Sony has released its latest earnings report for its fiscal year ending on March 31st, and in it, the company has confirmed 38.4 million lifetime unit sales of the PlayStation 5.
The earnings report mentions that Sony shipped 6.3 million units of the PS5 in the past quarter, 1.1 million more units than anticipated in the 2022 fiscal year.
The console was released in November 2020 and was difficult to buy in its early months on the market. Thankfully, it’s now much easier to find on store shelves.
Momentum for the PS5 remains strong overall. Highly anticipated exclusive titles like Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 are still on track to launch later this year. The console is also tipped to receive a redesign soon if recent rumours are accurate.
Sony’s overall earnings for the fiscal period are equally impressive. The company’s operating profit clocked in at 1.21 trillion yen (roughly $12 billion CAN), compared to a forecasted 1.18 trillion yen ($11.7 billion CAD).
Sony has released the list of games coming to PlayStation Plus Essential in May.
One highlight of the announcement is the arrival of 2022’s GRID Legends for PS4 and PS5.
Below is the full list of the titles coming to PlayStation Plus Essential in May:
GRID Legends (PS4 and PS5)
Chivalry 2 (PS4 and PS5)
Descenders (PS4)
PlayStation Plus Essential subscriptions cost $11.99 CAD/month. Users can also opt for a yearly membership for $69.99.
PlayStation Plus members have until May 1st to download one of April’s free monthly titles, Meet Your Maker, Sackboy: A Big Adventure and Tails of Iron, to their game library.
Rocksteady Studios has announced that the game’s launch date will be moving from May 26th to February 2nd, 2024.
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League was initially slated for a release in 2022 before being moved to May 26th, 2023. The launch was then delayed to a later date in the year, before finally being announced that it would drop on February 2nd, 2024. The most recent announcement marks two changes in the same year and three moves in total since the title’s inception.
— Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League (@suicidesquadRS) April 13, 2023
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League was a major point of interest in Sony’s State of Play event in February. Players were able to experience the gameplay up close for the first time, resulting in mixed opinions. Some of the less positive feedback may have inspired an additional delay to the game’s launch.
Rocksteady announced that the title would be delayed another nine months in order to “work on getting the game to be the best quality experience for players.” Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier tweeted that the delay was made to polish the game’s existing elements, rather than change anything major.
As of right now, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is set to release on February 2nd, 2024, but keep your fingers crossed just in case.
Square Enix has revealed more than 20 minutes of new gameplay footage from Final Fantasy XVI.
During a PlayStation State of Play presentation focused entirely on the PS5 exclusive, we got a look at the game’s darker story, sizeable open environments, flashy combat and more.
In terms of the story, the game follows Clive, a young man who seeks vengeance after his kingdom is destroyed. All the while, he must navigate the divided world of Valisthea, which is made up of six nations harbouring their own deadly powers. Naoki Yoshida, the producer of the game and director of Final Fantasy XIV, also teased the more mature, politically-driven storyline.
Elsewhere, we were given an extensive look at battles. While most mainline Final Fantasy games have been turn-based, XVI features entirely real-time combat. In the State of Play, we get a look at all of the sword and magic abilities Clive has at his disposal, including special powers provided by Eikons (summons).
We also see AI-controlled allies, like Clive’s wolf, Torgal, helping him out in combat while the player controls the young noble himself. In certain fights, Clive can even directly control an Eikon to fight another in giant, Kaiju-esque battles. All in all, XVI‘s combat looks incredibly sharp, which isn’t exactly surprising since Devil May Cry alum Ryota Suzuki serves as the battle designer.
Overall, the game looks phenomenal, and the fact that Creative Business Unit III — the acclaimed team behind FFXIV — is working on it only makes it more promising.
Final Fantasy XVI will release exclusively on PS5 on June 22nd.
PlayStation is seemingly making some big plays in the cloud gaming market.
As spotted by The Verge, the gaming giant is currently hiring for 22 roles related to cloud gaming technology. Interestingly, one particular job — director of product management for cloud gaming — will specifically be to “develop and deliver the strategic vision for cloud game streaming at PlayStation,” notes The Verge.
However, clicking on that link leads to a message that says “the job you are looking for is no longer open.” It’s unclear whether Sony took it down to try to maintain a lower profile on its cloud gaming efforts or if it’s actually somehow filled the role in the short time since The Verge originally published its story.
What is still live, though, is a variety of positions related to Sony’s Future Technology Group (FTG), at which the company says employees will have “the opportunity to lead the charge in the cloud gaming revolution.” Sony adds that FTG is at the “forefront of putting console-quality video games on any device,” which is, of course, one of the main use cases for streaming. As The Verge notes, FTG isn’t exclusively focused on cloud — it contributes to VR, controllers and other tech — it’s nonetheless citing cloud gaming as a major goal.
What should also be considered is that this news comes shortly after reports that Sony is working on a new cloud-based gaming handheld. This portable is reportedly based on Remote Play — PlayStation’s console-to-mobile streaming feature — but sport its own HD screen on a DualSense-esque gamepad.
All of this comes over a decade after Sony acquired cloud tech company Gaikai for $380 million USD (roughly $511.6 million CAD) with the intent of creating its own game streaming service. The company would eventually launch PlayStation Now, which allows select games from older PlayStation generations stream on their modern counterparts. Last year, Sony merged PS Now with PlayStation Plus under a new service that kept the Plus branding.
During all of this, a variety of other companies have been investing in the cloud gaming space. For a few years, Google had its Stadia service, although that shuttered in January. Amazon also has its Luna service, which recently expanded into Canada and other markets after being U.S.-only. Meanwhile, Nvidia offers its GeForce Now service for PC games. Even Netflix is working on its own cloud gaming platform.
But Sony’s most direct competitor across the board is, undoubtedly, Microsoft. The Redmond, Washington-based tech giant has been slowly expanding its own streaming efforts through Xbox Cloud Gaming, which lets Xbox games be streamed to console, PC, mobile and even smart TVs. Ultimately, it’s unclear what, exactly, are PlayStation’s own ambitions are for cloud gaming.
I’ve been experimenting with Microsoft’s Xbox Series X for the past few months because I wanted to see if it could replace Sony’s PlayStation 5 console in my heart. I’ve been using the PlayStation 5 since its launch, and before that, the PlayStation 4. That said, I was an Xbox 360 player, so getting back to the world of Microsoft has been an interesting experience after all this time.
When I picked up the Xbox Series X, I was skeptical that it would offer real value over PlayStation’s premiere console, and while I don’t outright state which one is better in this story, Microsoft’s console offers several advantages.
How it went
I’ve used the Xbox Series X for about three months, and during that time, I didn’t play it every day, and it also wasn’t a half-and-half situation. For the most part, I still spent a lot of time on the PlayStation 5 — not because I outright preferred it, but because I play a lot of Overwatch 2 and my friends and I talk over the console’s voice chat. I also played Hogwarts Legacy on the PlayStation 5 because it offered exclusive content on Sony’s console. That’s not to say I haven’t spent dozens of hours using the Xbox Series X over the last few months, however.
In fact, there have been weeks where I’ve spent a considerable amount of time only using Microsoft’s flagship system. What attracts me to the console is its Game Pass Ultimate membership, which is still unrivalled across the video game industry. Of course, PlayStation has PS Plus Extra and PS Plus Premium, but in its current state, it pales compared to Game Pass.
Game Pass Ultimate immediately gave me a library of dozens of great games on the Series X, allowing me to try out several titles I otherwise wouldn’t have. With all that said, there are a few reasons why I think Game Pass’s offering is better than PlayStation’s and what keeps me returning to the console.
“…Playing most titles on Xbox Series X didn’t feel notably different than on the PS5.”
I love that Game Pass Ultimate gets new triple-A titles as soon as they come out. PlayStation’s subscription service, on the other hand, doesn’t release new games right when they launch. In fact, only a few indies have been released at launch, including Stray and Tchia.
With Game Pass, I was impressed with titles like Atomic Heart and Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty, and I was ecstatic that I could play them on their release date. With Game Pass Ultimate, you can preload these titles in advance, another useful feature. For example, one of the games you can download ahead of time is Redfall, an upcoming co-op first-person shooter I’m excited about.
Speaking of games, playing most titles on Xbox Series X didn’t feel notably different than on the PS5. That said, I found the Series X’s controller awkward and thick, and I’m still more of a fan of the PS5’s DualSense because it’s thinner and aesthetically more pleasing.
Other Game Pass titles I played included Weird West, which I spent a ridiculous amount of time playing, along with Grounded and Minecraft Dungeons.
Game Pass Ultimate offers so many titles, and I love its freedom. It feels like being back in the era when you could rent games, allowing you to try them out before buying them — and if you don’t like the title, it’s not a significant loss. For example, playing Atomic Heart without buying it outright was useful. I learned that I really didn’t like the overt sexual tone of one of the NPCs and decided to stop playing.
Sony and PlayStation could catch up to Game Pass one day, but the company would need to add newly released first-party titles (and I don’t see that ever happening), but until then, Game Pass Ultimate has my heart.
At the moment, Microsoft has no exclusives that attract me to the console on the same level as Sony’s God of War: Ragnarök or Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales. While I like Grounded and Halo Infinite, they don’t make me feel that I need to purchase an Xbox. However, with Bethesda’s offerings like Starfield and Redfall on the horizon, I’m glad I have a Series X to play. I’m also intrigued by Hi-Fi Rush. Thankfully, all these exclusives are available on Game Pass.
While Sony has launched a couple of games on PS Plus Extra, I won’t consider purchasing that until all first-party exclusives are released on its game subscription service (which probably will never happen).
Aside from Game Pass, I’m a big fan of the Xbox Series X’s ‘Quick Resume’ feature. It allows players to hop back into a game without menus, even after the console is off. I wish the PS5 offered similar functionality; it’s good at starting games up quickly, but jumping right into the game with Quick Resume is even faster.
I also liked how much smaller and lighter the Series X is compared to the PS5. Typically if I’m staying at my parent’s place for the holidays, I avoid bringing my PS5 because it’s too big to move around easily. On the other hand, the Series X is easy to carry. I wouldn’t go so far as to call it portable, but it’s a lot easier to pack into a bag and take with you than Sony’s console.
PS5 or Series X?
I’m not totally sold on switching to the Series X, but that’s mostly because my friends are still on Sony’s console. Overall, based on my experience, I don’t necessarily find one console better, but Game Pass and Quick Resume are top-of-the-line features that I wish Sony’s PS5 offered.
With this in mind, unless a game or content is exclusive to the PS5, I might buy it on Xbox instead. And with Game Pass, having exclusive titles like Redfall and triple-A content on release day like Lies of P (my most anticipated title of the year) available through the subscription service, Xbox is difficult to beat.
Xbox Game Pass Ultimate costs $16.99/month and includes access to EA Play, game streaming and the PC version of Game Pass. The Xbox Series X costs $599.99. Sony’s PlayStation Plus subscription service is available in several tiers, including ‘Premium,’ $21.99/month ‘Extra,’ $17.99/month ‘Essential’ $11.99/month. The PlayStation 5 costs $649.
Sony’s God of War Ragnarök PS5 bundle is available for $669.96 at Best Buy and Amazon. The regular disk edition of the PS5 is available for $649.96 at Best Buy and Amazon.
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Sony is developing a new PlayStation handheld that will offer Remote Play functionality with the PlayStation 5, according to a report from the often-reliable Insider Gaming.
For the uninitiated, Remote Play is a long-running PlayStation feature that allows consoles to connect with handhelds and mobile devices. Per Insider Gaming, the new device — codenamed the Q Lite — won’t be a dedicated handheld, but will instead be a PS5 peripheral that requires a constant internet connection. VentureBeat‘s Jeff Grubb, another reliable industry insider, also tweeted that he’s heard about a PlayStation cloud-streaming handheld.
In terms of design, Insider Gaming says the Q Lite is expected to resemble a PS5 DualSense controller, but with an added 8-inch LCD touchscreen at the centre that supports 1080p and 60fps. It will also sport adaptive triggers and haptic feedback, two of the DualSense’s signature features, as well as a headphone jack and speakers.
PlayStation going the PS5 accessory route for a new handheld would also be a more understandably cautious approach for the company after its last portable gaming device, the Vita, was a failure. While Sony didn’t reveal official sales figures, estimates peg the now-discontinued system at around 16 million units as of 2018, a massive drop from the 80-plus million units sold by its predecessor, the PlayStation Portable.
When it launched in 2011, the Vita was sold on the promise of being able to take console-quality games like Uncharted: Golden Abyss and Killzone: Mercenary on the go. However, a variety of factors — namely, poor first-party support, expensive memory cards and strong competition from the likes of the Nintendo 3DS and mobile games — led the Vita to struggle immensely during its lifecycle.
At this point, other devices have successfully capitalized on that “high-quality portable gaming” promise. Most notably, there’s the Nintendo Switch, a console-handheld hybrid that’s already become the third best-selling console of all time at over 120 million units sold. And more recently, beefier products like the Steam Deck have taken a similar approach to PC games. Therefore, the Vita brand doesn’t seem to have a place in the modern market, even as some fans call for a successor.
Ultimately, it remains to be seen if and when PlayStation goes through with Q Lite. Insider Gaming also didn’t indicate other key details, such as pricing and release timing. However, the outlet says it’s believed to be part of PlayStation’s “second phase” of the PS5, which includes a rumoured PS5 Pro that’s targeting a holiday 2024 launch.
After a critically acclaimed six seasons, the Bob Odenkirk-led Better Call Saul came to an end last August.
For many, it even surpassed the parent series Breaking Bad, and its absence has left an Albuquerque-sized hole in our hearts ever since. Thankfully, there’s a new AMC series starring Odenkirk that should help with that: Lucky Hank.
The comedy-drama series premieres on March 19th, with new episodes dropping every Sunday at 9pm ET/6pm PT. In it, Odenkirk plays a cantankerous college English professor whose mid-life crisis affects the lives of everyone around him. Notably, while the series is set in Pennsylvania, it was actually filmed in Vancouver.
Based on Richard Russo’s 1997 novel, Straight Man, Lucky Hank was developed by Paul Lieberstein (The Office) and Aaron Zelman (Law & Order) and co-stars Mireille Enos (The Killing), Olivia Scott Welch (Fear Street), Diedrich Bader (American Housewife), Sara Amini (Future Man), Cedric Yarbough (Speechless) and Suzanne Cryer (Silicon Valley). Lucky Hank also reunites Odenkirk with Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul executive producer Mark Johnson.
While Odenkirk’s first series after Better Call Saul would have garnered attention regardless of quality, Lucky Hank has, thankfully, been quite well-received following its premiere at SXSW earlier this month.
It’s worth noting that only the first five seasons of Better Call Saul are streaming on Netflix Canada. The final season, which was at one point streaming on AMC+, isn’t currently on that — or any other — subscription streaming service.
PlayStation has teamed up with NBA star LeBron James on a limited-edition PS5 cover and DualSense controller.
The Black PS5 accessories were co-designed by James and feature quotes and imagery from his journey, including “nothing is given, everything is earned” and “build, uplift, empower.
However, PlayStation has confirmed to MobileSyrup that the accessories aren’t coming to Canada. Instead, the company has teased a separate Canada-focused collaboration with Toronto-born actor-comedian, King Bach. While it says more will be shared on that later this year, it did point to a PS5 ad with Bach that ran during the Super Bowl last month:
The partnerships with James and Bach come as part of PlayStation’s new “Playmakers” program, a promotional campaign that sees the gaming giant partner with prominent athletes, actors, artists, gamers and other figures.
That said, PlayStation previously worked with James on a decidedly strange God of War Ragnarök adin which he, Ben Stiller and John Travolta all appeared with their respective sons.
PlayStation has announced its ‘Festival of Play’ sale starting now through February 24th. PlayStation Plus members can find a range of activities, including double discounts, digital collectibles, tournaments to join and more.
On February 15th, God of War Ragnarök is heading to PlayStation Plus Premium’s game trial section with a three-hour section. If you try it out, your trophies and saved progress from this trial can carry if you purchase the full game.
The PlayStation Stars loyalty program also has unique digital collectibles for the festival’s duration:
PlayStation Plus members will receive a “Festival of Play Party Favor” digital collectible for checking into the ‘A Gift from PlayStation Plus’ campaign and playing any game.
With Horizon Forbidden West joining the PlayStation Plus Game Catalog starting on February 21, you can get “A Gift from the Past” digital collectible by checking into the “Welcome to the Forbidden West” campaign and earning the following trophies. This campaign is only available to PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium/Deluxe members who have yet to earn these trophies.
“Save the Daunt” “Attend the Embassy” “Obtain 3 Stripes at a Hunting Ground” “Used Dyed Flowers” “First Rebel Camp Completed” “First Tall Neck Overwritten”
The double discount sale is running now, offering games like Gotham Knights, The Last of Us Part II, A Plague Tale: Requiem, Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart and more.
You can enter to win a Sony Bravia XR OLED TV, Dolby Atmos Soundbar HT-A5000 and Sony WH-1000XM5 wireless noise-cancelling headphones until February 24th. You can enter the contest here.
PlayStation Tournaments are happening during this timeframe FIFA 23, NBA 2K23, and Guilty Gear.
