By using this site, you agree to our Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use. Close

Forums - Sales - June 2026 Circana (NPD) Thread + Predictions

CosmicSex 7 hours ago
Farsala said:
DekutheEvilClown said:


Last FY PlayStation had their second highest ever Software sales(317.9m units) in a single year, behind only the pandemic year. 

Yeah it should be higher this late into the generation. The fact that it is lower than the pandemic year is surprising to me.

The effects of the pandemic on the video games industry has been documented many different times. Basically everyone was trapped home so they spending on gaming shot up. When restrictions were lifted spending on gaming went down sharply.   



Around the Network
Farsala 6 hours ago
DekutheEvilClown said:
Farsala said:

Software sales usually peak later in the generation. For example the Nintendo Switch.

6th FY far surpasses any early year. 7th FY isn't too shabby either. 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th were not near.

PS5 is now in its 6th or 7th FY and so it should far surpass the 2nd, 3rd, or 4th FY.


I’m not really sure what you’re not getting. Last FY PlayStation sold over 300m units of software. Thats more than every single one of those switch years. It’s more than every PS2 year etc. it’s the second highest number of all-time. 

To claim that overall software sales are falling or not increasing as much as expected, when it’s the second highest of all-time, seems beyond ridiculous. 

Also, those peak years for the switch correlate to the pandemic. That is the primary driver for them. They're not just high because that’s what expected at that point in the lifecycle. The Switch 2 will probably never beat those pandemic years either. 

Sigh. 

I am just saying what is known. Later years of a console's lifetime should have higher software sales than the earlier years. So your numbers surprised me. The later years of the PS4 were grand indeed. PS5 may be able to surpass that this year.

The Switch FY 10, 9, 8, 7 beating FY 1, 2, 3, 4 has not much to do with the pandemic,  but the natural thing of the Switch having a lot more owners to buy software.



Farsala 6 hours ago
Kyuu said:
Farsala said:

Software sales usually peak later in the generation. For example the Nintendo Switch.

6th FY far surpasses any early year. 7th FY isn't too shabby either. 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th were not near.

PS5 is now in its 6th or 7th FY and so it should far surpass the 2nd, 3rd, or 4th FY.


PS software sales combine PS4 and PS5. Early pandemic years had a split that greatly favored PS4, now the split greatly favors the PS5, but we don't know the exact numbers for each console because Sony doesn't provide them.

PS5's current software sales do far surpass the early years. That's just common sense when you think about the install base difference between then and now.

I am well aware the PS5 launched with severe supply issues. So like I said, I was surprised the PS4 could carry so hard.

CosmicSex said:
Farsala said:

Yeah it should be higher this late into the generation. The fact that it is lower than the pandemic year is surprising to me.

The effects of the pandemic on the video games industry has been documented many different times. Basically everyone was trapped home so they spending on gaming shot up. When restrictions were lifted spending on gaming went down sharply.   

I am well aware. Still surprises me the PS4 could sell that much software in FY9-11



Farsala 5 hours ago
DekutheEvilClown said:
Farsala said:

Revenue is likely the same or better, but quantity has declined.


Last FY PlayStation had their second highest ever Software sales(317.9m units) in a single year, behind only the pandemic year. 

Anyways to circle back. Looking back into the actual numbers, this actually plays back into what I said.

2020-2021

- PSN MAU 109 M

- PS software unit sales 338.9M units 

- PS sales (revenue) $25.03Bn 

2025-2026

- PSN MAU 125m

- PS Software unit sales 317.9M

- PS sales (revenue) $31Bn

More revenue, more MAU, but yet less unit sales. 





DekutheEvilClown 5 hours ago
Farsala said:
DekutheEvilClown said:


Last FY PlayStation had their second highest ever Software sales(317.9m units) in a single year, behind only the pandemic year. 

Anyways to circle back. Looking back into the actual numbers, this actually plays back into what I said.

2020-2021

- PSN MAU 109 M

- PS software unit sales 338.9M units 

- PS sales (revenue) $25.03Bn 

2025-2026

- PSN MAU 125m

- PS Software unit sales 317.9M

- PS sales (revenue) $31Bn

More revenue, more MAU, but yet less unit sales. 

Quantity has not declined though. It’s higher than every other year in existence except exactly one. The trend is upwards.



Around the Network
Kyuu 5 hours ago
Farsala said:
Kyuu said:

PS software sales combine PS4 and PS5. Early pandemic years had a split that greatly favored PS4, now the split greatly favors the PS5, but we don't know the exact numbers for each console because Sony doesn't provide them.

PS5's current software sales do far surpass the early years. That's just common sense when you think about the install base difference between then and now.

I am well aware the PS5 launched with severe supply issues. So like I said, I was surprised the PS4 could carry so hard.

CosmicSex said:

The effects of the pandemic on the video games industry has been documented many different times. Basically everyone was trapped home so they spending on gaming shot up. When restrictions were lifted spending on gaming went down sharply.   

I am well aware. Still surprises me the PS4 could sell that much software in FY9-11

Yeah PS4 and PS5 are huge and will both probably pass 2 billion software when all is said and done. PS5's CrossGen period will be much longer. And unlike PS5, the PS6 isn't expected to sell well, which means PS5 should have an even greater player retention than PS4 (unless Sony's disastrous PR causes a gradual mass exodus to other platforms).

Sony had a long period where PS4 and PS5 were doing well simultaneously (software and revenue wise). It'll be a while before anything like this happens again. They should consider releasing a weaker PS5 version with limited storage to get the remaining PS4 players onboard.



Tober 4 hours ago
Farsala said:
DekutheEvilClown said:


Last FY PlayStation had their second highest ever Software sales(317.9m units) in a single year, behind only the pandemic year. 

Anyways to circle back. Looking back into the actual numbers, this actually plays back into what I said.

2020-2021

- PSN MAU 109 M

- PS software unit sales 338.9M units 

- PS sales (revenue) $25.03Bn 

2025-2026

- PSN MAU 125m

- PS Software unit sales 317.9M

- PS sales (revenue) $31Bn

More revenue, more MAU, but yet less unit sales. 

Makes sense with shift to digital. Because it determines what revenue is per game.

Physical: Revenue is what retailers/distributors pay (not sticker price)

Digital: Revenue is what end consumers pay (sticker price)

Retail/distributors are bulk buyers for cheaper.



DekutheEvilClown 3 hours ago
Tober said:
Farsala said:

Anyways to circle back. Looking back into the actual numbers, this actually plays back into what I said.

2020-2021

- PSN MAU 109 M

- PS software unit sales 338.9M units 

- PS sales (revenue) $25.03Bn 

2025-2026

- PSN MAU 125m

- PS Software unit sales 317.9M

- PS sales (revenue) $31Bn

More revenue, more MAU, but yet less unit sales. 

Makes sense with shift to digital. Because it determines what revenue is per game.

Physical: Revenue is what retailers/distributors pay (not sticker price)

Digital: Revenue is what end consumers pay (sticker price)

Retail/distributors are bulk buyers for cheaper.

Its actually even more extreme than that for the physical/digital divide. For physical the only revenue that Sony register on third party titles is the license fee per unit sold. Which works out closer to 10% in general I believe. Only for first party games do they register the full wholesale price of around 60% vs. all digital games registering revenue at 100%.