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[Rolla]

This was part of the recent Sony earnings report but a caveat that is so significant, I believe it deserves it's own dedicated thread as it is a moment in gaming history. Surpassing the profitability of PS2 is insane...

"PS4 is now the most profitable console in video game history," having amassed ¥1230 billion ($11.33 billion) in profit from its launch in Q3 2013 and Q2 2020, which ended last month, and for which Sony recently released its financial results.
That's around three times the profit generated by the PS1, and four times more than the PS2. It also puts the PS4 above some of Nintendo's famously successful efforts - ArmGunar says that adjusted for inflation, the DS brought in ¥1150 billion ($11.04 billion), while the Wii managed ¥1100 billion ($10.56 billion)."

PS4 is more profitable than any console in video game history

Beating out the Wii and the PS2

www.gamesradar.com

Sony right now be like...

 

[CrysisFreak]

Cerny's proprietary money printing machine mogging the competition to death.
And the successor is hot hot hot.
Insane!

 

[FranXico]

I'm not concerned with their profits. Earn those profits by selling me good games. That's what matters at the end.

 

[Sander Cohen]

Long live the king !

 

[Rolla]

The fact that Sony did this with Nintendo being the Juggernaut that it is and XBOX on the market is something else.

 

[Aion002]

The fact that Sony did this with Nintendo being the Juggernaut that it is and XBOX on the market is something else.

It is incredible, because when Sony entered the market Nintendo was the top dog, with Sega fighting for their place. Playstation had no place in it, yet they won a large share of the market and mantained their position against Microsoft, that has basically infinite money.


They won against tradition and money. Indeed, Playstation has no limits.

 

[PleaseDontBanMe]

i'm sure if PS2 had a requirement of PS PLUS to play online it would have probably generated more

 

[Black_Stride]

Games Radar
A thread from noted PlayStation analyst ArmGunar on Resetera claims that the machine has outperformed all of its competitors and predecessors.

ArmGunar says that "according to my calculations, PS4 is now the most profitable console in video game history," having amassed ¥1230 billion ($11.33 billion) in profit from its launch in Q3 2013 and Q2 2020, which ended last month, and for which Sony recently released its financial results.


We are literally posting articles based on posts made on forums now?

GamesRadar is an embarrassment.

On Topic

The Earnings report is also about Games & Network services, so PS+ and digital games revenue are included in that.
The PS2 and PS3 didnt have that so yeah the profits would be lower simply because PSN was mostly a cost and didnt bring in anywhere near the numbers PS+ and downloadable games bring in.


Im not saying the PS4 isnt the most profitable console of all time, im just saying different times are aiding the console.
If the PS2 had downloadable games and charged for PSN the sheer number of them out there would have put it on top......the fact that the PS2 is in the running without all those extra services is a true testament.

 

[MetalSlug]

I thought the Wii would have been the most profitable since they were making a profit on each console from the start?

 

[Jan]

So 11000 billions in seven year, right? Impressive, just 4000 billions less than microsoft last quarter

 

[EverydayBeast]

It's a "game minded" machine this tells me PS5 will sell 10x more than the PS1 20x more than the PS2 etc. everything Playstation related is measured by it's predecessor, SONY doesn't even look Microsoft or Steams way.

 

[TBiddy]

It's a "game minded" machine this tells me PS5 will sell 10x more than the PS1 20x more than the PS2 etc. everything Playstation related is measured by it's predecessor, SONY doesn't even look Microsoft or Steams way.

I swear to god, you've got to be a bot.

 

[Spaceman292]

Yay! I'm very happy for those few soulless moneylizards at the top.

 

[lock2k]

 

[hemo memo]

i'm sure if PS2 had a requirement of PS PLUS to play online it would have probably generated more

Online wasn’t a thing for most people yet worldwide so it would be pointless.

 

[IntentionalPun]

Consumers celebrating profit will never not be hilarious to me.

 

[TBiddy]

i'm sure if PS2 had a requirement of PS PLUS to play online it would have probably generated more

Also, the 30% cut that Sony and MS takes on digital sales certainly helps as well. But that said, the PS4 was still a juggernaut, and the succes it had/has was well deserved.

 

[Coloress_Kafka]

i'm sure if PS2 had a requirement of PS PLUS to play online it would have probably generated more

In what bizzare world??? Many people didn’t even have broadband when the PS2 came out and online gaming was still very much a PC only thing.

 

[SALMORE]

outselling the mighty PS2 !! WooW

 

[CrysisFreak]

Consumers celebrating profit will never not be hilarious to me.

Nothing hilarious about it.
Profitable SIE means literally more investments into it, which means more/better games.

 

[onQ123]

Remember at the end of last generation when people was saying that Sony would come in last place & some even said they would drop out of the console race?

Pepperidge Farm Remembers

 

[Nakasan]

Consumers celebrating profit will never not be hilarious to me.

As a rebuttal, isn't it actually hobbyists celebrating a strong showing for their hobby which should reassure that their hobby has a strong future?

 

[Vawn]

I'm not concerned with their profits. Earn those profits by selling me good games.

That's exactly what they did.

 

[IntentionalPun]

Nothing hilarious about it.
Profitable SIE means literally more investments into it, which means more/better games.

That's really not how profitability works lol

 

[mejin]

Transition to PS5 will be smooth af

I'm not concerned with their profits. Earn those profits by selling me good games. That's what matters at the end.

and that's what they are doing.

 

[mckmas8808]

Makes you wonder why so many in the video game press were so "concerned" with Sony's approach to the PS5.

 

[BattleScar]

Consumers celebrating profit will never not be hilarious to me.

Didn't you know? Microsoft is a trillion dollar company!!

 

[Vawn]

Consumers celebrating profit will never not be hilarious to me.

People triggered by positive comments about a product will never not be hilarious to me.

 

[mckmas8808]

That's really not how profitability works lol

That's LITERALLY how it works.

 

[v_iHuGi]

Lmao this way a key moment for PlayStation, Don lack of vision helped tens of millions 360 users make the Switch to Ps4.

 

[IntentionalPun]

That's LITERALLY how it works.

It's definitely not how profitability works. If McDonalds has announced they are more profitable is it evidence they are definitely going to provide better hamburgers in the future?

 

[IntentionalPun]

People triggered by positive comments about a product will never not be hilarious to me.

I'm not triggered by anything. I'm a playstation fan. Since I don't invest in Sony I am not going to celebrate their profitability.

 

[Werewolfgrandma]

Shit like this always pisses me off and I don't understand how it's a positive. But I hate capitalism so there's that.

 

[a multicultural team of v]

I thought the Wii would have been the most profitable since they were making a profit on each console from the start?

Sony said they were only barely selling for a loss at launch, so my guess is that it got much cheaper to produce real quick. They also had very few price reductions over the years.

I gotta think the Switch will overtake the PS4 though, Nintendo is still selling launch games for $60 and people are still buying them at a top 10 sales pace.

 

[Vawn]

It's definitely not how profitability works. If McDonalds has announced they are more profitable is it evidence they are definitely going to provide better hamburgers in the future?

Just stop. You're embarrassing yourself.

 

[IntentionalPun]

Just stop. You're embarrassing yourself.

Do you have anything of substance to say? An argument? Or just drive by shit posting?

 

[Nakasan]

That's really not how profitability works lol

I'm struggling to see your angle here... Even if you take on the fact that profits are calculated AFTER internal investment - don't profits reassure investors and inner management to do more of what has been generating their profit? Like more / better games?

I don't see where it's super obvious to the point of condescension that profitability won't lead to more/better games?

 

[JimiNutz]

That's really impressive.
I would have thought a Nintendo console would hold this title as they usually sell cheaper hardware at a decent profit. PS4 was/is such a beast. Well deserved.

 

[Bo_Hazem]

Quality pays big in the long run!

 

[IntentionalPun]

I'm struggling to see your angle here... Even if you take on the fact that profits are calculated AFTER internal investment - don't profits reassure investors and inner management to do more of what has been generating their profit? Like more / better games?

I don't see where it's super obvious to the point of condescension that profitability won't lead to more/better games?

It's far more complicated than that, particularly for a large company.

I'm not suggesting that Sony won't invest further and continue to make better shit for consumers. But profitability numbers are not how you know that to be true. That is not how running a large corporation works or even a division.

For instance.. if a lot of that profitability is coming from 3rd party MTX... Sony might decide that to grow profits they need to add a lot of MTX to their games. Is that something people would celebrate here?

So I digress; it's silly to celebrate profitability. Celebrate the actions a company takes that benefit you, and there's a lot to celebrate for Sony fans. Their profitability is really not something to celebrate on it's own.

 

[AJUMP23]

The gaming division being so profitable was why Kaz was promoted to the head of Sony. Pretty amazing they were able to create such good margins on their product.

 

[mckmas8808]

It's definitely not how profitability works. If McDonalds has announced they are more profitable is it evidence they are definitely going to provide better hamburgers in the future?

It'll mean that'll more than likely continue providing the same level of burgers, fries, and awesome sweet tea that they've had so far. And that's what people are expecting out of Sony. A continuation of what they played on the PS4.

 

[IntentionalPun]

It'll mean that'll more than likely continue providing the same level of burgers, fries, and awesome sweet tea that they've had so far. And that's what people are expecting out of Sony. A continuation of what they played on the PS4.

See my last post; it's way more complicated than "yay profitability means better stuff for me as a consumer!"

 

[SCB3]

Really? Thats impressive considering the backlash of the PS3, the PSN Hacks, the slow adaptation of crossplay and compared to the Sheer success of the Switch and Wii

Congrats to them I suppose

 

[yurinka]

Consumers celebrating profit will never not be hilarious to me.

This is a videogames forum, so we talk about videogames, the companies who make them and how things go with them since it affects their future games and consoles. Record profits means that very likely they will invest more here, so we'll get more and better games/consoles/services from them.

But hey, nobody forces you to read this forum or thread, or to post here if you aren't interested on it. You can always ignore it or leave it too.

 

[Clear]

Kinda puts into perspective the sort of long-term deficit that buying Zenimax has put on the Xbox division.

 

[IntentionalPun]

This is a videogames forum, so we talk about videogames, the companies who make them and how things go with them since it affects their future games and consoles. Record profits means that very likely they will invest more here, so we'll get more and better games/consoles/services from them.

Again; not how profitability works.

It just means Sony figured out how to profit off of us better this generation than in past generations. Only they know internally how that profit happened and what it is encouraging them to do in the future. They'll reveal some of that on investor calls but it's far more complicated than "wow we should do more of the same!"

Celebrate the decisions that benefit you, not the profit. Some of this profit compared to past generations came from the cheap jaguar CPU this generation started with... PS4 was a great system compared to Xbox, but being more profit minded on hardware was not a benefit to consumers this generation or something for us to celebrate.

I'm not saying profit = bad for us either. It's just not that simple; and I still find it kind of hilarious either way because more profit literally means they figured out how to make more money off of you lol, it's not even at face value something people should be cheering.

 

[PlayerPurple]

Which means it probably won't be going anywhere for a while.

Good news, should make my waiting for a PS5 Pro a little easier.

 

[Kagoshima_Luke]

Remember when, before the PS4 release, everyone was saying that dedicated consoles were dead and that mobile would take over?

Good times.

 

[Knitted Knight]

Remarkable. Consoles are alive and well.

I remember the Sony is doomed days and the "this will be the last console cycle".

Crazy how far we've come.