In the most recent financial report to investors for Q2 FY2025, Sony gave a surprisingly transparent look at the state of its gaming business. Xbox was even mentioned by name, which is still a rarity in these updates. Sony’s full-year guidance remains steady despite several headwinds. Sales are now forecast to rise 3% to around $29.8 billion, driven “primarily due to the impact of foreign exchange rates”.
Operating income also stays at roughly $3.3 billion even after Sony absorbed a $200 million tariff hit this quarter. Sony highlighted the continued health of the PlayStation ecosystem. Monthly active users climbed 3% year-on-year to 119 million, and total playtime increased 1% across the quarter.
Helldivers 2 released on Xbox on August 26, 2025, and early estimates showed just how strong that launch was. A report suggested it sold more than 900,000 units in its first six days on the platform. For comparison, its original PlayStation launch was estimated at around 633,000 units in the same six-day window.
The momentum continued well beyond week one. Helldivers 2 charted in the Xbox most-played charts throughout September and October, which showed that interest did not slow down after the initial burst. It became clear that the game had found a large new audience on Xbox and that the cross-platform move was paying off.
Sony confirmed this in its Q2 FY2025 report. It said:
Helldiver 2, which was also released for Xbox in August of this year, is doing extremely well, not only attracting new users on Xbox, but also seeing increased engagement from existing users on PS5 and PC. This resulted in a significant increase in sales of the title year-on-year.
Sony Q2 FY2025
The wording suggests Sony may not have expected such strong performance on competing hardware. It also raises questions about how Sony might approach future releases. With Microsoft preparing an Xbox-PC hybrid console, PlayStation games will already be available on the device through Steam. Releasing more of its older titles directly on Xbox Series X|S could be a logical way for Sony to capture extra revenue without risking its own platform strategy.
Bungie hasn’t been the success Sony wanted
In 2022, Sony made an all-in bet on Bungie. It acquired the studio for $3.6 billion and allowed it to remain operationally independent. However, in May 2025, Bungie came under fire.
Marathon, its upcoming extraction shooter that already faced a mixed reception, was found to contain unauthorized use of an independent artist’s work. This led the studio to apologize and commit to a full audit of its assets. Not long after, in August this year, Sony said that Bungie’s autonomy was becoming “lighter” as integration increased.
Now, during Sony’s Q2 FY2025 briefing, it directly addressed the decline of Destiny 2’s performance. Sony said:
Regarding Destiny 2, partially due to the changes in the competitive environment, the level of sales and user engagement have not reached to the expectation we had at the time of the acquisition of Bungie. While we will continue to make improvements, we downwardly revised the business projection for the time being and recorded an impairment loss against a portion of the assets at Bungie
Sony Q2 FY2025
Sony’s Q2 FY2025 materials confirmed the size and source of the financial hit. The report lists an impairment of around $204 million USD specifically “in connection with Destiny 2,” along with a further $118 million USD in development cost corrections inside the Game and Network Services segment. Sony said it recorded the impairment after Destiny 2 failed to meet the expectations it had when it acquired Bungie.
FAQ
Is Helldivers 2 actually selling better on Xbox than it did on PlayStation?
Early third-party estimates suggest Helldivers 2 sold more units in its first six days on Xbox than it did during the same period on PlayStation at launch. Sony has not released official numbers, but it did say the game is “doing extremely well.”
Why is Destiny 2 considered underperforming by Sony?
Sony said Destiny 2’s sales and user engagement have not met the expectations it had at the time of acquiring Bungie.
Does this mean Bungie is no longer independent?
Bungie is still operationally independent, but Sony has said its autonomy is becoming “lighter” as integration increases.
Did the Marathon asset controversy affect Sony’s financials?
Sony did not say that the Marathon incident directly influenced the impairment. However, the studio faced public criticism earlier in the year after unauthorized artwork was found in the game.
Did Sony directly confirm that Helldivers 2 is a success on Xbox?
Yes. Sony said Helldivers 2 is “doing extremely well” on Xbox, attracting new players and boosting engagement on PS5 and PC.
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