As the leading console maker in the world, Sony is in a special spot with the PlayStation 5 and its gaming business. The console’s sales have continued to rise since its 2020 release, and the PlayStation division has been working towards keeping its hold on the top spot in the gaming industry for the future.
What that future holds, however, is anyone’s guess, including Kenichiro Yoshida.
In an interview with Norges Bank Investment Management, the Sony CEO talked about where he sees the future of gaming for PlayStation going in both the short and near term.
“It will be ubiquitous,” Yoshida said. “Wherever there is computing, users will be able to play their favorite games seamlessly. Why PlayStation will remain our core product [is] we will expand our gaming experiences to PC, mobile, and cloud.”
Speaking of the cloud and non-traditional gaming, Yoshida was asked about the movement towards subscription services for gaming. It’s something that, while he sees the value in, doesn’t believe it’s a catch-all solution for gamers.
“People usually play one game at a time,” he said. “So [the] all you can eat type of many games may not be so valuable compared with video streaming services. So we’ll have a kind of balanced or hybrid service on PlayStation Network: a subscription as well as pay-per-content.”
Lastly, Yoshida was asked specifically about the recent Microsoft acquisition of Activision Blizzard, and how it will impact the direction of PlayStation. Without really giving much away, Yoshida said that the Sony will continue to work to give PlayStation members the ability to play the best games with the best options.
“Healthy competition is necessary for the game industry to grow and at Sony we believe it is important to provide gamers with different options to play,” he said. “So we’ll continue our efforts to achieve this.”
What do you think the future holds for PlayStation gaming? For more Insider Gaming, read about how much it cost to create Palworld, and the original development timeline.
