In a nutshell: Sony once again sits atop the console wars throne. Not only has it more than doubled Xbox Series shipments, but its overall financials are also in good health. Despite a dip in software sales, hardware and overall revenues are up significantly. The company was tight-lipped about its newly launched PS VR2, but outside analysts say it’s on track to being the fastest-selling VR headset on any platform.

Despite a slow start due to supply constraints, Sony has managed to pull off a win with the PlayStation 5. The best-selling home console has sold 38.4 million units since launch, doubling Microsoft’s Xbox Series X|S sales of 18.5 million and smashing all quarterly records by moving 6.2 million PS5s in the last quarter of its fiscal year – that’s up from 2 million in Q4 FY2021. Total units shipped for FY2022 were 19.1 million, edging out its beancounters’ forecast of 18 million.

The company notes that its distribution inventories have normalized, allowing it to get consoles to customers without a wait. This turnaround leaves scalpers crying on stockpiles of PS5s that they bought up to extend and cash in on Sony’s initial limitations.

While hardware sales looked great, Sony took a hit in the software division. Game sales for the quarter dipped to 68 million, down from 70.5 million for the same period in 2021. The year’s totals were even worse, dropping from 303.2 million to 264.2 million.

The lack of quality PS5 titles is at least partly to blame for declined sales. Additionally, studios seem stuck in a trend of developing games for the PS4, then sprucing them up for the PS5 rather than working on proper next-gen-dedicated titles.

Despite the decline in software shipments, overall revenues are up for Sony’s combined gaming sector. The division had $7.9 billion in revenue and $29 billion in total sales – up from $4.9 billion and $19.9 billion, respectively. The positive growth has Sony’s accountants forecasting a continued uptick of seven percent for FY2023. They also predict that hardware sales, including consoles and peripherals, will continue to increase next year.

Sony did not single out PS VR2 numbers, instead lumping them into the Game & Network Services category. Perhaps this should not be too surprising considering the company was disappointed with initial sales of the expensive accessory. However, external estimates predict the company moved over 270,000 to 300,000 units in its launch month alone. If those numbers are accurate, it’s an impressive start for any VR headset.

Sony’s first-generation headset sold 915,000 units in its first four months. Likewise, Meta’s Quest 2 moved about one million in its launch quarter (three months). So the PS VR2 is right on the edge of being the fastest selling VR headset ever. Like its PS5 counterpart, it just needs more software to drive demand.

Cutting corners: What was supposed to be the triumphant return of one of the gaming industry’s biggest annual events has suffered a major blow. E3 2023 will be the first event in the Los Angeles expo’s 18-year history without presentations from any of the major console manufacturers.

IGN sources have confirmed that that Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo have declined to participate in the 2023 Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3). The big three console manufacturers won’t hold press conferences or present on the show floor this year.

Microsoft will hold a presentation around the same time as E3, but the recent news makes it the last console manufacturer to cease direct participation in the expo. Sony and Nintendo had already drifted away from it over the last few years.

Nintendo has released pre-recorded presentations instead of E3 press conferences every year since 2013 but maintained show floor presence. Sony declined to participate in E3 entirely starting in 2019, having followed Nintendo’s practice of producing pre-recorded showcases throughout the year. Microsoft released its first pre-recorded announcement reel last week, signaling that all three console manufacturers have found an alternative to physical press conferences.

Losing the big three – previously seen as the centerpieces of the event – won’t help E3’s struggle to recover from pandemic-related cancelations. 2020 saw the event canceled for the first time, while an online-only event occurred the following year. A hybrid E3 was planned for 2022, but it switched to another online-only affair before completely falling through.

Event organizer ReedPop will manage the planned hybrid E3 2023 alongside the expo’s traditional manager, the Entertainment Software Association. Other big game companies haven’t yet announced plans to present at E3 or hold individual events this summer.

Nintendo could still release a “Nintendo Direct” presentation in June regardless of alignment with E3. Electronic Arts hasn’t yet said whether it will hold an “EA Play” this year alongside E3, a practice it started in 2016 but skipped last year. Ubisoft also hasn’t said anything so far, and PC Gamer hasn’t confirmed a PC Gaming Show for E3 2023.

Microsoft’s exit from the event is a surprise because Xbox boss Phil Spencer recently praised E3 in an interview with IGN. He said he wants to help the expo succeed, suggesting Microsoft’s summer event will complement E3, even if the company doesn’t have anything on the show floor this year.

As if on cue, the Twitter account for the Summer Game Fest reminded followers of its planned date for the event, which will host presentations from many major game companies — June 8.

Rumor mill: It’s pretty much a certainty that Sony will release a PS5 Pro at some point. The company hasn’t made any official announcements about the upgraded console or a potential release date, but according to a new report, the machine is in development and has a tentative launch date of late 2024.

The launch date claim comes from Insider Gaming, which cites unnamed sources. It notes that a recently-published patent by PlayStation architect Mark Cerny suggests Sony will put a lot of focus on better ray tracing abilities in the PS5 Pro. The new console will also come with the usual improvements to visual fidelity and general performance expected in a PS Pro model.

While these sorts of reports should be taken with a pinch of salt, it’s easy to imagine that Sony would want to launch a PS5 Pro during next year’s holiday season. The PlayStation 4 was released on November 13, 2013, with the PS4 Pro arriving on November 16, 2016 – three years later.

The PlayStation 5 launched on November 12, 2020, so we’re closing in on the three-year mark for the PS5 Pro. But the PS4 never faced a global pandemic and an unprecedented chip crisis. Up until recently, buying a PS5 was an almost impossible task unless you were willing to pay scalpers or extra money for bundle packs, if available.

In January, Sony said buying a PS5 should be much easier. It also increased supplies of the console in the run-up to the PSVR 2 launch. Skyrocketing sales gave the PS5 its best quarter to date in Q4 2022 and have helped make Sony AMD’s biggest customer.

On the other side of the argument, the chip shortage isn’t entirely over, and many developers are still releasing games on both PS4 and PS5, limiting how hard they can push the latter’s hardware, so Sony might want to wait a bit longer than 2024 to launch a PS5 Pro.

Insider Gaming also believes that a new version of the PS5 with a detachable disc drive (via USB-C) will land this year, phasing out the current PlayStation 5 model. That would mean two new PlayStation models launching within around 12 months of each other, which seems unlikely. As for the PS6, the publication believes that the next-gen machine won’t arrive until at least 2028, which does sound more reasonable.

Last May, an AMD job listing for a system-on-chip verification engineer suggested it was already preparing for the PlayStation 6’s chip development.