Sony sold a record-breaking 9.5 million PS5s in the last 3 months of 2024, with PSN profits up by 20%

Sony has announced its earnings for the third quarter (October to December 2024). Its Game and Network Services sector saw a significant increase in sales and operating profit, due to the strong performance of PSN services and record-high PS5 console sales (as reported by GameBiz). This has prompted Sony to revise its full-year forecast for the sector upwards. 

From October to December 2024, Sony’s Game and Network Services’ sales were up by 16% year-on-year to 237.9 billion yen, while operating profit was up 37% to 31.9 billion yen. This means that Sony’s profits for the third quarter have broken records for two years in a row (with 2023’s third quarter aided by high sales of Marvel’s Spider-Man 2). 

Sony partially attributed these profits for quarter 3 of the current fiscal year to PS5 console sales exceeding expectations (including PS5 Pro), coupled with a decrease in hardware cost-related losses. The company commented in November that they had witnessed a healthy trend of PS4 users upgrading to PS5. Sony’s latest supplementary report revealed that in the third quarter of 2024 alone, they sold 9.5 million PS5s, a record high number. 

Another factor in these record-breaking game sector profits was the growth of PSN services, which saw a 20% jump in profits compared to the third quarter of 2023. Although first party game sales were down compared to the same period in the previous year, non-first party game sales and DLC were up. 

These successes have prompted Sony to revise its full-year forecast for the sector upwards. It has revised sales up by 3% and operating profit up by 5%, citing increased network services sales and positive impacts from foreign exchange rates. 

Looking forward, Sony has two major first-party titles coming out in 2025, namely Ghost of Yotei and Death Stranding 2: On the Beach (pictured above). Both games are highly anticipated and expected to sell well. 

Sony’s full presentation of their consolidated financial results for quarter 3 can be found in English here.