Sony expects PlayStation to break new profit records even while it invests in PS6

Sony's PlayStation division just reported record-breaking operating income...and the company now expects similar results for this fiscal year, even as it invests in its next-gen PS6.

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PlayStation's latest FY25 results were a cause for celebration at Sony, with the games division pulling in a new all-time gross revenue record of $31 billion and a new operating profit high of $3 billion throughout the period. While that's a ~10% operating profit margin, Sony has increased its revenues and its operating income through FY25. Sony's Game & Network Services division had a double-digit 23.3% return on invested capital through FY25, up 4.8 pp from last year.

These records were in spite of the unpopular hardware price hikes and the lowest-ever console shipments in the PS5 generation set during the Q4'25 period, and would have been higher if PlayStation didn't make a $700 million+ impairment charge due to Bungie's shortfalls.

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Interestingly enough, Sony expects FY26 to do even better than FY25.

Sony has forecasted a tremendous operating income spike of 136.7 billion yen throughout the year, which would result in a total 600 billion yen (about $3.7 billion in today's exchange rates). That's a new all-time operating income high for Sony Interactive Entertainment.

Sony also reports OIBDA, aka operating income before depreciation and amortization. This metric gives a better idea of how much cash PlayStation is generating on a core basis. Sony expects FY26's OIBDA to be relatively flat to FY25 because the company is ramping up spending on its next-gen platform.

"Compared to the FY25 operating income results excluding one-time items the FY26 operating income forecast is essentially flat year-on-year, which is due to the incorporation of an increase in investments for the next-generation platform. Excluding these factors, profit generated by our current business is expected to grow steadily at a double-digit rate," the report reads.

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So what does this all mean? Essentially, Sony's PlayStation platform is very profitable on an operational basis, despite missteps with Bungie and other projects, like the disastrous Concord.

PlayStation is so profitable that Sony expects the business to continue breaking records even as it spends big on its next-gen PS6 platform. It's worth noting that this is not the beginning of Sony's investments into the PlayStation 6, and that the company has been working closely with AMD via a new Project Amethyst partnership for some time now.

Sony is believed to launch the next-gen PS6 sometime in 2027, however the company has yet to confirm anything official. Sony CEO Hiroki Totoki says the group expects chips to be very expensive through FY27, which ends in March 2028.