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[yurinka]

Pretty sure it was Yoshida who who approached Shift Up and secured Stellar Blade as a PS5 exclusive title, as there is literally a pics of him and Hyung-Tae Kim when he was visiting Shift Up studio.

As head of PlayStation Indies, which is part of the 3rd party relations teams, so relations with companies who publish games themselves on PS while not being owned by Sony, Shuhei Yoshida's role was to scout cool indie games around the world to support them via marketing and in some cases signing with them 3rd party (not published by Sony) temporal console exclusives, or inclusion in PS+.

Shuei discovered Stellar Blade and saw potential on it to be a Sony published game, so forwarded it to PS Studios (Hermen) because knew PS Studios was extending their publishing of externally developed Asian games to non-Japanese teams.

PS Studios / Hermen liked the project and signed it as 2nd party project (Shuei couldn't sign it because since several years before he didn't work at PS Studios/1st party SIE side, he was at the 3rd party relations side). Just like Rise of the Ronin, Death Stranding 2 or Lost Soul Aside.

 

[bighugeguns]

You don't close a small prestige studio even if it bleeds money, you just don't do that and you most certainly don't allow them to do GaaS crap.

I remember explaining this very thing to someone about Double Fine.

Someone at Sony is going to get in trouble for this, the brand demands it. I always thought of Sony as a group who had a good understanding of the intangibles of class.

 

[yurinka]

Yoshida should be the current Playstation CEO.

Yoshida was given two choices by Jim Ryan, either be in charge of Sony indie titles or get out. He chose the latter, as Sony was changing their gear towards AAA live service games, instead of AA creative games. Yoshida saw the sign and decided to secure his bag and get out.

Yoshida suggested Jim Ryan to create a division to scout and support indie teams, because it was important due to several reasons. Jim Ryan agreed and tasked him to create and lead it.

 

[TheThreadsThatBindUs]

Tell that to Bethesda (Oblivion remake).

I can buy Demon Souls not making as much as it could have.

Timing is a BIG consideration there though. It was an early PS5 game, most gamers were still churning through TLOU2, GoW:Ragnerok, Ratchet & Clank, Horizon:FW etc as well las their PS4 back catalogs.

Fast forward to now. Sony haven't released a strong 1st party game in forever and the market is lapping up whatever the hell they can get their hands on.

Xbox is making more money on PS5 for their games as they have on their own platform, so shipping big remakes now, with a much larger installed base + a bigger drought in terms of the flow of new releases, seems like a much more lucrative strategy than they're claiming.

At the very least Sony should have thought about using BP to fill some of their content gaps.

Make a Jak & Daxter spin off in the vein of Palworld (32 million players, 15 million copies sold - for a shitty Pokemon rip off that probably cost as much as a few Starbucks coffees and a cheeky Nando's). I mean this shit is really not that hard...

TBF, Palworld is a million times better than Pokemon. And the devs have done an amazing job providing a fairly steady stream of content post-launch. So something like that set in the world of Jak and Daxter could have both been amazing and also fulfilled Sony's GaaS hard-on. Survival games like Palworld, Astroneer and No Man's Sky are some of the most successful and beloved GaaS games.

 

[DeepEnigma]

You don't close a small prestige studio even if it bleeds money, you just don't do that and you most certainly don't allow them to do GaaS crap.

I remember explaining this very thing to someone about Double Fine.

Someone at Sony is going to get in trouble for this, the brand demands it. I always thought of Sony as a group who had a good understanding of the intangibles of class.

Yeah, you don't just let that talent walk when you have many of your studios infected with cultural blowhards whom pale in comparison.

This was a major fuck up.

 

[mckmas8808]

As head of PlayStation Indies, which is part of the 3rd party relations teams, so relations with companies who publish games themselves on PS while not being owned by Sony, Shuhei Yoshida's role was to scout cool indie games around the world to support them via marketing and in some cases signing with them 3rd party (not published by Sony) temporal console exclusives, or inclusion in PS+.

Shuei discovered Stellar Blade and saw potential on it to be a Sony published game, so forwarded it to PS Studios (Hermen) because knew PS Studios was extending their publishing of externally developed Asian games to non-Japanese teams.

PS Studios / Hermen liked the project and signed it as 2nd party project (Shuei couldn't sign it because since several years before he didn't work at PS Studios/1st party SIE side, he was at the 3rd party relations side). Just like Rise of the Ronin, Death Stranding 2 or Lost Soul Aside.

Yeah I think this is the most accurate/proper way to describe what happened with the Stellar Blade contract.

 

[yogaflame]

Heads should roll. Someone from Sony has to be punish with this dumb decision.

 

[GHG]

Heads should roll. Someone from Sony has to be punish with this dumb decision.

If we are to believe it, Jim is already gone, and Herman isn't exactly going to fire himself.

The only thing people can do is not buy the GAAS crap they shit out so that they get the message loud and clear.

 

[balls of snow]

Fucking yikes mydudes.
Good thing Bloodborne lives on in the pc emulation space. I booted it up on the ps5 pro and while I still can enjoy it, what could have been is making me feel mad.

 

[Saber]

My 2 cents on Bloodborne politics thing:

- Sony owns Bloodborne
- Miyazaki wants to be involved into whatever they do with the game
- Miyazaki would like to do more, like remake and sequel, but he demands it to be multiplatform
- Sony as the owner of the IP doesnt want the IP to be multiplat
- Yet Sony doesnt want to break relationship with Miyazaki by doing things without him, as he is very talented and has a huge fanbase for his games
- So no one can do anything with the game because of that

I like that your take here tries as much as possible to not paint the blame on Sony. No, the implications on politics must be on From/Miyazaki part(and people like hmm makes sense).

 

[nial]

All this person does is to lie all the time, literally just check his profile.
You guys seriously believe that Bluepoint employees will give all that information to some random weirdo stalking their LinkedIn profiles?

 

[yurinka]

Heads should roll. Someone from Sony has to be punish with this dumb decision.

Heads doesn't roll because a random annonymous account tells many lies about them (as he lied mading up supposed insider info that always turned out to be fake) on Twitter.

So Bluepoint pitched:

• BloodBorne remake
• God of War spinoff
• Jak and Daxter remake
• Resistance Remake
• Shadow of the Colossus Remaster + new content
• Ghost of Tsushima spinoff

We don't know what Bluepoint pitched, and if they pitched anything. Because this guy's Bluepoint tweets include several lies, so very likely all the info in his Bluepoint tweets are lies

 

[Clear]

He's lying. Sony wouldn't need From's permission for a Bloodborne remaster. He's farming.

They also wouldn't want to alienate Miyazaki. Preserving the working relationship is far more valuable than pissing him off with a remake from a studio without a design team or a track record of creating their own valuable IP.

I keep telling you guys, its FROM and likely Miyazaki particularly. I can see him being relatively ok with Demons' as its already been long since superceded by the Dark Souls franchise, Bloodborne on the other hand is his personal favourite project by his own admittance.

 

[nial]

Shu was responsible for every single 3rd party exclusive (and timed exclusive) up until the release of Stellar Blade. That includes stuff like FFXVI and 7 remake.

No, he wasn't. FFXVI and 7 Remake were by third-party publisher partners relation staff which Shuhei Yoshida was never part of going from WWS to the indies unit.
Stellar Blade was greenlit for PlayStation Studios production in 2021, which was well after Hermen Hulst had already took the lead.

 

[DeepEnigma]

No, he wasn't. FFXVI and 7 Remake were by third-party publisher partners relation staff which Shuhei Yoshida was never part of going from WWS to the indies unit.
Stellar Blade was greenlit for PlayStation Studios production in 2021, which was well after Hermen Hulst had already took the lead.

Shift Up, a Korean studio founded by Kim Hyung-tae, first teased the game in 2019 under the working title Project Eve.

Stellar Blade - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[nial]

Stellar Blade - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Stellar Blade was greenlit for PlayStation Studios production in 2021

You're misunderstanding, I'm saying that Sony picked it up for publishing and PlayStation Studios production and funding in 2021.
In 2019 and 2020, Project Eve was a Shift Up-published project targeting a multiplatform release, while at the same time seeking the funding of several external partners.

 

[Generic]

Stellar Blade was his parting gift.

Now I understand why he went away.

 

[DeepEnigma]

You're misunderstanding, I'm saying that Sony picked it up for publishing and PlayStation Studios production and funding in 2021
In 2019 and 2020, Project Eve was a Shift Up-published project targeting a multiplatform release, while at the same time seeking the funding of several external partners.

And that is mainly due to Shu.



Clanker edition:

---

Yes, Shuhei Yoshida played a critical role in the greenlighting and development support of Stellar Blade.

As a prominent figure in Sony Interactive Entertainment's indie and third-party relations, Yoshida visited developer Shift Up between 2019 and 2020 after hearing about a promising high-quality console game being developed in Korea.

Key details regarding his involvement:

• Initial Impression: Upon visiting, Yoshida was impressed by the high-quality 3D modeling, action, and graphics of the project (then known as Project Eve).
• Greenlight Decision: After seeing the project and playing it himself, Yoshida and his team at Sony decided to move forward with publishing the title.
• Creator Recognition: Shift Up's director, Kim Hyung-tae, has publicly credited Yoshida as "the person who believed" in the game at Sony.
  Reddit +3

Stellar Blade was officially announced as a PlayStation 5 exclusive, published by Sony, before its release in April 2024.

---

 

[GHG]

No, he wasn't. FFXVI and 7 Remake were by third-party publisher partners relation staff which Shuhei Yoshida was never part of going from WWS to the indies unit.
Stellar Blade was greenlit for PlayStation Studios production in 2021, which was well after Hermen Hulst had already took the lead.

 

[proandrad]

So there it is. From Software is the reason we don't get a remake, remaster, or sequel to Bloodborne. At least we finally know who to blame. My theory is From wants to put in out on multiple platforms but Sony wants it exclusive, like Demon Souls. The Demon Souls name isn't seen as valuable as Bloodborne so From Software allowed for the remake to be exclusive.

 

[Pataponpon]

I like that your take here tries as much as possible to not paint the blame on Sony. No, the implications on politics must be on From/Miyazaki part(and people like hmm makes sense).

Nope, I presented just as possible facts, your bias is just making you read what you want to read. Someone that is not into exclusives would fully blame Sony when reading my comment, theyre will to not let BB join ports like GoW and HZD (games that are much more important to Sony) is actively preventing the IP to come back.

And well, if Miyazaki is actually holding the chance of having Sony doing something by themselves then its also right to say that he has part on the blame. Policts arent black and white situations.

 

[Haint]

Fromsoft got big mad Bluepoint put their work to shame and shone a spotlight on their embarrassing technical incompetence. From probably didn't want it remade at all due to weird Japanese culture/pride shit, considering it like being Oidashibeya by Sony, which started bad blood between the two. So From went to Nintendo out of spite for a Switch exclusive, and Sony has to play nice to try to repair the relationship, ergo Bluepoint was barred from doing a Bloodborne remake.

 

[Calverz]

What a mess if true. Completely mis managed. I don't think the bit about Sonys relationship with from software is true. But honestly who knows. Aren't their games after Bloodborne always had ms with marketing rights? Or do I have that wrong?

 

[semiconscious]

ueda designed the new wander face?! how can this not all be horseshit?...

 

[Germuso]

My uncle works for nintendo

 

[nial]

And that is mainly due to Shu.



Clanker edition:

---

Yes, Shuhei Yoshida played a critical role in the greenlighting and development support of Stellar Blade.

As a prominent figure in Sony Interactive Entertainment's indie and third-party relations, Yoshida visited developer Shift Up between 2019 and 2020 after hearing about a promising high-quality console game being developed in Korea.

Key details regarding his involvement:

• Initial Impression: Upon visiting, Yoshida was impressed by the high-quality 3D modeling, action, and graphics of the project (then known as Project Eve).
• Greenlight Decision: After seeing the project and playing it himself, Yoshida and his team at Sony decided to move forward with publishing the title.
• Creator Recognition: Shift Up's director, Kim Hyung-tae, has publicly credited Yoshida as "the person who believed" in the game at Sony.
  Reddit +3

Stellar Blade was officially announced as a PlayStation 5 exclusive, published by Sony, before its release in April 2024.

---

yurinka 's post above (#201) pretty much explains it. These divisions/units at SIE are not isolated to each other, and communication for key opportunites like this are bound to happen. In short, as Yoshida's job is to meet independent studios, he discovered Project Eve, which was seeking for funding, and suggested the PlayStation Studios leadership to greenlight resources for it, which would end up happen under a Hermen Hulst-overseen operation.
This is literally common sense considering that this happened in 2021, and Shuhei Yoshida was not on any authority to do so by that point. To suggest otherwise is pure delusion.

Is there any evidence here or is it just another developer talk like all the other ones he has done as well?
Just like he had no authority to pick up Stellar Blade under PlayStation Studios, he also had no authority to go for exclusivity deals with any of the Final Fantasy games.
These were the people responsible for the Final Fantasy VII Remake deal:

And these were the people responsible for the Final Fantasy XVI deal:

Shuhei Yoshida is not mentioned once in any of these examples, not even as part of special thanks.

 

[DeepEnigma]

The wagon circling to dismiss Shu and how pivotal he was is mind boggling.

It's Xbox Jez levels of cultism where they're now revisioning Phil and crew for running shit to the ground and Asha is their new personality worship now.

 

[nial]

The wagon circling to dismiss Shu and how pivotal he was is mind boggling.

Speaking with facts, reality and logic does not mean that anyone is dismissing any of his ACTUAL efforts.
On the other hand, going full delusional with things that were not under his control is exactly what is akin to Phil Spencer brand cultism. And Angry_Megalodon is a perfect example to that.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

I stated it in an old post, I was right thinking BP wanted to get acquired. It wasnt Sony gunning to buy them out.

Interestingly, I've read it many times but this thing about Sony/From having a rocky relationship, why? Did I miss something and they tried screwing each other over at some point?

Those 75% of people pushing back at a GAAS game should had just sucked it up and put in their best effort to make one. Probably why they missed the deadline because they were pissed. Thats life BP. Every project people have to work in life isnt going to be greatest thing they want to do. I know I dont like everything I'm asked to do. But you man up and do it.

After that project was cancelled, it looks like they made a mistake going back to the well focusing on SP pitches again (aside from Resistance assuming it had MP/GAAS mode and wasnt SP campaign only). Looks like Sony was willing to listen but lost interest and then shut down the studio.

They should had used those last pitches to do as many MP/GAAS projects as possible hoping Sony bites. Instead, what probably happened was Sony immediately ignored all the SP pitches, took a close look at a Resistance remake (assuming it had MP too so they can get mtx out of it) and decided that IP isnt worth digging up again. So instead of giving them another half year to drum up more ideas, they just said fuck it. And BP is closed. This studio isnt listening to direction to focus on GAAS.

 

[DeepEnigma]

Speaking with facts

No, it's called moving the goalposts.

To say Shu wasn't critical when the developers have said so themselves and there is a record of it AS WELL, is just brand-tard clownery just like the Xbox shills did.

 

[mckmas8808]

Loss of money

It wouldn't have lost more money than Concord did.

 

[mckmas8808]

I stated it in an old post, I was right thinking BP wanted to get acquired. It wasnt Sony gunning to buy them out.

Interestingly, I've read it many times but this thing about Sony/From having a rocky relationship, why? Did I miss something and they tried screwing each other over at some point?

Those 75% of people pushing back at a GAAS game should had just sucked it up and put in their best effort to make one. Probably why they missed the deadline because they were pissed. Thats life BP. Every project people have to work in life isnt going to be greatest thing they want to do. I know I dont like everything I'm asked to do. But you man up and do it.

After that project was cancelled, it looks like they made a mistake going back to the well focusing on SP pitches again (aside from Resistance assuming it had MP/GAAS mode and wasnt SP campaign only). Looks like Sony was willing to listen but lost interest and then shut down the studio.

They should had used those last pitches to do as many MP/GAAS projects as possible hoping Sony bites. Instead, what probably happened was Sony immediately ignored all the SP pitches, took a close look at a Resistance remake (assuming it had MP too so they can get mtx out of it) and decided that IP isnt worth digging up again. So instead of giving them another half year to drum up more ideas, they just said fuck it. And BP is closed.

I think you are missing the part where they mostly hated the idea of making a GAAS Game. That should matter for something. Sony shouldn't have purchased them, just to change who and what they were at their core. That's Wasting Money 101.

 

[nial]

No, it's called moving the goalposts.

To say Shu wasn't critical when the developers have said so themselves and there is a record of it AS WELL, is just brand-tard clownery just like the Xbox shills did.

What does that have to do with any of the things discussed, though?
Yes, he was pivotal to the creation of Gran Turismo, Saru Getchu and The Legend of Dragoon (he was pretty based around this time tbh). The fuck does that have to do with the false narrative around Stellar Blade and the exclusivity deals for FFVII Remake and FFXVI? THIS is moving the goalposts lol.

 

[DeepEnigma]

The fuck does that have to do with the false narrative around Stellar Blade and the exclusivity deals for FFVII Remake and FFXVI?

He was pivotal with those as well.

 

[nial]

He was pivotal with those as well.

No, he wasn't. You could make a case for Stellar Blade given that he suggested it to the actual people in control of those things (that doesn't mean that he was responsible for it tho, not even close), but how exactly was he pivotal to FFVIIR and FFXVI?

 

[asdasdasdbb]

Heads should roll. Someone from Sony has to be punish with this dumb decision.

At some point, people are going to have to accept that GAAS is the future of Playstation.

 

[Topher]

At some point, people are going to have to accept that GAAS is the future of Playstation.

They ain't exactly knocking gaas out of the park so far so hardly set in stone.

 

[bighugeguns]

At some point, people are going to have to accept that GAAS is the future of Playstation.

Be careful of fads.

 

[asdasdasdbb]

They ain't exactly knocking gaas out of the park

And that's a problem.

 

[Saber]

Nope, I presented just as possible facts, your bias is just making you read what you want to read. Someone that is not into exclusives would fully blame Sony when reading my comment, theyre will to not let BB join ports like GoW and HZD (games that are much more important to Sony) is actively preventing the IP to come back.

What you present is no possible facts, just your overprotection of the possibility of Sony being at fault here.

Theres absolute no clear indication or proof that From/Miyazaki are at fault here. From are more than willing to take on new projects which are even exclusive to a plataform, as their next game is exclusive to Switch 2.
This politics side are mostly coming from Sony themselves as they must have some sort dark water/being moody after the events of Bloodborne, hence why they don't want anything to do with it. Also the possibility that Sony was willing to make "demon souls" inspired games when they could just reach From and once again make a new project together only shows that they are possibily rancid against From and would rather make the games themselves (hence why the relation with Miyazaki are fragile at the moment).
Theres also strong possibility that Miyazaki himself didn't like what he saw with BP take on Demon Souls and Sony was like "fuck you, I will make that way anyway".

 

[Windom Earle]

Maybe it's time I actually install that PS4 emulator on PC.

 

[Topher]

And that's a problem.

It's a problem for stockholders if they think Sony is burning too much money on this shit

 

[StreetsofBeige]

I think you are missing the part where they mostly hated the idea of making a GAAS Game. That should matter for something. Sony shouldn't have purchased them, just to change who and what they were at their core. That's Wasting Money 101.

True, but end of day if the new owner gives new direction you got to listen.

They are a studio who loves SP remakes/remasters, so I get it they wanted to stick to it and hated hearing they had to make a GAAS game.

But Sony gave them many chances. And everyone knows Jim wants GAAS by that time. After that GOW project cancelled, why would BP go back to pitching SP remasters/remakes again (aside from Resistance if it's planned MP would be activated again)? If the new direction is come up with the best GAAS game, why go to a board room presenting non-GAAS games?

 

[Ass of Can Whooping]

And that's a problem.

 

[Windom Earle]

Heads should roll. Someone from Sony has to be punish with this dumb decision.

People can always just stop buying their slop but somehow that is too hard.

 

[nial]

At some point, people are going to have to accept that GAAS is the future of Playstation.

Not at the expense of single-player.

Not GAAS this year:
God of War: Sons of Sparta
Saros
Marvel's Wolverine
Kena: Scars of Kosmora

GAAS this year:
Marathon
MLB The Show 26
Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls

 

[Sintoid]

It wouldn't have lost more money than Concord did.

Go tell'em

 

[StreetsofBeige]

Not at the expense of single-player.

Not GAAS this year:
God of War: Sons of Sparta
Saros
Marvel's Wolverine
Kena: Scars of Kosmora

GAAS this year:
Marathon
MLB The Show 26
Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls

They are trying a multi pronged approach for their key games hoping an IP fan hits as many of these as possible. But if not, thats ok because a fan might just like one of these media products.

GOW, LOU, Horizon, GT, Spiderman. Heck, even Twisted Metal too.

- SP game
- MP/GAAS game (whether it's pitched or worked on, cancelled or comes out depends on them, but all their key IPs have toiled with it)
- TV show and/or movie
- If it's suitable, make toys or Lego affiliated products like Horizon did

 

[DeepEnigma]

No, he wasn't. You could make a case for Stellar Blade given that he suggested it to the actual people in control of those things (that doesn't mean that he was responsible for it tho, not even close), but how exactly was he pivotal to FFVIIR and FFXVI?

I was talking about Stellar Blade which he was pivotal in, not "may" but "was."

FF7 original would not have been a thing on PlayStation if it wasn't for him speaking to his bosses at the time.

 

[Saber]

It's a problem for stockholders if they think Sony is burning too much money on this shit

True but at same time Sony could simply minie minie and choose the one to chopping block without actually going to the root of the problem.