PlayStation exclusive game sales in sharp decline over last five years

PlayStation has been struggling to keep the hits coming. Thanks to publicly available data compiled by Stephen Totilo at Game File, it’s clear that Sony’s first-party game sales are in a general state of decline over the last five years.

Sony's fiscal year 2020, which covered April 2020 through March 2021, was a high point for the company in recent memory, with 58.4 million for games sales over that stretch. The Last of Us Part 2 (4 million sold in release weekend, over 10 million lifetime sales), Ghost of Tsushima (2.4 million in first 3 days, over 11 million total), and Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales all came out over that period (over 14.4 million total) to great financial success, bolstering sales numbers for both that year and the following. However, by fiscal year 2024, total first-party sales had dropped by more than half, down to 28.9 million.

Over that period, each year saw a decline from the previous one, though FY 2025 was a modest rebound with 32.1 million sales. While it’s probably fair to say that both FY 2020 and FY 2024 were outliers, with 2020 boosted by the launch of the PS5 and a particularly strong lineup, and 2024 marred by the calamitous release of Concord, there is still a very noticeable decrease over that period.

Part of the problem likely ties in with the industry-spanning sales slump following the end of the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns, but the simpler explanation is the company’s studios just haven’t been putting out as many original games that aren’t remakes or remasters. While there have certainly been big hits throughout this regression, like the 15 million-plus-selling God of War Ragnarok or the unexpected breakout Helldivers 2, which sold over 20 million copies, the PS5’s lineup has been somewhat thin.

This decline in first-party sales overlaps with Sony’s mixed attempt at pivoting toward live-service games. The company shut down the acclaimed Japan Studio (Ico, Shadow of the Colossus, Ape Escape, Gravity Rush) in 2021, and bet on expensive live-service titles like Concord and Destiny 2. By some estimates, Concord became one of the biggest entertainment flops of all time, while Bungie recently announced that Destiny 2 will be coming to an end.

With Sony’s latest State of Play conference scheduled for later today, we’ll see if the company has any surprises in store that could turn this trend around.

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