Sony’s June retool of PlayStation Plus was meant to consolidate the numbers of both of its video game services. Yet, as per the company’s latest financial report, the company lost 1.9 million subscribers between July and September. However, it’s not all bad news, as the service’s revenue has grown by 10% despite the massive subscriber loss.
If it’s any consolation, Sony isn’t alone. Microsoft didn’t lose Game Pass subscribers but it hasn’t grown at the expected rate. Then again, this downslide is far from expectations after Sony hyped the “improvements” it made to the service.
Keep in mind, the intent of the reboot is to stop the recent trend of subscriber numbers falling. Instead, the opposite has happened.
Of course, Sony doesn’t need to go back to the drawing board. The 10% revenue increase is equivalent to ¥116 billion or $788 million, which means that Sony is making more money in the meantime, even if it lost more subscribers. Although this isn’t ideal, Sony could reverse this trend. It’s worth noting that PS5 owners get the most of the new PS Plus, especially the more expensive Extra and Premium/Deluxe tiers.
Now that the PS5 stock shortage situation has improved, the number of people subscribed to the pricier PS Plus variants could increase.
Sony is also well aware that it lacks “aggressive” ad spending while expressing confidence that upcoming additions and better promotions will allow Sony to recover.
We’ll find out if the numbers will bounce back when Sony reports the increase in PS5 sales and the number of overall active users for the holiday season. Check back in three months’ time for Sony’s next financial report.
