In FY2018, the average active PlayStation user generated 23,580 Yen annually for Sony. By FY2025, that figure had risen to 37,485 Yen — an increase of roughly £130 per person, per year, at current exchange rates. The percentage increase is 59%. And according to industry analyst Daniel Ahmad, it helps explain why Sony has quietly stepped back from aggressively promoting the PlayStation 5.
Ahmad, Director of Research and Insights at Niko Partners, posted the analysis to X after Sony CEO Hiroki Totoki was asked why the company isn’t marketing the PS5 as hard as it once did. The answer, in Ahmad’s reading, is that Sony doesn’t need to. It’s extracting more from the players it already has.
From 23,580 Yen to 37,485 Yen: The Numbers Behind the Jump
Ahmad’s calculation draws on Sony’s publicly reported figures for average annual revenue per active PlayStation user. The comparison spans from FY2018 — the PS4 era — to FY2025, which maps onto the PS5 generation.
“I did the math on this and average annual revenue per PlayStation active user has grown from 23,580 Yen in FY2018 to 37,485 Yen in FY2025, which is around $230,” Ahmad posted. “An increase of 59% over that period. Although growth was flat over the past year or two.”
That last detail is worth noting: the rate of growth has plateaued recently, even as the absolute figure sits well above where it was in the PS4 days. Sony reached a new revenue-per-user ceiling during the COVID years, when gaming participation surged globally, and has broadly maintained that height since. Ahmad notes that FY2019 data includes the early pandemic period, which temporarily inflated the active user count.
Why Sony Stopped Aggressively Marketing the PS5
The context for Ahmad’s analysis was a new interview with Sony CEO Hiroki Totoki, in which he acknowledged the company’s reduced PS5 marketing push. The logic, as Ahmad frames it, is straightforward: when your existing users are spending more, you don’t need to chase new ones as hard.
This is a significant shift from the PS4 era’s growth-at-all-costs mentality. Then, unit sales and active user counts were the headline metrics. Now, revenue per user tells a richer story — one in which a loyal base spending more on subscriptions, software, and hardware upgrades generates stronger returns than raw user acquisition.
Three Things Driving PlayStation Revenue Higher
Ahmad flagged three main drivers behind the revenue jump:
PS+ tier upgrades. Sony restructured its PlayStation Plus subscription in 2022, introducing three tiers — Essential, Extra, and Premium — at progressively higher price points. The shift pushed many existing subscribers up the ladder, and with price increases since then, the subscription contribution to per-user revenue has grown significantly.
More spending on software, DLC, and microtransactions. The live service model has become central to PlayStation’s revenue picture. Games like Helldivers 2, Destiny, and the FIFA/EA Sports FC series generate ongoing spending well beyond the initial purchase, and Sony’s platform takes a cut of all of it.
Higher hardware prices. The PS5 launched at £449 in the UK in 2020. Revisions and mid-generation hardware have pushed prices higher across the board. That’s money Sony earns once — but it lands in the same per-user revenue pool Ahmad is measuring.
The Cost to Players
There’s an obvious flip side to Sony’s improving revenue picture: players are spending more. The console gaming market has become considerably more expensive over the past generation, with game prices rising, subscription tiers proliferating, and microtransactions embedded throughout even major AAA releases. Much of that is structural — subscription costs have risen, game prices have climbed — and some of it is optional, in the form of DLC and in-game purchases. But the aggregate trend is clear.
Sony is simultaneously facing pushback on multiple fronts. A Dutch consumer lawsuit seeking over $457 million accuses the company of running an illegal monopoly through the PlayStation Store. And Sony’s decision to end physical disc production for new games from January 2028 has frustrated many players who prefer to own their games outright.
That 59% revenue jump is one metric. Whether players feel they’re getting 59% more value is a different question entirely.
