Sony reported a significant boost in operating profit for the July-September quarter, marking a 73% rise from the same period last year, due to robust performance in its gaming division, which outpaced weaker returns from its movie segment. The Japanese tech giant’s operating income reached 445.1 billion yen ($2.91 billion), comfortably exceeding analysts’ expectations.
This surge was largely driven by Sony’s Game and Network Services (G&NS) division, which includes its widely popular PlayStation console line. The G&NS division brought in a revenue of 1 trillion yen (approximately $7 billion) for the quarter, representing an 11% increase year-on-year and contributing to a near tripling in profit within this segment. Sony’s success in gaming prompted the company to revise its full-year revenue forecast slightly upwards, now expecting to generate 12.71 trillion yen by the end of fiscal 2025.
While PlayStation 5 hardware sales dipped by 22% to 3.8 million units, software sales for PS5 and PS4 platforms rose sharply, hitting 77.7 million units for the quarter—up from 67.6 million the previous year. Sony attributed this growth to an increase in digital game purchases and the success of PlayStation Plus, the company’s subscription service. First-party game sales increased by 13%, and third-party software revenue, including popular game add-ons and microtransactions, also contributed strongly to the division’s performance.
Sony President Hiroki Totoki highlighted this shift to digital, noting that as consumers transition from PS4 to PS5, Sony has seen “higher software sales” and improved profitability in its gaming hardware, even as the company grapples with rising production costs.
Sony’s movie division, on the other hand, posted weaker results, with profit falling from 294 billion yen last year to 185 billion yen this quarter. The slump is partly attributed to Hollywood’s recent strikes, which delayed film releases and dampened theater revenues.
The company has invested in the gaming experience, launching an upgraded PS5 with advanced graphics capabilities to enhance user engagement. The release of blockbuster games like Black Myth: Wukong has also driven software sales, positioning Sony’s PlayStation for continued momentum even as overall console hardware demand faces headwinds. With 116 million monthly active users on PlayStation Network and high expectations for the next fiscal year’s game lineup, Sony’s gaming sector is expected to remain a core growth driver.
Sony remains optimistic about its annual profit, maintaining its forecast of 1.31 trillion yen ($8.51 billion).
