➀ The PlayStation 5 has officially sold over 75 million units; ➁ Despite supply chain issues, sales have recovered and are catching up to the PS4; ➂ The PS5's sales success is notable given it has not yet received a permanent price drop.
Recent #Sony news in the semiconductor industry
➀ Insomniac Games pitched a potential fourth entry in the Resistance series to Sony after the conclusion of the trilogy in 2011; ➁ The studio's founder, Ted Price, revealed this in an interview with Kinda Funny Games; ➂ Despite the rejection, Insomniac Games went on to achieve success with other titles like Sunset Overdrive and Marvel's Spider-Man.
➀ PlayStation Network services experienced a global outage lasting nearly a day;
➁ Sony confirmed the issue and restored services, but offered little explanation;
➂ Gamers are frustrated with the lack of communication and the compensation of an additional 5 days of service.
➀ Sony has announced that it will no longer require players to link their PlayStation Network (PSN) accounts to play certain PC titles. This decision follows widespread criticism from PC gamers. ➁ The change will apply to previously released PC versions of games like Marvel's Spider-Man 2, The Last of Us Part II Remastered, God of War Ragnarök, and Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered. ➂ Sony plans to offer exclusive in-game bonuses to players who link their accounts, including early access to suits and resource bundles.
➀ Sony Corp has appointed Hiroki Totoki as its new CEO and president, effective April.
➁ Hideaki Nishino will lead Sony Interactive Entertainment as CEO, focusing on the PlayStation segment.
➂ Hermen Hulst remains CEO of SIE's studios business group.
➀ Sony is reportedly developing a new God of War game set in Egyptian mythology.
➁ The casting of Middle Eastern actors suggests that the project is likely the next God of War game.
➂ This isn't the first time Egyptian mythology has been mentioned in connection with God of War.
➀ Sony's PlayStation 6 SoC is reported to be 'design complete'; ➁ The custom APU will feature a Zen 5 CPU and UDNA GPU; ➂ The console is expected to support 4K 120FPS and 8K 60FPS gaming.
➀ Sony updates its PlayStation Plus Extra / Premium libraries with new games for January; ➁ God of War Ragnarök is the highlight, joining the service next week; ➂ The lineup also includes a variety of indie games like Sayonara Wild Hearts and Citizen Sleeper.
➀ Sony has released a new 'Midnight Black collection' of PS5 accessories, including the PlayStation Portal remote player, DualSense Edge wireless controller, Pulse Elite wireless headset, and Pulse Explore wireless earbuds. The collection is set to be available on February 20th. ➁ The new collection complements the existing all-black PS5 accessories, allowing fans to fully customize their systems with a matte black color scheme. ➂ The collection is a response to the popularity of the previously released Midnight Black accessories.
➀ After years of rumors, Sony has officially announced a film adaptation of Horizon Zero Dawn; ➁ The film is being produced and distributed by Sony's Columbia Pictures; ➂ The project is currently in its early stages of development.
➀ Sony's PS Portal only streams PlayStation games due to profitability and simplified game development; ➁ Sony aims to ease developer burden by avoiding new platform complexities; ➂ Cloud gaming and remote play are prioritized to support content creation without inconvenience.
➀ TSMC has begun mass production at its first Japanese fab; ➁ The fab is expected to run processes down to 6nm and has a capacity of 55k wpm; ➂ The first products are image sensors and automotive ICs for Sony and Denso; ➃ TSMC plans to start construction on a second fab in Kumamoto in Q1 2025.
➀ After two quarters of declines, Q3 shipments of AR/VR headsets rose 12.8% according to IDC, driven by Meta's Quest 3 and Sony's PSVR2. ➁ Mixed Reality headsets, like the Quest 3, are expected to grow 21.7% in 2025. ➂ Extended Reality devices are forecasted to have a 85.7% CAGR through 2028.
➀ TrendForce estimates that 2024 shipments of VR and MR headsets will increase by 8.8% y-o-y to 9.6 million units; ➁ Three trends are identified: the dominance of low-cost devices, the shift from entertainment accessories to productivity tools, and OLEDoS becoming the preferred display technology for high-end near-eye devices; ➂ Meta leads the VR and MR device shipments with a 73% market share in 2024, driven by the affordable Quest 3S, while the high-end Quest Pro 2 is suspended.
➀ Sony has reportedly removed leaked images of a crossover between Helldivers 2 and Killzone. ➁ The DLC is priced at 1,975 Super Credits, sparking anger among players. ➂ Arrowhead Studios CEO's comments on the DLC's pricing and content were met with backlash.
➀ Astro Bot has received a winter update on PS5; ➁ The update is free and includes festive content; ➂ The update is aimed at both children and adults.
➀ Apple is collaborating with Sony to bring third-party controller support to Vision Pro; ➁ Sony's PSVR2 controllers are planned to be supported; ➂ The collaboration aims to boost Vision Pro's profile as a gaming platform.
➀ Apple is reportedly working with Sony to bring PSVR2 controller support to the Vision Pro; ➁ The partnership is aimed at enhancing the VR gaming experience on Apple's headset; ➂ Despite logistical issues, the project is expected to be revealed soon.
➀ Sony's original Spider-Man game has generated nearly $4 billion in revenue within two years; ➁ The game sold 20 million copies worldwide; ➂ Sony could have spent around $300 million on Spider-Man 2.
➀ Tencent's subsidiary, Polaris Quest, has announced 'Light of Motiram', an open-world survival crafting game inspired by Guerilla Games' Horizon Zero Dawn; ➁ The game is listed on Steam and Epic Games Store but has no release date yet; ➂ The game faces potential legal challenges from Sony due to its similarities.