The numbers of games and consoles sold was for decades the only real measurement of how well a certain title or a format performed. But during the last ten years, this has become more and more irrelevant thanks to new products.
This includes things like free-to-play (by measuring sales, Fortnite would be the biggest failure of all time with zero games sold), game subscriptions and console makers focusing on other formats than their own console - or even companies like Amazon having the streaming service Luna which isn't even a console, so they'll never sell a single one.
Microsoft has lately talked about three billion potential gamers in the world they would like to reach, something they could never do with a console. Therefore they have expanded to PC and smartphones in various ways, with way more formats coming soon. Now Sony seems to head in a similar direction.
Sony recently explained they would increase the efforts when it comes to live service games, and in an Axios interview with the PlayStation chief Jim Ryan, he explains their new strategy where all entertainment is considered competition, not just gaming:
"We are an entertainment company with a community of more than 100 million gamers with really extraordinary levels of commitment and engagement.
I would say unequivocally that we are competing for leisure hours, and that any definition of competition has to extend way beyond the boundaries of what has traditionally been defined as gaming."
Sony is also about to focus more on smartphones, and according to Ryan, we will "see the first fruits of this sooner than you might think". He explains why this is important:
"The thinking here is that our IP portfolio is in such a strong state right now, it seems perverse to restrict enjoyment of it to our existing PlayStation community.
Does this seems like the right direction for PlayStation?