Sony has offered some insight into how the latest PlayStation generation is doing as part of a new business presentation. In short, PS5 owners are spending 26% more on PlayStation products than PS4 owners were at the same point in its lifespan.
"While the PlayStation 4 is still an important part of our business, our PlayStation 5 players are even more engaged than in the previous generation," senior VP Hideaki Nishino explains as part of Sony's Business Segment Meeting 2024. "And we expect these trends to continue. This is of course important given the additional spend generated by a console. That is the spend from the content, services, and the peripherals. On average, each PlayStation 5 sold generates over $700 USD of additional spend."
A slide accompanying the presentation offers a more concrete breakdown. The average PS5 owner is spending $731 on games, services, add-on content, and peripherals, while PS4 owners averaged about $580. Both numbers are based on "cumulative spend attributed per active device over the first four years of each console lifecycle" and include both first and third-party games.
Sony is quick to note that PS5 players have spent 26% more on average than PS4 players in the same period, though it should be noted that the US inflation rate over that stretch is about 28%. It's tough to nail down how much of an effect inflation has here - Sony's a global business and inflation rates are different worldwide - but the caveat is worth bearing in mind.
Either way, Nishino is happy to celebrate that PS5 spend is "significantly higher than the previous generation. This behavior underpins the durable, predictable nature of our revenue base. A large portion of this revenue comes from first- and third-party content available on the PlayStation Store, and services like PlayStation Plus which are recurring and consistent."
