(Credit: Sony Interactive Entertainment)
The PlayStation 5 has reached a transitional phase in its lifecycle, prompting Sony to adjust the number of expected PS5 sales from 25 million to 21 million for the 2023 fiscal year, which ends March 31, 2023. It also isn't releasing any new games for major existing franchises.
The PS5 is "entering the latter half of the console cycle," Sony said during in a Q3 fiscal earnings report, so "we anticipate a gradual decline in unit sales from next fiscal year onwards."
Sony sold 8.2 million PS5 consoles during its third quarter, and while that's up from 7.1 million during the same time last year, it's about a million less than Sony projected it would sell, Bloomberg reports.
Sony also announced that no new major titles from existing first-party franchises will come before the end of the next fiscal year, which ends in March 2025.
"Regarding first-party software, we aim to continue to focus on producing high-quality works and developing live service games, but, while major projects are currently under development, we do not plan to release any new major existing franchise titles next fiscal year like God of War Ragnarök and Marvel's Spider-Man," the company said.
As IGN notes, this seems to rule out new releases for several franchises, including Horizon, Ghost of Tsushima, and others. However, Sony's game launch schedule is unlikely to suffer too much as the PS5 still has Fairgame$, Concord, Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth, Stellar Blade, and Rise of the Ronin coming out sometime in 2024.
There is also the chance that Microsoft will bring previously exclusive Xbox games to the PS5.