PlayStation Hits 127 Million Monthly Users as PS5 Sales Slip

Sony has a record number of people playing on PlayStation. In September, monthly active users across the PS4 and PS5 reached 127 million, which is 7% more than a year before. The number of consoles sold went the other way.

Disc anger, little damage in the numbers

Sony's decision to stop making PlayStation discs by January 2028 has been widely contested as anti-consumer. For many players, discs are a core part of what it means to own a game. The decision has caused a lot of bad blood over the past six months.

Yet the quarter looks good. Revenue in the Game & Network Services division rose 9% year on year, and operating profit climbed 83%. Seemingly, the anger over discs has left Sony's bottom line almost untouched.

More people, and more time with the games

The 127 million figure counts monthly active users, known as MAU. It means more people are engaged with the ecosystem than ever. They are also playing longer: total logged play time rose 4% year on year.

Marvel's Wolverine was named as a driver of the quarter, even though it had a mixed reception. It has sold through 2.4 million copies as of Nov. 4, roughly 50 days after launch. Ghost of Yotei has reached 3.3 million since it came out in October 2025.

Console sales are shrinking

Sony sold 2.6 million PS5 consoles in the reporting period. In the same quarter of 2025 it sold 4 million. Hardware sales have been falling gradually.

Sony does not seem worried. About 100 million PS5 consoles are in homes and there are 127 million PlayStation accounts across the whole ecosystem. The company is now focusing on turning active account holders into more viable customers.

CFO Lin Tao said the PlayStation 6 is "progressing as scheduled," with "solid progress" expected on the machine in 2027. He called the PS5 decline part of the natural cycle of console launches. He added that the platform keeps growing "in a stable manner."

Source: Eurogamer.net