The PS5 won't be getting any big first-party sequels for at least a year
The company hopes to make up for it with third-party exclusives like ‘Final Fantasy VII Rebirth.’
Sony said Wednesday it won’t launch any new blockbuster first-party PlayStation exclusives until at least early 2025. “While major projects are currently under development, we do not plan to release any new major existing franchise titles next fiscal year like God of War Ragnarök and Marvelʼs Spider-Man,” Sony President Hiroki Totoki wrote (via Polygon) in the company’s Q3 2023 financial results. Sony’s 2024 fiscal year begins on April 1 and ends on March 31, 2025.
The PlayStation division will instead focus on third-party software sales, which Totoki expects to grow gradually. Square Enix’s upcoming Final Fantasy VII Rebirth launches as a PS5 exclusive on February 29. Konami’s Silent Hill 2 remake, a console exclusive on the PS5 that will also launch on PC, is scheduled to arrive later this year. Other upcoming third-party tentpoles include Stellar Blade and Rise of the Ronin.
Meanwhile, the platform’s first-party exclusive Wolverine game may not arrive until 2026 if leaked documents from a hack are any indication.
“We expect third-party software sales to continue to expand gradually due to the expansion of the PS5 installed base and the high level of user engagement,” Totoki wrote. Totoki will replace Jim Ryan as Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO in April.
As for why PlayStation ended up with such a long gap between first-party flagship games — Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 launched in October 2023, leaving a roughly 18-month gap or more — VGC reports that Totoki said in an earnings call (through a translator) that the company’s creative teams can can improve their development turnarounds.
“When it comes to the business, I think there is room for improvement,” Totoki said of its first-party studios after complimenting their creativity and vision. “And that’s to do with how to use money, the schedule of development, and how to fulfill one’s accountability towards development — those are my frank impressions. I will continue to engage in dialogue with the people so that we can find the right way to proceed.”
PS5 console sales, which reached 8.2 million units in Q3 2023, missed their target in the quarter. The company has adjusted its fiscal year projections of PS5 sales from 25 million units sold to 21 million. Sony expects a gradual decline to continue. “Regarding the PS5 hardware, which will enter its fifth year since launch, partially due to its entering the latter half of the console cycle, we aim to optimize sales with a greater emphasis on the balance with profits, so we anticipate a gradual decline in unit sales from next fiscal year onwards,” he wrote.
