'Sony has the potential to make the game console market its exclusive territory', analyst claims

A US analyst has predicted that Sony could eventually grow to control virtually the entire console market.

[HanzoHattori]

If Sony doesn't have any mishaps with PlayStation TV, PlayStation Now, or the PS4, i'd say that within 3 years Sony will have 40 to 50 percent of the console market locked up. At it's current pace of sales, the PS4 will be approaching 30 million PS4's sold through. This console cycle may very well decide the future of Microsoft's continued presence in the console market.

[vishmarx]

well said,
butthurt disagrees incoming

@Quicktim3
seriously this getting old,
ps division is pretty much the only one making money , why the hell would they cut it off?
meanwhile xbox division for ms is a different story altogether

[HaydenJameSmith]

2.1 billion expected loss for Sony at the end of the financial year and MS has just acquired Minecraft for 2.5 billion...

That doesn't seem like a different story altogether, just saying... you'd be a fool to think the Playstation Division would not be effected by this, not saying it would be cut as it is making money. But yeah Playstation can be really successful but with other divisions hemorrhaging money, Sony won't be successful and therefore Playstation could always be affected.

[DarkZane]

@HaydenJameSmith

What you posted are lossses and revenues for the whole company.

However, Sony can get rid of everything not profitable and literally survive with Playstation alone.

Meanwhile, Xbox division is hemoraging money. It doesn't matter if MS made 2.5 billions or 200 billions, the xbox division is making them lose money and has always been. MS investors wants it gone, like the cancer it is.

If it wasn't for the fact the CEO that was just appointed wanted to keep Xbox, it would be gone by now and even that, it won't be enough to make Xbox stay forever.

Between Playstation and Xbox, Playstation is the one who is gonna stay for a very long time, while xbox may be gone next-gen.

Pretty sure in long term, like 20 to 50 years, the playstation brand will still be there, so is Nintendo (they made so much money with previous gens that the WiiU is merely a little setback to them). Meanwhile, the Xbox division will be lucky to last 10 years.

[HaydenJameSmith]

@Darkzane

I know what I posted was losses and revenues for the whole company, my point is if the company aint profitable it will likely result in smaller budget for playstation divion... Sony aren't going to just cut every other division and just focus completely on PS, they've been quoted to say the Mobile Division is an important part of the company etc. so what u just proposed isn't going to happen.

I assume this is what you are refering too...

http://attackofthefanboy.co...

If you take into account that manufacture/Production costs for both the PS4 and Xbox One are much cheaper this generation for both consoles, that isn't an accident and will only get cheaper as this generation goes on... Costs are down, their making money per unit sold in comparison to last generation. Xbox and Playstation didn't become profitable for years after their launches...

Most of that 400m discrepancy is due to "the increased costs of production and advertising surrounding the launch costs of the Xbox One." They were still up from the previous fiscal year and xbox 360 is still selling pretty well from what I hear, I imagine it will be profitable by next fiscal year... especially after releasing in more regions this month, Halo 5 on the horizon and the release of all the exclusives in the coming months.

I think it is very funny that you believe that Xbox will be gone by next gen when sales are up, revenue is up and this is all without there greatest exclusives like Halo, Gears and Fable released yet. Just cause losses are up due to launch phase doesn't mean xbox is in crisis. Last generation there was a massive increase in sales when Halo 3 released and I suspect it to happen again with Halo 5...

I want both Xbox and Playstation to be successful cause we as gamers get the benefits of them competing against each other... No need to be so defensive over my opinion bro.

[donthate]

DarkZane:

So what you propose is Sony get rid of basically anything that makes up Sony, to focus on one barely profitable area, their console business.

That is not a viable strategy, but neither is the current path. Sony just announced a $2 billion loss on their mobile division. That is almost as much as what MS paid for Minecraft.

Read about "Sony shares plunge as more losses loom" here:
http://money.cnn.com/2014/0...

At this rate, Sony might not have a choice they will only be left with a video game business and when that market share resets next cycle....

However, I think it is ridiculous to think that any of the major three console manufacturer is going to be gone anytime soon.

Sony is doing well, MS is staging a huge comeback (and has never been more nimble as a division), and Nintendo is making strides.

[nX]

I hope we'll see something like the PS2 era again, I don't want a Xbox anyway. Just make sure to let Nintendo live on :)

[stuna1]

Agree. Also people are always acting like the die is cast when someone says forecast! Forecast means; Projected, not actual! Already Sony has lowered the projected loss to 1.7 Billion and if the PS4 continues to sell at the pace it's selling at, it's possible for the forecast to be lowered even further.

On top of this the forecasted loss has to do with the phone division not the Playstation division. Just seem money is some people's only argument.

[Magicite]

Sony Japan insurance division makes almost 50% of Sony's income if Im not wrong.

[UltimateMaster]

Like how the PS2 did back in the day?
I wouldn't be surprised.

[UltimateMaster]

The PS4 is doing fine.

[gootimes]

And again, the only thing people can bring up negative about Sony is financial losses for other divisions. Even though they have said thousands of times that after this wave of losses they are well on track to overall profit in the next fiscal year.

I love how salty people are over PS4 being the dominant product, now with people being able to play PlayStation games on many Sony devices and remote play they will have even more incentive to buy. Seeing as how Playstation is a legitimate hit, I would say that is a good strategy along with the restructuring.

Keep trolling about Sony's finances though, it doesn't make people look bitter or desperate at all.

@Youaresalty

You literally have zero idea about the garbage you spew. Sony is literally a financial institution, they could care less about these losses. Especially considering the outlook for the next fiscal year and how big of a hit PlayStation is. Keep sounding salty on everything Sony related though.

[Sevir]

I love when people bring up losses and revenues when the article is talking soley on the Gaming business which Sony is currently doing quite well in. in fact its been their most profitable division for the past 4/5 years.... But here's a fun fact.

Sony as a business has 13 billion in assets and cash to stay afloat and run their business... What ever has been hemorrhaging money for them has been spun off and sold and they've tighten down the excessive loss from business expenditures... They still do well in phones, and The Movie industry as well as entertainment and music. please have a seat. you're appearing very but hurt because the PS Brand is at an all time high with the strong performance of the PS4.

[MysticStrummer]

@YouAreSalty - "Sony just announced a $2 billion loss on their mobile division. That is almost as much as what MS paid for Minecraft."

…as if MS has never made a product that lost money.

OT - I don't think that will ever happen. It's a huge market and there will always be more than one company vying for that cash.

[aftershock]

@xboxdelusionalfanboys Microsoft staging a comeback lol? Best exclusives halo, fable, gears lol? I want what you guys are taking because the hallucinations are apparently crazy!

[gootimes]

@turdburgler1080

Exactly what I would expect a miserable troll to wish for, people to jump out of a window. Pathetic.

The fact that people agreed with your hate filled, delusional rant gives me even less hope for humanity.

You do sound like a financial genius though and fully understanding of Sony's inner workings, I will give you that. /s

[XBLSkull]

Don't really matter to me. I own PS4/X1 so I get the best of everything.

But PS2 had an install base of 150M, and XBox only 25M. That being said the day I bought an Xbox I never again touched my PS2 with that huge 6:1 lead, as if that mattered.

As long as when I play my Xbox the multiplayer user bases are there to allow hassle free multiplayer play that is all I care about. Fine by me if Sony does another 6:1 this generation, it was already proved to me in the past that that did not mean a thing. Xbox still had the best games, and the best experience, and the best network, all while being slaughtered in sales.

[user367272]

Man...there are lots of hifiving and group hugging going here, I see. No chance will that happen...PS4 will continue to sell more but MS will be right behind it as MS simply has too much money and Sony is loosing billions quarters after quarters so pretty soon Sony would be in serious financial issue and might go bankrupt and forced to sell their few remaining profitable businesses like the PS brand to Samsung or Google to pay the bill collectors for liquidation. Competition is good and I want Sony and Ms and Nintendo to all be successful but a company can't be loosing money year after year and expect to survive of one last cash cow.

[user367272]

Man...there are lots of hifiving and group hugging going here, I see. No chance will that happen...PS4 will continue to sell more but MS will be right behind it as MS simply has too much money and Sony is loosing billions quarters after quarters so pretty soon Sony would be in serious financial issue and might fo bankrupt and forced to sell their their only remaining successful business to liquidate inventory to Samsung or Google. Competition is good and I want Sony and Ms and Nintendo to all be successful but a company can't be loosing money year after year and expect to survive of one last cash cow. Pretty soon the bill collectors would want payment.

[DragonKnight]

Think about the last time Sony controlled the console market. It was one of the absolute best times in gaming history. Endless variety of games made the pain your wallet felt a good thing.

When we look at the companies that have had control over the market, there have been really only 2. Nintendo and Sony. When Nintendo had control of the market, third party developers HATED it. Nintendo isn't above inserting their idea of quality into being a requirement for 3rd party games to even show up on their platform.

When Sony was in control, they really just said "make games, put them on our console, win." That was it. That's really been Sony's main goal with Playstation from day one.

If Microsoft were in control, we gamers would be hit the hardest. We've seen their ideas for the gaming industry when they initially announced the Xbox One.

So, I don't even care if people call me a fanboy about this but history has shown that Sony has made gaming the best when they've been in control. I personally wouldn't mind it again.

However, my reservation this time is due to the unnecessarily large indie push coming from Sony. That has always worried me.

[Evilsnuggle]

HaydenJameSmith@

You are grossly missuninformed or uneducated which one I don't know . Now Sony is a small mom and pop store on a small budget . Who can't afford to invest in playstation . Lol lol lol ;) the imagination on you xbonefanboys. Do you not know that Sony is a huge mega Corporation that's assets are worth 72. billion dollars . So just enjoy your fantasies . Most analysts think that Microsoft will spin off xbox brand because of the 3 billion in losses from xbox brand. X1 has already lost 400 million . meanwhile the PS4 is already turning a profit.

http://www.neowin.net/news/...

http://gamingbolt.com/xbox-...

http://www.ubergizmo.com/20...

[BattleAxe]

Software developers would never let one company dominate the hardware space. It's against everyone's interest.

[DragonKnight]

@BattleAxe: Yes they would, they've done it several times before. All software companies care about is money. Take Japan for example. Japanese devs making multiplat games are actually wasting money developing for the Xbox One because it's not going to sell there, so making their games only for the PS4 suits their bottomline well.

[zeuanimals]

@SDF Repellent:

Straight up fanboy name, atleast you're not hiding it.

You say MS is always gonna be able to keep up because they have tons of money... Where was that money at when they "purposefully did not target the best graphics"? They could have easily made a machine much more powerful than the PS4 while also being cheaper since they can eat the costs and be fine, but they didn't.

They could have invested in tons of studios back when they were starting out so they could have a bunch of quality studios like Nintendo and Sony, but they never did.

They could have put money into making their console more appealing to the worldwide market like Sony does, but they hardly tried. Europe and Japan sees the Xbox One as a super American product and it turns them away from it while the PS4 (and all previous Sony consoles) isn't seen as a console devoted to any one culture.

The original Xbox actually did okay in Japan since it had a lot of games that appealed to the market (but nowhere near as much as the PS2, but it carved its niche). If they kept it up, they'd actually have some kind of presence there still. Even the 360 did okay for the first 3 years but it completely died off when MS cut Japanese game development.

They could have easily kept all of that going because of all of the money they have, but they don't try. They sometimes throw money at problems, but that doesn't solve them. They need to put the right people at work and they just don't do that. They need to make a worldwide studio like Sony so they can have each team's input into the console to make it universally appealing, but they don't, Redmond does all of that.

[bouzebbal]

As long as Sony and Nintendo keep making amazing hardware we'll be fine for sometime!

[HaydenJameSmith]

@Evilsnuggle and every other PS Fanboy

Sounds you are the grossly misinformed uneducated fanboy here, I have just stated that if Sony ain't making money the playstation could always be effected...

I know Sony is a vast corporate empire but guess what that empire is crumbling, Sony has been losing money for years...

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/...

Now the jump from 400m loss to 2.1 billion has Investor jumping boat...

http://money.cnn.com/2014/0...

You wanna pretend Sony isn't in Crisis and try to spin it around and make out Xbox is in crisis and MS is looking to get rid, even though Sales are up, revenue is up and MS just acquired Minecraft and Mojang, think there far from out of the Game Biz if there continuing to buy Studios... I think if you take the time to actually think long and hard you will realize Sony is trouble and therefore PS could always be effected despite its success...

http://www.technobuffalo.co...

http://www.fool.com/investi...

We have already seen the results of Sony's losses with multiple Divisions sold or cut like its Laptop Divisions, multiple Game Studios been cut, there is a reason why PS4 just has loads of Indie Games atm cause that's all they can afford... and that was all before this new financial report giving them an expected loss of 2.1 billion, and that was in the midst of restructuring the company but what about next year after this heavy loss from the phone division, what could happen to playstation. I'm sure Playstation will continue to be supported by Sony as it is making them a bit of money but all I stated is still can be effected by continued losses...

You dangle that 3 billion loss from Xbox but the reality is MS won't cut the xbox division for mere pocket change, they will just try to make it more profitable and I have already explained that 400m discrepancy.

We've barely scratched the surface of MS's First Party Games and there is lots more Exclusives and Indies ID@Xbox coming...

Come back to me after Halo 5 launch and we'll see the state of both MS's Xbox and Sony's Playstation... cause I only expect things to get better for Xbox and worse for Playstation while Sony continue to take heavy losses...

I hope PS remains successful as I own a PS4 and want it to last a long time, plus competition is good... Us as gamers get the benefits of competitive prices and neither MS or Sony should have a monopoly over the business...

[DigitalRaptor]

@ HaydenJameSmith

"there is a reason why PS4 just has loads of Indie Games atm cause that's all they can afford..."

How about you quit spreading thoughtless misinformation around??

You think the only reason PS4 has loads of indie games is because Sony can't afford any better? Or maybe it's because they made a platform that is the easiest for developers of all kind to make games for? Or maybe it's that they don't have ASS-BACKWARDS policies for developers on their system?

Explain to me how all PS4 has is indies, when it has more AAA games than Xbone.

Explain to me how PS4 STILL has 4 times as many released AAA first-party exclusives as Xbone, despite the fact that Sony has been supporting PS3 really well up until recently with their first-party studios, whilst Microsoft all but abandoned the 360 with their first-party devs for the past few years.

Explain to me how this indicates that Sony can't afford to invest in AAA gaming when they have more AAA exclusives lined up for 2015 than Microsoft, and has had more in 2014 than they have too.

Explain to me how having more games from all angles (including indies) means that all Sony can afford is indies.

Regardless, Sony's lineup of indie games for 2015 offer more content than any and all of Microsoft's AAA exclusives. You don't even need to factor in AAA in 2015 to know that Sony has more of EVERYTHING.

PlayStation is preetty much Sony's strongest division, and they have been investing in it more than they ever have in recent years. Just because it gives you a hard-on that Sony makes annual losses, doesn't mean PlayStation is getting less support from Sony or its developers.

Keep trying though, and I'll keep comparing the tally of released AAA games. Hint: Sony will always have more games, both indie, free-to-play, MMO, and AAA.

-----

"you'd be a fool to think the Playstation Division would not be effected by this"
"and therefore Playstation could always be affected"

Would be, or could be? There's a difference.

-----

"cause I only expect things to get better for Xbox and worse for Playstation while Sony continue to take heavy losses... "

This really shows how little you actually know about the industry and the brands comparatively. There is no world where things get worse for PlayStation this gen. The fact that Sony are investing in Morpheus VR and continued expansion of their first, second and third party AAA exclusive lineup goes directly against your "theories".

The more PS4 sells, and the less Xbone sells, the more and less support both consoles will receive respectively. The less support Xbone receives, the less it will sell, as documented by Wii U. This generation will be the decisive one for Xbox, because their performance compared to last gen is inferior month-on-month, they will never sell as many Xbones as they did 360s, and Xbox brand is still a money sink.

Sony could lose that money for another 2 generations and still be creating AAA games for their PlayStation business.

[Thatguy-310]

Exactly. Honestly, the only reason everything was so even last generation was simply because of the hurdles that the ps3 had in the beginning. People opted out for the 360 early but later bought a ps3. This generation people are just going over the PS4. We will honestly witness another Playstation domination like the PS1 and PS2 Era

[lifeisgamesok]

What I see is the people that bought a PS4 early are starting to get Xbox One's for great games like D4, K.I, Titanfall, Forza Horizon 2, Halo, and Sunset Overdrive

Xbox One will come back slowly but surely

[avengers1978]

@lifesagame... What are you talking about. And where is your proof that people that bought PS4s are now buying XB1s... Cause you know every week, and every month PS4 outsells XB1, by a pretty good margin.

[gootimes]

@lifeisgamesok

For someone with the tag life is games, you sure know very little about games. PS4 has more retail AAA, digital, and PS+ games, and higher average ratings.

Sure there might be PS4 owners that get an X1 for some games, but it is just as likely the other way around. If you weren't biased you would admit that.

>below
@Kribwalker

Your argument makes zero sense seeing as how Sony has MORE games than Microsoft, and is funding MORE exclusives than Microsoft, lol. Sony's profits on the PS4 accessories and network alone could fund any amount of games.
http://www.listwar.com/rele...

The restructuring is paying off in many areas but the smart phones are hurting them. They already stated their plans to restructure areas of service and PSNOW on all consumer electronics to give consumer incentive and an identity.

"What kind of garbage are you spewing "Sony is a financial institution " lol. They are an electronics manufacturer, with an insurance buisness aswell."

Please do a little research. http://en.wikipedia.org/wik...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wik...

[TheWatercooler]

I don't see why not. It's absolutely crushing xbone

[AndrewLB]

What nonsense. If you look at the numbers, the Xbone has higher sales this far into it's first year when compared to 360. And the 360 had ZERO competition it's first year. That fact alone means M$ is doing just fine. It's just that Sony is doing better with the PS4.

Sony is in deep trouble right now financially. They just revised this fiscal year from a $400 million loss to an astounding $2.1 BILLION. S&P is also looking at downgrading their credit rating again which will make it much more expensive to borrow money.

[SoapShoes]

When you compared 2014 on a month to month basis it is lower than the 360 in 2006 month to month. It did really well at launch which overall puts it ahead of the 360 but when you compare just this year it's behind.

[HanzoHattori]

PlayStation 4...

30 Million units sold through by the end of summer 2015.

[gootimes]

Actually Xbox one number are lower month by month than the 360, it is losing popularity.

Sony IS a financial institution, if you don't understand how their business works then you just sound ignorant when bringing up their financial losses and trolling.

Sony is on track to make profit in the next fiscal year, as noted many times. Even if they don't they are in much better shape. Unfortunately for ignorant trolls such as yourself.

[kenshiro100]

Keep telling yourself that.

At this rate, you'll believe leprechauns are real too.

[BitbyDeath]

360 sold 10 million in its first year, Xbox will need to move another 4-5 million in 2 months to keep up. Is very unlikely.

[Kribwalker]

What kind of garbage are you spewing "Sony is a financial institution " lol. They are an electronics manufacturer, with an insurance buisness aswell. I don't see Sony giving out loans and mortgages. That is why their credit rating is currently junk? That is why Yoshida has already stated there will be less ps4 AAA exclusives this gen http://www.kotaku.com.au/20...

It takes capital to finance studios to do exclusive games. Something sony does not have. As a buisness they have gone from a value over 100 billion to less then 19 billion. If Sony wants to survive to try to become the lone console, they need to cut ties with cell phones and tvs like they have computers. Otherwise they will continue to bleed out and die.

[DigitalRaptor]

How is that nonsense?

Most of the Xbone sales still happened last year. Month on month, the sales have been declining since January and only recently with a select few game releases has there been a spike in sales. After the holidays, the same heavy drop will kick back in.

The PS4 has sold over double the Xbone's install base and that is whilst both consoles launched simultaneously. It's no surprise that the gap is widening and isn't stopping, because PS3 proved that it could sell faster than the 360 whilst being priced much, much higher for an entire generation.

PS4 will easily seal up what he suggested, and as PS4 gains more and more traction comparatively, as proven by the drop off of support of third parties for the Wii U, developer support risks being lost for Microsoft too, and that may not hold well for the brand and investors of the brand.

[zeuanimals]

@DigitalRaptor:

I don't see big 3rd parties not making games for the Xbox One, the architecture of both consoles are the same and the Xbox One isn't too hard to work on.

What I think we might see is even worse multiplats for the Xbox One or just more of a preference for the PS4 from devs. They know they'll sell more on the PS4 since the installbase will be higher and so they'll likely work more to make it better while they won't put as much time into the Xbox One version and/or we'll get late releases for the Xbox One. Of course, this isn't every 3rd party dev. Some devs will have the resources and time to polish both up as much as they can, but others won't, so best for those less fortunate devs to spend that time and money on the one that'll make them the most money.

The only devs I see missing the Xbox One completely are smaller devs and indies.

[ghostface9]

The way its selling it might but why are you saying microsoft will give up if anything nintendo goes strictly handheld seeing is how they are doing way better in that space than console

[r1sh12]

completely agree.
Sony had the best start possible, no major issues.
They have really worked hard..
Im not too sure about microsoft in terms of them leaving the market.
They have had better traction compared with the Xbox360, but they suffered due to many odd and bad decisions. They have invested way too much to drop out.
I doubt they will come closing to the PS4 but they still have decentish sales and will probably release the next console earlier than the ps5 to help recovery.

On the other hand, if Sony keep posting loses who knows what could happen..
Sony need to ring fence the PS division so it doesnt prop up the rest of the failing divisions.

[Muzikguy]

I'm really excited for this gen. Already getting horror games and now RPGs are starting to arrive. I'm hoping for a return to the PS2 glory days (although I liked the PS1 more). I wouldn't care if MS disappeared after this gen. Everybody wants competition because it fuels innovation. I completely agree with that, to an extent. Sometimes it causes more harm than good (pay2play online, "media hubs" over game centric systems (although I want DLNA and mp3 playback), focus on motion control, etc) I do think competition can be good, but there's a difference between healthy and unhealthy. This gen is starting to turn up the heat!

[MrSec84]

PS4 will easily hit 35M in sales by 31/12/15.
It's already sold 11M units. October will be a huge month with a slew of 3rd party releases and a major 1st party exclusive in Driveclub (people canceled their pre-orders of PS4 because that game was delayed).
By end of September PS4 will easily be at 11.5-12M units sold. October could very well gain the system another 1.5-2M with PS4 hitting 13.5-14M before November, November could easily mean another million, maybe more, December will likely have weeks of PS4 selling 500k-1M or even higher, conservatively December could net Sony another 3M in sales.
With Sony's production capacity previously at 1 million a month that puts Sony at 14M units, based on them starting to manufacture the system in Aug-Sept2013, they've likely increased yields by now to meet the holiday demand and 2015 will have a higher weekly baseline in sales with all of the new software coming out (particularly huge exclusives and 3rd party like Arkham Knight).
Over the year I wouldn't be shocked if they're averaging about 1.3 million per shipment of PS4, putting their total across 14-15 months at 18.2-19.5M units shipped.

IMO Sony could easily sell 17.5M, likely more by 31/12/2014 and the pace of sales this year is nowhere near what it will be in the next with all of the new software coming out, a likely price cut at some point next year and bundle deals.

IMO 35 million is probably a low estimate of what Sony will sell by 31/12/2015.
I wouldn't be shocked if PS4 sold 20M units from 1/1/2015 to 31/12/2015.

50% of the market share for PS4 is all but a certainty at this point.
The numbers above are only based on the software we know about, not even taking into consideration if GT7 launches or Sony's new IPs like The Order, WiLD or some surprise release of a massive new game from a 1st party studio or some 2nd/3rd party partner causes another huge surge in sales.

I wouldn't be shocked to hear that PS4 had sold 40M units by the end of 2015 or above 60 million by the end of 2016.

The demand for that level of sales is definitely going to be there, it just depends on how many units Sony can produce.

As for Microsoft and Nintendo, I think they'll have decent sales in 2015, both have a good number of exclusives releasing next year, by the end of this year I expect Nintendo to hit a bit above 10M, Microsoft likely 8-9M, both could probably each get about 10-15M in further sales from 1/1/15-31/12/15, so Wii U will likely be at around 20, Xbox One maybe 25M.

If things go that way then PS4 will have about 45% of the market share by the end of 2015.
Looking at it this way I don't think Microsoft or Nintendo will be leaving the console market anytime soon.
Both Wii U and Xbox One will likely be good and profitable platforms.
It all just depends on whether Microsoft can learn to really use the old and new 1st party developers they have.

[frezhblunts]

Yeah I like my ps4 but I still want to play nintendo games like mario and super smash on console hardware

[ibrake4naps]

I really wish Nintendo would make their games for ps4! Imagine Zelda and metroid! :-O

[ALLWRONG]

Perfect dream article for N4S. Do people here even realize Sony just lost another 2 billion?

[DigitalRaptor]

And after 2 decades, Sony will STILL be creating and selling award-winning games via PlayStation.

After 2 decades the PS4 will still have been the dominant console on the market with the highest volume and diversity of games as well as some of the best rated.

After 2 decades, Xbox will never have won a single generation and will still always be chasing the kind of global reputation PlayStation has firmly under its belt.

After 2 decades, what HanzoHattori predicted will more than likely be a reality, and your salty tears will have long evaporated replaced by fresh ones.

[BitbyDeath]

2 Billion losses?
That is just another day at Xbox.

http://www.escapistmagazine...

[HanzoHattori]

Your name says it all.

@ALLWRONG

The projected loss was for the fiscal year which hasn't ended YET. Which means that the 2 billion dollar loss isn't written in stone.

[VealParmHero]

I have to say, this article is filled with some of the most idiotic, non-factual opinion-based rants I have ever heard....from both sides of the fanboy spectrum

[SojournUK]

PS Now is gonna fail with its current pricing structure (I know it is still in beta).

Why would you want to rent a game for 90days for £15 when you pick up a physical copy off amazon got £10 delivered?

It needs to go all you can eat for £/$XX.XX/month.

[qwerty676]

not with their huge losses.

[Paprika]

I'm not massively educated on this subject, but I'm pretty sure Sony's game division is keeping Sony afloat and investors just about on board. Sonys phone/mobile division is the bleeding area which needs fixing, and or destroying entirely lol, or the laptops... not 100%. But PlayStation is doing great.

[CertifiedGamer]

Sony already sold their laptop division so that isn't a problem anymore but their mobile division is hurting them.
http://www.cnet.com/news/va...

[Emrage]

Sony mobiles are great but just the marketing is bad

[Silly gameAr]

I don't think most people that comment on the finances of any of the companies are massively educated on the subject. According to a lot of people, Sony should have been dead years ago. That's why I don't come to N4G for an update on financials because people here know about as much about what's really going on with that stuff as I do, which is Jack squat.

Sony may not be in the best shape out of the three, but it seems like they're not slowing down any when it comes to the gaming side of the biz, which I don't think some people are to happy with. That's why they constantly bring up how much money the company has lost and pretend that despite the doom and gloom, it's business as usual when it comes to Playstation.

[pwnsause_returns]

Sonys problem Right now are mobile and tvs. Eventually it's gonna get fixed and be profitable again. They have some of the best engineers as well. This is a company that will be around for years and years to come.

[HanzoHattori]

That's not exactly the case. Sony Financial Services, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Sony Music Entertainment, along with PlayStation are where Sony makes most of it's profits. It's electronics division is being undercut by Korean products made by Samsung that are similar to and cheaper than comparable Sony products.

[Spotie]

Exactly how would that stop them, if it's not stopping them now? If push came to shove, they'd cut everything but gaming and their financial divisions (they do banking and insurance), and they'd be fine.

Of course, folks like you don't get that Sony actually NEEDS a healthy amount of debt to operate, because that's how banks and insurance companies work. So you'll still talk about them being in trouble.

Sony just can't win with some of you.

[kingdom18]

You mean their huge losses from other, unrelated devisions? So because they have another division(s) that is bleeding money, they shouldn't focus on one of their prime and most profitable divisions? Okay.

[kenshiro100]

What huge losses?

Explain.

Oh, wait. Still trolling about them financials, right?

[Walker]

Just like PS2 era . PS4's market is gonna be very very very huge this generation !

[Jury]

This would be a good thing

[annoyedgamer]

No competition is never a good thing as it results in poor decisions based on greed. This is true in any market.

[Kayant]

Domination of a market /=/ No competition.

[zerog]

Competition can sometimes be a bad thing though. Just look at what competition done to all our retail stores on black friday. Things went from gettimg up early friday to being at the stores at midnight to being there thursday evening and I'm all like "I just ate a 10 course meal and just want to take a nap but can't because if I'm not at walmart at 6 I can't get that new big screen and all those games half price". The same thing happens in gaming too like the whole tomb raider buiseness where ms saw sony had uncharted 4 coming and snatched up a timed exclusive contract on tr because they don't have the first part support to make their own comparable game in the time frame. Then we got all this eclusive dlc for multiplats that every company is buying up and guilty of just to try to get an edge on launch day. Tyere really should be some kind of regulations for all this crap.

[MRMagoo123]

No competition was a good thing for the ps1 and ps2 and is known by many as THE best years of console gaming.

Any other theories you would like me to crush while im here?

[rainslacker]

I dunno. Sony had pretty much no competition in the PS2 days. It was there, just like it will always be there. But they certainly dominated, and it went on to be known as the golden age of gaming.

I agree that it led to some poor decisions when it came to the PS3, but honestly I think Sony learned their lesson there. They learned that they weren't unstoppable, and MS, along with help from Nintendo, helped take them down a couple notches.

It shows that they know what people want from the PS brand now though, and I have a feeling that they wouldn't lose sight of that again. Particularly if Kaz stays at the helm. He's a staunch supporter of the PS brand, and has generally always been about giving good value and variety to the user base.

[Imalwaysright]

@ MRMagoo123

And their domination made them arrogant which led to idiotic decisions and the result was the loss of half the market share they had and a big humble pie. Competition is essential to make these companies haul ass for our money and that's not a theory, it's a fact.

[zeuanimals]

Why does everyone think that competition is just something for our "affections" and that it always ends up benefiting us? Companies compete for our dollars, that's the bottom line. Do you know what has come in the midst of competition? Plenty of bad business practices for consumers in an effort to siphon as much money from us as possible. Then the competitor sees all of the money that's being made doing these anti-consumer things and they're being left in the dust, so they COMPETE by doing the same things, maybe twist it a bit to make it even more effective or to make it seem less anti-consumery, but in the end, we always get the shaft.

So don't think competition only breeds good things.

[spacedelete]

PS4 is the PS2 era all over again baby. too bad though the PS3 and Vita are completely dead pretty much.

[HighResHero]

Looks like we will see a large number of unique gems come to the PS4 like old times.
Hopefully to the PS3 as well and it's not even $199 yet, so it's still very alive. As for the Vita, I try to remain optimistic.

[MegaRay]

PS Vita and PS3's is more than PS4's. I wouldnt call them dead... not before 2016 anyway

[Fkhalf16]

I do feel bad sometime for the PS Division because the pressure is now more then ever on their shoulders for SONY to turn around as a company. They are expected to profit 230million from the Game division alone. Marketing for the Xperia is fuckn horrible and the sad fact that the Z3 is better then Iphone 6 but people are delusional to know that.

[HighResHero]

Yup the Iphone has better marketing.

[pwnsause_returns]

Thank you, someone who sees through apples BS

[AndrewLB]

Except that the iPhone 6 has a more powerful processor than the Z3, has a FAR superior library of apps, is more user friendly, and once jailbroken... is just as customizable. The iPhone is also built much sturdier being made of metal and gorilla glass 3, as opposed to plastic and regular tempered glass... just begging to be broken. And nobody can deny that Apple has BY FAR the largest and best library of apps, outweighing android by 4x.
And i don't want to hear anyone argue that "4 cores is better than 2" because that's complete BS. Performance is all about chip architecture, fab process, and efficiency. Apple's A8 is made on 20nm TSMC allowing it to do far more with less power, and benchmarks against the Galaxy S5 prove it. A great example of why cores mean nothing is how my Haswell i5-4670k 4-core cpu is clock for clock much faster than an 8-core AMD processor, whether it be the A10, or Jaguar core chips.

[Kayant]

"Except that the iPhone 6 has a more powerful processor than the Z3" - Looool yh sure it does /s.

"is just as customizable" - Completely BS.

"The iPhone is also built much sturdier being made of metal and gorilla glass 3, as opposed to plastic and regular tempered glass" - Hmmmm "The side power button remains, along with an aluminium frame, tempered glass rear and IP65 and IP68 ratings, but the Xperia Z3 has a much sleeker, refined design." - http://www.pocket-lint.com/...

[zerog]

Except its not and you have no idea what you're talking about. Each company has their own customized version of the android os and I will say that samsungs version has a lot to be desired but the xperia phones typically run just the straight version of android with very little customization which is why my old xperia play could run circles around other androids I've had. The new iphone os coming out on 6 is huge and on outdated hardware and while gorrila glass or saphire glass is nice on a phone its not so impressive putting it on a low res screen because the retina display is a joke. When you buy apple all you're doing is paying more for outdated equipment and a terrible terms and conditions contract but hey at least you got the brand name to fall back on to make yourself feel special.

[aerisbueller]

Good job making things up. iPhone has Sapphire glass, Z3 has Gorilla glass 3, as has pretty much any Android phone from a major manufacturer for a while now. Apple will tell you to believe Sapphire glass is stronger, but it's debatable, and I promise you people who break the glass on their phones will find a way to break the glass on their iPhone6's and their Z3's.

iPhone 6 is as usual, just playing catchup with Android, but luckily it has the rapt exclusive attention of Apple fanboys who dare not consider Apple isn't the second coming. iPhone is just an overly priced piece of obsolete technology sold to fanboys as something new.

Typical Apple BS: Go to Apple website. Pretend you're going to buy a Mac Mini. Read about how easy it is to expand the ram on the Mac Mini and how it only takes seconds for a novice doing it themselves at home. Add extra ram to your purchase on the site. Compare the price increase there to the price of the same exact speed ram from even the most prestigious and expensive ram that fits a mac mini on NewEgg.

Realize they were about to charge you 5 times the price of ram just to insert into their simple to use toolless easy expansion slot for you. Realize Apple's business model depends on the complete ignorance of it's customers and their fear that something else might be too technical for them. They only survive because people who love Apple are completely hopelessly blindly devoted to them, and willing to just throw money at them.

[aerisbueller]

whoops, spoke too soon. I was wrong about Apple's glass being Sapphire. I guess the hype train spoke louder than the truth for that aspect, but the Z3 definitely has Gorilla Glass 3 as well.

[gamer7804]

this analyst is way out in left field... this has never happened before, and it would be bad for any market with one company dominating. I enjoy and want to continue to enjoy my ps4

[rainslacker]

There's never been a monopoly in the gaming console market. I doubt that would ever happen with the money involved in the industry. But they could certainly dominate, and make it harder for new competition or current competitors to succeed. They did it before with the PS2, and it wasn't considered a bad time for gaming except for some salty DC fans.

[gamer7804]

Dominating would still be bad for all sides. It creates complacency. Fierce close competition is the best way to see innovation. Sure the ps2 was a good offline system but it was the competition that has made them better after dominating and releasing too expensive ps3.

[snookiegamer]

As much as I love PS as a brand, owning pretty much every console ever made by Sony....I gotta say, I totally don't want PS to have that much traction/control in the console space.

We should all remember, competition keeps pricing low, keeps the manufacturers on their collective toes...and forces innovation.

'We' the consumer benefits from having both Microsoft & Nintendo as prominent players in the Industry. Those who desire Sony, Microsoft or Nintendo domination, don't know what they're asking for.

[SoapShoes]

I don't mind as long as the competition isn't Microsoft... I want a competitor that actually competes instead of pouring cash into marketing to sucker people in. They do have good exclusives but they never compared to Sony's offerings. Sega was much better.

[strangeaeon]

Oh shut the hell up, such tired noises you Sony fans make. Microsoft is here to stay, deal with it.

[rainslacker]

I wouldn't mind seeing Samsung step up to the plate. On the other hand, being a Korean company, they have the capability to undercut the rest of the industry, which could cause problems.

I can't really imagine another big entry other than Apple, but I would not want to see what Apple's vision is in the console space.

Google perhaps, but they're too big on open platform, and that's not something that's going to get support from the big game companies, and they likely have other stuff they'd rather do.

[spacedelete]

MS and Nintendo don't deserve too much success as they rely on underpowered hardware with gimmicks. can you imagine how bad game industry would be if MS were the only hardware company around ? they are bad enough with two competitors as it is.

[ShaunCameron]

According to who?

[Artista]

Playstation is back as market leader this gen, but I don't see a PS2 era reoccurring in terms of sales.

Considering how aggressive Microsoft can be after gaining market share last gen.

- - - - -
I don't want any company 'dominating', we don't need that sh!t.
Consumers are the ones who'll lose out.

We don't need a monopoly.

[thricetold]

Big difference between HEALTHY competition and the poisonous competition that MS brings to the table. Can't wait for them to be replaced with another company truly interested in the market they are in.

[DigitalRaptor]

Microsoft's way of being aggressive is buying things instead of creating them. And it doesn't even work of benefit the industry or most gamers in any way, which is why so many people find issue in their way of doing things.
---

@ thricetold

100% right.

Microsoft has proven time and time again that they can't commit in the same ways that Nintendo and Sony have in this industry. Whether its their investment into first party, the fostering of independent developers in ways that benefit those small developers, or being truly serious about markets other than the US and UK.

By their third consoles, Ninty and Sony had more than just remained on the fence but dived right in and proven that they want what's best for the industry and gamers. By their third console, Microsoft created a system that was more inclined towards causal Apple consumers and "broad entertainment" multimedia features than core gaming, whilst attempting to swindle consumers and gamers alike worse than any other anti-consumer company in the history of gaming.

I shudder to think of a Microsoft monopoly in this industry. I actually shudder.

[Father__Merrin]

I think Microsoft amd Nintendo should relinquish their consoles and make games for PlayStation.

this is by far the best option for gamers, all Microsoft games and all Nintendo games would be better on PlayStation anyway!!!

I predict this gen to be final gen for Microsoft and possibly Nintendo as far as home console hardware goes, but I could be wrong

[TongkatAli]

They want Sony to die, no way that's going to happen. Anything that would help Sony would make them vomit.

[lemoncake]

No thanks, a monopoly is never good for the consumer.

[ShaunCameron]

Just ask anyone who don't live in the US.

[ShaunCameron]

In other words , what you really want is communism in the industry. High prices and limited choice. Eh, no!

[MonstaTruk]

@ShaunCameron

Microsoft has been doing that with Windows OS for DECADES. Good Guy SONY is in a position to corner the console market, and it's a bad thing... :-/

[cyhm3112]

PS4 80% Xbox one 10% WiiU 10%

[HentaiMasterRace]

Now if only they can put a bit more effort in their handheld department, at least advertise it!!!Use some of that PS4 revenue.....

[Ogygian]

No. Ouya stronk.

[Gore-Content]

Hmm, some wishful thinking, me thinks.

[Macdaddy71]

That would be dumb of them!!! 1st every item Sony makes n sell are going or gone down other then ps4!!! What if next gen ps5 sells like the ps3 did!! That would be very bad for Sony.....the ps4 can't pull Sony out of billions of dollar hole they have dug,
Sony downfall is if someone makes a item that sells good, Sony copy cats it n floods the market with it and it hurts every bodies bottom line,....Sony tv is not going to be very good....Sony does what they did with the ps3 with every item they make n sell...ps2 sold like hot cakes, so Sony drag there butts on 3 n that's why 360 ran over it!!!! Sony would have to be working on the next great ps5 Right now, n blow the whole gaming world away to be able to only depend on the PS to make there living.....
Just way to many million dollar CEO's at Sony to make that happen

[llxKonanxll]

Ok?

[FITgamer]

I swear this guy has a Budweiser iv in at all times.

[D-riders]

@hayden
yeah revenue is up but the xbox division has never been positive the whole division is yet to be in the black for what it has cost the company xbox, xbo 360 plus xbox one has lost MS money not made it. adn sales are roughly clsoe to how fast the wii u has been selling. if they dont sell 2 million at xmas then they will essentially be the wii u

[Shineon]

Is this good news or bad news?

[ShaunCameron]

Good news if you're a Sony fanboy. Bad news if you're not a fan of Sony or its games.

[CerealKiller]

Owning the entire console market is a little extreme and impractical.

[gamertk421]

That would be nightmarish

[goken]

Actually here is a thought... sony n Nintendo work up some deal whereby; Sony makesthe home console and Nintendo makes the mobile console. Bot work as first party. Unstoppable is what they will be...
Unless this happens, unlikely sony will be the only console for nect gen.

[btk]

It is always about how many successful products a company can shift.
Sony's other divisions was bleeding money for a long while...
But in this year, at long last, Sony has released some good products in the mobile space. I expect that their new lineup of phones, which I don't know what took them so long, has a bit of market attention. So before you write off the other Business Divisions as a total loss, they may just surprise you and see a turnaround in this year.
A lot of the losses has to do with new product development and restructuring costs. Don't be surprised if many of the currently loss-making divisions is suddenly very healthy by the end of the year.

[nix]

At the current rate it's going.. It very well can. Almost everyone talks about PS4. The damn machine is selling even without that much of of marketing. I don't have one but I'll eventually get one next year because the games i like are all coming out next year. 2015 is going to be huge for ps4. It has already doubled x1's sale. It's already selling more 3rd party games. If this trend continues Sony does have a chance.

[H4zZz4]

Its not great if a company has no competition.

[CervantesPR]

PS2 had no competition and look at how great that was

[MRMagoo123]

Yeh I have brought that up before, if you ask anyone not biased what the best years in console gaming are, they will either say ps1 or ps2 era both where dominated by sony. The 90s are pretty much the majority of peoples favourite console years.

[DougLord]

Within 3 years it will be called Google, Apple or Amazon Playstation. And MS is not going anywhere. They have to huge of an investment in owning the living room. They MIGHT stop making hardware once streaming is powerful enough to have a generic $50 box run the games (probably in 5 years). And Nintendo has a strong and potentially profitable niche. So NO.

[Flames76]

1.2 billion loss last year and another 2.1 billion this year says your wrong.Plus it wouldnt be a healthy market for just 1 console.You need competition it gives gamers better games and value for their money.Thats what scares me about sony doing so bad as a company and going bankrupt next year.Dont get me wrong i hate sony and its childish fanboys still the XOne needs another console to go against.

[TheNew1]

So people don't want competition I see...Nintendo is not a good competitor for Sony because they target a completely different audience. Microsoft and Sony on the other hand, have more similar audiences than what Nintendo has.

[DarXyde]

While I'm personally not a fan of Microsoft, Xbox has some cool looking games coming up.

About market monopoly, well, we saw how Sony behaved when they thought they could pull wool over our eyes when PlayStation 3 launched. It turned out GREAT, but yeah, you get my drift. Microsoft didn't even have the market on lock and the DRM fiasco was nightmarish, but bold. To remain in our hearts, both had to humble themselves. We need competition. Granted, if Sega came back or Samsung got into consoles, I can't say I'd miss old Micro, but in the absence of Sony or Microsoft, the other would have no direct competitor since Nintendo does their own thing.

I don't think anyone wants that. Though I have no plans to buy an Xbox One (might borrow a friend's just for Scalebound), I need them to push Sony to be more inventive and prolific in their ventures.

[S2Killinit]

if the other divisions of the company don't fudge up so bad, Sony has a chance of doing great things with Playstation.

[Gunstar75]

Anyone who thinks that one multinational conglomerate running the console industry is a good thing needs to get themselves checked. If MS and Xbox fail, then look forward to PS5 in twenty years

[Illusive_Man]

Another hardware will change everything. I seriously doubt MS will give up the hardware power advantage ever again.

[Dirkster_Dude]

Analysts seem to know money and can follow it to predict where you need to invest and not invest. What these people do is profile a group of people and say this is who they are and what they want. The main problem doing this with the game industry is they don't understand gamers.

[Dan_scruggs]

I wonder if this analyst thought that about Nintendo when they were killing it last generation. My guess... Probably not.

[bigtrucknd]

I think it's a great time for Sega to make another console.

[BitbyDeath]

That'd be awesome, should team up with Atari.

[KirbysDump]

please god no

[Condemnedman]

What a boring console market that would make. I'd rather have ms competing . Sony fan boys dreaming again lol

[InTheZoneAC]

can't wait for the day it's just nintendo and sony.

A cherry on top would be nintendo games on sony's system

[WilDRangeRfc]

Other way around pal,Nintendo will buy PS games when Sony dissapear off the face off the Earth ( it's coming );)

[InTheZoneAC]

other way pal...

[DLConspiracy]

We can only hope Sony PlayStation 4 dominates the market? What kind of drugs are people taking for such corporate loyalty?

I don't care who is doing better. If you want consoles to die then just wish for a one console market. That is the fastest way to make them disappear.

Essentially these consoles are edging more and more to being computers in the living room. If there is no other console competition then PC computer will become the competition guys. Especially now that we are entering the realm of streaming games. I stream my PC games to my network and into my living room if I want. I realize people have this insatiable lust to see PS4 to destroy other companies (mainly xbox) who make consoles but I don't think you realize what making only one console would do for console gaming in the end.

Besides this is only an analyst making a guess. Not trying to ruin anyone's corporate love fantasy but having 3 consoles is what is keeping the console market alive. Not having one console.

[DJ]

Well yeah, anything is possible. But I'm betting they'll end up with 70% market share, and the rest will be divided up between MS and Nintendo. Kind of like the PS2 era.

[CaptainN]

Not as long as Mario and Pokemon are around, thats all I am going to say!

[MathiasPRO]

So the PS

[NeoGamer232]

I don't know why anyone wants to see any of the consoles be dominant.

PS2 was dominant... Then, Sony released the $600 PS3, a year later than 360, and it was a horrible console for games the first two years...

With 360 MS dominated the US and then proceeded to release a $500 console that forced Kinect, was going to force DRM, etc...

With the Wii, Nintendo dominated worldwide, and then released an under spec'd Wii U...

History tells us that sales domination is bad, yet many gamers around here think it is good... Domination is bad no matter what console is on top.

[LightDiego]

Looks like Sony will have a big victory just like what happened in PS2 era. Next year they will release big games like Uncharted 4, Bloodborne, The Order, and games like Wild and Horizon.
That's just the beginning, and i'm not saying that Wii U and Xbox One will disappear.

[iNFAMOUZ1]

this is the dumbest analyst yet
whoever approved this needs their head checked

[horndog]

I don't think so. MS is still in the game. They just bought mine craft for 2 billion while sony will be losing 2 billions soon. MS is also coming strong with some good bundles and games for the holidays. Sony can't afford very much these days. Might get done free indies and more ps3 remakes.

[SliceOfTruth888]

LMAO

[Jiiiiiiin]

Yeah sure

[WilDRangeRfc]

I have both consoles but some of you die hard PS fans on here are deluded or not very smart,'oh Sony can just sell what's not profitable and survive with PS' or Xbox is losing money they won't be here next gen' Xbox is pocket change to MS while PS is one of the few businesses doing ok,they still sell PS4 at a loss.Your hatred for MS and bias love for Sony is a joke,MS want Xbox to go on because they want to dominate the living room and entertainment,it's also advertisement for MS as a company,Minecraft will be on Windows phones,they want everything connected Windows,phones Xbox,if you all truly believe that Xbox will die and Sony are doing great then seriously your all fucking dumb,Sony might not exist in 10 years if things stay as they are,they can sell 200 million PS4's it ain't gonna matter until they sort the rest out,but you all keep disagreeing with reality and kissing each other's arses with your anti MS agenda it don't change the fact that Sony are Fucked

[TimeSkipLuffy]

Competition is good! Especially for the gamer. If a company like MS or Sony wants to win the heart of the gamer they need to fight hard! With great exclusive games, exceptional service and support. The PS has a better start because of some bad decisions from MS and perhaps the slightly better hardware but the war is won by the company that can attach the player with the best games on the market!

I made my decision already because of Uncharted and One Piece XD! PS4 this gen! From a PS1-4 gamer :D