Overview
- Sony’s reported first‑party game unit sales fell every year since 2020 and the company’s most recent 12‑month total was 32.1 million units, far below the 58.4 million peak in 2020–21.
- The 2020–21 peak coincided with COVID lockdowns that lifted home entertainment use, which makes straight year‑to‑year comparisons misleading.
- The drop is concentrated in games Sony develops or publishes rather than overall PlayStation sales, which shows stronger demand for third‑party titles on the platform.
- A wave of studio buys, remakes and remasters has produced hits like Astro Bot and flops like Concord but has not yet produced a sustained recovery in first‑party unit sales.
- Analysts and fans are watching upcoming releases and PlayStation events such as State of Play, which will feature an Insomniac Wolverine segment, as key tests of whether Sony can deliver new marquee hits that change the trajectory.