PlayStation Reaches 127 Million Monthly Users as Sony Profit Climbs
Sony's gaming arm reported a record number of active players and a sharp rise in profit in results released on November 5, 2026.
The company said 127 million accounts were active each month across PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 in September 2026. That is 7% more than a year earlier, and a new high for the platform. "Monthly active users" counts accounts that signed in at least once during the month. Eurogamer reported the figures from Sony's results.
Time spent playing grew too. Total PlayStation play time rose 4% year on year in the quarter. Sony's Game & Network Services division, which covers games, online services and the PlayStation Store, grew its revenue by 9%. Its operating profit, the money left after day-to-day costs and before tax, rose 83%.
Sony named Marvel's Wolverine as a driving force behind the quarter. The company said the game had sold through 2.4 million copies as of November 4, 2026. "Sold through" means copies that have reached paying customers. Ghost of Yotei, which launched in October 2025, has sold through 3.3 million copies.
Hardware told a different story. Sony sold 2.6 million PS5 consoles in the period, down from 4 million in the same quarter of 2025. A console is the physical machine that plays the games, so fewer units means fewer new machines in homes during those months.
Looking further ahead, Sony chief financial officer Lin Tao said PlayStation 6, the next console generation, is progressing as scheduled. The company did not give a launch date.
Earlier this year, the picture was already moving in the same direction. In June 2026, Sony reported 125 million monthly active users, up 2% from a year earlier and a record for that month. The jump to 127 million by September adds to that run.
Put together, the figures show more accounts logging in and more time spent in games, alongside fewer new PS5 consoles sold in the quarter. Sony's profit growth came from its game and service business, not from new hardware sales.
