Sony is selling more PS5 games but still struggling to meet console demand

• Gaming
• PlayStation

The problem is likely supply, not demand.

Despite the RAMaggedon crisis and tariffs that are making its PS5 consoles expensive and hard to get, Sony's gaming division had a solid quarter. While the company only sold 2.6 million PS5 consoles in Q2 2026 compared to 4 million the year before, game sales and PlayStation Network services were up. The result was a nine percent increase in revenue and 83 percent boost to profits year-over-year. However, the sales drop was likely due to supply issues that may bite the company harder once Grand Theft Auto VI drops on November 19. 

Overall, game sales were up 9.8 million units over the same quarter last year, in both first- and third-party games. Digital downloads, a huge point of controversy for Sony this year, accounted for 78 percent of full-game software sales, up from 72 percent in the same period last year. All told, Sony software sales amounted to 708.5 billion yen ($4.48 billion) this quarter compared to 629.3 yen ($3.98 billion) in the same 2025 period. Network services also grew by 19.5 percent to 218.3 billion yen ($1.38 billion). 

As for individual titles, Marvel's Wolverine is a certified hit, with sales at 2.4 million copies as of November 4th, around 50 days after release. That compares to 3.3 million units of Ghost of Yotei moved since its October 2, 2025 launch, according to Sony's most recent figures.

With this quarter in the books, Sony is closing in on 100 million PS5 sales with 97.9 million sold since the console's June 2020 launch, and it will certainly reach that figure over its holiday quarter. 

However, with GTA VI launching in exactly two weeks on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S consoles (and pre-orders supposedly already at $750 million), questions remain about Sony's ability to meet the inevitable console demand. The PS5 Pro remains a huge hit, with some retailers resorting to lottery systems to side-step scalpers.

The company previously said that it had secured enough memory to fill demand. More recently, though, Sony reportedly told distribution partners that "temporary market supply constraints and high demand" would continue to limit retailers' console stock until next year.