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Sony Music Entertainment began order-based sales of 4th Anniversary Goods for VEE virtual talents Anew Uparu and Luminous Sweet at the VEE Official Shop. Each acrylic diorama stand, priced at 4,500 yen, includes a bonus sticker using new illustration by Kutori Panya. Orders run through September 6.
Sony Music Entertainment's Echoes label announced the debut of LAYRA, a singer who moves between virtual and real worlds. Part of the new song "Watashi wa LAYRA" by TeddyLoid was released. LAYRA is produced by Hiro-chan <As>, who worked on the singer Bell in the animated film Belle. Character design is by Mika Pikazo, and music is by TeddyLoid. LAYRA's first stage is the immersive live "Belle - PROJECT LAYRA -" at MoN Takanawa from October 10 to November 15, 2026, with five performers.
Rapper Pilaf Seijin appears in a new PS5 TV commercial for Sony Interactive Entertainment. Two videos, "Let's Play a Lot on PlayStation 5! feat. Pilaf Seijin" and "Everyone Gather on PlayStation 5! feat. Pilaf Seijin," will release on the official PlayStation Japan YouTube channel on August 14. Pilaf Seijin wrote the commercial song "Dabi Dabi Du," which incorporates the worldviews of six featured games, and provides narration. The song releases digitally on August 28.
Sony Interactive Entertainment will release patch 2.0 for Ghost of Yotei on October 2, adding the story expansion Echoes of Sekigahara and the single-player survival mode Most Wanted. A Complete Edition bundling the base game, both DLCs, and the free Legends co-op mode launches October 1 for 8,980 yen.
The game preservation movement Stop Killing Games and the preservation activist group DoesItPlay have announced support for a class action lawsuit against Sony filed by the Dutch non-profit organization Stichting Massaschade & Consument (SM&C). The lawsuit, initiated in early 2025, argues that Sony monopolizes the PlayStation digital game market by limiting sales to its own store, creating what SM&C calls a "Sony tax" that forces consumers to pay unfair prices. According to SM&C, digital versions of games cost on average up to 47% more than physical versions. The lawsuit seeks fair game pricing, alternatives to the PlayStation Store, and the return of profits Sony allegedly obtained unfairly from Dutch gamers. Stop Killing Games stated on its official YouTube channel that it fully supports the SM&C lawsuit and backs its claims in the Dutch court. SM&C warns that Sony's announced policy to end physical media production in January 2028 will give Sony even greater control over the sale, pricing, and conditions of new PlayStation games, and raises concerns about the disappearance of the second-hand game market. Dutch gamers can register to join the lawsuit via the SM&C website.
Sony Interactive Entertainment announced on August 13, 2026 the August additions to the PlayStation Plus Game Catalog, available to Extra and Premium tier subscribers. The cooperative action shooter HELLDIVERS 2, in which up to four players complete missions across planets overrun by insects and robots, launched on the service the same day. The announcement coincides with the release of the game's Devoid of Liberty update, themed around the squid-like mutant Illuminate faction. On August 18, the open-world RPG Kingdom Come: Deliverance II, set in 15th-century Bohemia, and the action game Vampire Survivors will join the lineup. August 25 brings Hell is Us, plus four additional titles: Umamusume: Pretty Derby - Party Dash, Two Point Museum, Metro Exodus, and Dying Light 2 Stay Human. The Classics Catalog, available to Premium plan subscribers, adds the PS2 title Shin Onimusha: Dawn of Dreams and the original PlayStation game Disney's Atlantis: The Lost Empire on August 18. All eight Game Catalog titles and two Classics Catalog titles were confirmed across multiple outlets.
Crunchyroll announced it acquired most worldwide distribution rights to Makoto Shinkai's new feature film, excluding almost all of Asia but including India. Crunchyroll and Sony Pictures will co-distribute. No title or details were revealed. Shinkai said in November 2025 he was working on a new film with dependable companions.
At CEDEC 2026, Shuhei Yoshida delivered a keynote recounting his nearly 30-year career, from joining Sony Computer Entertainment in 1993 as employee number 32 to founding yosp Inc. He discussed his involvement with 'Crash Bandicoot' and 'Demon's Souls,' and stated his career-long stance of choosing the creator over IP.
Sony announced the FE 100-400mm F5.6-8 OSS (SEL100400) E-mount full-frame super-telephoto zoom lens for α series cameras. Weighing about 654g, it is lighter than Sony's existing 100-400mm lens. The estimated price is around 140,000 yen. Release is September 4, with pre-orders from August 18.
At CEDEC 2026 on July 22, 2026, Shuhei Yoshida of yosp delivered a keynote titled "Wonderful Games, Creators, and Their Creativity That I Have Encountered," looking back on roughly 30 years of working with game developers. Yoshida joined Sony Computer Entertainment in 1993 as employee number 32, later led first-party development in the United States, and left Sony Interactive Entertainment in 2025 to found yosp. During the speech, he covered 26 titles, with the latter half introducing 16 co-creation examples from "Gravity Daze" in 2012 to "Beast of Reincarnation" this year. He named "Journey" as the title he is most proud of, citing Jenova Chen's focus on player feelings and a fan message about overcoming grief. Yoshida also discussed "Bloodborne," calling the lack of a remaster, PC version, or sequel a "mystery," and recounted how "Demon's Souls" initially had overseas releases shelved before word of mouth changed that decision. He closed by expressing his intention to continue supporting indie creators worldwide.
Sony Group reported its consolidated results for the first quarter of fiscal year 2026 on July 31, revealing that cumulative PS5 shipments reached 95.3 million units as of June 30, 2026. This figure adds the 1.6 million units shipped from April to June 2026 to the 93.7 million units shipped as of March 31, 2026. The quarterly shipment total represents a decrease of 900,000 units from the 2.5 million units shipped in the same period last year. Sony also disclosed that PS4 and PS5 software sold 66.1 million copies in the quarter, with the digital download ratio at 82%, roughly equivalent to 54.2 million copies. The download ratio was 83% in the same period last year, 85% in the previous quarter, and 78% for the full fiscal year 2025, maintaining a level around 80%. Regarding memory market conditions, Sony stated that it has secured the memory required for its planned sales volume for fiscal year 2026, with no change to its plan to keep hardware profit or loss in line with the previous fiscal year. The announcement follows concerns over rising memory and storage prices, which had led Sony to plan sales based on memory procurement at reasonable prices.
Sony released a character guide video for Ghost Rider in the fighting game MARVEL Tōkon: Fighting Souls, launching August 7 on PS5. The video explains the Vengeance Gauge mechanic, which has three zones and affects move power. The second open beta test starts July 24, with Ghost Rider playable.
Sony Music's VEE project talents Anew Uparu and Maoh Tulsi have provided a collaboration song and made cameo appearances as character models for Ibarayugi's murder mystery work Kinpu no Harmonia, released July 15. The song Soul Unbound has two versions, each showing the talents' individuality. The cross-genre collaboration blends VEE talents into the narrative from both musical and story aspects.
Sony Interactive Entertainment has filed a patent for a cooling technology designed to improve heat dissipation in electronic devices placed in vertical or horizontal orientations. The patent, published in the US in June 2026, focuses on heat pipe design to maintain cooling efficiency regardless of orientation. Some overseas media speculate the technology could be related to the PS6. Sony also filed a dust-proof patent months ago.
Sony Interactive Entertainment has delayed the release of its official PlayStation 5 and PC arcade controller, the FlexStrike Wireless Fight Stick. Originally planned to launch alongside the fighting game MARVEL Tokon: Fighting Souls on August 7, the controller is postponed for final adjustments to ensure the best experience. A new release date has not been announced. The price remains 34,980 yen.
The UK's Entertainment Retail Association (ERA) has criticized Sony Interactive Entertainment's plan to end disc production for new PlayStation games starting January 2028. ERA CEO Kim Bayley said the decision means "corporate convenience has trumped consumer choice," arguing that physical discs offer ownership, sharing, and resale value that digital downloads do not. The association, whose members include Amazon and HMV, cited its own data showing the UK disc market exceeded £300 million in 2025 and that about 25% of people under 25 still play games on disc. According to NielsenIQ/GfK data, 45% of physical copies sold in the UK in 2025 were for PS5 and PS4, accounting for 47% of physical market revenue. However, the number of stores handling packaged games has dropped by over 2,000 since 2021, with 99.1% of buyers purchasing online. Protests using the hashtag #NoDiscNoBuy and a Change.org petition have gathered over 300,000 signatures. Serkan Toto, CEO of Kantan Games, told IGN that even 500,000 protesters would have limited impact on SIE and are unlikely to change the policy.
MSY announced a limited-time collaboration shop in the Mount Yōtei foothills region of Hokkaido, the setting of Ghost of Yōtei. The shop will be open July 18-19 at Niseko Takahashi Farm. It will sell items made from Hokkaido solid wood, including wood pin badges and magnets, a collection with images from the game, and lifestyle products using key visuals.
Sony demonstrated a new '3D Meet & Greet' service using mixed reality at SusHi Tech Tokyo 2026. The system, experienced by MoguLive with Vtuber Uruma Tamanami, uses pre-scanned digital twins of real spaces to let a Vtuber appear from behind doors, walk toward the user, and react to touch. The experience runs on a Meta Quest 3 headset and is designed to solve the problem of screen-mediated meet-and-greets that lack a sense of real presence.
Sony Interactive Entertainment announced on July 1 that it will end production of physical discs for new PlayStation games by January 2028, moving to digital-only releases. A blog post by developer Popcar argues the real issue is not physical vs. digital but the loss of ownership, including the ability to trade or preserve games. The post has sparked discussion on Hacker News, with commenters debating the nature of digital purchases as licenses.
Leaker KeplerL2 reports that the PlayStation 6's bill of materials has risen to around $960 as of June 2026, driven by a RAM shortage tied to AI demand. Sony president Hideaki Nishino told investors the company will not absorb cost increases, prioritizing profitability over expanding the user base. The expected retail price may approach $1,000.
Sony Interactive Entertainment announced on July 1 that it will stop producing physical game discs for all new PlayStation releases starting in January 2028. The company said the decision is driven by consumer preference for digital media, which now significantly outpaces physical disc sales. Games released before January 2028 will continue to be available in disc format. New titles after that date will be sold only as digital downloads through the PlayStation Store and retailers that sell digital codes. Sony reported that digital sales accounted for 78% of full game software purchases on PS5 in fiscal year 2025. The announcement does not affect existing disc-compatible hardware; current consoles will still play previously released physical games. The move follows years of steady growth in digital sales across the industry and Sony's increasing emphasis on digital distribution through services like PlayStation Plus and Digital Edition console variants. Critics have raised concerns about long-term game preservation when titles are only available digitally, as delisting or service shutdowns can make them inaccessible.
Patent Result has released its Deterrence Power Ranking 2025 for the game and entertainment industry, tallying how often each company's patents were cited as reasons for rejection in other companies' patent examinations during 2025. Bandai Namco Entertainment leads the ranking with 328 patents cited, followed by Konami Digital Entertainment with 285 and Sony Interactive Entertainment with 228. Sega ranks fourth with 198, Nintendo fifth with 161, and Colopl sixth with 148. GREE Holdings, Capcom, Square Enix Holdings, and DeNA round out the top ten. The ranking consolidates company groups and reflects patent holders as of May 2026. Bandai Namco's most cited patent covers an event presentation control system for virtual three-dimensional spaces, cited in examinations of four applications including one from MIXI. Konami's top patent grants benefits according to object selection in a game, affecting Capcom, Colopl, and Bandai Namco. SIE's most cited patent assigns virtual reality spectators to venue seats and transmits to head-mounted displays, used in four rejections including one from NTT Communications.
Sony's 2026 annual SEC report removed a line about continuing to release first-party titles on PC, which was present in the 2025 version. Bloomberg reported in March that Sony had scrapped PC releases for Ghost of Yōtei and other internal games, with online titles like Marathon and Marvel Tokon still planned for PC. External publisher games like Death Stranding 2 and Kena: Scars of Kosmora remain on track for PC.
Sony held a State of Play presentation in June 2026. The event featured new game announcements and updates for PlayStation titles. One notable reveal was a new God of War project, though the presenter explicitly asked viewers not to call it "Goddess of War." The show also included third-party showcases and a look at upcoming hardware accessories.
Sony Interactive Entertainment has announced three official PlayStation 5 hardware products: the FlexStrike Wireless Fight Stick, a wireless speaker, and a gaming monitor, all set for release this year. The arcade stick is the company's first first-party fighting controller, designed with portability and tournament use in mind, including a lock button and a carrying case.
Sony Interactive Entertainment announced "Until Dawn 2" during its State of Play broadcast on June 3, 2026. The sequel to the 2015 horror adventure game is scheduled for release on PlayStation 5 in 2027. Developed by Firesprite, the game features a new cast and setting, independent of the original's story. The protagonists are a group of ghost hunters who run a popular paranormal channel called "Dead True." After previously staging fake horror experiences for views, they encounter genuine terror while filming on an uninhabited island. Wishlist registration is now open on the PlayStation Store. The announcement was part of a larger State of Play presentation that also included release dates for "Marvel's Wolverine" (September 15), "Onimusha: Way of the Sword" (September 25), and "ACE COMBAT 8: WINGS OF THEVE" (October 2), among other titles.
Sony Interactive Entertainment announced on June 2 that it will release the FlexStrike Wireless Fight Stick, the first arcade controller under the PlayStation brand, on August 6 for 34,980 yen. Pre-orders begin June 12. The controller is designed for PS5 and PC, with a thin body, a semi-hard carry case, and a rechargeable battery. It connects via PlayStation Link wireless or USB-C. The company also revealed the 27-inch Gaming Monitor with DualSense Charging Hook, a QHD IPS display with up to 120Hz on PS5 and 240Hz on PC, priced at 49,980 yen and launching August 27 with pre-orders from June 5. A third product, the PULSE Elevate Wireless Speaker, was confirmed for a release in the latter half of 2026; its price and pre-order date are to be announced. The fight stick's release coincides with the August 7 launch of the fighting game MARVEL Tōkon: Fighting Souls.
Aniplex president Atsuhiro Iwakami will become the next president and CEO of Sony Music Entertainment Japan, effective April 2026, as reported by the Nikkei and covered by Animenomics. Iwakami, who has led Aniplex for ten years, will be the first executive with a video production background to head the Japanese music giant. The appointment reflects the growing influence of Aniplex within Sony Music Group, as more than half of Sony Music's sales in Japan now come from non-music sources, including Aniplex. Aniplex produced both "Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle," the highest-grossing anime film globally, and "Kokuho," Japan's highest-grossing live-action film. External revenue from Sony Music's visual media and platform business, which includes Aniplex, rose 42.8 percent in the nine months ended December 2025 compared to the same period last year. Prior to leading Aniplex, Iwakami worked on productions such as the "Monogatari" series, "Puella Magi Madoka Magica," and "Sword Art Online," and produced the mobile game "Fate/Grand Order" and the "Demon Slayer" anime adaptation.
Sony's latest earnings report shows anime and Crunchyroll revenue growing, offsetting declines in film, TV, games, and VFX. Operating income for Sony Pictures Entertainment fell 11%, weighed down by Pixomondo closure costs and Bungie impairments, while Crunchyroll subscriber growth and Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle's theatrical run boosted anime-related revenue.