PlayStation has reported a record second-quarter operating profit, with Sony’s gaming business earning more from games and services even as PS5 shipments continue to fall. There’s a little more to the story, though, so let’s delve into the world of confusing numbers.

For the three months ended September 30, the Game & Network Services division of Sony generated revenue of ¥1.208 trillion, up around 8.6% from ¥1.113 trillion during the same period last year. The operating profit looks far more impressive on paper, climbingfrom ¥120.4 billion to ¥220.1 billion, an increase of around 83%.

That profit figure comes with a pretty big asterisk, though. As Sony explains in its earnings presentation, the same quarter last year included ¥49.8 billion in one-off charges. That consisted of a ¥31.5 billion impairment relating to Bungie and ¥18.3 billion in expenses from a correction to previously capitalised development costs.

Take those charges out of last year’s figures and Sony says operating profit increased by 29%. That’s still a strong result, but it gives us a better idea of the improvement than the headline 83% figure that’s going to grab everyone’s attention.

There’s another factor behind the revenue increase: exchange rates. Sony estimates that currency movements added ¥73 billion to the division’s revenue compared with last year. The total reported increase was ¥95.3 billion, so a large chunk of it came from converting overseas sales into yen. By my calculation, removing Sony’s estimated currency effect would leave revenue growth of roughly 2%.

Sony says increased sales of first-party and third-party games, along with network services, helped revenue grow. Hardware sales, meanwhile, declined as fewer PS5 consoles were shipped. Sony moved 2.6 million PS5s during the quarter, down from 4 million in the same period last year. Not exactly surprising given how late we are in the console’s lifespan and the insane price increases.

That’s broadly in line with what Sony said it expected back in May 2024. At the time, the company predicted that PS5 unit sales would gradually decline during the second half of the console’s life, but believed it could continue to grow sales and profits by keeping players engaged, expanding the active audience and controlling costs.

And looking at the figures, that approach does appear to be paying off. The number of monthly active PlayStation accounts reached 127 million in September, up from 119 million a year earlier. Total playtime during the quarter also increased by 4%, according to Sony.

Revenue from network services, which includes PlayStation Plus and advertising, rose from ¥182.7 billion to ¥218.3 billion, an increase of around 19.5%. Sales of add-on content, including expansions, in-game currency and items, increased from ¥299.8 billion to ¥313.1 billion.

There have, of course, been price increases along the way. Sony raised the cost of annual PlayStation Plus subscriptions in 2023, with a year of Essential in the UK going from £49.99 to £59.99. Earlier this year, it also increased the price of one-month and three-month subscriptions for new customers in selected regions.

That doesn’t mean we can pin the latest growth entirely on players paying more for PS Plus. The network services figure also includes advertising, and Sony hasn’t broken down exactly how much of the increase came from price changes, subscriber numbers or people moving to higher tiers. Sony has previously said that getting more players onto those more expensive tiers is part of its strategy.

My personal view is that it hasn’t done a very good job of making the most expensive tier very attractive.

Looking ahead, Sony has raised its forecast for the full financial year ending March 2027. It now expects the gaming division to generate ¥4.83 trillion in revenue and ¥700 billion in operating profit, up from its previous forecasts of ¥4.54 trillion and ¥660 billion respectively.

The company points to stronger third-party software and network-services sales, as well as improved costs, for the higher profit forecast. There is one less big first-party release contributing to this financial year, however: God of War Laufey’s delay to May 2027 pushes it into Sony’s next financial year.

Did you understand all those numbers? No? Neither did I. I need a cup of tea.