Sony (SONY) stock was down on Monday after the company revealed it will change its free games for PlayStation Plus members starting in January 2026. The entertainment company said that it won’t always add PlayStation 4 games to the subscription service with its monthly updates. This is a change from the current system, which offers free PS4 games to PS Plus members.
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Sony’s decision to drop PS4 free games from PS Plus is due to the growing user base of the PlayStation 5 and the age of the PlayStation 4. It halted production of the PS4 earlier this year, and the PS5 has been on the market for five years now. With this, the PS5 has reached 84.2 million units sold, compared to 117.2 million PS4 units sold. This shows that the majority of PS4 owners have likely moved on to the PS5 and that the number of PS4 users has dwindled.
While being dropped from online services and subscription offerings is a normal part of a console’s lifecycle, there’s sure to be some outcry from PS4 owners who haven’t made the leap to the PS5 yet. Even so, Sony has determined that this number isn’t enough for it to continue to focus on the console with its free PS Plus games.
Sony Stock Movement Today
Sony stock was down 0.43% on Monday but was still up 24.82% year-to-date. The stock has also rallied 21.74% over the past 12 months.
SONY trading volume was low today, as some 738,000 shares changed hands, compared to a three-month daily average of about 4.02 million units.
Is Sony Stock a Buy, Sell, or Hold?
Turning to Wall Street, the analysts’ consensus rating for Sony is Moderate Buy, based on two Buy ratings over the past three months. With that comes an average SONY stock price target of $34, representing a potential 32.24% upside for the shares.
