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Sony Group

Creative Entertainment Vision, FY2024 to FY2026

Fill the world with emotion, through the power of creativity and technology
Sony’s Purpose

Creative Entertainment Vision

Games, music, and pictures made up about 60% of Sony’s sales in FY2023. Its Creative Entertainment Vision is to unleash creators with technology and take their stories to fans everywhere, and its fifth mid-range plan, to March 2027, aims to create IP, grow it with fans, and extend it into every medium, on a platform of creation technology.

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Create IP

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle, a global hit film, added to Music’s sales growth in FY2025.

Music operating income rose 25% to ¥447.0 billion in FY2025.

  1. 1.1 AnimeCreate anime IP through Aniplex’s studios, with new production software to raise quality and efficiency.
  2. 1.2 MusicFind new artists and IP in music, such as YOASOBI, born from a project to turn novels into songs.
  3. 1.3 CreatorsSupport creators from diverse cultures, such as game developers in India and entertainment businesses in Africa.

Music and image sensors earn Sony’s highest margins

In FY2025 operating income rose 13% to ¥1.45 trillion on sales of ¥12.5 trillion, a margin of 11.6%. Games is the largest business.

5%10%15%20%9.9%Games¥463bn21.1%Music¥447bn7.0%Pictures¥105bn7.0%Electronics¥159bn16.6%Image sensors¥357bn

Bar width is the segment’s share of sales, height its operating margin, so area is operating income. Games is Game & Network Services; electronics, Entertainment, Technology & Services; image sensors, Imaging & Sensing Solutions.

Crunchyroll passed 21 million paid subscribers

Crunchyroll, which Sony bought in 2021, delivers Japanese anime to fans around the world. It had over 13 million paid subscribers when Sony set out its vision in May 2024 and more than 21 million by the end of March 2026.

21m

paid subscribers, more than 21 million, March 2026

A panel is a million paid subscribers, read right to left.

Operating income of ¥1.72 trillion forecast for FY2026

FY2026 is the last year of the mid-range plan, and Sony forecasts sales of ¥12.5 trillion. It is buying back up to ¥500 billion of shares, at most 230 million, between May 2026 and May 2027. The forecast leaves out the Kumamoto earthquake of 28 July 2026, whose impact Sony can’t yet estimate.

¥1.28tnFY2024¥1.45tnFY2025¥1.72tnFY2026 forecast
Operating income from continuing operations; the FY2026 frame is the forecast of 31 July 2026.,
39%
¥193.9 billion, 56 million shares, bought by 31 July 2026

  1. Give the vision a longer horizon than the plan.

    Sony set its Creative Entertainment Vision as where it wants to be in ten years, and its mid-range plan for three. We recommend a long vision that doesn’t change with each plan, and plans that say which part of it they deliver.

  2. Write the value chain into the strategy.

    Sony’s plan follows IP from creation to cultivation with fans to extension into other media, so every business can see where it adds value. We recommend describing how value moves through the organisation, so teams see the handoffs they depend on.

  3. Share the heaviest investment.

    Sony kept image sensor spending down through this mid-range plan, choosing investments carefully, and agreed a joint venture with TSMC for the next generation. We recommend deciding which of a plan’s biggest costs to carry alone and which to share with a partner.

Sources

  1. 1. Sony Group Corporation (2024). Sony Corporate Strategy Meeting 2024. Form 6-K, press release, 23 May 2024. sec.gov
  2. 2. Sony Group Corporation (2026). FY2025 consolidated financial results. Form 6-K, presentation, 8 May 2026. sec.gov
  3. 3. Sony Group Corporation (2026). Annual report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2026. SEC filing, 18 June 2026. sec.gov
  4. 4. Sony Group Corporation (2026). Consolidated financial summary for the first quarter ended June 30, 2026. Form 6-K, 31 July 2026. sec.gov
  5. 5. Sony Group Corporation (2026). Sony Semiconductor Solutions announces signing of definitive agreement with TSMC for establishment of joint venture. Form 6-K, 11 August 2026. sec.gov
  6. 6. Sony Group Corporation (2026). Notice regarding the status of repurchase of shares of common stock. Form 6-K, 5 August 2026. sec.gov

Headwater is not connected with Sony. Sony, PlayStation, Crunchyroll, Aniplex, and the titles named are trade marks of their owners. Updated 29 September 2026.

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