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TOKYO -- Sony Group will ramp up R&D spending in its game business, as it seeks to hone technology in live service games and the emerging field of "extended reality" that blends physical and digital worlds.
The company will pour 300 billion yen (about $2.13 billion) into research and development for its game segment for the fiscal year ending in March 2024. The amount, which will account for around 40% of its total R&D spending, now surpasses spending in electronics and semiconductors.
The figure is more than the 271.1 billion yen spent on game R&D last fiscal year, and more than double the 144.5 billion yen in fiscal 2020. Sony Group plans to spend 760 billion yen in company-wide R&D this fiscal year, up 3% on the year.
Games are a major pillar driving Sony's business. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization -- or EBITDA -- for the company's game business was about 337 billion yen last fiscal year, up more than 60% from five years ago.
Sony's pivot from a focus on hardware to a subscription-based business model is spurring the company to step up R&D. Having long relied on sales of its PlayStation game console, the company will now focus on live service games that let customers purchase add-ons for titles streamed online.
Sony projects that the market for add-on style games will reach $19 billion in 2026, a figure that would surpass the market for hardware like the PlayStation for the first time.
Yet Sony itself has yet to make a splash in live service games, relying mostly on sequels to traditional games for software sales. Meanwhile, Microsoft -- which already has a leg up in cloud-based streaming games -- is moving forward with a bid to acquire game publishing giant Activision Blizzard.
asia.nikkei.com
The company will pour 300 billion yen (about $2.13 billion) into research and development for its game segment for the fiscal year ending in March 2024. The amount, which will account for around 40% of its total R&D spending, now surpasses spending in electronics and semiconductors.
The figure is more than the 271.1 billion yen spent on game R&D last fiscal year, and more than double the 144.5 billion yen in fiscal 2020. Sony Group plans to spend 760 billion yen in company-wide R&D this fiscal year, up 3% on the year.
Games are a major pillar driving Sony's business. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization -- or EBITDA -- for the company's game business was about 337 billion yen last fiscal year, up more than 60% from five years ago.
Sony's pivot from a focus on hardware to a subscription-based business model is spurring the company to step up R&D. Having long relied on sales of its PlayStation game console, the company will now focus on live service games that let customers purchase add-ons for titles streamed online.
Sony projects that the market for add-on style games will reach $19 billion in 2026, a figure that would surpass the market for hardware like the PlayStation for the first time.
Yet Sony itself has yet to make a splash in live service games, relying mostly on sequels to traditional games for software sales. Meanwhile, Microsoft -- which already has a leg up in cloud-based streaming games -- is moving forward with a bid to acquire game publishing giant Activision Blizzard.
Sony dives into 'extended reality' with $2bn R&D war chest
Japan electronics giant to focus on live-game titles to catch up to Microsoft
asia.nikkei.com
