Following Sony's financial conference call for investors and analysts that included several interesting statements about the PlayStation business, an official transcript published by the company today is causing some confusion.
The company's transcript in English quotes Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer Hiroki Totoki, saying the following while talking about avenues to increase the margins of profitability.
Another driver will be first-party titles. Strong titles that achieve growth on PS5, PCs and other platforms will widen our margins. We believe that we have opportunities for margin improvement and intend to pursue them aggressively.
Many fans on both sides of the console war and even some media outlets have interpreted that "and other platforms" as the possibility that Sony may release more games on competing consoles like Xbox and Nintendo Switch.
Yet, this is mostly due to the fact that, despite being from an official source, the statement is mistranslated just enough to be misleading.
Luckily, Sony also released the transcript in Japanese, which is the original language Totoki-san was speaking during the conference. The literal translation of the statement is as follows:
Another driver is first-party titles, the growth of strong titles across multiple platforms, such as PC in addition to PS5, will lead to improved margins. I believe there is an opportunity [there], and we'd like to work aggresively to improve the margins.
As you can see, the nuance is quite different in the Japanese version. Those who are familiar with transcripts for investors from Japanese companies will likely know that their translations can be quite liberal.
They usually aren't intended to be observed under the microscope by fans and enthusiast media trying to spin narratives, especially in light of the recent announcement by Xbox that 4 of its first-party games will land on rival consoles.
The Japanese version of te statement matches the simultaneous interpretation provided by Sony on the day of the livestreamed conference, which we reported on February 14.
It's also worth mentioning that this is not the first time that Sony has talked about releases on more platforms. All the way back to the Game & Network Services strategy meeting in May 2022, CEO Jim Ryan identified the additional platforms beyond consoles as PC, Mobile, VR, Cloud, and Metaverse.
We should also consider the fact that Totoki-san wasn't making an announcement, but responding to a direct question from a journalist, explaining where he saw possibilities for improvement in the future.
This doesn't mean that games on other console platforms aren't a possibility. Sony has semi-recently started publishing MLB: The Show on both Xbox and Switch as that shift was required to keep the license for the league.
On top of that, Bungie's Marathon has been announced for PlayStation 5, PC, and Xbox Series X|S, so seeing PlayStation games on rival consoles isn't unthinkable.
Yet, nothing of what Totoki-san mentioned at the financial conference call last week indicates a more aggressive pursuit of a multi-console approach as today's mistranslated transcript could suggest.
Totoki-san's stance is certainly quite relevant for the short-term future of PlayStation, as he recently assumed the role of chairman of Sony Interactive Entertainment to help with the transition after the announcement of Jim Ryan's retirement. He will become interim CEO of Sony's gaming arm on April 1.
That being said, we don't know how long he'll remain in the role, as he recently pledged that his most relevant mission will be finding a permanent successor for Ryan. That's not surprising, considering that Totoki-san is already wearing many hats at Sony.
