Remember the days when Sony perpetually felt like one flop away from financial catastrophe? This author does – after all, Push Square was founded during some dark times for the Japanese manufacturer. The company's doing much, much better under the leadership of Kaz Hirai, however, and PlayStation especially is in a positive place.
One tidbit that's emerged from the firm's latest financials is that the PlayStation Network alone made more revenue over the course of the last fiscal year than the entirety of Nintendo's business. It's true: the PlayStation maker's online platform pulled in ¥529.1 billion (~$4.8 billion) compared to the House of Mario's ¥504.4 billion (~$4.6 billion).
It's perhaps worth mentioning, though, that in terms of profit – the part that actually matters – there wasn't an absolutely gigantic difference between the two companies, with PlayStation bringing home ¥88.7 billion (~$819 million) compared to Nintendo's ¥32.8 billion (~$303 million). Considering the clear daylight between the Wii U and PS4, it's evident that Nintendo runs a very efficient ship.
[source twitter.com, via eurogamer.net]
Comments 29
Turnover is vanity, profit is sanity!
@kyleforrester87 Cash is King
nice but if the rumours about the developers not being pleased with the "Neo/PS4K" that could soon come to an end
@FullbringIchigo I doubt it.
@FullbringIchigo Very Doubtful. PS4 is leading this generation by a wide margin. If developers change their stance towards Sony's machine they could potentially miss out on a large amount of money.
@stevie85 @get2sammyb hey i doubt it too but come on aint you a little worried that the PS4K could just end up ruining everything Sony has done this gen?
Can rich Sony spend some yens on bringing more PS2 games to PS4?
@FullbringIchigo Not particularly. I know several people who plan on buying a PS4K, as I will. Sony has the consumer's attention this gen. I can't see the PS4K changing that. Particularly when the vanilla PS4 will receive a price drop. I'll admit it's not the most ideal situation but compared to PCs the PS4 is lagging far behind in terms of power.
@FullbringIchigo No. I actually... I think it'll probably increase PS4 sales. People are worried now because they don't have access to the full picture; I trust this current PlayStation team to turn PS4K into a success. There's no reason to doubt them at this point - they've been on fire for the past four or five years.
I mean, who could have ever thought that the PS4 would sell 40 million units this fast? It's quite remarkable what they're doing over there.
This is great news!
But alas, don't get too confident, like every other major console manufacturer ever. I'm afraid that Sony may get a bit arrogant again with all of this success, hopefully not.
@Neolit
Exactly! Who will buy the "base PS4" for $349 if a way more powerful Xbox One Plus 1 is available for practically the same price? Not only that, the NEO will make the range of PS products simply more varied: you can pick whatever you like whether you're a gamer, a techie who's just in it for the VR or a housemom that just wants to watch Netflix and her Greys Anatomy Blu Ray box. (Male chauvinist pig in da house! )
More OT: PlayStation is doing wonderful, but Sony as a whole has tons of money dripping out of its pockets every step forward it makes. If you see what the PS division almost single handedly has to keep afloat, it's clear they can't have another PS3 era ever again.
@get2sammyb @stevie85 well when you put it that way it doesn't sound too bad
still a little more information about it and just how it will impact current PS4 owners would be nice
guess they are waiting for E3 before they give us the full lowdown
@Boerewors Did you check the financials? That's not true anymore, fortunately. PlayStation division did very well, but so did Music, Pictures, Financial Services, and Imaging Solutions. Only smartphones lost a significant sum of money, and even that division edged closer to profitability than last year.
Sony's not the juggernaut it was in the eighties anymore, it's been replaced by the Googles and Apples and Facebooks. But it's much more financially stable now than it was a few years ago.
I was about to hang my head in shame at the thought that I was seeing the return of the juvenile days of the Nineties' Console War but at least the author redeemed himself later in the article.
Still, this all shows that online multiplayer has become such a integral part of gaming that having to pay extra for it is no longer deemed unacceptable.
Wouldn't surprise me if Ninty eventually jump into the bandwagon.
@get2sammyb Thank you! Sony is in the Black for a while now. I can't stand people talking sh*t while not looking at sources.
@Neolit
Success has a way of getting to people's head regardless, but yes, hopefully Sony continues to be successful while remembering why they were able to leap frog MS.
At the end of the day, the majority of gamers have a fickle allegiance, as we saw in 2013. Companies aren't looking after your best interest, they are looking for your money.
@get2sammyb "Considering the clear daylight between the 3DS and Vita/PSTV, it's evident that Nintendo runs a very efficient ship."
Fixed that for ya.
@Grawlog I'd argue that Vita is an excellent system, though, it just didn't find an audience. Don't think there's anything wrong with the product itself — Cerny did his job well, for me.
@Grawlog
Good post, yeah, Kimishima is probably the better long term fit for Nintendo when compared to Iwata (if he stays on for that long).
Now they just have to give Miyamoto his retirement check, lol, thanks for being one of the greatest, but we need some young blood.
@get2sammyb
Well besides the rear touch pads and it's memory card issue. It's a great system, if not super slick, but the Vita has some flaws. That's why I love the PS4, it's not the most original piece of kit, but it's user friendly and does nothing to offend the players experience.
Kazamania's running wild brother!
I don't quite get the comparisons made in the article.
Revenue: $4.8b - $4.6b = $200m
Profit: $819m - $303m = $516m
So a bigger difference in the latter, not sure how that verifies Nintendo as an efficient earner, rather it is the reverse is it not?
Funny how Nintendo created it's own competitor and it's doing better then they are.
@Tasuki
It's kind of funny how all of these companies are interconnected, like how SEGA of America approached Sony on a next gen console circa 93 and SEGA HQ shut it down.
Woah. I have to wonder if Nintendo is seriously considering charging for a premium network service after seeing this. I guess I wouldn't mind, since I don't like playing online anyway - I just hope it doesn't get to the point where consumers have to pay to access basic stuff like DLC.
@MikLSP Yeah, I'm confused by that too...
They have enough money to make ps vita 2. ☺
@sub12 Yeah, and then Sega went to MS for the OS for the Dreamcast.
Seems fair.
This isn't that shocking. PS4 is one of the fastest and top selling consoles of all time with mandatory PSN subs for online access, compared to Nintendo's worst selling console of all time and an aging handheld.
@Grawlog
Excellent post.
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