Sony is going to lose a mint due to the attacks on its network infrastructure.
Sony has revised its financial forecast for the previous and upcoming fiscal years, and things aren’t looking too good. The company estimates that the PSN and Sony Online Entertainment attacks, combined with the effect of the disastrous Japanese earthquake, are going to cost billions.
Current projections are that the server intrusions will cost Sony in the vicinity of ¥14 billion ($171 million). This includes the price of credit monitoring to be offered in various regions along with the PSN “welcome back” program that will offer free games once the PlayStation Store is brought back online.
Unfortunately, these costs could skyrocket depending on various factors. Sony said in a statement that the company has currently received no confirmed reports of identity theft or credit card misuse related to the server attacks, but if it does it’ll have to revise its financial forecast. Sony also can’t predict the costs of the various lawsuits filed against it due to the attacks.
Meanwhile, Sony believes that the recent earthquake could end up costing the company ¥150 billion ($1.8 billion). For the fiscal year ending March 31, 2011, Sony expects to report a ¥260 billion ($3.2 billion) loss, revised from a previous forecast of a ¥70 billion ($854 million) profit. Sony definitely needs to have a good year with the possible 2012 launch of the NGP, said to still be on track, while the PlayStation Store could help bring the profit back as early as May 24.
Source: Gamasutra
Published: May 23, 2011 03:57 pm