Sony FY 2022 Q2:
— Dom (@DomsPlaying) November 1, 2022
Sales of all product categories for PlayStation were either flat or up. Physical Software rose 32%.
Also, Network Services increased 16% to its best ever result.
Indicating higher output per user, since PS Plus & MAUs declined 1.9M & 1M respectively since Q1. pic.twitter.com/tsIh4fE4Ow
PlayStation Plus has lost nearly 2 million subscribers since its revamp
But Sony’s Network services revenue is up; CFO says it expects to recover subscribers next quarter
PlayStation Plus subscribers have dropped by nearly 2 million users since the revamped service launched in June.
That’s according to Sony’s latest subscriber estimates, which were published on Tuesday as part of its FY2022 Q2 financial results – the first full quarter since it launched the revamped PS Plus.
Despite the revamp, PS Plus subs declined for the third quarter in a row. The total number of subscribers stood at 45.4 million for the three months ended September 30, 2022, down from 47.3 million in the previous quarter.
PlayStation Network monthly active users (MAUs) were also down during the three-month period at 102 million, a decline from 104 million a year earlier and 103 million in the previous quarter. This appears to be Sony’s lowest MAUs figure since it began reporting this data in early 2020.
Further reading
PS5 hits 25 million, but Sony gaming profits fall 49% due to rising costs
PlayStation Plus subscribers and monthly active users were also down during Sony's Q2 window
However, despite the decline in subscribers, Sony’s Network services revenue – which encompasses PS Plus and advertising (but not game purchases or add-on content) – actually increased by 10%, from ¥106 billion to ¥116 billion, which represents its best performance to date for a quarter.
That means Sony’s gaming division is making more money per subscriber than it was before, potentially reflecting the uptake of the more expensive subscription tiers introduced by PS Plus.
Asked about the decline in an earnings call on Tuesday (transcribed by VGC), Sony’s CFO Hiroki Totoki blamed declining third-party game and PlayStation 4 sales and ‘more people going outdoors’.
The exec said he expects subscriber numbers to recover during the company’s next quarter, partly due to the impact of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and God of War Ragnarök.
“There have been a declining number of members of PlayStation Plus,” he said. “However, in the second quarter we renewed our services and there hasn’t been a great momentum as a whole. Also, we didn’t make aggressive promotions during the second quarter.
“Therefore, in the future we are going to have more penetration on PS5 and we are going to have very good titles. In addition, we are able to make better promotions and we think we are able to recover.”
He added in a reply to another investor about the PS Plus figures: “More people are now going outdoors, and we have yet to get out of the negative cycles. PS4 and third-party software sales have also been rather sluggish, and sales of catalogue titles have also been declining.
“Against that, PS5 engagement is quite high, so in Q3 we expect some recovery. We have strong titles from first-party, and we have some seasonal effects. So, in Q3 we can see some recovery from the downturn trend – that’s our expectation.”
Update
Sony has published an additional statement on the decline in PS Plus subscribers, claiming that it was influenced by “a greater decline in user engagement among PlayStation 4 (PS4) users than expected”.
“The number of PlayStation Plus subscriber accounts at the end of September decreased 4% from the end of June to 45.4 million accounts. We see that this decrease results from a greater decline in user engagement among PlayStation 4 (PS4) users than expected.
“On the other hand, the ratio of PS Plus subscribers among PlayStation 5 (PS5) users remains at a level significantly higher than that of PS4. We are putting even more effort into accelerating the penetration of PS5 hardware to recover this user engagement going forward.”
On the subject of large third-party releases, Sony referenced Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and said it was having “a good release”, therefore “for the third quarter we do have very high expectations.”
Last week Sony claimed Modern Warfare 2 was the biggest PlayStation Store launch ever for a Call of Duty game, including pre-orders and day one sales.
The revamped PlayStation Plus service launched in June with the addition of premium tiers, which added a library of hundreds of modern and classic games.
Sony previously attributed declining user and subscriber figures to the boost provided by stay-at-home restrictions during the pandemic. Compared to pre-pandemic (Q3 FY19), PS Plus subscribers have increased by over 6 million.
