Sony is expecting one of its strongest seasons in history for PS5 console sales says PlayStation Exec Eric Lempel.
In a recent interview with Barron’s, the PlayStation Senior Vice President and Head of Global Marketing said the PS5 maker is expecting one the strongest seasons in the company’s history. Lempel says the strong outlook is a combination of a great product and the games that have been released since launch. Including the recently released Marvel’s Spider-Man 2.
“Our outlook on PlayStation 5 is really strong. We’re expecting one of the strongest seasons in our history in terms of console sales. It’s a combination of the great product we have and the titles that have released since launch—as well as most recently with Marvel’s Spider-Man 2.” Lempel told Barrons.
The PlayStation maker is launching a new slimmer PS5 model in November in the US and later in other countries. Sony is also launching PlayStation Portal, a remote-play handheld device for PS5 this year.
Spider-Man 2 has had an amazing launch on PS5. The Insomniac Games developed super-hero game has become the fastest-selling PlayStation Studios game in history selling 2.5 million copies in its first 24 hours.
2023 will also be the first holiday season where the PS5 hasn’t faced any supply chain issues. “We’ve had consoles a bit here and there over the last three holidays, but this is the first time we’re in full supply and we’re thrilled about that,” Lempel said.
“The VR category is important to us”
Also in the Barron’s interview Lempel briefly talked about PS VR2. Lempel said that VR is important to PlayStation and can help with innovation. But, he also says that VR is “never going to be the only way people play games” but says that PlayStation is in the VR category.
“There are great experiences to be had and consumers really like it. But it’s a nascent business for us.” Lempel continued.
“We want to make PlayStation Plus great”
On the PlayStation Plus price increase, Lempel says “We want to make PlayStation Plus great.” When questioned by Barron’s on how PlayStation can justify the almost 30% PS Plus price hike to customers Lempel says that with the PS Plus reboot and tiered memberships, players have recognised value in PS5. “With our reboot last year and introducing the tier system, a lot of consumers have recognized that there’s a lot of value in PlayStation 5.”
You can read the full interview with PlayStation’s Eric Lempel on barrons.com.
