Study: PSN enjoys bumper sales month

By Fred Dutton Published 24 September, 2010

But it's a long way behind XBLA.

PlayStation Network revenues were up an impressive 20 per cent for the month of August, according to a recent study.

VG247 report that figures compiled by Forecasting & Analyzing Digital Entertainment (FADE) indicate the service netted $5.7 million in August.

Scott Pilgrim vs The World led the way with 117,000 downloads, followed by Castle Crashers with 27,000 and Shank with 23,000. ZEN Pinball and Joe Danger completed the top five.

Scott Pilgrim's timed exclusivity deal worked wonders for Sony. Ubisoft's movie tie-in only managed 38,000 downloads when it later launched on Xbox 360.

Sony's figures are a long way off matching stats for Xbox Live Arcade however. Earlier this week FADE claimed that Microsoft's service brought in $17.5 million over the same period.

Picture of Fred.

About Fred Dutton

Fred Dutton is Eurogamer's US news editor, based in Washington DC.

Read more articles from Fred by visiting the Fred Dutton archive page.

You may also like...

Comments (26) Latest comment 2 years ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Lunastra78 #1 2 years ago

    In other news; PSN users save more money than XBLA users.

  • labassa #2 2 years ago

    You talk shite, with the money you save buy both like me

  • MaliceMajorE15 #3 2 years ago


    when are they gunna hurry up and release castle crashers on the EU store then

  • Xardan #4 2 years ago

    How uninteresting.

  • IamTheElderScrolls #5 2 years ago

    Because XBLA is far superior, Psn is utter rubbish.

  • Goodfella #6 2 years ago

    More fanboy fodder, hooray!

    *sigh*

  • coolbritannia #7 2 years ago

    No, my cock is bigger than yours!

  • Psychotext #8 2 years ago

    Just so you know... FADE are VGChartz.

    Now you know that, and that some developers have already come out and said that in some cases their guesstimates are "orders of magnitude" off, take these numbers as you will.

  • RKOwned #9 2 years ago

    Decent money being made. I think people spend more money on Live because Arcade, by default of being out first, has more games to it and I think they usualy get more quality stuff. But, 5.7 million isnt anything to scoff at.

  • JediMasterMalik #10 2 years ago

    It really shouldn't surprise anyone that XBLA made more money, they have more users online in the first place, and have more games available iirc.

  • Smoped #11 2 years ago

    Wouldn't the XBLA numbers include the monthly Gold subscription fees?

  • Geordiemp #12 2 years ago

    Having all 3 consoles, and when you CAN get full price games like fable 3 or forgotton sands for under tenner, then DLC games even when rated 9 for a £ 10 look expensive............

    I only buy DLC games of live or PSN when the list to play is empty, which never happens...

    So bumper down load month to me = lack of new games...
    Edited by Geordiemp at 25/09/10 @ 08:26

  • albinac #13 2 years ago

    sony are a long way off what xboxlive is offering but i asume some day they will get there because this is not about im a sony fanboy/xbox fanboy, this is about us the gamers and what we deserve for our dow. for what plus and gold offer for the price is still below par for the montly subs we have to pay and if we dont join together to voice our opinions we will always be treated like idiots with money that they can steal from us. we want more,we want more.

  • Paulie_P #14 2 years ago

    I know if I have a choice, I go for PSN every time because I can't be arsed with Microsoft Points and when I purchase on PSN, I can let my brother download the game on his PS3 using my profile. For those reasons PSN is a better service for me.

  • MDL199 #15 2 years ago

    I always buy off PSN instead of Live for the same reason listed above.

    Microsoft points are a deliberate con to confuse people.

  • lucky_jim #16 2 years ago

    Wouldn't the XBLA numbers include the monthly Gold subscription fees?

    Eh? Why on earth would they? You don't need a subscription to d/l XBLA games, and even if you did, the article is obviously talking about money made from the downloading of games. I'm not sure if that's a genuine question or a really, really weak fanboy dig.

  • DAN.E.B #17 2 years ago

    But it's a long way behind XBLA.

    Is that in sales or is that in general?

  • Dean #18 2 years ago

    Last I heard, Sony doesn't give PSN stats for a title out to anyone other than the developer.

    And hearing Psychotext in #8 say that FADE is the same entity as VGChartz.. well, I call bullshit on these figures.

  • Retroid #19 2 years ago

    MDL199: "Microsoft points are a deliberate con to confuse people."

    Or a way for them to state one price globally.

    Either way, I buy my MS Points & PSN credit from discounted stores so I never pay their 'RRP' anyway :)

  • actionfitz #20 2 years ago

    @Retroid
    Then why can't we buy smaller increments of points? Rather than just 500, 800, 1200 etc.
    Of course it's going to look suspicious to us when the items for sale aren't priced in nice round numbers like that.

    I'm sure there are legitimate benefits to having a points system, but my feeling is that the major reason the system wont change is due the points surplus we are always left with after an Xbox live purchase.

    It's like buying a TV form a shop in cash and getting store credit / gift vouchers instead of your change.
    :/

  • Farzlepot #21 2 years ago

    MS Points have a valid purpose, as stated, but they are employed in an opportunistic way. There's little to prevent MS from allowing users to simply enter exactly how many points they would like to purchase, or at the very least giving a few more incremental options, and yet they don't. Because that way you will be left with a few hundred extra points after your purchase, leaving you feeling compelled to spend the points on something else to get your money's worth - but the points you have left are rarely sufficient to buy something significant, requiring you to buy *more* points.

    I do prefer that PSN simply uses your own currency - for one thing, it's easier to see at a glance exactly how much something costs, without having to remember what the points -> pounds exchange rate is. For another, it's simply less faffing around.

    Unfortunately as I tend to purchase most of my multi-platform games on the Xbox, I rarely use the PSN aside from the occasional indie games like Flower and Flow. So I'm stuck with MS Points for all my DLC needs.

  • Retroid #22 2 years ago

    PSN has a £5 minimum, IIRC - I've been adding credit using £20 cards so I can't remember for sure. 'Credit' (whether it's points or counted in recognisable currency) is always going to be subject to minimum amounts, though - either as retail units or because of credit card charges, which I think was the reason given for the £5 PSN minimum.

    The yanks have smaller MS Points cards in shops - 800, I think, for $10 - but we don't. As usual, the Euro zone gets crapped on slightly.
    Edited by Retroid at 26/09/10 @ 01:16

  • alcides #23 2 years ago

    CastleCrashers is out on PSN? Where the hell between 2007 and 2010 did that happen?

  • Paulie_P #24 2 years ago

    @Retroid

    Yes PSN has a £5 min but after that you can pay exactly the amount the purchase is for i.e if something was on sale for £5.01, you pay £5.01 and not £10. That's why the PSN is a better system.

    Also you mention you buy at discounted shops/sites - I've heard this mentioned before but could you recommend any sites (got a bit of a cash flow problem at the mo!)

  • Retroid #25 2 years ago

    Well:

    Zavvi £20 for £18

    Not the best deal (they've previously sold that card for £16) but at least it's cheaper than RPP :)

    Also, 2100 MS points for £16 - IIRC, the RRP is £18 or a little more.

    I think I've also seen the £50 PSN cards being sold for £40. Discounted cash (credit) monies! \o/
    Edited by Retroid at 26/09/10 @ 11:57

  • Paulie_P #26 2 years ago

    Thanks Retroid - will look them up!