Report: Sony exec says PS4 is Nearing the End of its Life Cycle
by: Bryce L. Jackson
In a meeting with Investors new Sony CEO John Kodera said that the PS4 is nearing the end of its life cycle. The details behind the statement was that in terms of revenue, the PS4 has made the most of the money it can. Console sales are projected to come in at 16 million units sold this year, down from 19 million last year.
Sony is now counting on recurring membership fees from Playstation Plus and other services to maintain its good standing of positive yearly revenue as well as leaning in to first-party IPs and revamping classic IPs.
The news is not really a surprise. The console has sold really well but after 5 years, there are only so many consoles that consumers will buy. The headlines around this statement also is a bit misleading. Sony is not yet prepared to say that the PS4 is now old news and all focus is on the PS5. In fact, Sony said they intend to support the PS4 through 2021. Only that they are broadening their focus to sales of memberships and games. The last console generation was especially long so no need to fret about looking out for the next generation of consoles quite yet as we are only approaching the 5th year of this cycle. However this news would only suggest that there may not be another revamped version of the current consoles like they did with the PS3 "Fat", PS3 Slim and PS3 Super Slim.