Sony Group is doubling down on its entertainment-first business strategy while preparing for potential headwinds from Trump administration tariffs, president and CEO Hiroki Totoki revealed during a corporate strategy presentation on Wednesday.
The presentation, Totoki’s first since being elevated to the position in January, followed the release of the group’s financial results for Q4 2025.
The Japanese conglomerate has significantly shifted its focus toward entertainment in recent years, with its gaming, music, film and TV businesses now accounting for approximately 61% of consolidated sales. Totoki credited the “power of entertainment to move people and to fill the world with emotion” as a key driver behind the strategic pivot.
Speaking about the company’s long-term creative entertainment vision, Totoki outlined plans to “create infinite realities, together with creators, partners and employees” through synergies across Sony’s various business units.
On the gaming side, Sony expects “stable growth in revenue and profits from network businesses due to the growth of monthly active users” as PlayStation 5’s installed base continues to expand. The company plans to maximize average revenue per user through “personalization and pricing optimization.”
For the current fiscal year, Sony anticipates “further growth in studio businesses through a broader user base driven by new title launches from narrative-based single player titles like ‘Ghost of Yote’ and live service games such as ‘Marathon,'” Totoki explained. The executive also highlighted “continuing success of already launched catalog titles and ongoing live services titles like ‘Hell Divers II’ and ‘Destiny 2.'”
In the music segment, Sony remains “focused on strengthening our position in the global music market, while continuing to improve profitability,” with plans to continue expanding through “deliberate acquisitions throughout our business and in high growth markets such as Latin America, India and other Asian countries.”
A particular focus area for Sony is anime, which Totoki described as “a major area which leads the growth for the Sony group across many parts of our business.” The anime industry’s market size “is expected to continue growing at a CAGR [Compound Annual Growth Rate] in the high single digits from 2023 to 2030,” with the anime streaming market specifically projected to grow “at a CAGR in a high 10% range by 2030.”
The company’s Crunchyroll streaming service has grown to over 17 million paid members and is being integrated with PlayStation Network to streamline subscription signups.
On the film side, Sony Pictures Entertainment “continues to rebuild” following industry-wide challenges from “COVID-19 and strike-related shutdowns.” The studio’s upcoming slate includes “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” in 2026, along with a new film adaptation of Capcom’s “Resident Evil” and another “Jumanji” installment. Future tentpoles include “the final film in the ‘Spider-Verse animated trilogy” in 2027 and Sam Mendes’ four Beatles films in 2028.
Totoki highlighted Sony Pictures Entertainment as “a central hub for many of the synergy and synergistic cross-company collaborations” central to Sony’s strategy, pointing to PlayStation Productions’ adaptation of games like “Uncharted” and “The Last of Us,” “with over 10 titles currently in production.”
In a candid Q&A session following the presentation, Totoki addressed concerns about potential Trump administration tariffs, revealing that Sony has calculated a possible JPY100 billion yen (approximately $700 million) impact on its hardware businesses.
When asked about potentially shifting more manufacturing to the U.S., Totoki acknowledged that for hardware like gaming consoles, “these hardwares, of course, can be produced locally. I think that would be an efficient strategy.” However, he noted that PlayStation 5 consoles “are being manufactured in many areas” and decisions about U.S. production would need to be “considered going forward.”
Regarding film production, Totoki mentioned that “Mr. Trump is saying that he’s going to have 100% tariff on films which are not produced [and] made in the United States,” but added that the policy is “still pending, apparently.”
“These are some of the movements that we need to consider regarding entertainment – if you take films, for example, of course, locations are being made in various areas, and it is all put together as a story. And there are pictures that are filmed outside of the U.S., because the Hollywood cost has gone up… skyrocketed,” Totoki said. “So it’s not so much a U.S. problem, but rather it’s an issue that is specific to the state of California. So as for content, we don’t know how it will evolve, we are paying close attention to the trends.”
English (US) ·