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Sony flags disappointing profit, scraps targets as gaming slows - Reuters

Shmunter

Member
Oh no declining console sales, whatever will they do

image002eek2f.png

It’s definitely declining after peak of 20, just not crashing. Another 15M and saturation will be reached with sharp drops, especially with more next gen buzz in near future.
 
7 years next year. Software taking longer than is a problem in itself.

Besides, brand new exotic architecture demarcating each gen is no longer part of the landscape. You can develop a title today, for a console tomorrow without much peril.

It's a problem, but you don't solve that problem by giving the devs shorter and shorter windows. And the generation is only 7 years if you discount the Pro and X, and doing so would go against your following argument. If you want to play a game that could by all means run on the PS4, you have no reason to do it for the PS5 other than having to. If the idea is that it could run on the PS4 but it would run better on the PS5, that's what the Pro is for. So the generation is not 7 years old. Aside from some very creative usage of existing resources (or some blatant examples of it like Bethesda), you can't reuse many of the game assets across generations. Devs cycles are so long that even a single sequel to a franchise inside a generation is rare. That puts the strain on a developer and in turn lead more of them to go for a GAAS model. If you can't pump sequels that require less investment, you need to make as much money as possible with that one game you're going to release.

There's another factor to consider. Gaming is an expensive hobby to get into, the consoles are very expensive and one weirdly overlooked factor in why Battle Royale games have been so popular is the ease of access to them. A toaster can run Fortnite. You don't need a dedicated device to do it. Aside from us turbo nerds, you can't ask regular people to frequently update their shit to get the games they want, you just lead them to cheaper alternatives. We're seeing that already.
 
It’s definitely declining after peak of 20, just not crashing. Another 15M and saturation will be reached with sharp drops, especially with more next gen buzz in near future.
Will it though? The Wii dropped 20% after its peak year, then another 25% the next year, then over 30% the following year. The PS4 is two years past it's peak year and has dropped barely over 10% total. And the retail price is still $300.
I see, the Year to date part was very confusing.
Yeah idk why it says YTD, they mean yearly sales (launch aligned), so YTD makes no sense really lol
 

Ar¢tos

Member
I have pretty much stopped buying any Sony product unless it was an exclusive or uncensored. They aren't getting me as a primary customer until they fix their regressive actions.
Because underaged boobs are the most important part of gaming, right?
Where were this group of complainers during the ps3 era when violence was censored in EU? (Beyond Two Souls, God of War 3,etc)
 

Dontero

Banned
Because underaged boobs are the most important part of gaming, right?
Where were this group of complainers during the ps3 era when violence was censored in EU? (Beyond Two Souls, God of War 3,etc)

You mean Germany. Rest of Europe didn't have this problem.
Also violence outrage is strictly US thing. I don't remember any headnews story about violent games in Europe since i started playing in 94
 
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Let's have generations that are shorter than the time it takes to develop a single AAA game. What could possibly go wrong?
7 years next year. Software taking longer than is a problem in itself.

Besides, brand new exotic architecture demarcating each gen is no longer part of the landscape. You can develop a title today, for a console tomorrow without much peril.

That's what happens when people keep demanding more better graphics & hardware.

It's going to come at a cost as development time & development costs will continue going through the roof.
 
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Dr. Claus

Vincit qui se vincit
Because underaged boobs are the most important part of gaming, right?
Where were this group of complainers during the ps3 era when violence was censored in EU? (Beyond Two Souls, God of War 3,etc)

No. It is because seeing the developer's full vision is the most important part of gaming. Don't try to push the disingenuous bullshit because you can't properly refute those of us who are against needless censorship. I also argued against censorship in the EU as well as that in JPN itself. Censorship is not acceptable. Don't talk out your ass or make assumptions, mate. Only makes you look like the fool.
 

Ar¢tos

Member
No. It is because seeing the developer's full vision is the most important part of gaming. Don't try to push the disingenuous bullshit because you can't properly refute those of us who are against needless censorship. I also argued against censorship in the EU as well as that in JPN itself. Censorship is not acceptable. Don't talk out your ass or make assumptions, mate. Only makes you look like the fool.
lol, so defensive. I must have touched a sensitive spot...
 

EverydayBeast

thinks Halo Infinite is a new graphical benchmark
Console's last years are difficult situations after so many years of build-ups, so SONY's hoping it can adjust to the PS4's final years.
 

StreetsofBeige

Gold Member
Because underaged boobs are the most important part of gaming, right?
Where were this group of complainers during the ps3 era when violence was censored in EU? (Beyond Two Souls, God of War 3,etc)
Because violence and drugs in games like God of War, GTA or FPS involve adults.

You don't see Kratos or Captain Price doing upskirt photo mode against girls, or grabbing their boobs or slapping their asses with digital mitts.
 
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Bryank75

Banned
If they release the rumoured 200 euro slim, it could push healthy sales in the middle-east , South America and parts of Africa and Asia.

I'd love to see the mobile division go, it seems like a real drain when they could be going into highly profitable businesses like medicle products and expanding on stuff like the Endoscopes they make with Olympus . Prosthetics would be another one, they have experts that would be great in this area.
 

StreetsofBeige

Gold Member
Sony's gaming slow down will be short lived. PS5 will come out next year and things will prop back up. So this slowdown will last for only one more year.
 

CyberPanda

Banned
If they release the rumoured 200 euro slim, it could push healthy sales in the middle-east , South America and parts of Africa and Asia.

I'd love to see the mobile division go, it seems like a real drain when they could be going into highly profitable businesses like medicle products and expanding on stuff like the Endoscopes they make with Olympus . Prosthetics would be another one, they have experts that would be great in this area.
Yes, they need to focus on their strong points and close down the things that are bleeding their bank account.
 

Daymos

Member
So basically when everyone owns a system and has a huge backlog of amazing games.. the company sucks??
 

Kdad

Member
As someone who knows absolutely nothing about the inner workings of all their divisions I say the smartphones should go. Like who the hell is even buying them.

Disclaimer - I also have no idea how well their smartphones are selling but I can't imagine they are selling well

Many of their phones are quite good...they just have never been picked up by the carriers in NA since the old SONY Ericsson days.
 

DeepEnigma

Gold Member
Is this where we start parroting "Just wait until PS5 releases!"?

What do you mean by this?

This is normal for the end of a console life cycle, not to mention the saturation they have and it's still $299.
 
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ReBurn

Gold Member
What do you mean by this?

This is normal for the end of a console life cycle, not to mention the saturation they have and it's still $299.
I mean that whenever we reach the end of a generation people always start fanboy warring for the next one. Trying to read more into it than is there seems weird, but ok.

That said, I wouldn't go as far as saying the market is saturated with PS4's. The number of people willing to buy at the current price seems to be falling, but that doesn't mean everyone who would like to buy one has one.
 

DeepEnigma

Gold Member
I mean that whenever we reach the end of a generation people always start fanboy warring for the next one. Trying to read more into it than is there seems weird, but ok.

That said, I wouldn't go as far as saying the market is saturated with PS4's. The number of people willing to buy at the current price seems to be falling, but that doesn't mean everyone who would like to buy one has one.

I was not trying to read too far into it, I was honestly wondering what you meant in more detail.

Agreed, I meant it is reaching peak saturation at that price-point. If the rumors are true about the 7nm PS4 this fall, then there is a good chance for a $250-$200 MSRP to boost more sales going into next gen.
 
Many of their phones are quite good...they just have never been picked up by the carriers in NA since the old SONY Ericsson days.

I never said anything about their quality. I've owned a few Sony phones over the years, Xperias and back in their Ericsson days as well. Sony makes some pretty decent phones. I said they weren't selling well.

In 2018 Sony sold 2,000,000 smartphones. In the second quarter of 2018 Samsung sold 9,000,000 S9's. That one model of phone in one quarter of the year compared to Sony. Making good phones means shit if no one wants to buy them. Get rid of the dead weight Sony, like gah.
 

UltimaKilo

Gold Member
Sony really needs to diversify its business and add extra revenue. They should definitely exit the smartphone business and start investing more in semiconductors.
 
That's what happens when people keep demanding more better graphics & hardware.

It's going to come at a cost as development time & development costs will continue going through the roof.

Absolutely and it comes at a clear cost. Microtransactions is not a thing if publishers don't need to optimize every last inch of their game to get their money back.
 

Roitorb

Member
Everyone knows that PS5 will be back compatible so why pay 299 now when you can save up for the next gen model. I would love a PS4 to play the exclusives alone but I’m not going to jump in now when I can play all of them on a PS5.
 

Ar¢tos

Member
They will survive. A slim ps4 for 199 around E3 next year will "finish" the sales of the console and then the PS5 a few months later will restart the profit wave.
 

Spukc

always chasing the next thrill
ooof not sure if i will keep my ps4 because of this news. i could still sell it now .
and get the ps5 day 1 to play my ps4 games
 

johntown

Banned
This means nothing. They are still profitable. Back the PS3 days they were probably operating at a loss. Gaming has ups and downs all the time ppl are blowing this out of proportion.
 

Kdad

Member
I never said anything about their quality. I've owned a few Sony phones over the years, Xperias and back in their Ericsson days as well. Sony makes some pretty decent phones. I said they weren't selling well.

In 2018 Sony sold 2,000,000 smartphones. In the second quarter of 2018 Samsung sold 9,000,000 S9's. That one model of phone in one quarter of the year compared to Sony. Making good phones means shit if no one wants to buy them. Get rid of the dead weight Sony, like gah.
...and I was simply pointing out that they are not in one of the biggest phone markets in the world...thus low phone sales...so yeah, they could cut and run or they could spend the dosh trying to expand into a new market for them.
 

Paracelsus

Member
Oh no declining console sales, whatever will they do

image002eek2f.png

Poor argument. When you compare the sales of the PS360 era to those of this gen, the market is indeed very much shrinking.
At this point in time Wii was well over 100m, PS3 was 80ish and so was 360. Plus, the 155m of the DS.
Now PS4 is at 100ish, XB1 at 40m and Switch at 38, plus a completely dead 3DS sitting at 75. That's a huge decrease in units sold. If you add that the portable market is gone, it's even worse.
Maybe they can squeeze more revenue by scamming gamers with nickle and dime practices, but the outlook when it comes to actual units sold during next gen seems grim.
He who wins next gen will be the sole survivor.
 
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