Sony Corporation recently published its annual financial report, and the numbers reveal that PlayStation Now made a contribution to its gaming division’s best financial year. In his FY2018 presentation, Chief Financial Officer Hiroki Totoki revealed that the streaming service saw an average annual increase of 40 percent in paid subscribers since launch in 2014.
In the last fiscal year, Sony extended PS Now to nine more countries in Europe, bringing the total to 19 countries. With a steady increase in subscribers, the service now boasts 700,000 users and a library of over 750 PS3 and PS4 games.
In September 2018, PS Now added a download feature for those with less stable internet connections. Totoki revealed that following the release of this feature, gameplay time per user increased significantly, resulting in higher user engagement and retention.
“In this way, Sony Interactive Entertainment has accumulated a wealth of expertise in the game streaming space and plans to leverage that expertise to continue providing the ultimate game user experience on console and in the game streaming space,” added Totoki. “SIE is committed to the vision of making PlayStation the ‘Best Place to Play’ by delivering to users the best content in the best manner possible. Game streaming is one important way to achieve that.”
Totoki further revealed that SIE purchased Gaikai in 2012 because it foresaw a future that revolved around video game streaming.
“We have leveraged our strong relationships with publishers to provide over 750 PS3 and PS4 titles to our subscribers, although this number varies by region,” Totoki continued. “This number is more than three times as many as the second largest game subscription service provider by number of titles.”
PlayStation Now utilizes a subscription model. In the U.S., it costs $19.99 a month.
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[Source: Sony]
