Sony vs Nintendo: Games consoles are holding out against mobile onslaught

New mobile versions of PUBG and Fortnite, both distributed by Tencent Holdings, raised the spectre of gamers spending more time on smartphone rather than more luxurious but less convenient consoles

A key takeaway from Sony’s and Nintendo’s earnings is that console games are alive and well. While both companies reported softness in sales and shipments of console hardware – the PS4 and Switch, respectively – revenue and unit sales from software remained strong. That means consumers who bought the devices over the past year or so aren’t bored and weren’t lured to smartphone platforms to the extent many feared.

New mobile versions of PUBG and Fortnite, both distributed by Tencent Holdings, raised the spectre of gamers spending more time on the ubiquitous smartphone rather than more luxurious but less convenient consoles.

Both titles can be thought of as gaming versions of the Hunger Games plot, and are addictive. If gamers are trading in console time for mobile time, it’s not yet showing up in the numbers at Sony and Nintendo.

Game is on
 

• Nintendo reported a better than expected 88 per cent jump in Q1 operating profit as sales of Switch game titles more than doubled
• Sony reported a record first-quarter profit  of 24 % as sales of game software surged