PS4 helps Sony's game division rise, but PS3 sales see "significant decrease"

PlayStation 4 sales during the latest quarter helped Sony's Game division revenue rise 64.6 percent to ¥441.8 billion ($4.2 billion), Sony announced today, but performance could have been better if the PlayStation 3 didn't suffer.

The dramatic rise in Sony's Game division was partially offset by a "significant decrease" in PS3 unit sales, Sony said today in a press release. The company did not shed any light on why the PS3 didn't perform so well in the quarter, but the PS4 launch might have had something to do with it.

Unfortunately, Sony's reporting style combines PS3 and PS4 sales together, so we don't know how well each platform specifically performed. For the quarter, Sony sold a combined 7.8 million consoles, 4.2 million of which we know are PS4 units, leaving around 3.6 million PS3s. Combined PlayStation Vita and PSP sales were down year-over-year, coming in at 2 million units, compared to 2.7 million last year.

Software sales across all platforms (physical and digital) totaled 126 million copies during the quarter, up significantly from 84 million during the same quarter last year. For the full fiscal year, Sony said it expects to sell 15 million PS3 and PS4s, while PS Vita and PSP sales are expected to combine for 5 million units.

Sony also added that it saw a "dramatic increase" in PlayStation Plus sign-ups, which is most likely due to the fact that the PS4 requires a subscription for online play.

Operating income for Sony's Game division rose by a massive 292.1 percent to ¥18 billion ($172 million), primarily driven by the PS4 and favorable exchange rates. Sony's Game division operating income for the quarter also includes a ¥6.2 billion ($59 million) write-off for some Sony Online Entertainment games, potentially the four massively multiplayer online games closed last month.

Overall, Sony posted revenue of ¥2.4 trillion ($22.9 billion) and a profit of ¥27 billion ($257 million) for the quarter. The company also announced today that it would sell its VAIO PC brand, spin off its TV business, and cut 5,000 jobs.