Sony PlayStation profit rises 83% as Marvel's Wolverine sells 2.4 million copies

Sony reports that its PlayStation division operating profit rose 83% to ¥220.1 billion for the July to September 2026 quarter. This figure represents a significant jump from the ¥120.4 billion recorded in the prior year's equivalent timeframe. The company's Game & Network Services division revenue also grew 9% to ¥1,208.5 billion.

Marvel's Wolverine · official art via IGDB

While profits rose, PS5 hardware shipments fell to 2.6 million units for the quarter, down from 4.0 million a year earlier. For the first half of the fiscal year, total PS5 shipments reached 4.2 million units compared to 6.5 million last year. Sony notes these hardware figures are based on units shipped to retailers. Hardware revenue decreased 5% to ¥219.7 billion.

Software and network services helped offset the hardware decline. Total full game sales reached 88.2 million units, with first-party software sales increasing to 8.2 million units from 6.3 million. Digital downloads now account for 78% of all full game sales. Digital software revenue rose to ¥330.8 billion, while add-on content revenue reached ¥313.1 billion. Network services revenue grew to ¥218.3 billion, and monthly active PlayStation Network users reached 127 million.

Sony attributes the profit increase in part to currency fluctuations, which added ¥73.0 billion to revenue as the yen averaged ¥159.3 against the US dollar. The comparison also benefits from the absence of last year's ¥31.5 billion Bungie impairment and an ¥18.3 billion development cost correction.

According to Sony, Marvel's Wolverine reached approximately 2.4 million copies sold by November 4. This total does not include revenue from additional downloadable content.

The company increased its full-year revenue outlook for the gaming segment to ¥4,830 billion, with operating income projected at ¥700 billion. Management noted that shifting the release date of a first-party game might temper these gains. Cumulative PS5 shipments have now hit 97.9 million units.

Background In September, Marvel's Wolverine was the top-selling game in the US. Our earlier story