PlayStation 5 US Shipments Are Up 400% From Last Year
Sony is producing way more PlayStation 5 consoles than it was last year with new figures showing a 400% increase in shipments to the United States year over year.
Senior analyst at MST Financial David Gibson shared the stats on Twitter (below), showing a huge spike in the number of units being shipped to the US in September.
Gibson noted that the increase will in part be to prepare for God of War: Ragnarok's launch on November 9, but the increase in shipments generally bodes well for those looking to buy a PS5 in the US over the holiday period.
Lots of reports of improved PS5 supply in the past few months, but no data until now. Import data into the US confirms that Sony Interactive (PlayStation) shipments in Sept were +400% YoY. Yes you read that right. Some of that will go into inventory for GoW launch for sure. #PS5 pic.twitter.com/SvC6xTPQxs
— David Gibson (@gibbogame) October 11, 2022
Sony's next generation console, alongside the entire tech industry, has suffered from severe production issues since it was released in 2020, caused by chip shortages and the knock-on effects of Covid-19.
Interestingly, these shortages were estimated last year to take place until September 2022, the exact month where Sony saw its spike in PS5 shipments.
Despite these struggles, Sony had still sold more than 20 million PS5 consoles as of June 2022, and while it missed its original 2021 sales target by 3.3 million units, the company declared that it estimated a further 18 million sales by March 2023.
Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.
PlayStation 5 US Shipments Are Up 400% From Last Year
Sony is producing way more PlayStation 5 consoles than it was last year with new figures showing a 400% increase in shipments to the United States year over year.
Senior analyst at MST Financial David Gibson shared the stats on Twitter (below), showing a huge spike in the number of units being shipped to the US in September.
Gibson noted that the increase will in part be to prepare for God of War: Ragnarok's launch on November 9, but the increase in shipments generally bodes well for those looking to buy a PS5 in the US over the holiday period.
Lots of reports of improved PS5 supply in the past few months, but no data until now. Import data into the US confirms that Sony Interactive (PlayStation) shipments in Sept were +400% YoY. Yes you read that right. Some of that will go into inventory for GoW launch for sure. #PS5 pic.twitter.com/SvC6xTPQxs
— David Gibson (@gibbogame) October 11, 2022
Sony's next generation console, alongside the entire tech industry, has suffered from severe production issues since it was released in 2020, caused by chip shortages and the knock-on effects of Covid-19.
Interestingly, these shortages were estimated last year to take place until September 2022, the exact month where Sony saw its spike in PS5 shipments.
Despite these struggles, Sony had still sold more than 20 million PS5 consoles as of June 2022, and while it missed its original 2021 sales target by 3.3 million units, the company declared that it estimated a further 18 million sales by March 2023.
Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.
Black Adam Will ‘Absolutely’ Fight Superman In the DCEU Says Dwayne Johnson
Dwayne Johnson has promised that his DCEU character Black Adam will "absolutely" fight Superman in an upcoming film.
Speaking to Cinema Blend, Johnson remained confident that Black Adam is marking a new era in the otherwise struggling DC cinematic universe.
When asked if Black Adam and Superman will ever throw fists, Johnson said: "Absolutely. That is the whole point of this. There's a new era in the DC universe that's about to begin."
He went on to claim that DC is now listening to its fans and doing its best to meet their expectations, though warned that "sometime down the road" it may not be able to do so.
Johnson firmly believes that the DCEU - which began with Man of Steel and has since included the original Suicide Squad, Justice League, Wonder Woman, and so on - has been going through a transitory period and will begin again with Black Adam.
"So finally, after many months turned into many years, we ended up with what we ended up at," he said. "And the whole goal and intention now is to this new era, new time. Now let's build out."
It's not the first time the Fast and Furious and Jumanji star has been vocal about the future of the DCEU, as Johnson commented in August that he's "optimistic" that it will one day cross over with the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
There perhaps isn't as much optimism about other DCEU properties, however, as DC Comics chief creative officer Jim Lee said in July that Zack Snyder's time at the helm has likely come to an end. He believes the "Snyderverse" - which consists of Justice League, Batman v Superman, and Man of Steel - has concluded, as "there's no plans for additional work on that material."
Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.
Black Adam Will ‘Absolutely’ Fight Superman In the DCEU Says Dwayne Johnson
Dwayne Johnson has promised that his DCEU character Black Adam will "absolutely" fight Superman in an upcoming film.
Speaking to Cinema Blend, Johnson remained confident that Black Adam is marking a new era in the otherwise struggling DC cinematic universe.
When asked if Black Adam and Superman will ever throw fists, Johnson said: "Absolutely. That is the whole point of this. There's a new era in the DC universe that's about to begin."
He went on to claim that DC is now listening to its fans and doing its best to meet their expectations, though warned that "sometime down the road" it may not be able to do so.
Johnson firmly believes that the DCEU - which began with Man of Steel and has since included the original Suicide Squad, Justice League, Wonder Woman, and so on - has been going through a transitory period and will begin again with Black Adam.
"So finally, after many months turned into many years, we ended up with what we ended up at," he said. "And the whole goal and intention now is to this new era, new time. Now let's build out."
It's not the first time the Fast and Furious and Jumanji star has been vocal about the future of the DCEU, as Johnson commented in August that he's "optimistic" that it will one day cross over with the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
There perhaps isn't as much optimism about other DCEU properties, however, as DC Comics chief creative officer Jim Lee said in July that Zack Snyder's time at the helm has likely come to an end. He believes the "Snyderverse" - which consists of Justice League, Batman v Superman, and Man of Steel - has concluded, as "there's no plans for additional work on that material."
Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.
Valve Job Listing Suggests a New VR Headset Is in Development
Valve appears to be working on a new version of its Valve Index virtual reality headset with camera passthrough and advanced tracking.
As reported by Upload, a job listing on Valve's website revealed its search for software engineers to assist it in "pushing the boundaries of VR experiences".
It continued: "The main scope of this position is to prototype, ship, and support consumer gaming products leveraging visual-inertial tracking (HMD and controllers), camera passthrough, environment understanding, eye tracking, and hand tracking."
While its remained quiet on the VR front since the Index was released in 2019, Valve has since seen success with another hardware pursuit in the Steam Deck. Now that its production issues have resolved, however, Valve appears to be turning its attention back to VR.
Though its Index is still considered one of the best high end VR headsets, the Meta (previously Oculus) Quest 2 has become a strong competitor since it was released in 2020, and Meta is otherwise doubling down on VR in the coming years.
It reportedly plans to release four new VR headsets by 2024 including two that will evolve the technology of the Quest 2 and be specifically focused on gaming. Mark Zuckerberg released footage of the first of these, Project Cambria, back in May, showing off similar features to what Valve is seemingly planning such as camera passthrough and environment understanding.
In our review of the original headset, IGN said: "Valve’s Index is a premium VR set for enthusiasts: those of us who have a powerful PC, the space to set up external sensors to cover a large area, and who want to experience the cutting edge of finger-tracking input devices."
Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.
Valve Job Listing Suggests a New VR Headset Is in Development
Valve appears to be working on a new version of its Valve Index virtual reality headset with camera passthrough and advanced tracking.
As reported by Upload, a job listing on Valve's website revealed its search for software engineers to assist it in "pushing the boundaries of VR experiences".
It continued: "The main scope of this position is to prototype, ship, and support consumer gaming products leveraging visual-inertial tracking (HMD and controllers), camera passthrough, environment understanding, eye tracking, and hand tracking."
While its remained quiet on the VR front since the Index was released in 2019, Valve has since seen success with another hardware pursuit in the Steam Deck. Now that its production issues have resolved, however, Valve appears to be turning its attention back to VR.
Though its Index is still considered one of the best high end VR headsets, the Meta (previously Oculus) Quest 2 has become a strong competitor since it was released in 2020, and Meta is otherwise doubling down on VR in the coming years.
It reportedly plans to release four new VR headsets by 2024 including two that will evolve the technology of the Quest 2 and be specifically focused on gaming. Mark Zuckerberg released footage of the first of these, Project Cambria, back in May, showing off similar features to what Valve is seemingly planning such as camera passthrough and environment understanding.
In our review of the original headset, IGN said: "Valve’s Index is a premium VR set for enthusiasts: those of us who have a powerful PC, the space to set up external sensors to cover a large area, and who want to experience the cutting edge of finger-tracking input devices."
Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.
Win an Exclusive IGN DXRacer Gaming Chair With IGN Rewards
The DXRacer Craft Pro is an all-new model from the company practically synonymous with gaming chairs, but it's not seeing a wide release until later. However, if you're an IGN Rewards member, you can sign up for your chance to win one of these exclusive IGN edition gaming chairs and sit in style. Stay tuned at dxracer.com and social media channels for when pre-orders begin.
Check out the gallery below for a better look at this extremely limited run of gaming chairs.
The Craft Pro Series focuses on making the gaming chair into a piece of art. Its high-quality material compliments the large canvas and fine embroidery created with high-end industrial machinery. This makes the pattern more stereoscopic, vivid, and complete. Every Craft Pro chair is a masterpiece.
The sweepstakes runs from now until November 11, and you can enter for your chance to win by signing up for an IGN membership and then checking the IGN rewards page.
Make sure to follow DXRacer on social media for updates on upcoming products and more:
Win an Exclusive IGN DXRacer Gaming Chair With IGN Rewards
The DXRacer Craft Pro is an all-new model from the company practically synonymous with gaming chairs, but it's not seeing a wide release until later. However, if you're an IGN Rewards member, you can sign up for your chance to win one of these exclusive IGN edition gaming chairs and sit in style. Stay tuned at dxracer.com and social media channels for when pre-orders begin.
Check out the gallery below for a better look at this extremely limited run of gaming chairs.
The Craft Pro Series focuses on making the gaming chair into a piece of art. Its high-quality material compliments the large canvas and fine embroidery created with high-end industrial machinery. This makes the pattern more stereoscopic, vivid, and complete. Every Craft Pro chair is a masterpiece.
The sweepstakes runs from now until November 11, and you can enter for your chance to win by signing up for an IGN membership and then checking the IGN rewards page.
Make sure to follow DXRacer on social media for updates on upcoming products and more:
How PlayStation Studios Malaysia is Playing a Growing Role in Sony’s Most Important Franchises
Founded in 2020, PlayStation Studios Malaysia is the newest first-party PlayStation studio to be created from the ground up by Sony. Until recently, very little has been known about the projects this studio is working on – but now we know the answer. They’re working on everything.
Speaking during a panel at Level Up KL in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday, PlayStation Studios Malaysia head Hasnul Hadi Samsudin and Neil Ingram from PlayStation’s San Diego-based Visual Arts team explained how Sony’s newest internal startup studio has been involved in working on first-party games like The Last of Us Part I and MLB The Show 2022, as well as playing a role in many other first-party titles.
The new Malaysia studio was founded in Kuala Lumpur as a support studio, working closely with PlayStation’s Creative Arts team based in San Diego, and more specifically the Visual Arts team within it. The studio has 77 employees working on creating character models and other visual assets as well as motion capture and more.
“So far it’s a very small contribution,” said Samsudin when asked what work his studio carried out on MLB The Show and The Last of Us. “When we started, the team was very small. A lot of what we are doing is asset development for the games, especially for MLB. For The Last of Us Part I, there was this thing called Death Hints, which are tips that tell the player what to do in certain situations, and (Sony’s) animation team were supposed to be working on them but there was a lot to be done, so that came to us. But now we have a full-fledged art team, so we can do environment modeling, concept art, and we have a brilliant animation team that is working on some games that we can’t talk about right now.”
The Visual Arts team in San Diego also touches every first-party game that comes out of PlayStation, as well as other Sony projects such as aiding CG animation tech for Netflix’s Love, Death & Robots series. Ingram said his team “works on 15 to 25 games at any one time”.
Adding the new Malaysia studio to this equation helps Sony to manage what it calls “global production”, whereby each game is made with the help of hands across the globe. As Ingram put it, “It’s one planet making games”.
“You’re selling these amazing experiences to a global market, so you have to make them in a global market,” Ingram continued.
He cited the VFX and mobile phone industries among others as leading the way in this thinking, stating that the game industry has lagged behind.
Malaysia's rapid growth as a gaming hub
Elsewhere at Level Up KL, PlayStation’s Malaysia studio held a talk on motion capture, where they detailed some of their processes in that field.
Over the past decade or so, Malaysia has become a prime location for videogame development support. Studios such as Lemon Sky Studios, Passion Republic, Streamline Studios and many more have built up impressive technical knowhow by working with major Western and Japanese studios on series from Street Fighter to Final Fantasy to Destiny to Dark Souls.
The talent pool is growing rapidly, with Kuala Lumpur a city that boasts a high standard of living at a low cost for a rich mix of nationalities and cultures. Along with PlayStation, Bandai Namco, Codemasters and Larian Studios are among the overseas developers to launch studios in Malaysia over the past few years.
Ingram explained how he and Samsudin toured Malaysia as they considered the Southeast Asian country as the location for their new studio. The large local talent pool and market potential were deciding reasons in founding the new studio there.
“There’s nothing that can be done in our world of AAA games that can’t be done here in Malaysia,” said Ingram. “It’s not just a case of them being able to do the work efficiently, but also the local development community’s ambition to grow.”
Samsudin has assembled his team of 77 employees under remote-work conditions due to the pandemic, but just this week they have finally begun to work at their new office space. Samsudin shared photos of the beautifully designed office on his personal Twitter feed, sparking a wave of interest online.
Meanwhile, at Level Up KL, the PlayStation booth was decorated with a rendition of the trademark circle, cross, square and triangle logo blended with traditional Malaysian cuisine, lending a distinct local flavor to their operation.
When asked by IGN Japan what benefit players stand to gain from PlayStation’s global production approach and his Kuala Lumpur team’s effort specifically, Samsudin replied, “I think the biggest benefit is that PlayStation is all about experiences. So we want to bring the best quality so that the end user feels that they are playing a PlayStation game and that this is what quality means.
"There is a level of expectation that we all have and we all strive for, and at the end of the day, the players will smile and say ‘This is great’. It doesn’t matter where it came from – it would be nice for the players to know that it came from all these great people here, but I hope they will just enjoy the games.”
Photo Credit: Hasnul Hadi
Daniel Robson is the editor of IGN Japan.
How PlayStation Studios Malaysia is Playing a Growing Role in Sony’s Most Important Franchises
Founded in 2020, PlayStation Studios Malaysia is the newest first-party PlayStation studio to be created from the ground up by Sony. Until recently, very little has been known about the projects this studio is working on – but now we know the answer. They’re working on everything.
Speaking during a panel at Level Up KL in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday, PlayStation Studios Malaysia head Hasnul Hadi Samsudin and Neil Ingram from PlayStation’s San Diego-based Visual Arts team explained how Sony’s newest internal startup studio has been involved in working on first-party games like The Last of Us Part I and MLB The Show 2022, as well as playing a role in many other first-party titles.
The new Malaysia studio was founded in Kuala Lumpur as a support studio, working closely with PlayStation’s Creative Arts team based in San Diego, and more specifically the Visual Arts team within it. The studio has 77 employees working on creating character models and other visual assets as well as motion capture and more.
“So far it’s a very small contribution,” said Samsudin when asked what work his studio carried out on MLB The Show and The Last of Us. “When we started, the team was very small. A lot of what we are doing is asset development for the games, especially for MLB. For The Last of Us Part I, there was this thing called Death Hints, which are tips that tell the player what to do in certain situations, and (Sony’s) animation team were supposed to be working on them but there was a lot to be done, so that came to us. But now we have a full-fledged art team, so we can do environment modeling, concept art, and we have a brilliant animation team that is working on some games that we can’t talk about right now.”
The Visual Arts team in San Diego also touches every first-party game that comes out of PlayStation, as well as other Sony projects such as aiding CG animation tech for Netflix’s Love, Death & Robots series. Ingram said his team “works on 15 to 25 games at any one time”.
Adding the new Malaysia studio to this equation helps Sony to manage what it calls “global production”, whereby each game is made with the help of hands across the globe. As Ingram put it, “It’s one planet making games”.
“You’re selling these amazing experiences to a global market, so you have to make them in a global market,” Ingram continued.
He cited the VFX and mobile phone industries among others as leading the way in this thinking, stating that the game industry has lagged behind.
Malaysia's rapid growth as a gaming hub
Elsewhere at Level Up KL, PlayStation’s Malaysia studio held a talk on motion capture, where they detailed some of their processes in that field.
Over the past decade or so, Malaysia has become a prime location for videogame development support. Studios such as Lemon Sky Studios, Passion Republic, Streamline Studios and many more have built up impressive technical knowhow by working with major Western and Japanese studios on series from Street Fighter to Final Fantasy to Destiny to Dark Souls.
The talent pool is growing rapidly, with Kuala Lumpur a city that boasts a high standard of living at a low cost for a rich mix of nationalities and cultures. Along with PlayStation, Bandai Namco, Codemasters and Larian Studios are among the overseas developers to launch studios in Malaysia over the past few years.
Ingram explained how he and Samsudin toured Malaysia as they considered the Southeast Asian country as the location for their new studio. The large local talent pool and market potential were deciding reasons in founding the new studio there.
“There’s nothing that can be done in our world of AAA games that can’t be done here in Malaysia,” said Ingram. “It’s not just a case of them being able to do the work efficiently, but also the local development community’s ambition to grow.”
Samsudin has assembled his team of 77 employees under remote-work conditions due to the pandemic, but just this week they have finally begun to work at their new office space. Samsudin shared photos of the beautifully designed office on his personal Twitter feed, sparking a wave of interest online.
Meanwhile, at Level Up KL, the PlayStation booth was decorated with a rendition of the trademark circle, cross, square and triangle logo blended with traditional Malaysian cuisine, lending a distinct local flavor to their operation.
When asked by IGN Japan what benefit players stand to gain from PlayStation’s global production approach and his Kuala Lumpur team’s effort specifically, Samsudin replied, “I think the biggest benefit is that PlayStation is all about experiences. So we want to bring the best quality so that the end user feels that they are playing a PlayStation game and that this is what quality means.
"There is a level of expectation that we all have and we all strive for, and at the end of the day, the players will smile and say ‘This is great’. It doesn’t matter where it came from – it would be nice for the players to know that it came from all these great people here, but I hope they will just enjoy the games.”
Photo Credit: Hasnul Hadi
Daniel Robson is the editor of IGN Japan.