[TaySan]

So why all the layoffs then?

 

[Joe T.]

My interest in PlayStation apparently declines according to how much profit they're making.

 

[p_banned]

Price cut for PS5 in Canada today. On amazon.ca at least.

 

[Grinchy]

Look at that PS3 gen. Imagine spending an entire generation to come up with a loss lmao

Oh wait..sorry Xbox fans!

 

[Joe T.]

Price cut for PS5 in Canada today. On amazon.ca at least.

Seems to have been cut across the board in Canada. Best Buy, The Source and Canada Computers show it $70 off, not showing up at Walmart yet but maybe it's just slow in updating.

Edit: $50 off in the US, too.

 

[p_banned]

Look at that PS3 gen. Imagine spending an entire generation to come up with a loss lmao

Oh wait..sorry Xbox fans!

They made it up on Blu-ray licensing. That was the gamble.

 

[Bullet Club]

Jacking up the games prices must be working.

So why all the layoffs then?

For an even bigger profit.

 

[regawdless]

The digital future making it rain money. Good for Sony.

 

[HeresJohnny]

Smells like total bullshit

 

[Arkam]

So why all the layoffs then?

I mean look at the operating income. Took a massive dip the last two years.

 

[Optimus]

I don't understand what operating income refers to. I think I would need to see their operating expenses in order to understand it. The total sales revenue is what's particularly shocking. We just looked at a list of their top selling games... the sales numbers aren't great. Then what is driving their sales revenues?

This is bad news any way you look at it... We prefer games that we buy and own and get the complete experience, but this points towards something different, I think.

As far as all the layoffs are concerned, I think they're increasing efficiency through rebalancing.

Spoiler

Everybody and their brother uncle knows the video game and entertainment industries are going to replace humans with AI at their earliest and every opportunity.

 

[Stilton Disco]

So why all the layoffs then?

2 thing's immediately jump to mind.

Firstly, we know half of all PS4 owners are still playing there and not made the jump to PS5. It's not unreasonable to assume a big chunk of those sales and the operating income is still being generated by PS4 players.

Secondly that slump in OI points to overheads increasing at a faster rate than profits. They're spending more to make less money.

Both would certainly explain the shake ups at Playstation of late. Jimbo getting fired, and the declaration of no longer chasing graphics.

Either way, this is interesting news that I think is less to do with PS5 being a runaway success, and more that the momentum PS4 generated may have peaked. It will be interesting to see how this develops in coming years, especially given the wider bad news we've been hearing about first party software and hardware sales softening well below expectations this past year.

 

[DonDonDonPata]

yeah inflation does that. Profits "go up".

 

[Stilton Disco]

yeah inflation does that. Profits "go up".

Good point! Inflation has been tracking massively ahead of wages, so that's going to have been amplifying profit compared to overheads.

 

[Pyrate]

Well isn't this how it works? one way or another, the numbers will have to go up, it's in the rules. If it doesn't look like there'll be a figure increase, they'll just do the layoffs and the services enshittification etc to make it happen, no matter what. Not really surprising.