Australians generate one billion hours on Playstation, including music

Australians consumed over one billion hours of entertainment over the past twelve months on PlayStation, Sony Interactive Entertainment Australia revealed.

The one billion hours comprise gameplay hours, music, television, and video content consumed.

Michael Denny, SVP of Sony Interactive Worldwide Studios, commented, “Reaching one billion hours of play in Australia is a testament to the blockbuster content that is exclusive to PlayStation, from Horizon Zero Dawn to Gran Turismo Sport, and upcoming releases like God of War and Detroit: Become Human. 

“As important as our commitment to content is our commitment to our loyal fans, families and players.”

Viewing of video content is up 26% year on year, with the company revealing that 3.7 million Australians are subscribing to a streaming service.

The PlayStation brand entered the Australian market in 1995, and has had 500 first party titles on the console. It has been Australia’s highest-selling console for the last four years

Last year the Australian video game industry expanded by 4% to $2.958 billion, according to the Interactive Games and Entertainment Association.

Digital sales of video games generated $1.893 billion last year.

Retail sales fell by 16% to $1.065 billion but sales of accessory for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One rose by 25%. 

As the global music industry moves further into monetising digital services, it is leaning more onto the gaming industry for tips.

One of the most popular panels of the FastForward conference – which makes its debut in Sydney next year – looked at the opportunities.

Its founder Chris Carey recently told TMN, “Both industries started out as shiny discs which went online. So there’s no limit to the volume of opportunities we can learn from.

“The key differences between gaming and what we do, is they have customers who will spend a fortune on anything game related.

“There’s no limit to what that person can spend.

“But with the music streaming market, for instance, the spending is capped., although we do have merchandising and the live music aspect. 

“But the way the gaming is, they’re not shy to take your money. The music industry needs to do that.”