The sale of digital software experienced a significant rebound, as 74% of total sales were made in this format.
Sony Interactive Entertainment has released the corresponding financial results for the first quarter of fiscal year 2020, which runs from April 1 to June 30. The company has announced that it has managed to distribute 1.9 million PlayStation 4 units in stores. This means, globally, that the company has managed to reach 112.3 million consoles distributed during this period. Although the hardware sales figures decrease compared to the first quarter of 2019, the software has experienced a significant rebound.
The coronavirus pandemic has created a difficult situation for stores, which has undoubtedly had an impact on digital sales. According to figures presented by Sony, 74% of software sales were made through the PlayStation Store. It should not be forgotten that during these months many players have not been able to go to stores, while the shipment of goods has been limited depending on the country.
Strong quarter for PlayStation (end June 30)
The PlayStstion 4 has now sold 112.3 million units to date.
The Last of Us 2 and Ghost of Tsushima selling well.
74% of software sold on PS4 in the quarter was digital.
PS Plus paid subscriptions have now reached 45 million. pic.twitter.com/Zb4J8OpfWM
– Daniel Ahmad (@ZhugeEX) August 4, 2020
Software and hardware sales (Sony).
Software sales and PlayStation Plus subscribers
The Last of Us Part 2 and Ghost of Tsushima have worked very well in the market, as Sony itself admits. In fact, the titles developed or edited by the Japanese company have improved their year-on-year figures. In the first quarter of 2019, 49.8 million video games were sold, while in 2020 the figure practically doubles and reaches 91 million copies.
PlayStation Plus, the platform’s subscription service, is in excellent health. Judging by the data provided by Sony, it already reaches 49.9 million subscribers. These data have improved during the pandemic, although the production of PlayStation 4 has been slightly affected. On the other hand, the Japanese company reiterates that despite the problems, the production of PlayStation 5 continues, so the release date is still set for the end of 2020.
