DualSense controllers for the Sony PlayStation 5, which is scheduled for release this year.
Photo: sony interactive entertainment i/ReutersTOKYO—Profits from the videogame boom caused by people staying home are finding their way into the coffers of Japanese companies.
Sony Corp. SNE 2.15% said Tuesday sales and operating profit in the April-June quarter were roughly flat compared with a year earlier, despite red ink stemming from lower television and stereo sales. That was because videogame players flocked to its subscription service and downloaded more game updates.
Sony said it expected the PlayStation 5 machine, due for release late this year, to offset losses elsewhere and help the company record slight growth in sales this fiscal year.
Thanks to the first new PlayStation in seven years, “we expect to recover from the impact of Covid-19,” said Chief Financial Officer Hiroki Totoki.
April-June revenue rose 2% to ¥1.97 trillion ($18.6 billion), while operating income fell 1% to ¥228 billion.
Global lockdowns and other steps that have led people to avoid outings have reinvigorated the $149 billion global games industry.
In Japan, home of Sony and Nintendo Co., sales of games and gaming devices reached the highest level since 2012 in the first half of this year, according to gaming sales data provider Famitsu.
The coronavirus pandemic has also been a boon for Nintendo, which releases quarterly earnings on Thursday. The company’s game “Animal Crossing: New Horizons” has struck a chord with gamers stuck indoors, selling 13.4 million copies in its first six weeks after going on sale world-wide March 20.
Nintendo’s videogame ‘Animal Crossing: New Horizons’ has been popular during the pandemic.
Photo: Kiyoshi Ota/Bloomberg NewsAlso helping Nintendo recently is a recovery in production of its flagship Switch console. After supply glitches in February and high demand led to shortages in the U.S. and Japan, production got back on track as of May and shipments are forecast to increase from now on, a Nintendo spokesman said.
The companies are hoping the stay-at-home trend will lift holiday sales even if the overall economy is weak. Game-industry analysts estimate that the new PlayStation will be priced between $450 and $500. Sony declined to disclose the price. It said production was going smoothly despite the pandemic.
Microsoft is also selling a new machine later this year, the Xbox Series X.
Sony said it expected videogame segment sales to rise to ¥2.5 trillion ($24 billion) in the year ending March 2021, up by about a quarter from a year earlier. It said add-on game content such as in-game currency or new features for previously purchased games brought in $2.3 billion in revenue in the April-June quarter—more than half of total game-software revenue.
Write to River Davis at River.Davis@wsj.com
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