As reported bygamesindustry.biz, gaming industry sales data for the month of January 2023 in the United Kingdom market has been revealed, and among the key details relayed is thatPlayStation 5sales for the month were twice what they were in January 2022 (98% higher to be perfectly exact).
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This comparison is particularly noteworthy, as consoles don’t often have such a stark upward trend two years into their lifecycle. Though the United Kingdom is only one market in what’s a very global business, it is a fairly large one in terms of gaming, so its data can be fairly representative of the industry as a whole. And althoughPlayStation-exclusiveGod of War Ragnarokdid release only a few months ago, the uptick is most likely due to a different factor.
PlayStation 5 has been marred with severe supply constraint issues ever since the console launched in 2020. TheXbox Series Xsuffered a similar issue, as there was a worldwide chip shortage, as well as international shipping issues, but the issue affected PlayStation 5 more severely due to the latter’s generally higher demand.
However, Isabelle Tomatis, a Sony Interactive Entertainment VP, recently stated in a PlayStationblog postthat “if you’re looking to purchase a PS5 console, you should now have a much easier time finding one at retailers globally.” Tomatis thanked players for their patience as the company “navigatedunprecedented demand for the PS5 console amid global challenges,” further suggesting that this issue is something that they have overcome.
If this UK data is any indication, it certainly seems that PlayStation 5 supply issues are now a thing of the past, as it is a particularly sharp year-over-year increase. Speaking more anecdotally, many players and commentators have begun making note that PlayStation 5 consoles are now usually in stock when perusing the direct PlayStation online store.
Two PS5 bundles are currently available, both including the previously mentioned God of War Ragnarok, one with the standard PS5 that has a disc drive, and the other with the PS5 digital edition. These bundles undoubtedly had a huge impact on sales, as gamesindustry.biz confirms that 55% of all PS5 consoles sold in the UK in January 2023 had Ragnarok bundled into them.
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