Sony Interactive Entertainment

Sony Interactive Entertainment is a developer and publisher.

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Sony Interactive Entertainment is the game development and publishing arm of Sony, a company widely regarded as one of the world’s leading manufacturers of audio and video equipment, game consoles, smartphones, tablets, digital cameras, and other electronics. Although Sony Interactive Entertainment has only existed in its current form since November 2016, it’s the direct successor to Sony Computer Entertainment, founded in 1993 ahead of the launch of the very first PlayStation console. The company's headquarters is located in San Mateo, near San Francisco, California (USA).

• Sony Interactive Entertainment as a game developer
• Sony Interactive Entertainment as a game publisher
• The history of Sony Interactive Entertainment
• PlayStation consoles
• PlayStation Network

Sony Interactive Entertainment as a game developer

Sony Interactive Entertainment develops games through its global network of studios, which operate under PlayStation Studios (formerly known as Sony Interactive Entertainment Worldwide Studios). Some are in-house teams created by the company itself, while others are independent studios with their own identity that SIE – and previously Sony Computer Entertainment – acquired over the years. As a publisher and developer, Sony Interactive Entertainment mainly targets its own hardware - the PlayStation family of home and handheld consoles. Some of the biggest franchises currently developed under Sony Interactive Entertainment include God of War, Gran Turismo, Uncharted, The Last of Us, and Horizon.

Some studios that are part of Sony Interactive Entertainment include:

1. Bend Studio – acquired by Sony in 2000, best known for the Syphon Filter series, spin-offs of Uncharted, and the open-world action game Days Gone.
2. Bluepoint Games – acquired by Sony in 2021, the studio has built its reputation on remastering and remaking iconic classics.
3. Bungie – acquired by Sony in July 2022, best known for creating iconic series like Halo and Destiny.
4. Firesprite – acquired by Sony in 2021, specializes in developing games for PlayStation VR.
5. Foster City – provides support to other leading developers.
6. Guerrilla Games – acquired by Sony in 2005, best known for the Killzone series.
7. Haven Studios – founded by renowned developer Jade Raymond and acquired by Sony in March 2022.
8. Housemarque – acquired by Sony in 2021, best known for arcade shooters and the game Returnal.
9. Insomniac Games – acquired by Sony in 2019, known for the Ratchet & Clank, Resistance, and Spider-Man series.
10. Malaysia Studio – founded in 2020, primarily to support other development teams.
11. Media Molecule – acquired by Sony in 2010, best known for the LittleBigPlanet series and Dreams.
12. Naughty Dog – acquired by Sony in 2001, renowned for Uncharted, The Last of Us, Jak and Daxter, and Crash .
13. Nixxes Software – acquired by Sony in 2021, specializing in porting console games to PC.
14. North West Studio – focused mainly on developing games for PlayStation VR headsets.
15. PixelOpus – a small studio best known for Entwined and Concrete Genie.
16. Polyphony Digital – the studio behind the Gran Turismo series.
17. San Diego Studio – best known for sports games, including the MLB: The Show series.
18. San Mateo Studio – founded in 1998, primarily supporting other development teams.
19. Santa Monica Studio – renowned for flagship series like God of War and Twisted Metal.
20. Neon Koi – a mobile game studio acquired by Sony in August 2022, previously known as Savage Game Studios.
21. Sucker Punch – a studio acquired by Sony in 2011, best known for the Sly Cooper and inFamous series.
22. Team Asobi – a studio founded in 2021, carrying on the legacy of the former Japan Studio from which it originated.
23. Valkyrie Entertainment – a studio acquired by Sony in 2021, primarily focused on supporting other development teams.
24. XDev – a studio founded in 2000 supporting third-party developers.

Sony Interactive Entertainment as a game publisher

As a publisher, Sony Interactive Entertainment primarily focuses on games developed for both home and portable PlayStation consoles. Most of the games published by Sony Interactive Entertainment are exclusives, meaning they’re only available on PlayStation consoles. At first, the main exceptions were games from independent developers backed by SIE, which often saw simultaneous releases on PC as well. While third-party games aren’t the backbone of Sony Interactive Entertainment’s publishing lineup, over the years these developers have delivered a wealth of exclusives closely tied to each new generation of PlayStation consoles. Notable examples include Beyond: Two Souls, Bloodborne, Demon’s Souls, Heavy Rain, The Order: 1886, Until Dawn, and the Resistance series. Even developers not permanently tied to SIE have contributed to some of its major franchises, including God of War, Jak and Daxter, LittleBigPlanet, Ratchet & Clank, and SOCOM. The landscape shifted in 2020 when one of PlayStation 4’s biggest exclusives, Horizon Zero Dawn from Guerrilla Games, was released on PC. Other titles from Sony’s portfolio soon followed suit, including Days Gone, God of War, and Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection.

The history of Sony Interactive Entertainment

The beginnings of the company and the first generations of consoles

Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. (SCEI) was founded in 1993 by Sony and its local subsidiary, Sony Music Entertainment Japan. SCEI’s goal was to break into the rapidly growing video game market, with Sony aiming to make its mark by launching its first original console, the PlayStation. The groundbreaking console made its debut in Japan on December 3, 1994. The console didn’t reach European and American markets until September the following year, but preparations had already been underway with the creation of two regional branches: Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE) and Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA).

In the meantime, SCE focused on publishing and promoting games for its debut console. In 1996, games like Crash Bandicoot, Formula 1, Twisted Metal, and WipEout hit the market, launching franchises that would be developed and expanded over many years. In 1997, the racing game Gran Turismo made its debut, going on to become the best-selling title for the PlayStation and cementing itself as one of the most important franchises in Sony’s portfolio. In January 1999, Sony introduced the PocketStation, a peripheral often regarded as the company’s first step into portable gaming. The device, featuring a monochrome LCD screen, let players run simple games that were transferred from the main PlayStation using a special connector. The gadget proved quite popular in Japan, selling nearly 5 million units by 2002, but it was never released in the US.

On March 4, 2000, Sony launched its second console, the PlayStation 2, in Japan, with a US release following seven months later. At the height of the PlayStation 2’s popularity, Sony Interactive Entertainment not only rolled out new entries in established series but also launched a slew of entirely new franchises, including God of War, Jak and Daxter, Killzone, Ratchet & Clank, and SOCOM. The PS2 era also brought games that made use of the EyeToy camera, along with a variety of unique peripherals and controllers - most notably, the guitar-shaped controllers introduced for Harmonix’s Guitar Hero series.

In July 2002, Shigeo Maruyama stepped down as president of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc., with Tamotsu Iba taking over the role. At Sony's E3 2003 conference, the company officially unveiled its portable console, the PlayStation Portable. The handheld console launched in Japan in December 2004, marking Sony’s next move into the mobile gaming market after the PocketStation. The popular PSP hit North American stores three months later, followed by launches in Europe and Australia in September 2005. Designed to compete directly with the Nintendo DS, the console initially struggled despite several interesting exclusives, only gaining real popularity a few years later with the release of the improved PSP Slim & Lite.

Establishment of SCE Worldwide Studios

On September 14, 2005, SCEI announced the creation of Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide Studios (SCE WWS), bringing together all of Sony’s previously independent development teams under one roof. The newly formed SCE WWS also assumed responsibility for all decisions regarding games developed for the PlayStation family of consoles. Phil Harrison, formerly Vice President of Sony Computer Entertainment, was named the first head of SCE WWS. After Harrison left in 2008, Kazuo Hirai temporarily took over the role, and in May 2008, Shuhei Yoshida was appointed as the new head.

On December 8, 2005, SCE announced the acquisition of Guerrilla Games, the studio behind the Killzone series, which then became part of SCE Worldwide Studios. Less than two months later, Zipper Interactive, known for the SOCOM series, also joined Sony’s roster of developers. In March 2006, at the PlayStation Business Briefing, Sony unveiled plans for a central online service, the PlayStation Network, built for the upcoming PlayStation 3 console. The service officially went live in November of the same year, coinciding with the launch of the new PlayStation. Around the same time, SCEI’s former chairman, Ken Kutaragi, became company president, but he stepped down a few months later, passing the reins to Kazuo Hirai.

In September 2007, Evolution Studios and BigBig Studios, the teams behind the MotorStorm series, joined SCE Worldwide Studios as official developers. In April 2009, David Reeves stepped down as head of SCE Europe, and Andrew House, a Sony veteran since 1990, took over the role. On April 1, 2010, Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. underwent a major restructuring, aiming to unify the company’s various divisions under a more streamlined structure. SCEI’s main Japanese branch was temporarily renamed SNE Platform Inc. and divided into two separate divisions: one focused on consoles, the other on online services. The online-focused division was soon absorbed into Sony’s subsidiary, the Network Products & Services Group (NPSG). Once the restructuring was complete, the original SCEI was officially dissolved. The European and American branches largely remained unchanged, though SCEI president Kazuo Hirai stepped down from his roles in both regions.

On March 2, 2010, SCE WWS acquired the British studio Media Molecule, the creators of LittleBigPlanet, which went on to become a major commercial success. In August of the same year, Sony Computer Entertainment relocated its headquarters from Aoyama, on Tokyo’s outskirts, to Sony City - the main hub of the entire corporation - located in the Minato district. On April 20, 2011, PlayStation Network suffered a massive cyberattack, exposing the personal data and credit card information of millions of users and seriously damaging the company’s reputation. In August of the same year, Sucker Punch, the studio behind the Sly Cooper series and the hit inFamous games, officially joined the SCE WWS family of developers. In 2019, the group was joined by the Insomniac Games team.

The age of the PS Vita and PlayStation 4

In December 2011, Sony launched its new portable console, the PlayStation Vita, in Japan, followed by releases in the US and Europe two months later. Despite a major marketing push and several compelling exclusive titles, the launch of the new handheld fell far short of its predecessor’s success, selling “only” around 14 million units. In January 2012, Sony decided to shut down BigBig Studios, and the internal SCE WWS team in Cambridge was merged into Guerrilla Games, taking on the name Guerrilla Cambridge. In the months that followed, Zipper Interactive and Sony’s internal Liverpool studio, previously behind series like WipEout and Formula One, were also shut down. On June 25, 2012, Kazuo Hirai resigned as president of SCEI. A month later, Sony acquired Gaikai, a company specializing in cloud gaming services.

On August 20, 2013, Sony officially announced the release date for its next-generation home console, the PlayStation 4, which launched in most global markets that November. In January 2014, China lifted its 14-year ban on game consoles, making the PS4 the first console officially available in the country since the PlayStation 2. In March 2014, Jack Tretton, the longtime head of Sony Computer Entertainment America, announced his resignation. He had been one of the company’s most prominent figures, overseeing the launch of every PlayStation console in the U.S. market. On April 1, Shawn Layden, previously vice president at Sony Network Entertainment International, stepped into the role.

On March 18, 2014, Shuhei Yoshida officially announced that development had begun on a PlayStation 4–dedicated virtual reality headset, codenamed Project Morpheus, responding to the growing interest in VR tech popularized on PCs by devices like the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive. In early April 2015, Sony acquired OnLive, a pioneering company in cloud gaming, along with all its intellectual property. The service officially shut down by the end of the month. A bit earlier, in November 2014, Sony launched the beta of its cloud-based internet TV service, PlayStation Vue. It eventually offered users access to over 75 TV channels with on-demand content, initially on PlayStation consoles and later on iPads as well.

On January 26, 2016, Sony announced that starting April 1, two of its key divisions - Sony Computer Entertainment and Sony Network Entertainment International - would merge and operate under a new name: Sony Interactive Entertainment, LLC (SIE). Unlike its predecessor, Sony Interactive Entertainment was based in San Mateo, California, taking over responsibility for the PlayStation brand as well as the operations of Sony's regional branches. Meanwhile, on March 24, 2016, the Japanese company announced the creation of a subsidiary, ForwardWorks, aimed at delivering its services to the rapidly growing mobile gaming market. On October 13, the PlayStation VR headset officially launched worldwide, accompanied by a range of games, from simple demos to fully developed experiences, showcasing the new technology. Less than a month later, Sony released a more powerful version of the PS4, the PlayStation 4 Pro, as a response to Microsoft's plans for its next-generation consoles.

In October 2017, Andrew House stepped down as president and CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment, a position he had held since 2011. He was replaced by John Kodera, who was later replaced by Jim Ryan in 2019. In May 2020, Sony Interactive Entertainment launched PlayStation Productions, a studio focused on turning the company’s game franchises into films and TV series. In August 2019, Sony Interactive Entertainment announced the acquisition of Insomniac Games for $229 million, bringing the studio under its wing.

The PlayStation 5 era

In October 2019, the PlayStation 5 was officially announced. In the following months, the Japanese giant gradually released details about the platform, including its technical specs, the DualSense controller designed for it, and eventually unveiled the console in full, along with its price and release date. The PS5 launched in select countries on November 12, 2020, hitting other markets a week later. Despite supply chain challenges and limited availability, the new console was still a success. As of August 2021, it has reported over 10 million sold units.

Meanwhile, in May 2020, Sony announced the creation of PlayStation Studios, tasked with overseeing all of the company’s development teams. The studio was led by Hermen Hulst, who had previously served as the head of Guerrilla Games. Since 2020, Sony Interactive Entertainment has also been gradually bringing its games to PC. Over the years, the Japanese giant has brought several of its games to PC, including Horizon: Zero Dawn (August 2020), Days Gone (May 2021), God of War (January 2022), Marvel's Spider-Man (August 2022), and Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection (October 2022).

In June 2021, the company announced it had acquired Housemarque, the studio behind several arcade shooters and the critically acclaimed game Returnal. Shortly after, Sony acquired Nixxes Software, a studio known for porting console games to PC. In August, Sony announced the acquisitions of Firesprite, known for their PlayStation VR games, and Bluepoint Games, specialists in remastering iconic titles, who were set to develop their first original game soon.

In December 2021, the American Valkyrie Entertainment joined PlayStation Studios. In January, Sony Interactive Entertainment announced the acquisition of Bungie, the studio behind franchises like Halo and Destiny, for $3.6 billion. Interestingly, under its new owner, Bungie was set to retain its independence, allowing the studio to develop games not just for PlayStation consoles and PCs, but for other platforms as well. The transaction was finalized on July 15.

Additionally, in January 2022, Sony unveiled the PlayStation VR2, a next-generation virtual reality headset designed specifically for the PlayStation 5. In March 2022, Haven Studios, led by the renowned Jade Raymond, became part of PlayStation Studios, and in August, Sony announced the acquisition of Savage Game Studios. Additionally, Sony decided to launch a division dedicated to mobile games, called PlayStation Studios Mobile Division.

The PlayStation VR2 headset launched on February 22, 2023, receiving positive reviews from industry media and earning praise from developers as well. However, early sales estimates were disappointing, suggesting that only around 270,000 units would be sold by the end of March. In May, the Japanese giant addressed the issue, confirming that within the first six weeks of its release, the headset had reached around 600,000 users.

On August 31, 2022, the company announced that it had acquired a 14.09% stake in FromSoftware. In April 2023, it was announced that the independent team Firewalk Studios, then working on its debut multiplayer FPS, Concord, had joined Sony Interactive Entertainment.

Changes and layoffs

At the end of September, it was announced that Jim Ryan, a nearly 30-year veteran of the company, would step down as CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment in March 2024. In early October, Hiroki Totoki - formerly president, COO, and CFO of Sony Group Corporation - joined Sony Interactive Entertainment as its new president. On April 1, 2024, he was to be appointed interim director general of SIE.

In early October, rumors emerged that Naughty Dog was facing a round of layoffs, with at least 25 employees reportedly affected. According to anonymous sources, those affected reportedly received no severance pay and were allegedly pressured not to disclose their layoffs.

At the end of October, David Jaffe revealed that Connie Booth, who had spent 34 years at Sony and nearly 26 years at PlayStation - holding roles from director and senior director to vice president and senior vice president of internal production since 1998 - was reportedly being let go. Her position was to be filled by Angie Smets from Guerrilla Games. The news didn’t stop there: shortly after, it emerged that Media Molecule had also faced a round of layoffs, with 15–20% of the team reportedly losing their jobs. While the reports started as unofficial, the studio soon confirmed them officially.

In November 2023, Savage Game Studios was renamed Neon Koi, and Sony Interactive Entertainment announced a partnership with NCSOFT, focusing in part on the mobile games market. The year 2024 kicked off for the Japanese giant with the cancellation of its planned $10 billion merger with Zee Entertainment, a deal that had been in the works for two years.

Shortly after, in February, it was revealed that the company would carry out mass layoffs affecting up to 900 employees. Moreover, this large-scale restructuring not only led to the layoffs of numerous developers from Sony’s key studios but also resulted in the closure of London Studio. To make matters worse, later that same month, Eurogamer published reports revealing a toxic work environment within Sony’s Firesprite team.

It took until May for some actually positive news to be heard. First, unofficial reports surfaced claiming that Deviation Games - a studio that had previously collaborated with Sony but later parted ways - was set to relaunch under a new name and resume cooperation with the Japanese giant.

On May 13, it was announced that Hideaki Nishino and Hermen Hulst had been appointed as the new CEOs of Sony Interactive Entertainment. Hideaki Nishino, the former head of the Platform Business Group, was tasked with overseeing platform technology, products, services, and user experience, as well as managing relationships with third-party publishers and developers, and handling commercial operations including the sales and marketing of hardware, services, and peripherals. Hermen Hulst was tasked with leading the Studio Business Group, overseeing the development, publishing, and business operations of Sony’s first-party projects. Hiroki Totoki, meanwhile, was appointed president of Sony Interactive Entertainment.

Organizing the catalog

In August 2024, the online FPS Concord debuted, developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment’s Firewalk Studios. The game attracted so little attention that just 11 days after its release it was pulled from all storefronts and the servers were shut down. At the end of October, Sony closed the entire project and the studio behind it.

November 2024 brought some more optimistic news from the Sony camp. That’s when it was revealed that Olivier Courtemarche had taken over as head of PlayStation Studios’ mobile division. In addition, the company announced that it was considering buying Kadokawa. Ultimately, the talks concluded with the formation of a strategic capital and business alliance, under which Sony Group Corporation became Kadokawa Corporation’s largest shareholder, owning 10% of its shares. It’s also worth noting that in November 2024, Sony released the PlayStation 5 Pro, a more powerful version of the PS5 console.

In mid-January 2025, Shuhei Yoshida, a longtime PlayStation veteran with over 30 years at Sony, left the company, cementing his status as one of the iconic figures of the brand. That same month, unofficial reports surfaced that two yet-to-be-announced game services from Bluepoint Games and Bend Studio had been canceled. At the end of January 2025, it was announced that Hideaki Nishino had been appointed president and CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment, replacing Kenichiro Yoshida.

In March 2025, another wave of layoffs hit PlayStation Studios, affecting many members of the San Diego-based PlayStation Visual Arts team as well as its supporting staff at PlayStation Studios Malaysia. Shortly afterwards, however, more positive news came to light. Sony Interactive Entertainment announced the creation of Dark Outlaw Games, led by Jason Blundell, who previously worked as producer and director on several Call of Duty projects.

PlayStation consoles

Sony's entry into the video game market is closely tied to its efforts to create a console capable of competing with the popular systems of the early 1990s, such as those from Atari, SEGA, and Nintendo.

PlayStation

The first result of these efforts - and one of the most iconic consoles in gaming history - was the original PlayStation, which launched in December 1994 in Japan and reached the American and European markets nine months later. An interesting fact is that Sony's first console was originally meant to be developed in partnership with Nintendo as the SNES-CD. However, due to "differences of opinion," Nintendo chose to collaborate with Philips instead, prompting Sony to independently create its own console, later known as the PlayStation or PSX.

Sony's debut console was a true breakthrough in both architecture and capabilities, quickly becoming the most popular device of its kind worldwide, with sales surpassing 100 million units. The PlayStation’s best-selling game was Gran Turismo, released in late 1997, which sold nearly 11 million copies. Two years later, Sony made its first foray into the portable console market with the release of the PocketStation, a small device featuring a monochrome LCD screen. The console was sold exclusively in Japan, where it proved quite popular, but plans to release it in the US were ultimately abandoned. In July 2000, a slightly smaller and visually redesigned version of the PlayStation, commonly known as the PSone, hit the market. Both versions also came with a variety of unique controllers, including a gun, a fishing rod, and even a miniature mixing desk.

PlayStation 2

However, a new era truly began with the launch of Sony's next-generation console, which debuted in Japan in March 2000 and later reached the American and European markets in October and November of the same year, respectively. PlayStation 2 quickly became even more iconic than the PS1, surpassing its predecessor in popularity and selling over 150 million units worldwide. The PS2 also made history as one of the longest-supported consoles, with the final units hitting stores in 2013 - 13 years after its initial release.

The best-selling game on the PS2 was Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, which sold over 17 million copies. Like its predecessor, the PlayStation 2 also received a slimmer "Slim" model, which hit the market between October and November 2004. Compared to earlier console generations, the PlayStation line saw a surge in additional accessories over the years, including external hard drives, network adapters, EyeToy cameras, headsets, microphones, remote controls, and more. A wide range of unique controllers was also developed for the console, including steering wheels, guns, and specialty controllers shaped like a guitar (for the Guitar Hero series), a katana (Onimusha 3), or even a chainsaw (Resident Evil 4).

PlayStation Portable

In December 2004, Sony launched its new portable console, the PlayStation Portable, in Japan. Unlike its relatively obscure predecessor, it also reached the American market in March 2005 and Europe in September 2005. The initial sales of the PSP were underwhelming, even though it offered far more features than its competitor, the Nintendo DS. In September 2007, Sony released a redesigned, slimmer, and lighter version of the console, the PSP-2000 Slim & Lite, and sales doubled - and in some countries even quadrupled. A year later, the PSP-3000 hit the market, mainly standing out from its predecessor thanks to an upgraded LCD screen. Between 2009 and 2011, Sony released the PSP-Go (N100x), designed primarily for digital distribution since it lacked an optical drive, and the PSP-Street (E100x), a budget-friendly version of the console.

PlayStation 3

In the meantime, the third generation of Sony’s home consoles, the PlayStation 3, launched in November 2006 in Japan and in March 2007 in Europe. The device, boasting significantly more computing power and a modern Blu-ray drive, was no longer able to dominate the console market as decisively, facing stiff competition from the Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii. Despite this, by November 2014, the PlayStation 3 had sold approximately 85 million units, with its best-selling game being Grand Theft Auto V, which sold over 15 million copies. The popular PS3 went through numerous models - mainly differing in hard drive capacity or lacking one altogether - along with two major redesigns. The Slim version of the PS3 debuted in the third quarter of 2009, followed by the Super Slim version in the same period of 2012. Like its predecessor, the PS3 offered a wide range of accessories, including standout controllers shaped like a guitar, bass, or drums (Guitar?Hero series), a mixing console (DJ?Hero series), a skateboard (Tony?Hawk series), and, most notably, the PlayStation Move motion controller. Unlike the Kinect for the competing Xbox 360, the PlayStation Move was technically closer to the motion controls of the Nintendo Wii. In addition to using a camera, it required the player to hold a special motion controller in their hand.

PlayStation Vita

On December 17, 2012, Sony launched its new portable console, the PlayStation Vita, in Japan, with releases in Europe and the USA following two months later. The device, designed as a direct competitor to Nintendo's 3DS, turned out to be Sony's least successful console, selling just around 14 million units. This didn’t change even with the release of the Slim model (PCH-2000) less than a year later, which featured a longer-lasting battery and an improved LCD screen.

PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 4 Pro

The company found much greater success with its fourth-generation home console, which - thanks in part to missteps by rival Microsoft - enjoyed a strong lead over the Xbox One right from the start and continued to widen its market advantage in the following months.

The PlayStation 4’s strong market position gave Sony’s engineers the freedom to develop new features and innovations aimed at making the console even more appealing. One of these innovations was a virtual reality headset called PlayStation VR, which tapped into the growing interest in VR technology that had already been popularized on PCs by devices like the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive. The PlayStation VR premiered in mid-October 2016.

Less than a month later, the PlayStation 4 Pro hit the market, serving as Sony's response to Microsoft's previously announced plans for the next generation of Xbox consoles. For the first time in PlayStation history, this wasn’t a new generation of consoles but an enhanced version of the standard PS4 - fully compatible with all games from its predecessor, yet offering significantly more computing power, improved VR support, and 4K image scaling.

PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 5 Pro

The PlayStation 5 launched on November 12, 2020, in select countries. Although the PS5 was technically less powerful than the competing Xbox Series X (10.28 teraflops), its real advantage lay in its ultra-fast SSD, which almost entirely eliminated loading times. In addition, Sony introduced a new controller for the console - the DualSense - featuring haptic feedback and adaptive triggers for a more immersive gaming experience.

On February 22, 2022, the PlayStation VR2, a next-generation virtual reality headset for the PlayStation 5, hit store shelves. It stood out from its predecessor mainly thanks to significantly improved displays, eye-tracking technology, immersive surround sound, and new PlayStation VR2 Sense controllers, featuring adaptive triggers, finger touch detection, and haptic feedback. Another notable improvement was that the designers reduced all connections to a single cable, greatly simplifying setup and gameplay. The headset launched alongside a variety of games, headlined by Horizon: Call of the Mountain. In August, Audeze, a maker of gaming headphones, became part of the companies under Sony Interactive Entertainment.

In November 2024, PlayStation 5 Pro, a more powerful version of the PS5, officially launched. It stood out from its predecessor with a more powerful graphics system and support for new technologies, delivering enhanced visuals in games that took advantage of these improvements.

PlayStation Network

PlayStation Network is an online service developed by Sony Computer Entertainment for PlayStation console users and, later on, for Sony smartphones, tablets, Blu-ray players, and TVs. A core feature of PSN is the PlayStation Store, which lets users buy and download games, add-ons, and other digital content.

In 2011, PSN was hit by a massive cyberattack that exposed the personal data and credit card information of millions of users. A different kind of attack struck PSN and Xbox Live during the 2014 holiday season, when millions of fake connection attempts effectively blocked users of both services from logging in. Between 2012 and 2014, Sony acquired two companies that had previously provided so-called cloud gaming services and used their experience to create its own platform called PlayStation Now, which allowed classic titles from earlier generations of Sony consoles to be run on other Sony devices. In 2015, PlayStation Network, replacing the former Sony Entertainment Network, became Sony's leading entertainment service, combining functionalities related not only to video games, but also to music (PlayStation Music), movies (PlayStation Video), and television (PlayStation Vue).

The most important features of PSN include:

1. a unique gamertag used across all PlayStation consoles,
2. trophy (achievement) system,
3. social options and the ability to chat with friends (depending on the console model),
4. parental control options,
5. access to PlayStation Now, PlayStation Music, PlayStation Video and PlayStation Vue depending on your console model.
6. free games every month,
7. access to the PlayStation Plus Collection of games (for PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4),
8. the ability to store game progress in the cloud,
9. multiplayer support (also in cross-platform mode),
10. Share Play, a streaming-based option that allows you to invite people who don't have their own copy of a given game to play together (PlayStation 4 only).

Purchasing a PS+ subscription also grants:

Although selected PlayStation 2 titles already offered online multiplayer, they operated on a non-unified network platform and required the purchase of an additional network adapter. The first real online service for PlayStation consoles was PlayStation Network, announced by Sony in March 2006 (as PlayStation Network Platform) and officially launched a few months later, alongside the release of the PlayStation 3 console. One of the most frequently mentioned advantages of the service, compared to the competing Xbox Live available on Microsoft consoles, was the fact that in the initial period of its existence, PlayStation console users did not have to pay for online play.

Initially completely free, the PSN service was expanded in June 2010 with the introduction of PlayStation Plus, a paid subscription option. In 2013, before the launch of PlayStation 4, Sony announced that a PlayStation Plus subscription would be required (just like on Xbox Live) to play multiplayer games in all titles for this console. In 2020, the service was expanded with the PlayStation Plus Collection, a set of games that can be played on PS4 and PS5.

In 2022, PlayStation Plus has been completely redesigned. The current subscription was renamed PlayStation Plus Essential. Apart from it, however, two additional variants were introduced, available at a higher price. PlayStation Plus Extra offers the opportunity to explore a library of several hundred games from PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5, while PlayStation Plus Premium also allows you to check out another several hundred games from older generations of the Japanese giant's consoles. Additionally, PS Plus Premium subscribers have the opportunity to test trial versions of some productions.