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"We could see very, very clearly that every
time an episode of that show dropped that sales of the game
increased very dramatically," Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO
Jim Ryan told an investor briefing.
The success of the show is a notable example of efforts by Sony
to drive business across different business lines after its
transformation from an electronics maker to entertainment giant
spanning games, music and movies.
Sony has also brought "The Last Of Us" franchise, which depicts
characters struggling for survival in a post-apocalyptic United
States, to PC as part of a push to diversify beyond consoles.
"Already our PC business is a significant profit contributor,"
Ryan said.
Sony expects PC revenue to hit $450 million in the current
financial year compared to $80 million two years earlier.
In consoles, supply chain snarls have eased with PlayStation 5
sales likely to catch up and then exceed PlayStation 4 during
the current financial year. Meanwhile, investors are waiting for
further detail on expansion into live service and mobile games.
While Sony's traditional strength is in single-player games,
more than half of PlayStation investment this year will be in
live-service games, which offer continuous updated play.
Innovation in cloud technology and artificial intelligence are
widely expected to shake up the gaming industry, in which Sony
has played a gate-keeping role.
"We do have some fairly interesting and quite aggressive plans
to accelerate our initiatives in the space of the cloud that
will unfold over the course of the coming months," Ryan said
without providing details.
(Reporting by Sam Nussey; Editing by Christopher Cushing)
(Photo: The Sony logo is displayed outside the
company's headquarters in Tokyo, Japan, Feb. 16, 2023. REUTERS/Issei
Kato/File Photo)
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