Sony Sees Rise In PS4 Video Game Sales During COVID-19 Pandemic

The ongoing pandemic caused by COVID-19 has urged health agencies and the government to issue protocols to prevent the spread of the virus. Among others, social distancing and stay-at-home orders were strictly enforced. These guidelines gave players, especially PlayStation 4 owners, more reason to purchase more video games and anticipate what's next on their list.

But while COVD-19 saw other businesses closing its doors due to lack of customers, Sony saw an upsurge in video game sales. In a recent financial earnings report by the Japanese tech powerhouse, 91 million PS4 games were sold during the three-month period leading up to June 30, 2020. Engadget said the rise accounts to an 83% jump on the 49.8 million sales Sony reported from the same quarter last year.

The increase of PS4's game software was spearheaded by gamers buying “first-party titles” with the company selling 18.5 million games. Naughty Dog's “The Last of Us Part II” sold 4 million copies in just three days after it was officially released on June 19. On the other hand, “Ghost of Tsushima,” an action-adventure samurai game developed by Sucker Punch Productions, sold 2.4 million copies in three days, too.

Sony sold 11.7 million first-party titles during the same quarter last year. In 2018, “God of War,” “Detroit: Become Human” and “Marvel's Spider-Man” highlighted the company's software title sales. 74% of the games were bought digitally last quarter, Engadget added.

Sony also saw a big chunk of PlayStation Plus subscribers in Q1 of this year with nearly 50 million members as compared to 36.2 million during the same period and 41.5 million in Q4 of last year.

The only downside for Sony this quarter is its hardware sales. The data suggested that only 1.9 million PS4 consoles were sold this quarter, although it came as a markup to the 1.4 million last quarter. However, it came as a 41% drop when Sony sold 3.2 million units in the same quarter last year.

Sony told investors that they are taking “necessary measures and preparations” for the launching of the PlayStation 5 this Holiday season despite COVID-19 hindering some of its operations due to international travel restrictions and employees working from home.

Sony also launched a new PlayStation Store sale last month and will run until August 20. Nearly 500 PlayStation 4 games are on sale with prices starting at an affordable $10, said Comicbook.