Sony's latest financial report for the past fiscal year shows great promise for the PlayStation 5.

PS5 SALES AS OF MARCH 31, 2021: 7.8 MILLION UNITS SOLD

The PlayStation 5 has sold more units than the PlayStation 4 had in its first quarter of sales after launch. Compared to the PS4's 7.6 million units for the same time period, the PS5 sold over 7.8 million as of March 31, 2021. Sony's financial statements also show steady growth for the PlayStation on all fronts. Apart from their console sales, the PS5 also registered growth in video game sales and PlayStation Plus subscriptions.

Sony's year-to-year revenue increased by 678.7 billion yen, or by 34% to 2 trillion 656.3 billion yen. Sony attributes this to “an increase in game software sales” and an increase in hardware sales due to the PS5.

Of course, a new console release also leads to a surge in video game sales. Across the PS4 and PS5, Sony recorded 338.9 million video game units sold over the past fiscal year. 220 million units, or 65% of the total, went through the digital store. For the previous fiscal year, only 53% of all sales have been made online. Two factors may be at play here. Firstly, the COVID-19 pandemic forced people to stay at home, which may have changed purchase behavior from physical to digital. Secondly, the PS5 digital-only version would lead to digital-only customers, which would naturally push the ratio this way.

Meanwhile, 17% of all of the games sold over this period came from first-party titles. A sizable portion of the pie, expanding this portion may have incentivized Sony's decision to invest more on PlayStation exclusives.

Finally, there are more PlayStation Plus subscribers as of March 31, 2021, compared to last year. From 41.5 million subscribers last year, the number now figures 47.6 million.

The PS5's sales figures are impressive, especially with its shortage issues, scalping issues, tight competition with Xbox, and the COVID-19 pandemic.