Remember back when the PlayStation 5 first came out? November 12, 2020. It was the height of Covid and people were locked in doors, unable to go out unless it’s absolutely necessary. Before that, console players only had the PlayStation 4 (some even only had the PlayStation 3) to play games on. But lo and behold, Sony announces that the PlayStation 5 is officially coming out, and many are excited to get it.
However, come November 12, we soon find out that it’s not that easy to get a PlayStation 5. Due to Covid, not everyone was going to get a PlayStation 5. And those that did were mostly scalpers, selling the PlayStation 5 for twice retail price. It was hard to get one and for 2, almost 3 years, many would struggle to even find one that isn’t sold by a scalper.
But in 2023, with Covid being a thing of the past and everyone being able to go out without the Covid restrictions, the PlayStation 5 can now be found in almost every corner of the world. Walmart, Target, Costco, GameStop, and even local game stores are able to sell these beauties to the public at retail price, killing the business of scalpers.
People are now able to experience fantastic games like Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, Final Fantasy XVI, Horizon Forbidden West, The Last of Us Part II: Remastered, and God of War: Ragnarok. While almost half of these games are going to be ported to PC eventually as part of Sony’s business plan, the PlayStation 5 is the first place to go to when you want to play Sony exclusives first.
Sony and PlayStation has always been killing it with their single player exclusive games, even back during the PlayStation 2 days. But with the power of the PlayStation 5, we are able to get the best looking games that have come out in recent years.
But unfortunately, that might come to an end.
The PlayStation 5 May Soon Come To An End
Despite being a popular console, Sony has made a statement that the PlayStation 5 is entering its “latter stage of its life cycle”. If you do not know what that means, it essentially means that the PlayStation 5 is now on its last legs, even though it just recently became available almost everywhere in the world now.
The reason for this is because Sony had expectations that the PlayStation 5 will sell 25 million units by March 31, 2025. But with the PlayStation 5 only selling 8.2 million units during the 2023 holiday season, Sony has decided to bump it down to 21 million, as they believe that the console might not be profitable soon.
Naomi Matsuoka, Sony’s senior vice president, said the following.
“Looking ahead, PS5 will enter the latter stage of its life cycle,” Matsuoka starts. “As such, we will put more emphasis on the balance between profitability and sales. For this reason, we expect the annual sales pace of PS5 hardware will start falling from the next fiscal year.” He says.
