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That’s all she, and I, wrote. Well, almost. Because 2023 is nearly done.
Which can only mean one thing: It’s time for my prestigious, anticipated, incredible Year-in-Review!
This marks the seventh (!) installment of my annual wrap-up series, where I recap the biggest, best and often bittersweet topics across gaming, technology and media from the last 12 months.
Broadly, across four different categories, I’ll be highlighting a number of topics impacting these industries. From layoffs to labor. Consolidation to unionization. Return to office to hybrid workflows. Artificial intelligence to large language models. Information breaches to antitrust suits. Megalomaniac leaders and Twitter to China and Tik-Tok. Barbenheimer to Mario Bros. Fantastic games to hardware supply.
Scroll below for a rundown of the specific articles you’ll have to look forward to during this year-end time, which runs the gamut from celebration to lamentation. I’ll add links as the posts go up.
I know I’m partial; I highly recommend bookmarking this post. That makes it super easy to check back often for full coverage of my 2023 Year-in-Review wrap-up!
Thanks so much for visiting and making it a great year here at the site and on social media. Happy Holidays to you and yours. Be safe and well!
The year is nearly done. Which means the States are getting chillier, Baldur’s Gate 3 won The Game Awards and this will be the last monthly sales report recap that I’ll write before the calendar turns to January.
Before you know it, I’ll be posting my annual Year-in-Review series. There, I’ll talk about how it’s been an amazing year for game releases yet a very difficult one for working in games. Here, I’m sending all my best to the thousands impacted by layoffs this year and my heartfelt thanks for their work and dedication to their craft.
In terms of the U.S. industry itself, tracking firm Circana recently released its November spending report. It turned out to be a down month as sales declined 7% to $5.87 billion, a lower-than-expected result during the coveted Black Friday month partly due to the console category dropping more than 20%.
This is the second month in a row of spending declines, as October showed a similar dynamic.
The two largest segments, Content and Hardware, both saw lower spending than November last year. Only Accessories experienced growth, and a modest amount at that. Not even ample supply, the PlayStation Portal launch or a brand new Call of Duty could propel towards broader gains last month.
The latest installment Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 secured the top spot on the premium software chart during November. This means Activision Blizzard’s military shooter franchise has led its launch month for a staggering 16 years straight. Even so, signs point to a weaker start than its predecessor, and there’s a chance the series will be dethroned in the final 2023 rankings.
“It’s not to say that Modern Warfare 3 is doing poorly (it is already the 2nd best-selling game of 2023 after all),” Circana’s Mat Piscatella told IGN. “But no it is not currently meeting what Modern Warfare 2 did a year ago.”
On the console front, Sony’s PlayStation 5 continued its monthly dominance as it outsold all competitors measured by dollars and units. Similar to its performance in every month this year except for May, when Nintendo Switch led due to a new Zelda, well on its way to securing a win for the full 12 months.
Overall spending across the industry in 2023 still remains ever-so-slightly positive. Earlier monthly gains due to Hogwarts Legacy and The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom plus a steady mobile resurgence are carrying weight. It all comes down to December, as this month’s performance will dictate where the year ends up.
Scroll down for a full recap of the figures and my final set of predictions this year.
United States Games Industry Sales (October 29th, 2023 to November 25th, 2023)
Total money spent across all of gaming in November was $5.87 billion, or 7% lower than a year back. The downward movement was attributed to a lack of flagship system launches for both PlayStation and Nintendo, which November 2022 had in God of War Ragnarök, Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet, alongside generally weaker demand in the console space.
After accounting for this latest result, sales for 2023 are currently trending upwards by 1% to $49.28 billion.
The primary contributing segment of Content dipped 3% in November to $4.6 billion, thus making up 78% of the whole. Compare that to last year’s 75% slice.
“An 11% decline in Console & Portable Content spending was partially offset by 3% growth across each of the Mobile, Subscription, and PC, Cloud & Non-Console VR Content segments,” Piscatella noted.
Mobile is now showing consistent growth, even if it’s in the single digits, a solid reversal of where it was earlier in the year. MONOPOLY GO! repeated as the top monthly earner, followed by Royal Match, Roblox, Candy Crush Saga and Coin Master.
The release slate in premium software has slowed leading into year-end, though there were still four new titles among the Top 20, with two of them among the Top 7.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 started in that top spot, as it often does. This marks five straight Novembers led by a Call of Duty game, dating back to 2019. After Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 and Red Dead Redemption 2 launched in October 2018, a month won by the former, the latter went on to take November 2018.
October’s leader Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 came in second during its second month, while Hogwarts Legacy bounced back into the Top 3 due to its Nintendo Switch launch as Warner Bros. title in the Harry Potter universe was the second top-selling title on that platform.
Nintendo’s Super Mario Bros. Wonder retained a high position at #5, while the publisher’s newest release Super Mario RPG Remake debuted in 7th. Bandai Namco’s Naruto x Boruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm Connections landed at #12, while Star Ocean: The Second Story R from Square Enix launched at #17.
With respect to Monthly Active Users (MAUs), Fortnite moved up to the most played position on both PlayStation and Xbox ecosystems, surpassing the Call of Duty HQ launcher, while Valve’s Counter-Strike 2 secured Steam’s top engagement. Lethal Company from indie team Zeekerss was the big mover on PC, jumping from 115th in October to 2nd in November.
In terms of the annual list approaching the end of 2023, Hogwarts Legacy is still leading, just above the newly-launched Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 at 2nd with less than a month of tracked sales. There are now two Call of Duty titles among the annual ranks, with 2022’s Modern Warfare 2 is #7. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom dropped to 3rd. The biggest mover was Super Mario Bros. Wonder, moving into 15th place after starting October outside the Top 20.
See below for the full list of November top sellers and full-year with only a month to go!
Top-Selling Games of November 2023, U.S., All Platforms (Physical & Digital Dollar Sales):
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
Hogwarts Legacy
Madden NFL 24
Super Mario Bros. Wonder*
EA Sports FC 24
Super Mario RPG Remake*
Mortal Kombat 1
NBA 2K24*
UFC 5
Assassin’s Creed Mirage
Naruto X Boruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm Connections
Sonic Superstars
Star Wars Jedi Survivor
God of War Ragnarök
NHL 24
Star Ocean: The Second Story R
Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales
Minecraft
Just Dance 2024
Top-Selling Games of 2023 So Far, U.S., All Platforms (Physical & Digital Dollar Sales):
Hogwarts Legacy
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom*
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
Madden NFL 24
Diablo IV
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
Star Wars Jedi Survivor
Mortal Kombat 1
Starfield
Resident Evil 4 Remake
EA Sports FC 24
MLB The Show 23^
Dead Island 2
Super Mario Bros. Wonder
Final Fantasy XVI
Street Fighter 6
FIFA 23
Elden Ring
Remnant II
Hardware ended up being the most surprising part of the whole report, moving down 24% to $964 million, as opposed to over $1.27 billion in November 2022.
This means the segment has now turned negative for 2023, currently down 1% to $4.99 billion.
Declines certainly weren’t isolated to a single platform. Revenue for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S and Nintendo Switch all dropped double-digits last month, with the Nintendo Switch experiencing the most precipitous drop. On units, while Xbox Series X moved up against last November, Xbox Series S sales were lower, thus dragging down that device family.
This result undoubtedly missed my expectations, which weren’t even that upbeat after October. Rather than supply, this is squarely on the demand side as people have already been purchasing the latest generation of devices and weren’t enticed by slight discounting or bundles. Also, buyers didn’t see a must-have exclusive on any platform last month, something that usually drives interest.
“Instead of seeing huge growth because we were comparing to a supply constrained market (like we saw last year), we’re seeing the reverse now,” Piscatella explained. “Where we are comparing to a period of elevated supply and existing demand getting satiated. This comp issue is going to be a challenge in December as well and will finally start settling out in January.”
Sony’s PlayStation 5 again led November, with the most units sold and dollars generated. Xbox Series X|S was the runner-up, while Nintendo Switch slotted in third.
Then there’s a newcomer in PlayStation Portal, a cloud peripheral oddly classified as hardware rather than an accessory even though it requires a console to even function. Well, it debuted in fourth place. Its output wasn’t helped by PlayStation shipping a low supply as anecdotally it’s been selling out at every retailer when there is stock available.
Across all of 2023, PlayStation 5 remains first for the year by units and dollars. Nintendo Switch is currently trending in second place by both as well.
Speaking of Nintendo Switch, Circana shared a quick tidbit. And we love tidbits! It passed the lifetime unit sales of Xbox 360 during November. It’s now behind only Nintendo DS and PlayStation 2 on the all-time domestic list.
Our final segment of Accessories is up next, and it’s the only one that showed growth. Sales here were up 3% to $303 million. Circana shouted out game pads in particular, which moved up 8%.
Intriguingly, this happened without the inclusion of the aforementioned PlayStation Portal. Which means it’s due to mostly existing peripherals and controllers. I’d imagine that instead of putting cash towards consoles, people in the U.S. were more interested in scooping up various accessories for the devices they or their families and friends already own.
Accessory sales are looking up 1% to $2.05 billion if expanding to the full year at present.
November’s best-selling device was Sony’s PlayStation 5 DualSense in midnight black, repeating its win from October.
I assume the PlayStation 5 DualSense Edge game pad remains the year’s top seller, although the report wasn’t specific in this regard. I’ll update this piece if I receive confirmation of this point.
While November was more lackluster than I expected, especially for console sales, spending declines were partly because of a high comparable last year and a softer Call of Duty start compared to its popular predecessor.
After back-to-back negative reports in October and November, there’s a whole lot of pressure on December to secure a fourth quarter to end 2023 on a high note. Personally, I’m not quite sure it’s going to get there, as I’ll now move into a quick set of predictions.
First, December. The big holiday month is upon us. While there’s plenty of enticing games to purchase in a year of incredible releases, I’m thinking overall monthly spend will be effectively flat, driven by a lack of new releases and continued downward pressure in hardware demand.
I think mobile will keep its solid momentum in Content, while a number of familiar faces will appear on the premium sellers list. Ubisoft’s Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora is the only AAA launch this month. I think it will have a Top 7 start, even during the busy holiday blast. Expect Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 to repeat as the top seller.
Within Hardware, I’m leaning towards a single-digit revenue decline in December. Microsoft announced a substantial price cut for the Xbox Series X yesterday, dropping it by a hundred bucks for a limited time. Even considering that, I believe PlayStation 5 tops December with Xbox Series X|S next up.
Now, what about the year as a whole? Circana and Piscatella are now weary of their original 3% growth prediction for 2023. Personally, I think a flat December will bring the year to effectively even, with slight upside towards 1% growth. Essentially, due to a declining fourth quarter, consumers will spend about the same amount as 2022.
Hardware is an easy call, as PlayStation 5 will undoubtedly sweep 2023.
The big question is for Content: Will it be the first time since 2008 that a Call of Duty or Rockstar Games title like Grand Theft Auto or Red Dead Redemption doesn’t win?
It’s a distinct possibility, especially with a shaky start for Modern Warfare 3. I’m usually stubborn. This time, similar to my The Game Awards prediction of Baldur’s Gate 3 winning (which happened), I’m updating my expectation. I now think Hogwarts Legacy will be the year’s best premium seller, breaking Activision Blizzard and Rockstar Games streak in a shocking upset.
Thanks for checking out this big recap. I recommend reading through Piscatella’s Twitter thread which has more details on Circana’s latest monthly report.
Check back soon for my annual Year-in-Review series. Happy Holidays to all!
Note: Comparisons are year-over-year unless otherwise noted.
Here I am with another domestic sales recap, beginning the final quarter of results for 2023!
October’s numbers are in from industry tracking firm Circana, who revealed the winners of last month’s big battle for supremacy during the year’s busiest time for new game releases.
Despite all the premium software launches, total spending across the U.S. declined 5% in October to just over $4 billion. All of the three major segments of Content, Hardware and Accessories saw lower sales, with Hardware suffering the worst loss over 20%.
That said, 2023’s annual spend remains trending upwards as each category is pointing towards growth rates in the single digits.
The main reason behind October having lower spending, which I apologize for not pointing out last month, was Call of Duty launched last October while this year’s title didn’t hit until November. This led to a strong October 2022, and a difficult comparison against which last month had to contend.
“Growth in physical console software and mobile spending was offset by declines in other areas,” said Circana’s Mat Piscatella. “Particularly digital premium downloads driven by the release date shift of Call of Duty.”
There were still plenty of success stories. October had nine new titles among the Top 20 premium best sellers list, six of which settled within the Top 10. All of them within existing franchises, mind you, as is often the case in a world of brands and sequels.
The biggest among them being Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 which swung a victory as the month’s top earning game, experiencing a notable boost from leading on physical sales in particular. Congrats to everyone who participated in my poll and voted for Sony’s latest blockbuster hit!
It follows that Super Mario Bros. Wonder came in second place, with the usual caveat that Nintendo doesn’t share digital sales here for its published titles.
Supported by the system-seller that is a new Spider-Man game, Sony’s PlayStation 5 again led the Hardware segment. As it has most months this year except for May, trending towards winning 2023 overall in a fully-supplied environment.
Scroll down to get right into October’s data and lists, then my predictions for November.
United States Games Industry Sales (October 1st to October 28th, 2023)
Overall, consumers spent $4.04 billion across gaming in the U.S. during October, or 5% less than last year’s $4.27 billion. This lack of growth, despite all the great starts for software and healthy console dynamics, displays the power of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 launching in last year’s corresponding period. It’s truly a rising tide that lifts all boats.
This latest sales number means 2023 is now tracking up 2%, towards $43.42 billion.
As the largest contributing segment, Video Game Content moved down 4% in October to $3.56 billion. It made up 88% of spending, compared to 86% a year back. Circana attributed it partially to lower downloaded games, even as physical console and mobile gained.
The Content category, which includes software, add-ons and subscriptions, is trending up 1% year-to-date to $37.64 billion.
Mobile was one of the bright spots, a trend we haven’t seen much in 2023. Spending in this area rose 2%, with the report highlighting a consistency among the top games and a notable jump for Clash of Clans back into the Top 10. October’s biggest mobile earners were, in order: MONOPOLY GO!, Royal Match, Roblox, Candy Crush Saga and Pokémon GO.
A variety of new launches bolstered premium software, more than I can remember compared to any month this year.
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 web-launched above all others during its impressive debut, with launch month sales This year’s Insomniac Games’ open world comic adventure is already the 4th top seller of 2023 even with less than a month of tracking, a monumental win for Sony’s first party that benefited from huge physical sales and a higher price point.
Here’s where Super Mario Bros. Wonder slotted, in 2nd on the overall list and the leader of Nintendo Switch as a platform. It just missed the Top 20 for 2023 to date, at numero 21. Being the first 2D Mario title in over a decade, it’s hard to make legit comparisons for the domestic charts. So I’ll use Switch titles instead. Both Super Mario Odyssey and New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe reached third during their respective debuts.
Rounding out the Top 3 was Assassin’s Creed Mirage, which continued as a quiet seller echoing recent announcements from Ubisoft on its successful start. Even as a more focused, lower-priced title than its recent predecessors. It began one spot below Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, which debuted in 2nd during November 2020, and the same position as Assassin’s Creed Odyssey in 2018.
Next up for new titles were two annual sports releases in UFC 5 and NHL 24 scoring 7th and 8th, respectively. This means Electronic Arts published four of the Top 8 titles, echoing its live service and ongoing game narrative.
Sega’s Sonic Superstars landed next at #9. For comparison, Sonic Frontiers sped to 4th last November. Beyond the Top 10, Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 1 from Konami reached #12, Xbox’s Forza Motorsport reboot finished in 17th and CI Games’ Lords of the Fallen snuck on the list at #20.
You may notice one critical darling that’s missing from October. As I anticipated, Alan Wake 2 didn’t chart. The reasoning is pretty clear. Remedy Entertainment’s latest didn’t have a retail release and publisher Epic Games does not share digital sales. Meaning none of its sales were even counted in this context, thus it’s not comparable to more traditional software starts.
Moving briefly to the annual list right now, the Top 3 remained constant: Hogwarts Legacy, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and Madden NFL 24. Then there’s the only new entry in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, knocking Mario Kart 8 out of the Top 20 for the first time all year.
Check below for October’s aggregate premium rankings and 2023 so far.
Top-Selling Games of October 2023, U.S., All Platforms (Physical & Digital Dollar Sales):
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
Super Mario Bros. Wonder*
Assassin’s Creed Mirage
Madden NFL 24
EA Sports FC 24
Mortal Kombat 1
UFC 5
NHL 24
Sonic Superstars
Hogwarts Legacy
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 1
NBA 2K24*
Starfield
Elden Ring
The Crew Motorfest
Forza Motorsport
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor
Minecraft
Lords of the Fallen
Top-Selling Games of 2023 So Far, U.S., All Platforms (Physical & Digital Dollar Sales):
Hogwarts Legacy
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom*
Madden NFL 24
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
Diablo IV
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor
Mortal Kombat 1
Starfield
Resident Evil 4 Remake
MLB: The Show 23^
EA Sports FC 24
Dead Island 2
Final Fantasy XVI
Street Fighter 6
FIFA 23
Elden Ring
Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon
Remnant II
Dead Space Remake
Video Game Hardware took the biggest hit of all major segments in October, moving down 23% to $327 million. I don’t see this as a major story, just a move from one month to the next. So many folks picked up new consoles to play Call of Duty in October 2022, with comparable system sales shifting into November this year.
In stark comparison to the monthly figure, Hardware has grown the most through the first ten months of the year, up 6% to $4.03 billion.
The month’s best-selling console again went to PlayStation 5, as measured by both units sold and revenue generated. It’s continuing to track as 2023’s top device by both metrics.
Intriguingly, even during a month in which a new Mario launched, Xbox Series X|S earned 2nd place on dollar sales, while Nintendo Switch was the runner up by units. I’d imagine that’s partially because of a higher selling price for Xbox, and Switch sales are mostly double dips, Mario red OLED versions or purchases for kids as its audience is firmly saturated.
Similar to the movement of their overall category, all of the three big console families saw double-digit spending declines in October.
In addition to the monthly figures, Circana also provided a quick update on where lifetime figures are for the current generation consoles. Which have now been on market for nearly three years! PlayStation 5 is currently 9% above the PlayStation 4, while the Xbox Series X|S family is tracking behind Xbox One by 11%. Makes sense, given the dichotomy between each company’s approach.
Within our final category of Video Game Accessories, spending last month lowered 2% to $147 million. The most modest of declines compared to its counterparts.
Through October, buyers have purchased $1.75 billion worth of Accessories, or 1% higher than the same time frame in 2022.
October’s top earning peripheral was Sony’s PlayStation 5 DualSense in midnight black. I was expecting that the Marvel’s Spider Man 2 Limited Edition controller might win again, as it did in September, though this result is probably more about limited supply than consumer sentiment.
I’ll confirm with Circana on the current annual best seller, which I believe is still the premium tier PlayStation 5 DualSense Edge based on just how much revenue it generates per sale alone.
Now, what about the Meta Quest 3? Didn’t it launch in mid-October?
It did. However, it wouldn’t be included in this particular industry report. Circana confirmed that Meta Quest headset spending isn’t considered gaming for their tracking purposes. Rather, it’s a “a multi-function device.” Which means that Circana’s Technology group reports on Meta Quest.
Compare that to something more streamlined for gaming like PlayStation VR 2, which is included. Even if it remains a somewhat small portion of the pie.
This treatment truly affects the Accessories numbers because Meta Quest has proven to have the most widespread appeal of any augmented or virtual reality device across the consumer space.
Before I recap and shift to predictions, here’s an added bonus: Circana’s new engagement rankings by platform! As part of its public report, the company is now sharing the most played titles across PlayStation, Xbox and Valve Corporation’s Steam digital marketplace for PC titles. Here’s a look at those, in order of Monthly Active Users (MAUs).
During October, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Fortnite and Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 were the most-played on PlayStation. When it came to Xbox, it’s the same top 2 games then Grand Theft Auto V reached third. Counter-Strike 2, Baldur’s Gate 3 and Cyberpunk 2077 were the most played on Steam. Other standouts included Roblox starting in 4th on PlayStation, Forza Motorsport zooming to 7th on Xbox and The Finals beta landing it in 4th on Steam.
While October’s total spend declined, there’s a clear reason for it and it won’t really impact 2023’s overall result other than shifting spending on Call of Duty to November. Separate of that, which is a purely hypothetical scenario of course, I’d bet October spending would have grown against last year, especially within Content.
On social media, Piscatella mentioned Hardware in particular didn’t have a surprising result, although he believe it was below that which the platform holders expected. He anticipates more discounting and promotion in the coming months. Plus, he’s becoming more cautious on his annual forecast of 3% spending growth in 2023.
Speaking of looking ahead, I’m looking at spending gains in November driven by what I expect to be the biggest seller in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3.
Even with lackluster reviews, it’s still the single most popular gaming brand in the country. It will catapult up the annual chart to become 2023’s best seller, maybe even in November’s report. I expect yet another year where two Call of Duty titles end up in the Top 10.
Now that October is behind us, the release slate is slowing down considerably. There’s a couple niche Nintendo titles in WarioWare: Move it! and Super Mario RPG remake, both of which will end up charting, the latter having more upside into possibly the Top 7. Otherwise, I think Sega’s Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name can surprise, reaching a Top 15 start. There’s also Robocop: Rogue City which garnered more critical appeal than anyone ever thought it would. Why not, let’s say it gets a Top 20 start!
It’s a key time for Hardware approaching the November pre-holiday and the Black Friday period here in the States. I expect a comparable dynamic as October where PlayStation 5 will lead on revenue and units, with Xbox in second by dollars and Switch by units. Especially given the new PlayStation 5 model is now on sale, just in time for shopping sprees to begin.
This is where I recommend hopping over to Piscatella’s Twitter thread for further details and a complete rundown of those spankin’ new engagement lists.
I remain eternally thankful you are checking out the site! Stay well as the holiday season approaches.
Note: Comparisons are year-over-year unless otherwise noted.
*Digital Sales Not Included
^Xbox & Nintendo Digital Sales Not Included
Sources: Circana, Nintendo, PlayStation Blog, Sony Interactive Entertainment, Ubisoft Entertainment.
Today continues an especially busy stretch of this latest earnings season, as Sony Corp just reported its fiscal 2023 second quarter results today out of Japan.
During this three months ending September, both the firm overall and the PlayStation division experienced revenue growth. And while profitability declined at the company level, the amount earned by Sony’s gaming business moved up double digits.
In fact, PlayStation just generated its best ever Q2 revenue in history.
That marks multiple record-breaking quarters in a row for Sony’s Game & Network Services (G&NS) segment, since Q1 hit its own all-time high as I covered a few months back. This past second quarter saw sales zip past $6 billion for the first time, jumping up more than 30% since last year.
Plus, unlike back in June, PlayStation has bounced back to profit growth this time. I’d argue this is even more substantial than record revenue because it accounts for expenses and really gets to the core of its ongoing health amidst a most turbulent of industries.
Underlying momentum was a higher PlayStation 5 contribution alongside better third party and add-on content performance. On the profit side, signs point to the Bungie acquisition costs being fully recognized, since there’s no longer a mention of the deal. Caveat being, similar to Nintendo, we can’t forget about the yen’s weakness on results for these kinds of Japanese companies that have a ton of overseas sales.
One major component is how PlayStation 5 shipped 4.9 million units between July and September, notably more than this time last year and the corresponding quarter for PlayStation 4. This figure was within management’s forecast, pushing lifetime PlayStation 5 sales to 46.6 million and closing the gap with its predecessor when launch-aligned, as I’ll dig into later.
As for the group’s forecast, executives increased guidance for annual gaming revenue across fiscal 2023 while maintaining guidance for operating income and PlayStation 5 hardware shipments at 25 million, which would be the single best year ever for the brand’s console output.
“We recognize selling more than 25 million PlayStation 5 units this fiscal year remains a challenging goal,” said Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Hiroki Totoki when talking to the media. “It will depend on how sales do in the year-end holiday season. We won’t pursue expanding the PlayStation 5 installment base alone, but will keep profitability in mind.”
Scroll down for a swing through the numbers then a set of my own predictions alongside Sony’s future forecasts.
Total revenue for Sony as a whole rose 3% to $19.6 billion, with the biggest growth contribution from G&NS, Sony Pictures and Music, offset by declines in other areas. However, operating profit at the group level declined 24% to $1.82 billion. This was led by quarterly declines for Financial Services, Imaging & Sensing Solutions and Entertainment, Technology & Services segments.
Focusing strictly on PlayStation during the three months ending September, revenue jumped up 32% to $6.6 billion. That’s an entire third of Sony’s overall business. It’s what I call a massive all-time number, considering last year’s $5 billion or so was also a Q2 record at the time.
A crucial note both in the broader context and at the PlayStation level is the specific impact of currency movement. Out of the $1.6 billion growth, upwards of $410 million is strictly because of foreign exchange rate changes. This helps understand how much of the trajectory is organic, compared to an economic market force like yen weakness.
Reversing its fortune compared to a decline in Q1, operating profit for G&NS moved up an impressive 16% to $340 million. That’s 19% of Sony’s group total. Affecting the plus side were both third party content sales and currency movement, plus there’s no longer any mention of certain acquisition costs that were dragging down profitability. I believe the $3.6 billion purchase of Bungie has been fully recognized now and will no longer affect the bottom line. On the downside, management cited how hardware has produced increased losses, I’d imagine due to higher manufacturing costs.
Checking out product category splits, which are shown in the last graph above, Hardware sales grew a whopping 60% since last year and contributed 30% of PlayStation’s total. The next largest segment at 23% of the pie was Add-On Content, moving up 18% in dollar value. Digital Software produced 39% growth, settling at 21% of the total. In fact, the only product type to decline was Physical Software, down a modest 4%.
Annual PlayStation revenue is tracking towards $28 billion. As you can see in the gallery above, on the revenue graph, this is well above the highest it’s ever been, over a billion more than last quarter. Essentially, if this keeps up, Sony’s gaming unit will have its best year of sales ever. On the other hand, annualized operating profit is at $1.75 billion, which compares more to the late days of the PlayStation 4 life cycle. Still great in a historical context, just not as strong as the past three years or so.
As of this week, the “big three” console manufactures have all reported their latest results. The sole remaining biggest player is Tencent, which will be later this month. Right now for comparison purposes, Sony’s $28 billion is tops for the industry. Even if backing out currency impact, it’s well in the lead. Tencent generated $25 billion as of last quarter, and Microsoft’s Xbox segment saw almost $16 billion (though that’s before accounting for anything from Activision Blizzard). Nintendo’s at $13 billion, albeit with more than twice as much annualized operating profit than PlayStation: $4.2 billion compared to $1.75 billion, respectively.
Heads up: enhanced launch-aligned PlayStation console sales chart is live!
This fancy visual aid gives more context to PlayStation 5’s improving shipment numbers. The console’s 4.9 million units sold-in last quarter is an increase of 48% compared to the 3.3 million in Q2 last year. Plus, it’s 26% higher than the PlayStation 4’s 3.9 million in the corresponding second quarter of fiscal 2016.
It’s the fourth quarter since PlayStation 5’s release in November 2020 that it moved more than 4 million units in a quarter, and one of those was that launch period.
Which means that PlayStation 5, at 46.6 million lifetime, has reversed course and narrowed the gap against its predecessor this quarter. It’s presently only a million units away from reaching PlayStation 4, boosting its trajectory since the supply challenges of yesteryear.
This latest lifetime figure means it’s also passed another gaming device on the all-time best-sellers list. That would be Nintendo’s 1980 handheld the Game & Watch, of course, which ended its tenure at 43.4 million. Next up will be Nintendo’s classic Super NES, which sold 49.1 million globally.
One statistic that Sony didn’t update was console sell-thru to consumers. Probably because it usually waits until a big milestone in order to do so. Earlier this year, the PlayStation 5 reached 40 million sold-thru as of July 16th. I’d bet it’s a bit higher now, maybe in the 45 million range, especially ahead of a system-seller like Marvel’s Spider-Man 2. I don’t see a reason demand would have fallen off.
Digging more into the supplemental stats present in PlayStation’s presentation, full game software unit sales stood at 67.6 million in Q2, up from 62.5 million last year. However, due to a lighter calendar, the proportion of first-party published games was lower, making up 7% of that total as opposed to 11% a year back.
Digital versions accounted for 67% of PlayStation game sales, up from 63% in September 2022. This means that 2 out of every 3 premium games purchased for Sony’s platforms were downloadable.
As for player engagement, Monthly Active Users (MAUs) across all of PlayStation Network totaled 107 million as of September month-end. While this is down a million from the June quarter, it’s up 5 million since last year’s Q2. Management also said that total hours played moved up 4% in the latest three months.
Here is where I’ll continue to lament the loss of PlayStation Plus membership numbers, which Sony stopped reporting earlier this year. It will forever, at least for the foreseeable future, remain cemented at 47.4 million as of March 2023.
It’s been a historic run lately for Sony’s top-line gaming numbers, pumping out multiple quarter’s worth of record revenue and generating more than $6 billion in second quarter sales for the first time. PlayStation is the premier industry player by revenue right now, even if backing out the impact from the yen’s depreciation.
Profitability has certainly been more questionable, partially because of temporary factors like studio investments, acquisition expenses and hardware manufacturing costs. Still, it achieved a double-digit income boost in Q2 on hardware units ramp up and software support from external partners like Electronic Arts and Take-Two Interactive with their respective sports titles, plus something like Diablo IV from Blizzard Entertainment and the Warner Brothers Mortal Kombat 1.
Which is why it’s even more painful to hear about layoffs at various PlayStation studios, including Media Molecule, Visual Arts and Bungie. There continues to be a disconnect between executives and everyone else. It’s not just at Sony, this is just one of the more glaring examples especially as its profitability gets back on track.
Impossible as it is to follow that up, I’ll take a look now at the company’s forecast and make some quick predictions.
The firm revised its fiscal year 2024 PlayStation revenue upwards by 5%. Management now thinks gaming sales will surpass $30 billion when the 12 months end in March 2024, in what would be an astonishing finish and record-breaking result. It then reiterated operating profit guidance of $1.87 billion.
In order to hit the 25 million PlayStation 5 hardware unit target, it still needs to ship almost 17 million units across the next two quarters. 16.8 million to be exact. Even with new PlayStation 5 slim models and the PlayStation Portal, this remains a staggering target that will require an absurd holiday number then a miraculous January to March. For context, the largest holiday season ever for PlayStation 4 was 9.7 million in fiscal 2016, and its largest March quarter was 3.1 million right after launch.
Yea, I’m still not a believer. In that overly ambitious forecast or the over-priced peripheral that is the PlayStation Portal. I’ll keep my same prediction as back in August: 24 million to 24.5 million, leaning more towards the lower end.
With respect to software, note that Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 launched after the three months covered here. Still, Sony shared a sales update for Insomniac Games’ latest open world adventure, selling-thru 5 million copies to consumers after 11 days. It had previously started with the best first 24 hours in PlayStation history, at 2.5 million copies. It’s since fallen behind God of War: Ragnarök at 5.1 million in 3 days, nearly a year ago to the day. The Last of Us: Part 2 moved 4 million copies during its opening 3 days back in June 2020.
All in all, it’s a fantastic launch for Peter Parker and Miles Morales considering the size of the PlayStation 5 install base, clearly bolstering the company’s expectations for the back half of this year.
The final bit of relevant news from Sony’s earnings was a comment around its live service strategy, moving into next fiscal year and beyond. As reported by Video Games Chronicle, CFO Hiroki Totoki mentioned that out of its previously-planned 12 live service titles originally scheduled for launch by end of Fiscal 2025, only half of them are on target. Considering how much time and money Sony is putting into this effort, moving them out is a big deal for its financial future and resource allocation. Personally, I remain skeptical that all of them well actually hit market at any point.
Whew. Well, that’s a wild week of coverage coming to a close. I hope you enjoyed this latest recap. Thanks much for hanging around during this season. I’ll have more coverage here and on social media as another eventful year approaches its inevitable end. Take care!
Note: Comparisons are year-over-year unless otherwise noted. Exchange rate is based on reported average conversion: US $1 to ¥144.4.
Sources: Company Investor Relations Websites, Yahoo Finance, Video Games Chronicle.
It’s a busy week here at the site and on socials, partly because the earnings calendar is packed. So, there’s no time to waste, I’ll get right into the topic at hand.
Nintendo reported its second quarter of its fiscal 2024 yesterday, which showcased a fantastic first six months. With sales rising more than 20%, this time frame ended up being the single biggest first half of a fiscal year for revenue since the Switch launched back in 2017.
With a couple of caveats. As always.
First, the results were mostly driven by the record first quarter that I wrote about in August. When focusing strictly on the April to June period, revenue and operating profit declined 4% and 20%, respectively due to a relatively light launch schedule and lower quarterly Switch hardware output than a year ago.
Beyond these dynamics, Japan is currently seeing its worst local currency depreciation in decades. Which is always worth mentioning in this context, and Nintendo specifically cites the yen movement in its report, because it has a notable effect on Japanese companies that operate globally.
Echoing this, Switch hardware unit shipments totaled 2.93 million in the quarter. That’s off 10% from the 3.25 million this time last year. Still, it pushed Switch lifetime shipments to 132.46 million, making it only the third gaming hardware ever to pass the 130 million mark.
In terms of new games, Pikmin 4 was Switch’s big title during the quarter, and has shipped 2.61 million copies since June. This amount means it’s already the highest-selling game in the franchise to date. Add it to the list of titles impacted by the Switch effect, which often boosts new titles in existing series to all-time sales records.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom also contributed to software and continued its monumental run, now approaching the 20 million unit milestone in just its second quarter. The latest mainline Zelda is a smash hit, already at almost two-thirds of 2017’s classic Breath of the Wild lifetime sales!
In what I’d argue is the most important part of the report, and something I predicted would happen during my Q1 article, Nintendo raised most of its guidance for the full financial year. Management now expects higher revenue, operating profit, software unit shipments and will pay a higher dividend to shareholders. The only thing it didn’t raise was Switch hardware shipments, which it “only” reiterated at the current level of expectation.
“For hardware, by continuing to convey the appeal of Nintendo Switch, we try not only to put one system in every home, but several in every home, or even one for every person,” the company said related to its forecast. “Another objective is to continually release new offerings so more consumers keep playing Nintendo Switch even longer and we can maximize hardware sales.”
Here’s quick bonus for something that happened after this financial period: Nintendo announced today that Super Mario Bros. Wonder sold-thru 4.3 million units to consumers during two weeks on sale. This makes it the fastest-selling Super Mario title, at least since the firm began tracking this stat in 2004. No wonder execs are more optimistic after yet another historic Switch launch.
Just like Drill Mario would, I’m now going to dig deeper into the numbers.
I’ll first address its quarterly earnings then expand to the 1st half and annualized figures for greater context on how Nintendo’s business is faring over time.
For the second quarter alone, revenue came in at $2.38 billion or 4% lower than a year back. Operating profit dropped 20% to $670 million. Which checks out, due to the big release of this period being Pikmin 4 plus Switch has almost achieved hardware saturation in its likely last year.
Taking the full six months into account, Nintendo achieved $5.65 billion in sales and $1.99 billion in operating income, increases of 21% and 27% respectively. That sales number is above even Switch’s best year in 2020, and operating profit is not far off from that year’s high either.
While this is certainly bumped up by out-performance of Tears of the Kingdom and the Super Mario Bros. Movie, slightly higher hardware units and early upside from Pikmin 4, there’s also the element of yen depreciation. While currency movement is usually more temporary, Japan’s currency weakness has been ongoing for many quarters now.
Taking a look into product categories, Nintendo’s hardware business accounted for around 41% of sales during both the first quarter and six months. That’s relatively constant since last year, when it was at 40%. Software accounted for the remaining 59% this time around, where it was 60% last year. A system-seller like Zelda plus certain bundles continue to prop up console sales this late in the cycle.
From a regional perspective, sales shifted out of Japan and into other territories. Both the Americas and Europe stayed the same since last year, contributing 44% and 23%, respectively. Japan declined from 24% to 21%, while what Nintendo classifies as Other jumped up from 9% to 12%.
Both digital and Intellectual Property (IP) related sales experienced the most growth during Nintendo’s first fiscal half, even if these areas still don’t represent a major portion of sales. Digital revenue output moved up 16%, and accounted for exactly half of the company’s Q2 dollar sales, virtually the same as the 51% a year ago. The mobile and IP-related category more than doubled, jumping 133%. Growth came more so from the IP side than mobile, as The Super Mario Bros. Movie stands at over $1.36 billion in box office earnings.
Combining the last four quarters, the company’s trailing 12-month revenue is currently at $13 billion. While down slightly since last quarter’s $13.12 billion, it’s up 6% year-on-year. Annualized operating profit is tracking towards $4.2 billion, down only slightly compared to both Q1 and last year’s second quarter.
If the revenue number holds, and the firm hits its latest target, Nintendo could achieve the highest annual sales since Wii’s massive popularity in 2008, even with the Switch hanging on during its twilight years.
Pulling a similar passage from my last Microsoft write-up, I’d like to compare industry peers to get a sense of where all of them stand right now. Sony, which reports results tomorrow, had PlayStation revenue upwards of $27.8 billion at last count. Tencent came in next at $25 billion, then Microsoft generated $15.78 billion before the Activision Blizzard deal closed. This is where Nintendo slots, at $13 billion. One thing to note is that Nintendo is more profitable than Sony, which is the only firm out of these four that reports profit numbers for gaming, and I’d imagine it has better margins than Microsoft’s Xbox business with its big investments and product expenses lately.
I mentioned a bit about Nintendo’s hardware results up front, I’ll now get into a more detailed breakdown of this product category.
The second quarter saw those 2.93 million Switch shipped to market, compared to 3.25 million a year ago. This tracks, notably after just how many units moved during the prior quarter, including a desirable special edition for Zelda.
Now, during the first six months of fiscal 2024, Switch sales moved up 2% to 6.84 million. While not quite at the highs of the Switch’s glory days in 2020 to 2022, it is above earlier shipments figures before 2019 during the corresponding time frame.
This shows the utter resilience of Nintendo’s hardware appeal, and making games that translate well from console to handheld. Plus, it highlights how the move to an OLED model replacing the base model drives people to picking up multiple devices for themselves or household members.
Out of those 6.84 million for the first half, 4.69 million were OLED versions. That makes up 69% of the total, and it’s 32% higher than last year’s figure. In fact, it’s the only model to grow over this time frame, considering the base model dropped 44% to 1.25 million units and Switch Lite moved down a more modest 2% to 900K.
This continues to life the lifetime Switch hardware figure, now standing at that 132.46 million. Which is still wild to write, mainly because of how it’s outpaced all expectations. Even mine and Nintendo’s itself. Thing is, while it’s secured a Top 3 spot on the all-time best-selling console list, I don’t see it moving up any further assuming Super Switch is out within the next 12 months. There’s still a 21.56 million gap between Switch and Nintendo DS at 154.02 million.
Then again, the Switch has exceeded all expectations thus far. It might surprise me.
One additional item that I found disappointing from Nintendo’s report is there wasn’t any further detail on console sell-thru to consumers, which it has recently added to its explanatory material. This is likely because it’s trending downward. Still, I’d rather the more data, the better. Maybe next time.
I’ll now take a similar look at the current software dynamic for Nintendo, the segment that makes up the majority of its business right now.
Overall Switch software unit sales in the quarter totaled 44.87 million, down 14% from 54 million. On the flip side, 1st half game sales rose 2% from 95.41 million to 97.08 million. It helps to have one of the highest-rated titles of all time launched in this period in Tears of the Kingdom.
These results drove lifetime software sales for Switch to pass yet another major milestone, this time surpassing 1.1 billion copies sold. It’s now upwards of 1.13 billion, an astonishing result. For perspective, the DS and Wii never reached a billion, even with the former selling many more hardware units. The sheer number of games that Switch owners buy, especially first party, is higher than any Nintendo device in history.
Speaking of big sellers, the number of games that have shipped over a million units during the current fiscal year jumped up a sizeable amount. There were only two back in Q1, just Tears of the Kingdom and the ever-present Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. The Q2 number was 16. Out of these, 12 were published by Nintendo while 4 were produced by third parties.
Chief among them being Pikmin 4, hitting that all-time high for a Pikmin franchise game of 2.61 million units in a single quarter. The previous record holder was Pikmin 3 Deluxe, another Switch title that has moved 2.4 million copies since October 2020.
I will point out that while the latest title has the best lifetime unit sales already, it currently has a lower attach rate than its predecessor partially because of just how many Switch have flooded the market. Pikmin 3 sold 1.28 million, or 9% of Wii U console sales, while Pikmin 4 stands at a 2% attach rate. For the time being.
Separately, it’s hard to overstate the pure magnitude of Tears of the Kingdom. The title sold another million units in the quarter ending September, bringing lifetime sales to 19.5 million. It’s not often that a game approaches 20 million units in a couple quarters. Thus, the title held its position as the 9th best-selling Switch title and will easily surpass Super Mario Party‘s 19.66 million next quarter.
I can’t write about Nintendo earnings and not mention Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, the game that never stops selling. It sold more copies than the brand new Zelda title last quarter, moving over a million and a half in Q2 alone. This game is almost a decade old, people! After this latest boost, the Switch version has officially passed 57 million sold to date.
Elsewhere in terms of new milestones, 2022’s Nintendo Switch Sports scored a new mark, passing 10 million to settle at 10.77 million.
While Nintendo usually reports on shipped numbers, it did share some insight into sell-thru to consumers. In addition to the aforementioned record launch for Super Mario Bros. Wonder, Pikmin 4 has sold-thru 2.5 million units globally as of last week, the largest start in series history.
As for engagement and player stats, Nintendo hit us with an update on Switch Online memberships and (its made-up stat of) Annual Playing Users, both of which are growing at this time as the user base expands. Switch Online subscribers now stand at 38 million, up from 36 million as of September 2022. Annual Playing Users, which is the number of people who have played a single game on Switch in the last 12 months, moved up to 117 million. It was 116 million in Q1, and 108 million last year.
Even considering the latest quarter trending down a bit, Nintendo bucked the trend of an aging console during the first half of fiscal 2024, turning it into a historic one for top-line sales compared to all others since the Switch first launched. It certainly helped to have a blockbuster movie to supplement traditional revenue streams, capitalizing on the quality of its big brand identities.
For a console manufacturer, this highlights the need to diversify. Especially when deep into a hardware cycle at a time when investment is ramping up for the next big device and its corresponding launch lineup.
Nintendo has mixed success in the past leveraging IP in various types of media. The last few months show it’s possible, between theme parks and film, proving there’s major upside as long as they instill that magic that has defined the company for generations and appeal to a multi-generational audience. Cross-media is a core factor behind what’s becoming a banner year for the publisher. And now with the announcement of a live-action Zelda flick in development, it will shape the company’s future income as well.
Here’s where I’ll look at that updated forecast, moving into the pivotal back half of the 2024 fiscal period.
Executives increased annual guidance for overall revenue by 9% to $11.2 billion. Operating profit guidance rose 11%, now expecting $3.55 billion. Additionally, it now expects to sell 185 million units of software during the full year, 3% higher than its initial forecast.
I honestly think the financial targets are still too conservative, based on the annualized numbers I referenced earlier. I think management will slightly increase revenue and profit estimates in its next report.
The firm also confirmed annual Switch hardware unit sales guidance at 15 million. That means between the holiday quarter and the first calendar year quarter, it needs to move 8.16 million more units. For context, last year’s December quarter alone saw sales of 8.23 million. While the Switch is a year older, I believe Super Mario Bros. Wonder among other title launches, a new Red Mario OLED model and a Super Smash Bros. Ultimate bundle can produce enough sales to beat the current estimate.
Even though I’m bullish, I’m slightly less upbeat than I was three months ago. I will slightly reduce my target, now expecting between 16 million to 16.5 million in the year ending March 2024.
2023 has been a huge year for Nintendo’s first-party lineup, across mainline Zelda and Mario titles alone, and I believe it has a decent supplemental slate for the holidays that can lead to financial targets being beat. Detective Pikachu Returns, WarioWare: Move It!, a remake of Super Mario RPG plus more content for Mario Kart and Pokémon titles will act as a second helping to the ongoing main courses of Zelda and Mario.
As for what’s ahead in 2024 and beyond, notably for the console transition, I’ll address those in a future article. For now, that does it for Nintendo’s latest quarter. Stay tuned this week for Sony’s results, and hop over to the earnings calendar to track everything this season.
Thanks for reading! Take care, all.
Note: Comparisons are year-over-year unless otherwise noted. Exchange rate is based on reported average conversion: US $1 to ¥140.96.
Sources: Bloomberg, Company Investor Relations Websites.
First up for the big three of the games industry was Microsoft, which posted its first quarter of fiscal 2024 numbers last night.
During this time frame, the Xbox business unit had a record first quarter sales performance. Quarterly revenue on gaming moved up nearly double-digits, generating almost $4 billion.
The clear driver was Starfield in September, a launch which fit the general theme of the Washington-based company’s strategy. Bethesda Game Studios’ space RPG pulled in Game Pass subscribers more than console buyers, a clear signal that this generation is unlike any other for the platform holder.
That’s because, while content and software sales moved up for Xbox, hardware spend actually declined in this same quarter of the year’s flagship game hit market. Starfield and all first-party titles for Xbox land on its subscription service day one, plus the publisher has been offering early access to its biggest titles. For a small fee, of course.
This translated to a boost in hours played and dollars spent by gamers during July to September period, even if they weren’t as interested in scooping up Xboxes.
“In our consumer business, PC market unit volumes are returning to pre-pandemic levels. Advertising spend landed roughly in line with our expectations,” said Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Amy Hood. “And in Gaming, strong engagement helped by the Starfield launch benefited Xbox Content and Services.”
The other headline news recently for Microsoft was the closure of its $69 billion deal for Activision Blizzard, as of mid-October. This subsidiary is now included in financial forecasts and will account for the bulk of the combined entity’s gaming growth during the upcoming holiday quarter.
Scroll down for a close examination of Xbox’s all-time Q1, industry peer comparisons, a discussion on Activision Blizzard’s impact plus a suite of predictions from both management and yours truly.
Based on the above slides and its filings, Microsoft reported gaming revenue of $3.92 billion in the latest quarter. That’s an all-time Q1 best, 9% above the former record holder last year of $3.61 billion.
This growth came in slight above the company’s estimate of “low to mid single digits,” attributed to out-performance of first party and a higher contribution from Game Pass revenue. This indicates that, at least on the content sales side, Starfield had a better debut than management thought it would and brought in more interest than projected.
Moving to the chart in the gallery above, despite this record quarter, Xbox’s $15.78 billion in trailing 12-month revenue is currently 3% below where it was at the beginning of fiscal 2023.
This modest downward trajectory for the annualized figure is certainly temporary, as you can see in the final column there which incorporates the second quarter estimate due to an Activision Blizzard boost, which I’ll cover in a later section.
Now that we know Xbox’s present annual revenue figure of $15.78 billion, we can map where it stacks up across big players in the industry. Sony’s in the lead with the PlayStation figure being over $27.8 billion, amplified by a currency impact and maximum console availability. Tencent accumulated $25 billion over its latest year, while Nintendo generated $13.46 billion.
Here’s where I remind everyone, especially the fanboys, of certain caveats on these comparisons. First, it’s early in the season and there will be updates throughout the coming weeks. Then, the yen has bumped up sales especially for Sony which is also much less profitable then at least Nintendo (Microsoft and Tencent do not report profit numbers for gaming). Plus, Activision Blizzard will augment Microsoft to at least $18 billion and more in the future, so everything is relative.
As I alluded, sales only tell part of the story. While we don’t know how much Xbox made when backing out expenses, we can infer some things from its broader category and the margin mix. Gaming is a part of Microsoft’s More Personal Computing (MPC) segment, which saw Q1 operating profit go up a whopping 23% to $5.17 billion. While expenses declined 1%, the firm cited how this was more driven by a better margin in Devices that was offset by “investments in Gaming” probably related to Starfield’s marketing push. Still, since it didn’t sell as many consoles, which are typically lower margin than software, I’d wager Xbox’s profit only reduced marginally.
I’ll now shift towards digging into results for the two major product categories: Xbox Content & Services and Xbox Hardware.
Essentially, the former had a great quarter while the latter was lackluster.
Xbox Content & Services spending moved up a healthy 13%, amassing $3.18 billion over the three months ending September. By my math, that’s the highest single first quarter for this segment in history. It comprised 81% of Microsoft’s total gaming revenue in Q1, versus 78% this time last year.
It also follows that, over the last year, Content & Services hit $12.55 billion, which is the second highest total ever behind only fiscal 2022 Q3 at $12.7 billion.
More than ever, the fact that content was over 80% of gaming sales when a traditional “system-seller” type game hit market signals the ever-growing movement away from console sales and towards ecosystem. Management wants people to subscribe to their service, to generate ongoing revenue, to bolster that bottom line, rather than one-time purchases of low margin hardware.
And that’s exactly what’s happening more and more this generation as the mix remains towards software and subscriptions.
When talking about the gaming division on the earnings call, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Satya Nadella shared that Starfield has now attracted over 11 million players to date, up from 10 million as of September 20th.
Showing a more multi-platform skew, management mentioned that almost half of the hours spent on the title have been on PC. Plus, they said it led to a single day record for new Game Pass subscriber sign-ups on its launch date. Unfortunately, they didn’t give any specific figures behind this particular claim, or what the prior best day ever might have been.
I’ll now sound like a broken record, and not the good kind, when I write that yet again management did not share updated Game Pass subscriber numbers. Which is increasingly odd, notably during a monumental quarter with Starfield supposedly boosting the service. Microsoft would have us believe it’s still at 25 million. I’d imagine we might finally hear more after Activision Blizzard titles are integrated and it hits another big milestone because of that.
Flipping in the other direction in Q1 was Xbox Hardware, which saw 7% lower sales than 12 months back. That’s 5% worse than expected, based on backing into management’s prior guidance.
This happened right after a Q4 where it declined 13%, showing that not only were console sales down even leading into the year’s biggest exclusive software launch, they were even worse than Microsoft expected.
Combining the last four quarters, Xbox Hardware currently accounts for $3.23 billion. That’s down 15% year-on-year from the high of $3.8 billion earlier in this Xbox Series X|S generation.
Which, I believe, won’t necessarily phase management. Because console sales are on the back-burner more than they have ever been in the 20-year plus history of the brand.
This time period encapsulates, even amplifies, Microsoft’s strategy. It doesn’t have system-sellers anymore; it has Game Pass sellers. It doesn’t rely on console sales any more; it relies on subscription offerings and catalog consistency. Whether or not this will be sustainable over a longer timeline is the million, scratch that, billion dollar question.
Without unit shipments being reported publicly, all we have are estimates that really end up being closer to guesses. Last quarter, I had Xbox Series X|S at between 24 million and 24.5 million lifetime, thus below Xbox One’s 24.7 million at that same stage. Xbox Series X|S was still above the Xbox 360, which was at 20.3 million launch-adjusted.
What about now and the comparison to prior generations and peers? My best guesstimate puts Xbox Series X|S lifetime at 25.5 million or so. Almost definitely no higher than the 26 million that many estimate Xbox One had by fiscal 2017 Q1. As for current generation comps, Sony’s PlayStation 5 is at nearly 42 million, likely approaching at least 45 million by the time it reports next week.
Competitors are consistently outpacing Xbox in key regions, even during the debut month of Starfield. Circana’s September report on U.S. sales had it in second place behind PlayStation 5, which was also last month’s best-selling console across Europe according to a Games Industry Biz article.
Echoing the success of gaming, Microsoft overall amassed $56.5 billion in revenue in Q1, ending 13% higher than the year prior. Operating profit jumped a whopping 25%, to nearly $27 billion.
Similarly, Microsoft Cloud sales bumped up 24% to $31.8 billion. Nadella and Hood both cited Artificial Intelligence (AI) businesses along with its enterprise operating system and productivity offerings as providing substantial upside.
The Xbox unit just had an all-time July to September period, as predicted in earlier articles, due to the highest profile software it has all year alongside the attraction of a subscription service that offers a lower-priced entry to play that. Plus, an experience like Starfield brings in more PC players than usual because of its modding potential and that Bethesda longevity.
Looking ahead, this is the first official forecast we’ve had from Microsoft on the impact from Activision Blizzard. The firm’s historical comparisons and financial forecasting are both going to be skewed due to the inclusion of this new subsidiary for the foreseeable future.
Its immediate effect will be massive. Across Q2, which is also the holiday quarter ending December, gaming sales are expected to see a growth percentage increases in the “mid to high 40s” i.e. around 45% to 49%.
Out of that, executives said the net impact from Activision Blizzard’s inclusion was 35 points, or 35%. Thus, organic growth for Xbox in Q2 would be around 10% to 14%.
What would that look like in dollar terms? Nearly $7 billion in revenue for the quarter ending December, with Activision Blizzard contributing nearly all of the growth. That’s over a billion and a half better than Xbox’s best quarter of all time, and it means 12-month sales would breach the $18 billion mark.
The company said Xbox Content and Services would grow in the “mid to high 50’s” or almost 60% growth. This would equate to another record of $5.3 billion in quarterly content sales alone.
50 points, or 50%, of that will be from the acquisition. Notably, there’s November’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, knock-on from Diablo IV and legacy titles entering Game Pass. Something like Forza Motorsport will bolster organic growth, as will major third party launches like sports titles from Electronic Arts and Ubisoft’s busy late calendar slate of Assassins Creed Mirage, Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora and The Crew Motorfest.
While Microsoft doesn’t provide official guidance on Xbox Hardware, it’s easy to back into it, and I arguer it leads to an even bigger story. Management is signalling growth for console sales well into the double-digits, upwards of 22%, to $1.7 billion. That would be the best growth rate in two years, and it’s the aspect of this forecast where I’m the most skeptical.
Now that I’ve covered the financial results, what caused them and where Microsoft is going into this quarter and beyond, that wraps up my first big rundown of the season. Thanks everyone for reading, and hopefully I’ll see you back very soon for more articles and analysis. Stay safe, all.
Note: Comparisons are year-over-year unless otherwise noted.
Sources: Bethesda, Circana, Company Investor Relations Websites, Games Industry.Biz.
Which means it’s time for my usual quarterly post outlining earnings dates for companies all across gaming, media and technology.
It’s been a tricky year to cover these sectors. There’s a divergence between labor and product output. Companies are laying people off, dealing with a contraction since the pandemic when money was more free-flowing. On the flip side, many product releases have been massive and of high quality, especially in the AAA games space.
I recommend using this calendar to track everything as the numbers come out and pundits react. I’ve highlighted three companies below, from the list of over a hundred I might add, that are worth keeping an eye on when they next report.
There’s also the usual Google Sheets link containing a spreadsheet for easy usage and quick access to respective investor sites.
Check the site again soon and follow me on social media to see more coverage of earnings season. Be well everyone.
It’s done! As of earlier this month, Microsoft officially owns Activision Blizzard. The consumer software conglomerate reported September quarter earnings moments ago, so I’m still digesting the news and will have a more thorough deep dive at the site this week. Suffice to say it was an outstanding quarter at the top-line for the Xbox division, achieving its highest first fiscal quarter revenue ever on sales growth that came in above guidance on the strength of Starfield and Microsoft’s Game Pass subscription service. Even as console sales declined, which signals a clear shift this generation away from reliance on that portion of the business. Check out my article for more, including a full reaction and detailed forecasts.
Sega Sammy (6460): Wednesday, November 8th
The big news out of Sega recently was its restructuring of European consumer operations, which resulted in the cancellation of Creative Assembly’s multiplayer title Hyenas even after its beta phase, a somewhat rare occurrence in an industry where projects are becoming much more expensive and companies want to see a return on their big investments. The Japanese publisher also killed multiple unnamed projects and has laid off people at Creative Assembly. It’s still unclear if Hyenas was part of the firm’s “super game” initiative, as there’s been conflicting reports. Either way, I can’t say I’m upbeat on this latest quarter or its general outlook. I’ll be looking for any sort of update on that growth plan, the Like a Dragon franchise, early indicators on this month’s Sonic Superstars, expectations for Football Manager and anything around its ongoing platform partnerships.
Starbreeze Studios AB (STAR): Thursday, November 16th
It’s been a while since I highlighted Starbreeze in this context, if ever. The Swedish developer and publisher was on shaky ground for a while, propped up by external deals and a dedicated yet impatient Payday franchise audience. Finally, just last month, it launched Payday 3 as its first major title in a while. Throughout the heist game’s first weekend, it stole the attention of over a million players despite having technical issues and an iffy online infrastructure. I expect really big upside when the company reports next month. It’s also publishing first-person shooter RyseUp Studio’s Roboquest next month, and while I don’t see it having a lot of commercial upside or impact on its financials, it’s good that the company is diversifying rather than continuing its reliance on a singular brand.
It’s the fourth quarter of 2023 already?! Seriously, time. Slow down.
As we inevitably enter the final stretch of what’s been a tough year for the games industry yet a great year for new releases, not only does Microsoft finally own Activision Blizzard, it’s secured another big win with its latest hit Starfield.
Even so, Sony held its own in the hardware realm during a big September for industry sales as reported by tracking firm Circana (formerly known as The NPD Group).
Last month, consumers spent nearly $4.5 billion on gaming. That’s up 10% since the same time in 2022. It marks the fifth consecutive month of growth and the second best September on record behind 2021.
Within the premium software ranks, six of last month’s top seven top sellers were new to market.
Starfield proved to be best among them, rocketing to the top of September’s overall chart. The sci-fi role-playing game from Bethesda Softworks became the first Xbox console exclusive to top the monthly list since State of Decay 2 back in May 2018.
September’s solid sales result also benefited from the latest entries in long-running series. Mortal Kombat 1 from Warner Bros. fought to second place while Electronic Arts’ rebranded soccer series EA Sports FC 24 scored third.
As for Hardware, PlayStation 5 again led all console sales, as it has most of 2023. Which is even more notable in a month where software was led by an Xbox console exclusive. Sony’s supply consistency and third party offerings keep it relevant at all times.
Circana’s Mat Piscatella confirmed on Twitter that premium game sales are doing “great” right now, though September’s growth for this particular segment came in a bit below his expectations.
Scroll down for a detailed look at the numbers, then my predictions moving into yet another busy month in gaming.
United States Games Industry Sales (August 27th, 2023 September 30th, 2023)
As referenced earlier, people spent upwards of $4.5 billion across gaming in September, up 10%.
Two of the three major categories, Content and Accessories, also generated double-digit growth. Underlying this upward momentum was a decent boost from mobile, a slew of software launches and a fair bit of interest in premium peripherals. All of this was enough to offset a decline from Hardware.
That means across the first nine months of 2023, spending rose 2% to $39.4 billion. All three categories experienced gains during this time frame.
Beginning with the largest area of Content, last month it contributed $3.85 billion. That made up nearly 86% of September’s total. For the year so far, it’s up 2% to $34 billion.
During September, sales from mobile devices moved up 4%. The list of top earners was unchanged compared to August, led by MONOPOLY GO!, Royal Match, Roblox, Candy Crush and Pokémon Go in that order.
Moving to premium software, September’s winner Starfield was best on both Xbox and PC, with the latter being its lead platform here. It’s immediately the 7th top-selling title of 2023. Note: These ranks do include revenue from the early access version, but they don’t include Xbox Game Pass subscriptions because that’s more broadly tracked in the subscription category.
Circana put together a handy list of Bethesda titles for comparison, this time using dollar sales (as some earlier charts were based on units). Fallout 76, Fallout 4 and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim all started in second during their respective launch months. The only other recent Bethesda title to lead its debut was The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion in 2006, meaning Starfield is in rarefied air for the team.
Next up was Mortal Kombat 1 at #2, the latest in a long lineage of gruesome sellers from NetherRealm Studios. It led the PlayStation platform chart, and is already the 8th best-selling of 2023. For context, both Mortal Kombat X and current franchise leader at 15 million unit sales Mortal Kombat 11 led their first months.
Yes, not only does this fighting game franchise consistently kill it commercially, it’s also adopted a convoluted naming convention. Can’t wait until Mortal Kombat 2 launches (again) in a few years.
Rounding out the Top 3 was EA Sports FC 24, which starts in 14th on the annual chart to date. Turns out it didn’t necessarily need FIFA branding. This year gained double-digit growth in units and dollars compared to FIFA 23. Domestic success echoes globally, where Electronic Arts said it had 11.3 million players at launch, a million more than its predecessor, growing new players by 20%.
The next new titles to chart were Payday 3, NBA 2K24 and The Crew Motorfest in 5th to 7th place, respectively. The usual caveat being Take-Two Interactive, the publisher of NBA 2K, doesn’t share digital, so it’s likely the basketball sim would be higher all included. Still, Payday 3 securing a Top 5 start reflects strong demand for the first franchise title in a decade.
The Crew Motorfest continues to be a pleasant, if quiet, sales surprise, racing to 7th place here amidst a crowded field. The Crew 2 started in 4th back in June 2018. Ubisoft said this latest release had the best first week globally in the history of The Crew, a franchise that has attracted over 40 million players during its nine year history.
You might be asking: Where’s Baldur’s Gate 3 since it hit PC in August and PlayStation last month? According to Circana, its publisher Larian Studios is another that doesn’t share digital for the purposes of charting. Piscatella said it’s doing “exceptionally well” especially on engagement over time. It ranked second on their Circana Player Engagement Tracker, ahead of Starfield in 3rd. On console, it was #20 on that list.
Briefly touching on the 2023 to date sales chart, Hogwarts Legacy and The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom kept their spots at #1 and #2 while Madden NFL 24 moved into the Top 3 after a full month of sales. Elsewhere, Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon is a big mover, jumping four spots to 16th.
Read on for a full look at September and 2023 software ranks.
Top-Selling Games of September 2023, U.S., All Platforms (Physical & Digital Dollar Sales):
Starfield
Mortal Kombat 1
EA Sports FC 24
Madden NFL 24
Payday 3
NBA 2K24*
The Crew Motorfest
Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon
Hogwarts Legacy
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor
Resident Evil 4 Remake
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom*
Minecraft
Mario Kart 8*
Rainbow Six: Siege
Gran Turismo 7
Elden Ring
Sea of Thieves
Diablo IV
Top-Selling Games of 2023 So Far, U.S., All Platforms (Physical & Digital Dollar Sales):
Hogwarts Legacy
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom*
Madden NFL 24
Diablo IV
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor
Starfield
Mortal Kombat 1
Resident Evil 4 Remake
MLB The Show 23^
Dead Island 2
Final Fantasy XVI
Street Fighter 6
EA Sports FC 24
FIFA 23
Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon
Elden Ring
Remnant II
Dead Space Remake
Mario Kart 8*
Hardware was the only main segment to see lower spending this September than last, down 8% to $451 million.
Underlying this, Xbox Series X|S generated single-digit growth while PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch declined. No specifics on the actual numbers, but this gives a sense of how last September was quite strong for PlayStation and Nintendo in particular, and Xbox benefited from Starfield demand.
Even so, console sales are up 10% for 2023 right now to $3.7 billion. Hardware is the only major category trending towards double-digit annual growth.
Despite having “slightly” lower unit sales year-on-year, PlayStation 5 continued its trend atop the console ranks, leading September as measured by both dollars and units sold.
For the second straight month, Xbox’s family of devices landed in second. Circana pointed out that last month saw the highest Xbox ecosystem units sold since September 2016. Plus, Xbox revenue was the best since September 2014. While Microsoft’s strategy is more diversified than its counterparts, of course it wants people to buy retail boxes.
Thing is that Xbox’s big console exclusives don’t necessarily sell as much hardware as they used to in generations past. What they do is bring people to Game Pass and can stimulate sales on other platforms, like PC.
Expanding to the full year, PlayStation 5 is best in hardware on both revenue and units, as it has been for most if not all of 2023. Sony recently announced a slightly slimmer revision to its latest box, while also upping the price of its digital only version in certain territories, which will hit U.S. stores next month. Thus, I expect its dominance this year to continue.
Moving onto our final category of Accessories, spending during September bumped up 11% when compared to a year ago, to $197 million.
Circana shouted out a couple sub-areas here with double-digit spending growth. Racing controllers moved up 18%, while Gamepads increased by 15%. The former perhaps due to the ongoing popularity of titles like Gran Turismo 7 and The Crew Motorfest alongside anticipation of Forza Motorsport which hit market last week, and the latter to play all the fancy new games.
In terms of last month’s best seller, that goes to the Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 Limited Edition version of the PlayStation Dual Sense controller. Makes sense, considering it became available well before its game counterpart launches tomorrow and was one of the most sought after products in all of gaming this year.
I’ve also confirmed directly with Circana that the premium PlayStation 5 DualSense Edge pad continues as 2023’s leading peripheral on revenue.
Lastly, a tidbit on augmented and virtual reality. Piscatella noted that February’s PlayStation VR2 continues to have a “low single digit attach rate,” implying that less than 5% of PlayStation 5 owners have purchased one. It’s a high barrier to entry, after all, considering it’s tethered to the console.
This category could see a decent boost soon as the Meta Quest 3 officially hit stores earlier this month. I think Meta’s new headset has some good upside. The product series is the closest thing the niche AR/VR market has to a commercial hit, even if it won’t be mainstream any time soon.
With its bevy of AAA game launches and a resilient hardware against a high comparable, September was great month overall for domestic industry sales. It highlights Xbox’s evolving dynamics in the console space, alongside the appeal of PlayStation 5 for multi-platform titles. Nintendo was a bit quiet, although that will certainly change in the fourth quarter.
On the subscription side within Content, Piscatella described its spending as having a lot of “churn” implying a good amount of turnover without moving too much in either direction. People moving from one service to the other, rather than being additive.
He and others have described how subscription growth hit a plateau after an initial ramp up phase. Domestically, Xbox’s Game Pass revenue rose last month (unfortunately no specifics publicly on actual numbers) however other services were lower year-on-year. This implies that PlayStation Plus had a down month.
Well then. No rest for the weary! October is shaping up to be massive.
There’s a monumental battle scheduled between Mario and Spider-Man. PlayStation and Nintendo. It starts tomorrow with new games for both big name brands, and these will dictate how high spending can go this month.
Due to this, among other new releases, I’m thinking spending will go up in October potentially in the double-digit range.
That will be driven by Content, which has two of the year’s best-reviewed titles in Super Mario Bros. Wonder and Marvel Spider-Man 2. The big question is which of these will have a better ranking on the premium chart, and lead one of the year’s biggest months?
My official Twitter poll is virtually neck and neck, with Spider-Man having a slight edge at the time of publishing. While Nintendo Switch has a massive ownership base and Mario is one of the biggest IP in the world, this will solely count retail sales for that title. Considering this, I’m guessing that Spider-Man swings into first during October.
Then there’s the likes of Assassin’s Creed Mirage, Detective Pikachu, Forza Motorsport, Sonic Superstars and Alan Wake 2. Shoot, there’s even Skull Island: Rise of Kong, a new dreadfully bad King Kong game!
I can see Assassin’s Creed Mirage jumping into the Top 7. Sonic Superstars maybe Top 10. Alan Wake 2 is a straight up digital release, and I don’t know if Epic Games is a chart participant. One thing I can safely say is Skull Island: Rise of Kong will regrettably miss the Top 20.
On the hardware side, I’m leaning towards PlayStation 5 on dollars and Nintendo Switch getting units. Partially because each will have special editions associated with their respective flagship games. (Talk about fence-sitting, hah.)
I’m way upbeat, basically all around, on the start to this final quarter!
Highly recommend checking out Piscatella’s thread on social for more pre-Halloween sales goodies. He’s been answering a lot of questions there too, especially around digital, Starfield and Baldur’s Gate 3. Much respect, Mat.
Thanks everyone for reading my latest recap! Be safe.
Note: Comparisons are year-over-year unless otherwise noted.
*Digital Sales Not Included
^Xbox & Nintendo Switch Digital Sales Not Included
Sources: Bethesda Softworks, Circana, Electronic Arts, PlayStation Blog, Ubisoft.
As we hang onto the summer as best we can here in the Northern Hemisphere, people are still finding time to pick up and play games.
As it should always be!
Industry tracking firm Circana has posted its July monthly report for spending across the games industry in the United States, and it’s a good one with a few pleasant surprises.
July continued a positive trend of monthly growth lately, bouncing back to a year-over-year increase after last July’s decline. Total monthly spending moved up a modest 1% to nearly $4.2 billion. Circana attributed a boost from digital premium spend outpacing retail and add-on. Plus, subscription spending rose as well.
Gains were seen across two main categories of Video Game Content and Accessories, while Hardware was the only segment to see declining sales. The main drivers were a return to growth, albeit just slightly, for mobile alongside with sizeable launches in premium software, plus a resurgence for various older Call of Duty titles throughout the period.
The biggest July launch of all was a great one for Gunfire Games and Gearbox Publishing with Remnant II. This domestic performance echoes a fantastic global start for the follow-up to 2019’s Remnant: From the Ashes, an impressive run for a soulslike action series that’s become a darling of the industry’s middle tier.
There were two additional new launches charting during July in Nintendo’s Pikmin 4 and Exoprimal from Capcom, as the former outpaced its predecessors while the latter surprised me as I didn’t expect it to land within the Top 20.
For console sales, Sony’s PlayStation 5 can’t be stopped. It won July, just as it did during June and most of 2023 so far, on its way towards becoming the year’s top seller. Supply problems are a distant memory by now, and Sony is capitalizing on demand that’s still going for its latest generation.
“Hardware is no longer comparing to significant supply constraints,” noted Circana’s Mat Piscatella on social media. “[It’s] not likely to see big growth rates as we have over past months. Normalized demand curves may be back.”
Read below as I dig into last months’ numbers and provide predictions for August, the start of the year’s big commercial push!
United States Games Industry Sales (July 2nd, 2023 – August 2nd, 2023)
As mentioned in the intro, consumers spent 1% more on gaming last month than they did a year ago to upwards of $4.19 billion. Last July, sales had dipped almost double digits, meaning the latest result is a welcome return to growth for the industry.
During the year right now, overall spend is also up 1%. The current total is $30.68 billion, boosted by earlier performance in the Hardware category.
The largest contributor of Content rose 2% during July, to $3.72 billion or 89% of the monthly pie. Compare that to 87% of the total last year. Underlying this upward movement was improvement in mobile and key new software releases hitting market.
As I’ve written about over the last year and more, mobile has been lagging other areas of domestic spending. Now, according to Sensor Tower as part of the report, it’s bouncing back. Don’t get too excited, it hasn’t been doing that well. Spending came in less than a percent above July 2022, at 0.2% to be exact. This was partially due to shifts in the top earners, in which Royal Match led the charge, followed up by MONOPOLY GO!, Roblox, Candy Crush Saga and good old Pokémon Go.
Shifting to premium software, three new titles landed among July’s 20 best sellers.
The win for Remnant II parallels its global success, where it sold-thru over a million units to consumers during its first four days. I’d wager it’s well on the way to 2 million and beyond. The first game, as a new brand in an increasingly competitive landscape, took a bit to find its footing yet became a breakout hit at over 2.5 million copies lifetime, a great result for this sort of title that straddles the line between indie and AAA.
Following that up were two titles published by Activision Blizzard in Diablo IV, which I thought could win the month, in second alongside 2022’s Call of Duty Modern Warfare: 2 jumping back into the Top 3.
The next July release to chart was Pikmin 4 at #6. The first party exclusive to the Nintendo Switch began four spots ahead of its predecessor, which debuted in 10th place during August 2013 after hitting Wii U. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, this is yet another example of why I wish Nintendo included digital sales for these U.S. reports. I think Pikmin 4 had a legitimate chance at a Top 5 start, which would be fantastic for a series that’s not one of the company’s flagship offerings.
As much as I was surprised to see Remnant II win July, I might be even more shocked that Capcom’s Exoprimal managed to even chart. The multiplayer only dino-hunting shooter fought to 16th, which I’d call great for the new intellectual property that many critics called bare bones at best. Perhaps I underestimated the desire for fresh ideas, or the fact that people want to shoot dinosaurs. Either way, it’s a fine start.
One more minor story on the charts is how three Call of Duty games finished in the Top 20. Two legacy Black Ops titles, among others, experienced a ton of returning players because Xbox fixed matchmaking for their online components. (Might be related to that small deal Microsoft is finalizing..) It also shows the brand’s sheer dominance that a game from 2012 in Black Ops 2 garnered enough interest to grab July’s 13th spot.
Checking the annual ranks so far, it’s the same exact Top 10 as the first half of 2023 from back in June with minor shifts below that. The sole newcomer is Remnant II immediately at #18 after its strong launch, knocking Marvel’s Spider-Man Miles Morales out of the Top 20.
See below for the month’s and 2023’s full premium charts.
Top-Selling Games of July 2023, U.S., All Platforms (Physical & Digital Dollar Sales):
Remnant II
Diablo IV
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
Hogwarts Legacy
Final Fantasy XVI
Pikmin 4*
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom*
Street Fighter 6
Elden Ring
MLB The Show 23^
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor
Mario Kart 8*
Call of Duty: Black Ops 2
Minecraft
FIFA 23
Exoprimal
Marvel’s Spider-Man Miles Morales
Marvel’s Spider-Man
Dead Island 2
Call of Duty: Black Ops 3
Top-Selling Games of 2023 So Far, U.S., All Platforms (Physical & Digital Dollar Sales):
Hogwarts Legacy
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom*
Diablo IV
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor
Resident Evil 4 Remake
MLB The Show 23^
Dead Island 2
Final Fantasy XVI
Street Fighter 6
FIFA 23
Dead Space Remake
Elden Ring
Madden NFL 23
Mario Kart 8*
Minecraft
The Last of Us Part 1
Remnant II
God of War: Ragnarök
Pokémon Scarlet & Violet*
As for major categories, Hardware was the only to decline as it moved down 19% to $292 million for the month.
All three major platforms across current gen PlayStation, Nintendo and Xbox experienced declines, even with ample supply. This is partially due to a healthy comp last year when inventories were improving. At the time back in July 2022, console sales were up 12%.
It’s to the point where availability has normalized, plus there weren’t any true system-sellers or multi-platform juggernauts in July whereas past and future months contain more enticing software for buyers.
Still, for 2023 at present, Hardware remains trending way up. It’s showing 17% growth to $2.92 billion, compared to last year’s $2.49 billion across the same time frame. Signs point to last month being an anomaly compared to others, seeing as spending gains are in double digit territory through seven months.
PlayStation 5 repeated, as it has often this entire year, as the month’s best-selling console by both dollars and units sold. In fact, other than May and Switch’s win on the back of a new Zelda, Sony’s big box has led every month of 2023 by dollars generated.
Speaking of Switch, it took home second place in July by both metrics. Then, as usual in what’s become somewhat of a meme for sales folks, Xbox was in third. A boring meme, granted, but one nonetheless!
What this tells me the most is supply has officially returned to where it needed to be, just in time for a potential new Switch successor and perhaps enhanced, juiced up models for the PlayStation and Xbox. July was just a quieter month than usual lately on the demand side of things.
Our final sales grouping is Accessories, which grew 8% last month to $173 million. Within products here, Circana attributed the most growth to game pad spending.
Even with this upward contribution from July, spending on Accessories has turned ever-so-slightly negative for 2023 right now because of a big corresponding month last year. Annual sales are presently at $1.25 billion, or 1% lower than a year back.
The best-selling peripheral last month was again the PlayStation 5 DualSense Edge top-end controller. It’s also 2023’s top seller, bolstered by that premium price point.
As its namesake title returned to the top earners on mobile, and The Pokémon Company launched its Pokémon Sleep app, the Pokémon Go Plus started as last month’s 3rd best-selling accessory. In case you were curious, because I know I was, it’s a literal “hand-held” device that uses Bluetooth to track sleep, launch Pokéballs and snatch up those coveted monsters.
Because we gotta catch ‘em all, even when we’re asleep.
July often proves to be the calm before the big budget side of the industry tends to pick up starting in August and beyond. This past month was a good one from a sales perspective, inching up in the low single digits while showcasing series bests like Remnant and Pikmin in great positions. Sony continues its run in both hardware and accessories, seeing PlayStation 5 snatch win after win, ramping up after too much time being held back by outside forces.
Even something like Exoprimal beat my expectations, low as they were.
Before I go, it’s time to put some predictions down on paper. Or online. You know what I mean.
It’s a massive time incoming with the annual Madden launch kicking off the season, among others. The Buffalo Bills’ Josh Allen graces the cover of Madden NFL 24, a premium title which will be August’s top-selling thus continuing the long-running streak of Electronic Arts winning its launch month.
Then we have a lot of juicy titles that can and will hit the top ranks. First, Larian Studios delayed Baldur’s Gate 3 on PlayStation to September, so it’s only PC sales that will be included next month. Even so, it’s already among the highest concurrent players on Steam of all time, so I’m super upbeat on its prospects here. I’m thinking a Top 5 position.
There’s also a new FromSoftware game hitting market in Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon. While I don’t think it will get anywhere near the heights of Elden Ring, the knock-on effect of that title’s success combined with FromSoft’s pedigree will greatly benefit an otherwise niche series. Let’s call it Top 10.
As for new franchises, Electronic Arts has another launch in Immortals of Aveum. The fantasy first-person magic shooter is a real crapshoot, and I’m leaning cautious due to its release window around so many established games. I’m looking at a Top 20 debut.
As for re-releases, I’ll keep my rant about Red Dead Redemption hitting PlayStation 4 and Switch short. Just like the Wild West characters it portrays, this game is robbery being priced at 50 bucks. The only “saving grace” here is that Take-Two Interactive doesn’t share digital sales. I really hope it flops. Putting aside personal politics, I expect it won’t chart, and only would if downloads were included.
Even shorter will be my guess for top-selling hardware: PlayStation 5, yet again.
Separately, Piscatella reiterated his “low single digit percent growth forecast” for 2023 overall. It’s certainly on track, with plenty of heavy hitters left. That includes, as those of you following me on Twitter have known for a while, an annualized Call of Duty sequel with the same name as an earlier game in the franchise Modern Warfare 3 set to launch on November 10th. I fully expect it to be the year’s top earner.
Thanks for stopping by for my latest recap. I recommend Piscatella’s full thread for more. I’m sending all my best to those impacted by the devastating fires in Maui. Here is a good list of resources to send relief. Plus, giving love to those on the West Coast with this weekend’s tropical storm.
Be well, stay cool everyone.
Note: Comparisons are year-over-year unless otherwise noted.
*Digital Sales Not Included
^Xbox & Nintendo Switch Digital Sales Not Included
As August rolls on, I’m back with my latest and likely last results recap of the season.
Earlier today out of Japan, Sony Corp released its fiscal 2023 first quarter announcement. Both the company at large and the PlayStation business experienced similar dynamics in that revenue grew in the double-digits, yet profitability weakened on higher cost recognition.
Focusing on its largest segment of Game & Network Services (G&NS), it was a gigantic first quarter on the revenue side for the PlayStation business. Quarterly sales reached over $5.6 billion, up 28%, which is a record high. Main contributors to this historic Q1 were better third-party software sales, console growth and exchange rate movement.
Sony saw steady engagement for active users and play hours in the three months ending June. Unfortunately, it no longer reports a key metric on the player side related to subscriptions.
The firm moved 3.3 million PlayStation 5 consoles to retailers in the quarter, pushing lifetime shipments to 41.7 million. That’s 38% higher than last year’s 2.4 million, as supply lines are now shored up and pumping out enough to satiate demand.
While nearly 40% console growth looks great on paper, the company’s management specifically said that PlayStation 5 hardware units came in lower than expected. Which will make working towards its massive annual target a bit harder than originally surmised. Plus, its gap compared to PlayStation 4 sales widened with this latest number.
“We have positioned the accelerated penetration of PlayStation 5 hardware as one of the highest priorities in this fiscal year,” executives wrote in prepared remarks. “And we will try to work steadily to implement necessary measures to achieve our hardware sales target of 25 million units.”
At least yen sales of the hardware segment were among the fastest-growing product categories within this division, behind only that of digital software, as I’ll detail later.
The other main down note for PlayStation during Q1 was profitability. Operating income came in 7% lower than the same time in fiscal 2022 plus it continues to trail one of its main local competitors in Nintendo. While partly due to where each is in their console cycle, it also reflects Sony’s big investment in studios and live services development.
One thing I’ll mention throughout is the impact of the yen’s standing on Sony’s results and my conversions from the local currency into dollars. I’ll point this out when it’s relevant, as there’s a material impact on a global business like this.
See below for more on the individual numbers and a look ahead to the next quarter!
For the overall firm, revenue grew 33% to $16.7 billion. While positive impact came from its gaming and music segments, plus exchange rate, the most substantial bump came from financial services which was affected by an accounting change around its Sony Life insurance business. On the flip side, Sony’s total quarterly operating profit dropped 31% to $1.85 billion, mostly driven by that same financial services segment.
Within the G&NS unit, revenue rose 28% to $5.63 billion. Based on this, gaming currently makes up a third of Sony’s total business. Top-line was bolstered by external partner game sales, additional content buying and improved hardware availability.
Keep in mind, the exchange rate impact was upwards of $300 million. Even accounting for that, PlayStation would boast best-ever Q1 sales. In fact, for more perspective, it’s a sizeable bump from the previous best of first quarter fiscal 2021 when revenue reached $4.5 billion based on the same exchange rate conversion.
Paralleling the overall firm’s scenario, G&NS experienced declining operating profit during the quarter ending June. This number went down 7% to under $360 million, where third party game sales weren’t enough to offset ongoing cost recognition from Bungie and other acquisitions, among other expenses.
I’ll say, for the accounting nerds, this does account for an increase in depreciation and amortization, which impacts traditional operating profit (as opposed to an adjusted figure that Sony reports, which did go up).
Underlying the revenue momentum were double-digit quarterly gains across every single product sub-segment. As you’ll see in the gallery above, somewhat surprisingly, the biggest contributor wasn’t Hardware. It was Add-On Content at 27% of the total, after experiencing a solid 15% growth in revenue. Next was Hardware at 24% of the pie, with sales jumping 42% since last year. Digital Software comprised 20% of the total and had the best year-on-year growth of 52%.
Sony also introduced a new product segment called Other Software, which accounts for first-party titles sold outside of the PlayStation family of devices. Thus, its PC offerings like Horizon Zero Dawn and The Last of Us Part 1. While it’s slight from a slice standpoint, only contributing 2% at present, it grew 17% since Q1 last year.
Right now, annual gaming revenue for Sony is a best-ever $27.83 billion. This is the first time it’s been above $27 billion, no doubt boosted by the yen impact I’ve already mentioned many times. However, annual operating profit is currently $1.8 billion, down from $2.3 billion this time last year. That’s a substantial change in profit margin, from 12% to 6%. Looking at annualized figures intensifies Sony’s predicament of expanding revenue yet deteriorating profit, which I believe is somewhat temporary as the console cycle matures.
How does that annual figure compare across the biggest industry peers? Well, Sony’s last 12 month revenue from gaming leads the pack as reported. Then there’s Tencent, which doesn’t report for a few more weeks, around $26 billion for now. Microsoft has $15.47 billion yet could see over $20 billion or better once the Activision Blizzard deal finalizes in the coming months. Nintendo’s big first quarter bumped it to $13.46 billion at the top-line, yet it has $4.49 billion in annual operating profit versus PlayStation’s $1.8 billion.
New chart alert!
Here I’ve presented launch-aligned unit sales for the last two PlayStation generations. It’s a simple, yet effective in my opinion, way to put PlayStation 5’s quarterly bounce-back in perspective. Notably since the PlayStation 4 is Sony’s fastest-selling console, one of the biggest consoles of all time, and its newest sibling is trying desperately to keep pace amidst a more challenging macro environment.
What stands out immediately is the gap between the two widened this quarter, moving from a 1.8 million divergence to now 2 million. That’s the wrong direction, and I’d bet why management said it missed expectations because it wants to cross that trend-line as soon as possible. Occurring during this fiscal year will be challenging, considering PlayStation 4 had its biggest holiday ever in the corresponding period, with nearly 10 million sold in the October to December period of fiscal 2016 alone. That year’s 20 million was the PlayStation 4’s best result; Sony expects PlayStation 5 to ship 5 million more than that!
Moving on to an even more important hardware metric, PlayStation 5 achieved 40 million in sell-thru to consumers right after the June quarter ended, as of July 16th. Like the above, its predecessor reached that same milestone 2 months faster. I probably sound more negative than I should, because in the broader context of the industry’s history, and its Xbox counterpart, PlayStation 5 is selling quite well.
Supplemental stats shown in the report include full game PlayStation software unit sales increasing from 47.2 million last year to 56.5 million in the three months ending June. First party sales were flat at 6.6 million. Which means third party games were responsible for all of growth, namely the likes of new launches like Diablo IV, Final Fantasy XVI and Street Fighter 6, all of which I covered in my recent piece on June’s U.S. sales report from Circana.
Contribution from digital downloads as a portion of total software sales declined in the quarter, shifting from 79% last year to now 72%. That’s still slightly above fiscal 2022, when downloads made up 67% of the total.
The main engagement metric that PlayStation shares is Monthly Active Users or MAUs. This figure, which is an estimate of how many people used PlayStation Network in the last month of the quarter, came in at 108 million. This is the same as last quarter, and up from the 101 million last year. Essentially, about the same amount of people have been active on the network throughout the first half of the calendar year.
“Total game play time during the quarter was only 2% higher year-on-year,” cited management. “And we see the year-on-year growth in software sales as being driven mainly by a considerable increase in spending per play hour by the expanding PlayStation user base.” This fits with the MAU indicator, in that engagement has been mostly consistent lately without growing substantially.
Here’s where another type if disappointment enters, mainly for those of us that want more transparency from companies. Apparently, this is the first quarter during which Sony won’t be reporting PlayStation Plus memberships anymore. It’s an odd decision to me, considering how much trouble it went thru rebranding the service and how it’s seemingly a core part of its future growth strategy to keep people engaged in its library of games. Hopefully this will be updated on an annual basis, or when it hits a fresh milestone.
Thus, the last number we’ll have for PlayStation Plus subscribers is 47.4 million as of March 2023.
Oh, and there’s no mention of PlayStation VR 2 at all. Not entirely unexpected, I suppose.
Just like last quarter, which ended its 2022 fiscal year, Sony’s latest result was mixed when considering both financial elements and expectations for hardware against what happened through June. The firm is generating staggering growth at the top-line, a ridiculous record first quarter with the bump from external partners launching huge multi-platform or timed exclusives. (Plus, don’t forget about that exchange rate benefit.)
Then there was the solid increase in PlayStation shipments, making up for lost time due to earlier chip shortages and pandemic hurdles. Still, last quarter’s number came in below estimate, and expense recognitions due to M&A and other expense types are hitting the bottom line. Hard.
An aspect that’s exceedingly important for PlayStation, as opposed to say Microsoft’s gaming business, is growth due to new exclusive games. Which, as I mentioned in the software section, was nonexistent this past quarter. While third parties like annual iterations from Madden and NBA 2K annual will drive the quarter ending September, first party will certainly pick up in the holiday quarter.
Here’s a look ahead to forecasts and the near future.
Sony raised annual guidance for full year 2023 revenue, both overall and for the PlayStation business, then maintained other forecasts around profit values.
The firm increased total annual sales forecast 6%, to over $89 billion. Similarly, revenue guidance for its gaming division was bumped up 7%, to roughly $30 billion which would be a record. Even with these, it kept forecasts for operating profit the same, and reiterated the annual PlayStation 5 hardware estimate.
“Although we upwardly revised the sales forecast for third-party software which is performing well, we have incorporated a deterioration in the profitability of PS5 hardware mainly due to changes in promotions by geographic region and the sales channel mix,” management wrote, explaining why it didn’t change the PlayStation profit estimate for now.
While I certainly think the top-line is achievable, I’m more skeptical on profit guidance and think it could miss depending on where expenses go in later months. Then, for console sell-in, I had my estimate at 25 to 25.5 million three months back. I’m shifting towards the lower end, now at 24 million to 24.5 million. Partially because I maintain hesitance on a model refresh happening this year, still targeting Calendar 2025 for a slimmer or more powerful PlayStation 5.
While it’s more relevant for the quarter ending December, I’ll go on record now that Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 will have a super start at market in October. It will outpace the 3.3 million copies at launch for its 2018 predecessor. Though with it only on PlayStation 5, I’m hesitant to claim it becomes the fastest-selling PlayStation exclusive ever, currently held by 2022’s God of War: Ragnarök at 5.1 million. I’m more in the 4 million range, which will beat the 3 million of June’s Final Fantasy XVI for the highest launch of titles exclusive to PlayStation 5 (of which there aren’t many).
How about that internal live services push? Well, it will certainly have an impact on costs and profitability towards the downside because of staffing, investment etc ramping up. I don’t foresee a big impact this fiscal year on revenue, unless perhaps Concord from Firewalk Studios sneaks into the January to March quarter. Even then, it won’t sell like its usual exclusives. The largest, most concrete first party release that we know about might be Destiny 2: The Final Shape, which will be around February 2024.
That brings me to the end of my “big three” recaps for this quarter, covering the main manufacturers across the industry. I recommend heading back to the earnings calendar for more events. Thanks for reading! Be well!
Note: Comparisons are year-over-year unless otherwise noted. Exchange rate is based on reported average conversion: US $1 to ¥137.
Sources: Bloomberg (Image Credit), Company Investor Relations Websites, Sony Interactive Entertainment.
