This November will mark the sixth anniversary of the PlayStation 5 console’s launch, but in the years since its arrival, the gaming market has changed dramatically. The trend of consoles becoming cheaper over time has vanished this generation, as the PS5 now costs more today than it did in 2020, and the expectation is that Sony’s hardware sales could slow down over time. Sony doesn’t seem too worried about that, as company president and CEO Hiroki Totoki explained that there’s no need to “aggressively” sell the console.
“We are in the latter half of the lifetime cycle of a PS console,” Totoki said to the Wall Street Journal. “That means that we do not need to aggressively sell the console today. And rather than that, we’re focusing on recurring revenue from the current user base. And already, PS Plus has more than 125 million MAU (monthly active users) today. And how to monetize from the users is quite important for us.”
Totoki wasn’t clear by what he meant exactly in terms of aggressive PS5 sales, although it likely comes down to Sony not needing to discount the console or even sell it at a loss to draw in new users.
Sony has been pretty open about its plans to increase revenue from the players it does have, and these numbers have been growing steadily over the last couple of years. PlayStation Plus is required to access online services for the vast majority of games available on the console, while higher tiers tempt potential subscribers with access to an expanded library of games via the PS Plus Game Catalog.
At the same time, Sony is preparing to move toward an all-digital future, as over 80% of games purchased for the console are done so through its digital storefront. Once Sony begins to phase out game discs starting January 2028, plugging that gap should result in a sizable jump in its profits.
PS5 lifetime sales have reached 95.3 million units sold as of July 31, 2026. At the same time, the company is starting to feel the pressure from rising prices. Compared with the same period in 2025, console sales declined by 36% in the last quarter.
The company still has an active PS4 userbase to monetize as well, and despite its decision to end PS5 disc production being met with a lot of criticism, digital game sales increased from 78% to 82% during the recent financial quarter. It’s worth noting that profits during this period did increase by 37% thanks mostly to US tariff refunds and favorable exchange rates, but none of these refunds will be passed back to consumers.
