TOKYO: Sony Group sees its foray into games played on personal computers and smartphones as a way to unshackle itself from the success of the PlayStation and ensure future growth in the gaming industry.
The Japanese tech group debuted the PC gaming hardware brand Inzone last month, offering two types of monitors and three headset models. The most expensive headset sells for ¥36,300 (US$275) at Japan’s Sony Store while the monitors go for ¥154,000 at the high end.
“More and more people are playing PC games,” said Shuichi Mugitani at Sony Marketing.
Sony will also shift its software strategy focusing on the PlayStation consoles. By fiscal 2025, half of the game titles will be either for PC or mobile.
Although Sony has enjoyed much success with the PlayStation, the company is trying to expand its market reach through PC games, in particular to attract esports players.
The global gaming market totalled US$214.2 billion in 2021, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers, and sales are expected to rise by more than US$20 billion yearly through 2026. But console games made up only 13% of the market last year, while PC and games played on social media platforms accounted for most of the rest.
A successful console, like the PlayStation, sells 100 million units, but that would reach less than 5% of the roughly 3 billion gamers worldwide. Social media games, which are mostly played on mobile phones, have become the biggest part of the market, and Apple has capitalised on that trend.
As stay-at-home consumer demand from the pandemic wanes, sales of PlayStation software are slowing. On Friday, Sony downgraded its earnings forecast for the current fiscal year. Sony thinks it will lose an opportunity for growth if the company sticks with the console-focused approach.
Unlike consoles, of which new models show up every six or seven years, PCs are better able to adopt the rapid technological advancements of video games. Those capabilities have drawn the most hardcore gamers to PCs. The more casual gamers use smartphones, which further encroach on the demand for consoles.
Microsoft is plotting to wean itself off the Xbox as well. In June, the US company started to stream Xbox games on Samsung Electronics’ smart televisions via the Game Pass paid subscription service. Microsoft already has 25 million Game Pass subscribers but aims to draw new customers who do not own Xbox consoles.
Samsung controls a 30% market share of liquid crystal display televisions. That is critical to Microsoft’s goal of reaching “as many players as possible,” according to Phil Spencer, Microsoft’s chief executive of gaming. For Samsung, the deal with Microsoft lets the South Korean conglomerate differentiate its TVs from those of rivals.
The shift to PCs is even swifter among game developers.
“PC (games) have users all over the world, making it easy to expand sales regions,” said Capcom President Haruhiro Tsujimoto. Konami Group launched its own gaming PC in 2020.