Sony CEO Explains Why It Isn’t 'Aggressively Marketing' the PlayStation 5 Anymore

Sony CEO Hiroki Totoki recently stated that the company is no longer aggressively marketing the PlayStation 5, as the console is now in the later stages of its life cycle. It has been nearly six years since the console's release in November 2020. Scalping issues have since been resolved, but the console is once again out of stock at major retailers following the extended preview of Rockstar's GTA 6 on Netflix.

This is a sharp turn for the console after its lowest May sales in history after Sony announced price hikes in April 2026. Despite highly anticipated games like GTA 6 drawing attention for the PlayStation 5, the company has confirmed that it is not concerned with advertising the console. Sony's current goal is to profit off of its existing PlayStation Plus userbase.

CEO Totoki admitted during an interview with the Wall Street Journal that they are in the latter half of the life cycle for a PlayStation console and are focusing on recurring revenue from its users. The company plans to end the production of physical game discs starting January 2028, which has sparked backlash from consumers. Sony's CFO, Lin Tao, defended this decision, citing the increasing digitization of content.

The future of the PlayStation 6 and Project Helix, Microsoft's upcoming console, remains unknown, but players are concerned about both being digital-only by default.