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Are Sony pursuing the right strategy this gen?

Are Sony pursuing the right strategy this gen

  • Yes, confident in what they're doing

    Votes: 39 39.0%
  • Mixed thoughts, not entirely happy but mostly good

    Votes: 39 39.0%
  • No, they're making poor decisions this gen

    Votes: 22 22.0%

  • Total voters
    100
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Matt_Fox

Member
I own a PS5 (and an XSX) and I'm pretty happy with my PlayStation as a gaming machine.

That said, it does feel like more of the same from Sony. A safe step forward from the PS4. It doesn't feel to me like something that will disrupt the market, or even something that will grow the market.

The minor innovation on the controller does very little for me personally, and the SSD (which they may have anticipated as being their major USP over the competition) has been rather blindsided by the XSX's excellent Quick Resume feature.

Meanwhile in the face of fierce value proposition from Game Pass, Sony have chosen to up the cost of games. Should they be surprised that Demon Souls, Returnal and Ratchet & Clank have arguably underperformed. Even God Of War: Ragnarok, which we would all peg as a sure fire smash, showed its trailer and looked to be a case of 'same again'. There are big moves and acquisitions taking place in the gaming industry, and I'm not sure that 'same again' will work, and perhaps Sony needs to be fleeter footed at adapting and more innovative in its thinking. Add to this a few small annoyances that may test the goodwill of their customers; backwards compat, upgrade paths, censorship, etc.

Sony have announced that they are doubling down on VR but whether that will be a successful strategy or an expensive dead end remains to be seen.

This isn't about console warring or putting the boot in, and there will be many things behind the scenes at Sony that we're not privy to, but as a bystander like myself do you think Sony's current strategy is on point or are there things that need to change?
 

ParaSeoul

Member
They're doing good,Microsoft is doing good. I mostly buy everything physical a couple months after release so I'm fine with a price increase. Game Pass seems great but I don't know if I'd want everything to be a subscription service. I don't think any of the games you listed underperformed at all.
 
Their strategy worked extremely well last gen when they effectively had no competition. We're gonna see how it goes now that Xbox is competing again. I wouldn't worry though, Sony will still make buttloads of money.
 

kyoji

Member
I own a PS5 (and an XSX) and I'm pretty happy with my PlayStation as a gaming machine.

That said, it does feel like more of the same from Sony. A safe step forward from the PS4. It doesn't feel to me like something that will disrupt the market, or even something that will grow the market.

The minor innovation on the controller does very little for me personally, and the SSD (which they may have anticipated as being their major USP over the competition) has been rather blindsided by the XSX's excellent Quick Resume feature.

Meanwhile in the face of fierce value proposition from Game Pass, Sony have chosen to up the cost of games. Should they be surprised that Demon Souls, Returnal and Ratchet & Clank have arguably underperformed. Even God Of War: Ragnarok, which we would all peg as a sure fire smash, showed its trailer and looked to be a case of 'same again'. There are big moves and acquisitions taking place in the gaming industry, and I'm not sure that 'same again' will work, and perhaps Sony needs to be fleeter footed at adapting and more innovative in its thinking. Add to this a few small annoyances that may test the goodwill of their customers; backwards compat, upgrade paths, censorship, etc.

Sony have announced that they are doubling down on VR but whether that will be a successful strategy or an expensive dead end remains to be seen.

This isn't about console warring or putting the boot in, and there will be many things behind the scenes at Sony that we're not privy to, but as a bystander like myself do you think Sony's current strategy is on point or are there things that need to change?
Demon souls last reported number was over a million sold, ratchet sold 1 million in less than a month, and returnal a new ip with no marketing campaign outside of standard media coverage sold 560,000 copies in 3 months time.

So unless you think people just stopped buying those games or they stop being sold after release i would say that ‘underperforming’ is far from truth, even if those games arent your personal cup of tea.
 
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laynelane

Member
I figure if you like the value proposition of GamePass or the portability of Switch, then there are options out there for you. This is a good thing, options for what people value most. I like PS for its tech and enjoyed things like the touch pad addition in the DS4 - suspect I will also like the DS whenever I can get a PS5. I also like PS for their exclusives, not everybody's cup of tea but certainly mine. You mention GoW Ragnarok - couldn't disagree more. I am incredibly hyped for it. The only complaint I have for Sony is the censoring. That I don't agree with in principle.
 
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Can’t judge for sure , but their strategy seems antiquated and married to market dynamics that are waning/don’t exist anymore.

But at a simpler level , from a consumer standpoint Sonys value proposition isn’t really great.
 
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kyoji

Member
One thing i learned about this forum is a persons personal perception is not the reality, i look forward to when the next quarterly financials come out from the 3 companys, so we can then disregard and downplay the importance of sales once more. You see these type of threads pop up from time to time on gaf, but clearly thats not how the mass majority feel, and this is just one reason why hardware sales data is such a valuable metric, because it keeps in check perception vs reality, these perception threads dont = the reality of whats really going on in the market. Unless you know you're one of those scalper bot, 3million brand new ps5s sitting in a warehouse on a pallet theorist.
 

Godot25

Banned
Sony is doing same thing last gen.
They think by doing same thing as they did in PS4 era, they will somehow grow their marketshare, which won't be true, because now they have real competition, unlike Xbox One.

Sometimes I think that they want to be progressive but they are afraid to do it. But that's why they won't grow. They want millions to play TLOU2, but they raised prices of their first-party games instead of giving people something to lower the barrier to entry like Game Pass. They need to migrate to PC to grow their business but they are afraid it will bite into their console business so they are making half-steps.

But that's market leader for you. They are always afraid because they like status quo in the market.
 
One thing i learned about this forum is a persons personal perception is not the reality, i look forward to when the next quarterly financials come out from the 3 companys, so we can then disregard and downplay the importance of sales once more. You see these type of threads pop up from time to time on gaf, but clearly thats not how the mass majority feel, and this is just one reason why hardware sales data is such a valuable metric, because it keeps in check perception vs reality, these perception threads dont = the reality of whats really going on in the market. Unless you know you're one of those scalper bot, 3million brand new ps5s sitting in a warehouse on a pallet theorist.
All you currently get from hardware sales is how much stock was available in that quarter. That's what makes hardware sales borderline useless as a metric.
 

Matt_Fox

Member
One thing i learned about this forum is a persons personal perception is not the reality, i look forward to when the next quarterly financials come out from the 3 companys, so we can then disregard and downplay the importance of sales once more. You see these type of threads pop up from time to time on gaf, but clearly thats not how the mass majority feel, and this is just one reason why hardware sales data is such a valuable metric, because it keeps in check perception vs reality, these perception threads dont = the reality of whats really going on in the market. Unless you know you're one of those scalper bot, 3million brand new ps5s sitting in a warehouse on a pallet theorist.

Right now they're doing great, lots of revenue coming in. This thread is really about the longer term, and whether the strategy they have in place now will ensure a bright future or allow them to be outmanouvered by changing market / trends / tech.
 

Topher

Gold Member
Sony still makes kick-ass first party games and I see no indication that is changing whatsoever. Beyond that, there is just as much "value" in buying PS5 for most third party games as there is any other system.

So the games are there. Ultimately, that is what matters. Features, value, etc. are fine, but games are the lifeblood of the industry far more than anything else and Sony still beats anyone in that regard, imo.
 

kyoji

Member
Right now they're doing great, lots of revenue coming in. This thread is really about the longer term, and whether the strategy they have in place now will ensure a bright future or allow them to be outmanouvered by changing market / trends / tech.
Its year one out of who knows how much longer, probably another 6 at the very least, they are already in an incredibly strong position and are playing there cards very close, but the important thing is they are delivering on providing compelling games, everything else will fall into place.
 

Elios83

Member
They're doing absolutely great.
The PS5 first year has been probably the best in PS history, tons of games and options to play old games at their best potential.
2022 is already promising to start with a bang with many high level exclusives and Sony's investements and acquisitions to continue to provide more and more high quality games to the platform are continuing behind the scenes.
They will also improve the value of their services next year intriducing tiers and they will launch PSVR2.

Their only issue right now is fixing the shortage thing so that all people who want a PS5 can actually get one.
Don't see what else they should be doing? They won't give their AAA games away on a subscription just like Nintendo won't do that.
 
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Malakhov

Banned
Sony has something that no one else besides Nintendo has, and it's incredible exclusive first party titles. As long as that's the case, owning a ps console is a must. I have a ps, switch and PC to be covered on absolutely every front, and that will stay that way because of that.
 
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Nautilus

Banned
For the most part, they are doing good.

Numbers show that they are handlingly beating MS, so I wouldn't worry on that front.

Its Nintendo that is the biggest concern for Sony right now. The Switch is killing right now, and its beating everyone in sales. And given that the chip shortage will last at least an extra year, the odds of them beating the Switch is slim. Which makes their situation in territories like Japan simply abysmal.

So yeah, the problem sony has right now is being competitive on territories that Nintendo is simply crushing it, like Japan. Because if they keep doing as poorly as they have been doing there, no ammount of goodwill later will salvage this gen from them in those places, and next gen will be even harder for them to regain traction in those places.
 

kyoji

Member
All you currently get from hardware sales is how much stock was available in that quarter. That's what makes hardware sales borderline useless as a metric.
This is not true at all bernd, and for how long will people say this? Yes we know supply is constrained but is this really going to be the excuse for this gen? Its always something.

and its not a useless metric its the most important one.
 

Sethbacca

Member
I think the plan they're implementing is different than the plan they had, thanks to COVID. I'm guessing we would have had more straight up next gen titles instead of cross gen titles in a COVID free world since PS5 availability wouldn't be an issue.
 

Banjo64

cumsessed
They’re making good games on a good console.

Yes GoW Ragnarok has the same gameplay of God of War. This is how sequels have worked forever. GoW 1,2,3, Chains of Olympus, Ghost of Sparta and Ascension all had the same gameplay. Games like Gears, Crash, Spyro, Sly Cooper, Ratchet and Clank, 2D Mario, Metroid - the gameplay usually stays similar throughout the series.

Horizon looks like they’ve evolved the game play with the glider. They’ve funded and bought the guys that made Returnal (and Resogun), which have tight and challenging gameplay. They’ve put out Astro’s Playroom too, which is innovative.

People like GoW, Horizon and Spider-Man - which have all had 1 mainline entry so far (yeah, I’m including the GoW reboot) - there isn’t really any fatigue yet gameplay wise.

I’m thrilled with all three console makers this gen, they’re all hitting a spot.
 

SSfox

Member
They have new IPs in stores, SSM, Bend and Sucker punch to name just those. Sony just don't want to announce games way too early which is a good thing imo.

That being said I'm more curious on what they'll bring to the table when it comes to Japanese games. Hopefully they didn't forgot one of the main core essence of the Playstation brand.
 

rolandss

Member
I’ve got mixed feelings. I’ve got PS5, it’s good and all but it feels like PS4.5 not a new machine. It’ll hit its stride eventually. First year of a new gen is always shit, nothing that’s a system seller and as a system it still feels under done a bit,. But 2022 is looking like a good year. I’d like to see them roll out some truly different and innovative features on the system though.

MS are however making all the right moves to tempt me to get an Xbox for the first time ever as a secondary console. Bethesda was a big acquisition, really shook up the industry and I’m excited by what they have coming. Game pass seems good value (but Sony seem like they’ll respond to it soon) and they seem to have made some better hardware choices on the series x.
 

Topher

Gold Member
I don't know when, but streaming only will be the future. People will love not spending hundreds and companies will love not spending billions on consoles.

Will even if that is true, which I don't agree, that is a long time from now and Sony has already started moves to Azure so I see no reason why they won't be able to compete in the streaming market if/when it becomes a factor.
 
None of the stuff you mentioned deter people from buying a PS5. They would have sold 20+ million this year if they had the stock.

God of War will sell gangbusters too.
 
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I own a PS5 (and an XSX) and I'm pretty happy with my PlayStation as a gaming machine.

That said, it does feel like more of the same from Sony. A safe step forward from the PS4. It doesn't feel to me like something that will disrupt the market, or even something that will grow the market.

The minor innovation on the controller does very little for me personally, and the SSD (which they may have anticipated as being their major USP over the competition) has been rather blindsided by the XSX's excellent Quick Resume feature.

Not growing the market? Doing the same as the PS4 gen?

Yes they will keep releasing huge AAA experiences and some of their biggest IPs will release their next games in 2022, with Horizon, GT and God of War. Yes they are releasing VR2 next year. Both of these things are natural progressions and work that's continuing from the previous gen, BUT...

Sony is releasing games on PC now. This alone would blow your mind in 2014, their IPs are about to have movies and TV shows, they will be back on their multiplayer experiences with Factions and possibly one of their partners (something that was missing during the PS4 days), Sony is also doing a lot for mobile gaming. It's not Playstation but it's happening. PS Plus and PS Now are about to have their biggest changes since they exist, with PSOne and PS2 games already teased, more studios acquisitions already teased, god knows how many games to be announced in 2022 as well.

If more of the same for Sony was only doubling down on everything that made them a hit previously...it would be fine by me, but clearly there's a lot more going on and almost every single one of their moves is about growing their market.

This is an odd topic.
 

Godot25

Banned
They have new IPs in stores, SSM, Bend and Sucker punch to name just those. Sony just don't want to announce games way too early which is a good thing imo.

That being said I'm more curious on what they'll bring to the table when it comes to Japanese games. Hopefully they didn't forgot one of the main core essence of the Playstation brand.
Ehh. Didn't they announced Wolverine in their last event? Game that is 2024-2025 at best?
 

supernova8

Banned
Streaming only as in there will be no other options than streaming?

Gaming is really the only major media format that (other than books) that is still clinging onto physical and/or individual purchases. How many people buy individual TV shows/movies/albums anymore?

Having Amazon Prime Video has been a massive game changer for me. The best thing is that I've watched all sorts of different shows and movies that I would never watch if I had to buy them individually. I don't have Game Pass or anything similar but I can imagine it would be the same thing.

Think how many TV shows you can watch on a cheap Netflix subscription and then consider what it therefore means to pay $60-$70 for a single video game. That is quite the investment, and a lot of the time there is no demo to try before you buy, either.
 

SSfox

Member
Also even if most games so far are continuation but those are super high quality, and its the first 2 year of PS5 already and def looks more solid than ps4's, A lot of people are hype and want those sequels me including, if someone isn't interested then you know there are other games no one is forcing you for anything, so.

And as new IPs Sony already delivered some like Returnal or Kena, and just first year of launch. Not crazy but already more than in others existing plateforms.
 
Sony has something that no one else besides Nintendo has, and it's incredible exclusive first party titles. As long as that's the case, owning a ps console is a must. I have a ps, switch and PC to be covered on absolutely every front, and that will stay that way because of that.

I would argue that Sonys first party isn’t nearly in the same league as Nintendo, I’m talking galaxies apart.

I mean just look at software sales. Sony first party will never have the breadth of success Nintendo has from their first party. The quality and appeal scopes are significantly different.
 

Kssio_Aug

Member
I know they will be just fine, and I know they will keep delivering great 1st party productions. But I believe their general strategy has been terrible and pissing a lot of people off... thankfully (for them) they have such a strong brand that they need to seriously fuck it up in order to get in a bad position on this market.
 

Godot25

Banned
Also even if most games so far are continuation but those are super high quality, and its the first 2 year of PS5 already and def looks more solid than ps4's, A lot of people are hype and want those sequels me including, if someone isn't interested then you know there are other games no one is forcing you for anything, so.

And as new IPs Sony already delivered some like Returnal or Kena, and just first year of launch. Not crazy but already more than in others existing plateforms.
Don't want to be dick about it, but Kena is timed exclusive and not Sony first party game. That's like counting The Gunk as a new Xbox IP...
 
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