Sony FY 2021 Q3 Earnings Notes and News
On February 2nd Sony held their FY 2021 Q3 earnings call. We have rounded up all of the details from the presentation as well as the Q&A. The recent acquisition of Bungie was a big topic.
- Games and Network Services are now Sony’s number one business segment.
- PlayStation plans to publish and develop 10 Live Service games by March 31st, 2026.
- Bungie will be a focal point in helping develop live service games within Sony. There are over 900 employees at Bungie. They are working on Destiny and a new IP. Bungie will work on internal Sony projects in conjunction with their own games. They will function as a live service incubation team.
- Revenue from Live Service content is up 15% on the year. Along with more than a 100% growth in revenue from Live Service content dating back to 2014. This growth in Live Service is a big reason why Sony acquired Bungie.
- The PlayStation 5 has sold 17.3 million units. At the same pace, the PlayStation 4 sold 20.2 million units. Sony is not able to meet demand due to manufacturing issues and the semiconductor shortage.
- Sony is unable to comment on future acquisitions such as the Activision deal. They are not sure how the Microsoft Activision deal will impact PlayStation at this time. Sony plans to continue to execute as planned until that changes in 2023. It was noted during the Q&A session that they need to know the partner well before acquiring them, both sides have to want the deal. In the event, one party is not 100% sure they will work on a longer-term partnership.
- Sony plans to assist Bungie in employee retention and hiring new talent, it was a major factor in the merger. Bungie would like to “merchandise” their IP in multiple segments including Sony Pictures Studios.
- The company has about $1 billion left for acquisitions based on the money they have already allocated. This does not mean they only have $1 billion left. This means they have around $1 billion left over from the budget they created for the fiscal year.
