We don’t know what the future holds for physical media, but we do know that digital sales make up a large portion of the video game industry’s money. Sony is no exception. In fact, PlayStation Network generated ¥1,373 billion yen, which is approximately $12.5 billion, of revenue in 2018. That’s more than Nintendo made in 2018, period. The gap between Sony and Nintendo is even starker when comparing both their digital services.
Niko Partners Analyst Daniel Ahmad made two infographics illustrating the situation.
Everyone’s favorite chart again.
Really shows how significant revenues generated from PSN are, especially since PS4 launched. Also shows just how far Nintendo have to go. Despite the boost last quarter from Switch Online, Nintendo digital revenue is still tiny. pic.twitter.com/CCmHZ7psBq
— Daniel Ahmad (@ZhugeEX) February 1, 2019
These statistics speak more towards the dominance of digital and the growth Sony has made over the years, rather than Nintendo’s shortcomings. The company only recently launched a paid online service, which costs only a fraction of both PlayStation and Microsoft’s subscriptions. Though if digital is the wave we are riding into the future, it’s clear that Nintendo hasn’t even stood on its surfboard yet.
Still, there’s no denying that Sony Interactive Entertainment has had a killer year. Its exclusives were some of the most critically acclaimed games of the year, including God of War, Marvel’s Spider-Man, and Detroit Become Human. With a total of 94.2 M PlayStation 4s having shipped worldwide, there doesn’t seem to be an end in sight for Sony.
