Sony's GTA 6 hype boosts PlayStation forecast as Wolverine sales pass 2.4 million
Sony is feeling sunny about its gaming business, raising its sales and profit forecast for the PlayStation division by 6%. According to IGN, the company cited stronger sales of non-first-party games and better network service revenue as the reasons for the rosier outlook. The report notes the obvious elephant in the room: Grand Theft Auto 6. Sony's heavy marketing partnership with Rockstar has featured all gameplay footage captured on PS5, with marketing declaring the game "plays best" on the platform.
A delay for the God of War Laufey game from February to May will drag on profits for the current financial year, per the report. But with GTA 6's massive launch expected, Sony seems comfortable shifting some of that sales heat into its next fiscal period.
On the first-party front, Sony announced for the first time that Marvel's Wolverine has sold over 2.4 million units. IGN's report says that figure is as of November 4, which is 50 days after the game's September launch. The company stated the title contributed to improved quarterly results and that users have praised it for immersive action, high production quality, and storytelling.
The report provides some context, noting Wolverine's sales are behind fellow PS5 exclusive Ghost of Yotei, which sold 3.3 million in 32 days last year. It's also a slower start than Insomniac's previous hit, Marvel's Spider-Man 2, which sold 2.5 million copies on its first day alone.
Sony confirmed PS5 sales continue their expected decline late in the console's lifecycle but said the platform is still growing "in a stable manner." The company also briefly mentioned plans for its next-generation hardware, saying it intends to "make solid progress in preparing for the next generation platform."
Other notable numbers include a record 127 million monthly active users on the PlayStation platform this past September. Sony also downplayed the impact of recent PS5 price increases, stating it has offset higher memory costs through pricing adjustments and cost reductions.
