couple of years.

I wouldn't be surprised if Switch 2 sells less than 70% of what the Switch sold.

 

[Gamernyc78]

The Switch 2 will likely be BC with Switch, which means it'll be almost certainly treated as a Switch Pro for the first few years with games releasing for both.

That is going to stunt Switch 2 sales tremendously and Nintendo probably thinks that is a good idea, but Sony will be releasing a handheld within the next couple of years.

I wouldn't be surprised if Switch 2 sells less than 70% of what the Switch sold.

Hmmm let's see, it is plausible.

 

[Danja]

What was it like back then, PS3 vs PS4 migration ? Just to have an idea.

The migration was probably the fastest ever between generations for PlayStation. GTA V arrived a year after... Which played a big role

COD pretty much gimped Ghosts
Battlefield was pretty gimped compared to the PS4 version

By a year after release a lot of major 3rd parties were comfortable leaving behind the old generation

Not the case this generation even from Sony, who swiftly ended PS3 support outside of MLB

 

[Zzero]

Some more examples: Something like a third or more of GBC titles, including big first party releases, were backwards compatible with regular Gameboy*. Famicom/NES got at least two years of support after SNES released, SNES/Sattellaview got at least three after N64 released, GBA got a year after DS was out, as the "third pillar."

*These are the black carts, as opposed to the clear, bulging ones.

 

[Zzero]

The migration was probably the fastest ever between generations for PlayStation. GTA V arrived a year after... Which played a big role

COD pretty much gimped Ghosts
Battlefield was pretty gimped compared to the PS4 version

By a year after release a lot of major 3rd parties were comfortable leaving behind the old generation

Not the case this generation even from Sony, who swiftly ended PS3 support outside of MLB

To be clear, V launched on PS360 and then an updated version came to PC and "next gen" after they launched.

 

[Danja]

To be clear, V launched on PS360 and then an updated version came to PC and "next gen" after they launched.

Wow you don't say? I mentioned GTA V coming a year after to emphasize the fact those players were able to migrate over faster when compared to this gen... Not to mention Rockstar stopped support for PS3 / 360 in 2015...

 

[Zzero]

Wow you don't say? I mentioned GTA V coming a year after to emphasize the fact those players were able to migrate over faster when compared to this gen... Not to mention Rockstar stopped support for PS3 / 360 in 2015...

Well then, given that BC was a thing it was actually playable on them day 1 and didn't come a year later at all.

To be clear, I don't think GTA V gave last-gen any sort of bump. PS4, at least, was supply constrained all through that launch year and didn't need any help.

 

[Danja]

Well then, given that BC was a thing it was actually playable on them day 1 and didn't come a year later at all.

To be clear, I don't think GTA V gave last-gen any sort of bump. PS4, at least, was supply constrained all through that launch year and didn't need any help.

GTA V definitive did though. PS4 supply shortages were over by April 2014

 

[Systemshock2023]

The thing is, the PS4 is still a decent console for a lot of use cases. It has a big library of games, many can be found on the cheap and lots of the most popular online games can be played there. Lots of my friends are still on PS4. They mainly play online F2P, FIFA and the odd action adventure first party game.

I always got the impression that the PS4 was never truly pushed to the limit like the PS3 was. The PS3 was hanging on for dear life with games like last of us, GTA V, Destiny, Shadow of Mordor, Dragon Age inquisition, BF3/4... Watch Dogs. So upgrading to a PS4 was a pretty significant leap.

As a pro for upgrading, PS4 users could sell their console for around 125/150 USD and just spend between 350/400 USD for the new one. You can keep all your games to play on the PS5. Many with enhancements

 

[ksdixon]

Exclusives PS5 games, stop PC ports and reduce PS4 crossgen.
Add-to BC offerings.
Make a real PS4/5 Portable to keep things in the Sony ecosystem.

But let's go honest, it's a day late and a dollar short.

 

[anonpuffs]

So, 59 million is sold through. So VGChartz are completely lying when they say that they estimate 2 million or so in supply channels or unsold.

Disgrace of a site.

Sony has always reported sell-through, that's why they have a separate line-item for $ as hardware inventory

For the OP, they need to reduce the price to $399

 

[Yurinka]

Exclusives PS5 games, stop PC ports and reduce PS4 crossgen.
Add-to BC offerings.

That wouldn't be smart: half of their active userbase is still on PS4, PC is providing them several hundreds of millions per year wth a huge profitability and yearly growth with no negative effect to their console business.

And almost nobody buy the PS classics.,

 

[Neversummer]

And Sony think porting there singleplayer games so PS4 gamers migrate to PC is a good idea instead of funneling & double downing on its own platform/storefront.

Not to mention that even PS5 players will start to look at migrating to PC when considering buying a PS6.

If Sony wanted to increase MAU double triple down on live service buy multiplayer centric studios who have a cadence & history of making multiplayer games (arc system work etc) & double downing mobile PS players not has 1 mobile studio with Neok Koi. Buy a couple of prominent mobile studio or even publisher Sega who’s worth 5 billion bought Rovio for nearly 1 billion 1/5 of Sega worth (mobile is important to expand & essential endless market since it’s solely multiplayer live service)

 

[AfnanAcchan]

Transition to PS5 is slow because many popular franchise is still cross-gen. COD, FIFA, Madden, MLB, Persona, Yakuza, Street Fighter 6. Old Games like Fortnite, Genshin, Elden Ring, GTAV, Minecraft, Roblox, Apex Legend are still popular on PS4. PS5 is also not getting price cut and games is also more expensive. Games development is getting more expensive and longer, lot of games release this year started development from PS4 era.

This is why I think I think PS6 will be delayed until 2030.