• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

DO THE MATH.... Sony expanding first party development is a FAR better strategy than acquiring a big third party publishers

Mozza

Member
Skyrim alone has sold over 30 million copies, Elderscolls as a series close to 60 your saying all of bethesda's IP's don't come close? Behave. Can't see them leaving those Sony $$$ on the table though right?
The money from Sony is peanuts to them, these games will go exclusive, Microsoft are just waiting for the right time to announce it.
 

NahaNago

Member
Not actually true, in fact less do this as they still need new consumers.

XS literally failed a generation doing that combo and is now focusing on new IP, so so much for this "do the same" that simply isn't true and MS direction is to literally avoid what just happened with XONE.
What are you talking about the major third party companies are pretty much known for their ip. It is pretty much the reason why folks watch their e3 events because they want the next assassin creed, cod, far cry, battlefield, elder scrolls, halo, zelda, and etc

Xbox failed last gen because of the launch not because of their IP. Xbox has been lacking studios for a long timeand Playstation and Nintendo were releasing far more first party games than them a year so them buying more studios to fix that weakness makes sense. The acti/blizz though was a bit much.
Cause their focus is on the talent and quality of what those studios put out, not solely trying to fucking milk 1 IP to death. As to why Jak 4 was not done, they don't have any ideas, let Naughty Dog move on, thus they are KNOWN for the talent of the studio, not the studio solely known for 1 IP, let the focus be one what that studio can create instead of trying to force this fake evergreen thing from all IPs trying to milk them to oblivion.

Thats also false btw.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Sony_Interactive_Entertainment_video_games#PlayStation_4
It doesn't have to be Naughty Dog who makes the game. I just want a good jak and daxter game.

Did you look at that list? The weakest year for the ps3 in number of games was the launch of the ps3 and the launch of the ps4. Every year outside of those 2 from what I can tell had more games than the biggest year of the ps4.
Yea they broke those records because they did both.

God Of War, GT, Ratchet, LBP, SoTC remake and may more for established fans.
Horizon, Days Gone, Death Stranding, Ghost Of Tsushima, Dreams etc to bring in new consumers.
They were new ip so all consumers would technically be new for that ip.
the wii u failure topic
The Wii U is just an all around failure from the naming, marketing, design, etc, and their is absolutely no game new or old that was going to save that system. Most of my family didn't even know that Nintendo had even released a new console back then. So using the wii u to me as a comparison doesn't quite work. You tend to use the most extreme negative points. They had a wii and they have a switch though.

Of course, IP alone can't sell a system but it is still a major reason to buy the console.

Using the word Wii in the Wii U was one of the reason why the console failed. They should have either named it Super Wii or Wii 2. Sure I'd love a wii ni:LOL:.

I never said it wasn't a combination of hardware and ip. If the hardware is decent and you have some beloved ips to draw folks in plus great marketing, then folks will buy your console. Folks bought the switch cause first it is Nintendo, second the marketing was great, and third because of the ip/mario or zelda plus animal crossing.

Nah no but, stop goal posting lol The post is as logical as it gets. KNOWING the IP, is not enough and how relevant it is to core consumers is more important then how its seen by a mass of people based on pop culture. You may remember Star Fox fondly, doesn't mean gamers TODAY as of RIGHT NOW (adjust cap locks lol) really care about that IP, they don't care because the quality is so bad now, its known for being bad by gamers, doesn't matter that they know it from their childhood, the know it to be shit as a series as adults based on its recent milking.

Thus, the importance is not milking the IP to death, its in solely putting out quality titles so that way gamers who actually buy games, value the quality, not simply know its image. Knowing the face of a character means nothing when it becomes synonymous with bad, copy and paste, milked outsourced games.

The quality first should be factored before making a sequel, not the forced image solely to market a character.
You are adding a lot to a small line. I didn't mention anything about quality or milking the ip to death. The IP is the big draw and gets eyes on a product and that is why you remember star fox even though it was a flop.

I do agree that quality should be factored first but that is for all games.
Nah, I greatly disagree. If that shit was bad, keep it dead and only return if and only IF the studio has a great idea for it.

That whole "make sure not to abandon" is why we have Star Fox flopping. They never needed to milk that IP to such a degree and maybe we are better off with what we got until they make something actually good, now the IP has flopped so many times, we don't even know if they'd listen to a pitch for Star Fox 64-2 type deal, they might feel people hate it or something based on those low sales, I don't want that happening to any Sony titles, especially my favorite.
You make no sense. Of course, if the original idea was bad altogether then drop the series.

They know folks still love starfox cause it was added as dlc to that starlink game in 2019.
I like Jak and Daxter too, but I respect the freedom given to Naughty Dog for them to move on and only return when they have an idea vs outsource and milk.

I'd rather have a proper Jak 4 thats a great ass idea, if it needs to stay gone til then, so be it. We got endless Star Fox after Star Fox and all it did was kill that IP, maybe it should only be made if they have a great idea and its of great quality, whats the point of being remembered if its also remembered for being bad? Why make a sequel solely for relevance and not quality? I don't see that as a great thing for consumers, even if you like those IP, i'm sure you also like those IP being good too lol

Have a good one.
It doesn't have to be naughty dog.I'd be completely okay if they kicked jak to insomniac or anyone that could make a great jak game. Naughty dog making a jak game these days just seems weird to me.

What is your deal with star fox. That is like your go to punching bag. Nintendo simply had a bad idea when making the game .They tend to have a habit of trying new ideas in their next games quite often. Which annoys Arlo when it comes to the paper mario series. I also think they cheaped out on the star fox game.

Again with adding things I never said. Of course I would want a quality sequel. I expect the quality to always be as good or better than the last game.

Have a good one as well.
 
Last edited:

darrylgorn

Member
Nintendo is actually on cycle to put out a dud based on their history, they can "nintendo" but it might not work as well as you think. It's this kind of arrogance that launched the crappy wii U and it's underpowered system.
The only thing that will likely save them this time is that they don't have a true competitor in the mobile space, if they had one things would be drastically different going forward.

Let's see how Steam Deck does.
 

fast_taker

Member
It's not maths. There are some long term benefits for microsoft to say the least. Next time new consoles are available people will consider which console will have games like doom, cod, elder scrolls, etc etc. Spiderman games are great but they are not system sellers and their fanbase cannot possibly be compared to cod for example.
 

Zeroing

Banned
It's not maths. There are some long term benefits for microsoft to say the least. Next time new consoles are available people will consider which console will have games like doom, cod, elder scrolls, etc etc. Spiderman games are great but they are not system sellers and their fanbase cannot possibly be compared to cod for example.
I thought MS wasn’t focused on selling consoles, that the future is services… it’s hard to keep up with the million reasons Xbox fans make up about the brand.
 

Amiga

Member
See, this is where we diverge cause I think they do need to buy at least one publisher. Sony just lacks the nostalgic/historic ip that some of the other publishers have since they keep jumping to new ip every other generation.
The kids playing MP these days don't care about nostalgia. the most popular online games today are new. Sony just needs good formulas that work.
For nostalgia they can dig into their library. Do that Jak remake ND scrapped. Bring back Twisted Metal with a modernized system. Infamous 4 would be amazing after the big SP improvement in GoT.
But if there is a good opportunity to get classic IP then yes they should go for it. Konami IP like Metal Gear and Castlevania are left for dead and could possibly be bought for a reasonable amount.
But nothing is worth splashing 70 billion or even the 7.5 billion for Bethesda. Not over spending a fraction of that on funding game development.
 
I thought MS wasn’t focused on selling consoles, that the future is services… it’s hard to keep up with the million reasons Xbox fans make up about the brand.

It's not their primary focus, but it's certainly a focus of theirs. The more people that buy Xbox, the more exposure to Game Pass they have, but buying an Xbox still gives them money on every other game and microtransaction you buy on Xbox, so clearly they want you on their console ,they just want you on Game Pass more
 

Amiga

Member
Well, they are in desperate need of studios to make said IP...and scooping up a publisher is a good way to achieve that.
Sony are doing that already. They have been buying several dev teams. they don't need to buy a massive publisher along with the sales/marketing/PR departments. They just need to double down on what they are already doing. and target MP experts like the Payday devs.
 

NahaNago

Member
The kids playing MP these days don't care about nostalgia. the most popular online games today are new. Sony just needs good formulas that work.
For nostalgia they can dig into their library. Do that Jak remake ND scrapped. Bring back Twisted Metal with a modernized system. Infamous 4 would be amazing after the big SP improvement in GoT.
But if there is a good opportunity to get classic IP then yes they should go for it. Konami IP like Metal Gear and Castlevania are left for dead and could possibly be bought for a reasonable amount.
But nothing is worth splashing 70 billion or even the 7.5 billion for Bethesda. Not over spending a fraction of that on funding game development.
Sony has been pretty weak on the MP front for awhile but creating an online game that sells tons is just tricky. They tried with that drawn to death and that car game recently and both of those flopped. Just think about all of the overwatch game clones that didn't make it. I just wanted a straight up sequel to infamous second son. I really enjoyed that character and the world looked nice it was just unfortunately barren. So I think they could do a lot more with infamous now granted I think they could have done a lot more before ps4 gen was over since they had a better understanding of what the ps4 was capable of.

I don't see Konami selling Castlevania after netflix paid to have those cartoons/anime made of the show and that metal gear movie is supposedly in the works. the 70 billion was ridiculous but the 7.5 billion seemed fairly reasonable for Bethesda.
 

Amiga

Member
Sony has been pretty weak on the MP front for awhile but creating an online game that sells tons is just tricky. They tried with that drawn to death and that car game recently and both of those flopped.

Market testing and research for MP Sony Sony is just bad. Hardly anybody in charge gets it. it's like they gamble with projects and keep making bad bets like with those 2 games. and repeatedly losing the bets scared them.
Sony need people who "get" online MP to make decisions on projects. If they had decent people in charge of of MP investing they could have seen the potential in Warhawk, KZ and SOCOM and what went wrong and how to improve them instead of killing them.
 

Lognor

Banned
I appreciate your thoughtfulness mate :)

It's gone now, but i just bought a new computer, so I'm set, thanks :)
What are the specs? It does not seem like the best time to buy a PC due to the costs of materials. Are the specs in line with a Series S? Might have been the better option to keep the Series S if the specs on the PC are not as good. I know you had to sell some bits and bobs (did I get that right?) in order to afford the PS5.
 

Topher

Gold Member
What are the specs? It does not seem like the best time to buy a PC due to the costs of materials. Are the specs in line with a Series S? Might have been the better option to keep the Series S if the specs on the PC are not as good. I know you had to sell some bits and bobs (did I get that right?) in order to afford the PS5.

Believe he said he bought a Razer 14 laptop with a 3070. Series S isn't remotely close to that.
 

NahaNago

Member
Market testing and research for MP Sony Sony is just bad. Hardly anybody in charge gets it. it's like they gamble with projects and keep making bad bets like with those 2 games. and repeatedly losing the bets scared them.
Sony need people who "get" online MP to make decisions on projects. If they had decent people in charge of of MP investing they could have seen the potential in Warhawk, KZ and SOCOM and what went wrong and how to improve them instead of killing them.
I was thinking they just needed to buy a studio that is decent at mp and then eventually promote the director to help guide mp games after they have shown they were competent at it as a Sony first party studio.
 
This is such nonsense.

The Metaverse is buzzword being used to pump up investors.

The whole thing is a gimmick that will never take off. It has absolutely nothing to do with COD.
I feel the same. I don't see the Metaverse ever taking off with current technology. Ready player one was cool but using that tech would be weird for the normal people in that world because they are limited to their space and their surroundings, and what they can actually do (can't backflim in real life? You can't in the game either). Until you can go into some sort of deep sleep and play a game in a VR way, like some sort of inception sh*t, I'm not convinced.

However they are onto a winner with Gamepass.
 
Let's be real. Sony need an answer to Gamepass and they need it in 2022. People will only pay full price for games for so long before they realise that Microsoft have a better solution for them.
You still have to pay for the game if you want to own it past its gamepass presence but granted, it might be cheaper by then.
 

clarky

Gold Member
How do you come to that conclusion when half of what I said is to add people.
lol you think these things just magically happen ? the amount of work involved in achieving just a couple of things on your pie in the sky wish list in 11 months is astronomical.

MS has been trying to build the initiative for the last 3 years and they are still at 70 employees, for example.

Being asked to work overtime isnt exclusive to just poor game devs you know that right?
 
Last edited:
Maybe I'm understanding all of this wrong, which is probably the case but aren't they in competition with themselves instead of each other?

People buying PlayStations for Sony's IPs will keep buying them regardless of what Xbox does, no?

If we have a hypothetical scenario that before the acquisition Sony sells 20M PS5 a year and Microsoft sells 10 Xbox a year but after the acquisition Sony is still selling 20M but Microsoft increases to 15M...why would Sony care? They are still successful!

Xbox having exclusivity on certain franchises will not make me want a PS5 any less, it'll just make want to own an xbox along with a ps5.
 

NahaNago

Member
Maybe I'm understanding all of this wrong, which is probably the case but aren't they in competition with themselves instead of each other?

People buying PlayStations for Sony's IPs will keep buying them regardless of what Xbox does, no?

If we have a hypothetical scenario that before the acquisition Sony sells 20M PS5 a year and Microsoft sells 10 Xbox a year but after the acquisition Sony is still selling 20M but Microsoft increases to 15M...why would Sony care? They are still successful!

Xbox having exclusivity on certain franchises will not make me want a PS5 any less, it'll just make want to own an xbox along with a ps5.
They are in competition for the third party games sales on their console.

Xbox and Playstation have 99% the same library and use the exclusives to entice folks to buy their console after its launch in order to buy more games. It's like how valve barely needs to make any games and simply relies on the steam store to make money but Sony and Microsoft has to get folks to buy the console first.

Gamepass has changed things for Microsoft to where they now going after subscriptions as well as sales.
 
Last edited:

Tschumi

Member
What are the specs? It does not seem like the best time to buy a PC due to the costs of materials. Are the specs in line with a Series S? Might have been the better option to keep the Series S if the specs on the PC are not as good. I know you had to sell some bits and bobs (did I get that right?) in order to afford the PS5.
Are you actually 8 years old? Is this Lognor's son Adolf writing in his stead?
 

Tschumi

Member
That's his business
Denzel Washington Movie GIF
 

mckmas8808

Mckmaster uses MasterCard to buy Slave drives
Investing heavy on MP again. Starhawk, MAG, SOCOM, Killzone, Resistance, Twisted Metal. Sony tried these out on the PS3. but the MP community was small outside of CoD. XB360 had over 2x the install base in the USA in a time where everything MP lived or died in the NA market. After a half-@$$ed KZ:SF console demo game Sony practically gave up on MP shooters.
Sony should have evolved Japan studio instead of downsizing it to just the Astro team. They had teams that did good games with potential and just needed a bit more investment to go to the next level.

They are investing heavy on MP again.

We have the following based on official announcements, leaks and rumours
Deviation FPS game - Devs of Black Ops
FireWalk FPS game - Devs of Destiny
FireSprite Multiplayer game - Devs of Wipeout
TLOU Factions - became its own thing and more ambitious so more resources put into this
Twisted Metal F2P - rumoured to be in development by Lucid
London Studio multiplayer game - they are hiring for a online game
inSomniac multiplayer game - they are hiring for a online game





 

DrJamesOxford

Neo Member
I would be thrilled with a playstation 5 generation that continued to produce high quality single player story games and an expansive VR library.
Everything else is a +
 

fast_taker

Member
I thought MS wasn’t focused on selling consoles, that the future is services… it’s hard to keep up with the million reasons Xbox fans make up about the brand.
Well yeah, they now own a huge portfolio of games, patents and intellectual property which will promote via game pass to consoles, pc, cloud, androids, iphones etc. A portfolio which will most probably be further expanded in the near future with the next acquisitions.
It is also hard to keep up with the millions of reasons nonxbox fans make up to downplay xbox efforts for dominance. Whether we like it or not, xbox is making some bold decisions which will shape the future of gaming while the competition seems unable to follow.
 

ZywyPL

Banned
They are investing heavy on MP again.

We have the following based on official announcements, leaks and rumours
Deviation FPS game - Devs of Black Ops
FireWalk FPS game - Devs of Destiny
FireSprite Multiplayer game - Devs of Wipeout
TLOU Factions - became its own thing and more ambitious so more resources put into this
Twisted Metal F2P - rumoured to be in development by Lucid
London Studio multiplayer game - they are hiring for a online game
inSomniac multiplayer game - they are hiring for a online game

But again - what are the chances that this time any of those games will finally hit the jackpot? Especially after sleeping on the MP genre for entire generation? GG brought back KZ2 MP lead designer for KZSF, and that didn't help, to say the least. DICE has serious issues with making their decades old IP. Ubisoft failed hard with Hyper Scape. The examples go on and on, but what I'm trying to say that the MP field is harder than ever before, even if you have people experienced in it, there are just few behemoths on the market that count and that's about it, and it's damn hard/nearly impossible to take away the audience from them, especially when many of them are F2P to begin with, and if Sony thinks they can just show up with completely new MP IP for 70$ than I don't know, good luck I guess? I mean, Halo went F2P as well because MS knows well the market has changed dramatically and Halo doesn't attract that many people anymore. So what tare the odds? IMO those games will have to be something really new, never seen/done before, because if they'll try to copy what already out there, no one will bother.
 

coffinbirth

Member
Sony are doing that already. They have been buying several dev teams. they don't need to buy a massive publisher along with the sales/marketing/PR departments. They just need to double down on what they are already doing. and target MP experts like the Payday devs.
32>17
This gen is going to be quite painful for Sony if they can only muster a few games a year. The spin up time on assembling studios...hiring various talent, putting hierarchy in place, and alllll of that which goes into getting a game out the door isn't really time they can afford to lose here. Buying up a publisher, wholesale, affords them a little more of a chance to get multiple studios working on games in a timely fashion.

I like the single player, narrative driven action adventure games that Sony puts out as much as the next guy, but when your biggest studios are constantly working on these and they can only muster 1-2 games a console cycle, it's a problem in the face of what Microsoft is building.

I'm not trying to doom & gloom a scenario here, the writing is on the wall...and getting those PayDay devs onboard surely isn't the answer to anything. The core talent left Starbreeze moons ago and formed MachineGames, and Overkill Studios has basically crumbled after the core talent left there as well.

If they could find a few more Insomniacs out there, that's one thing, but I don't know if that can be a realistic scenario.

I like back against the wall Sony, you know, post PS3 launch debacle Sony. They need to stand up straight and come out swinging, and in this landscape, whipping out the checkbook is sadly in order as well....and I don't mean moneyhatting timed exclusivity bullshit.
 

mckmas8808

Mckmaster uses MasterCard to buy Slave drives
But again - what are the chances that this time any of those games will finally hit the jackpot? Especially after sleeping on the MP genre for entire generation? GG brought back KZ2 MP lead designer for KZSF, and that didn't help, to say the least. DICE has serious issues with making their decades old IP. Ubisoft failed hard with Hyper Scape. The examples go on and on, but what I'm trying to say that the MP field is harder than ever before, even if you have people experienced in it, there are just few behemoths on the market that count and that's about it, and it's damn hard/nearly impossible to take away the audience from them, especially when many of them are F2P to begin with, and if Sony thinks they can just show up with completely new MP IP for 70$ than I don't know, good luck I guess? I mean, Halo went F2P as well because MS knows well the market has changed dramatically and Halo doesn't attract that many people anymore. So what tare the odds? IMO those games will have to be something really new, never seen/done before, because if they'll try to copy what already out there, no one will bother.

To me this is literally the BILLION dollar question lol! I have two things that make me excited about those future games......

1. They have great a developer pedigree
2. I have all the trust in the world that Sony will back them financially and software support wise for the games to be good.



What I don't trust is for Jim Ryan to market them well or price them well.
 
Last edited:

coffinbirth

Member
To me this is literally the BILLION dollar question lol! I have two things that make me excited about those future games......

1. They have great a developer pedigree
2. I have all the trust in the world that Sony will back them financially and software support wise for the games to be good.



What I don't trust is for Jim Ryan to market them well or price them well.
They need some f2p in there. That's pretty much the dominate MP strat right now.
Twisted Metal? As much as I love that franchise...no. A waste of talent, money and time.
 

dano1

A Sheep
Spider Man and co only sold that many copies because people bought the console they are on because of games like Call of Duty. This argument falls flat on its face instantly.
What are you talking about. I’ve never bought a console because of call of duty. And I buy it every year. If call of duty goes away (and it probably won’t) I’m not buying a Xbox for it Sony will just bring back socom if that happens. I’m guessing..
 

yurinka

Member
They are investing heavy on MP again.

We have the following based on official announcements, leaks and rumours
Deviation FPS game - Devs of Black Ops
FireWalk FPS game - Devs of Destiny
FireSprite Multiplayer game - Devs of Wipeout
TLOU Factions - became its own thing and more ambitious so more resources put into this
Twisted Metal F2P - rumoured to be in development by Lucid
London Studio multiplayer game - they are hiring for a online game
inSomniac multiplayer game - they are hiring for a online game





Bend open world new IP - mentioned to have multiplayer elements in a job offer
Sucker Punch next game - mentioned to have multiplayer elements in a job offer (maybe it's only GoT2 MP)
Haven GaaS MP game - devs of Assassin's Creed and many top Ubi games like Splinter Cell Blacklist Rainbow Six Siege plus Star Wars Squadrons

Regarding Firesprite they have many key devs not only from SCEE Liverpool/Wipeout but also from Evolution and Bizarre Creations. The Twisted Metal rumored game has been rumored to be moved from Lucid to Firesprite.
 
Last edited:

Amiga

Member
They are investing heavy on MP again.

We have the following based on official announcements, leaks and rumours
Deviation FPS game - Devs of Black Ops
FireWalk FPS game - Devs of Destiny
FireSprite Multiplayer game - Devs of Wipeout
TLOU Factions - became its own thing and more ambitious so more resources put into this
Twisted Metal F2P - rumoured to be in development by Lucid
London Studio multiplayer game - they are hiring for a online game
inSomniac multiplayer game - they are hiring for a online game

The ones they need most are from the Black Ops and Destiny devs but they are just publishing deals. They need those typs of devs as total 1st party.
 

mckmas8808

Mckmaster uses MasterCard to buy Slave drives
The ones they need most are from the Black Ops and Destiny devs but they are just publishing deals. They need those typs of devs as total 1st party.

I "THINK" the idea is to work with them on a game or two. And if things work out, they'll purchase them as first party studios.
 

Amiga

Member
This gen is going to be quite painful for Sony if they can only muster a few games a year. The spin up time on assembling studios...hiring various talent, putting hierarchy in place, and alllll of that which goes into getting a game out the door isn't really time they can afford to lose here. Buying up a publisher, wholesale, affords them a little more of a chance to get multiple studios working on games in a timely fashion.

Sony are already a good publisher. probably the 2nd best after Nintendo. So they don't need wholesale changes like MS who did little great in-house. MS will also spend a lot of time downsizing and reviewing the huge number human resources they got.
And Sony could get studios running pretty quick. Cory Balrog assembled the GOW PS4 team and got the game out relatively fast. same with Kojima Productions(this team they should sign now).

I "THINK" the idea is to work with them on a game or two. And if things work out, they'll purchase them as first party studios.

It's fine if that is part of the contract. otherwise the devs could move on like Bungie or Sony get outbid in a purchase offer. FPS devs are in high demand. Not going to be as easy as getting Housemarque or Insomniac.
 

Warablo

Member
TLOU Factions part II will be good gameplay wise no doubt and have a decent following. I don't think it will be massive just because TPS doesn't get as much people anymore. There other new IP studios I am sure will crank out at least a cult following of a decent multiplayer game too.

I just don't know if Sony exclusives ever got really giant multiplayer wise. I feel the closest was The Last of Us 1.
 

Lognor

Banned
What are you talking about. I’ve never bought a console because of call of duty. And I buy it every year. If call of duty goes away (and it probably won’t) I’m not buying a Xbox for it Sony will just bring back socom if that happens. I’m guessing..
That's interesting that you wouldn't buy an Xbox for Call of Duty when you buy the game every year. Will you play COD on PC instead? Or just write it off entirely?

And funny that you would bring up socom as a replacement. I don't see much similarity between the two games. Socom feels closer to Ghost Recon to me. Surprised you wouldn't move to Battlefield instead.
 

HTK

Banned
Nobody on here gets paid to do the math.

I'm a consumer. I will buy hardware/software based on their quality and my preferences. I could care less who is #1, #2, or #3.
 
Last edited:

mckmas8808

Mckmaster uses MasterCard to buy Slave drives
It's fine if that is part of the contract. otherwise the devs could move on like Bungie or Sony get outbid in a purchase offer. FPS devs are in high demand. Not going to be as easy as getting Housemarque or Insomniac.

I think it "should" be almost as easy. Money talks. If someone throws $250 Million at you, I believe that'll make them think twice.
 

ZywyPL

Banned
To me this is literally the BILLION dollar question lol! I have two things that make me excited about those future games......

1. They have great a developer pedigree
2. I have all the trust in the world that Sony will back them financially and software support wise for the games to be good.



What I don't trust is for Jim Ryan to market them well or price them well.

They need some f2p in there. That's pretty much the dominate MP strat right now.
Twisted Metal? As much as I love that franchise...no. A waste of talent, money and time.

I think the best/smartest move would be to put MP games on PS+, so that they'd be sort of semi-F2P - people already pay to play online, so they'd definitely try those games regardless, but those who don't but are interested would have to sub, so either eay Sony woyld still get some money from those games.
 
Maybe I'm understanding all of this wrong, which is probably the case but aren't they in competition with themselves instead of each other?

People buying PlayStations for Sony's IPs will keep buying them regardless of what Xbox does, no?

If we have a hypothetical scenario that before the acquisition Sony sells 20M PS5 a year and Microsoft sells 10 Xbox a year but after the acquisition Sony is still selling 20M but Microsoft increases to 15M...why would Sony care? They are still successful!

Xbox having exclusivity on certain franchises will not make me want a PS5 any less, it'll just make want to own an xbox along with a ps5.
Most of the money console makers make is off the sales of games. Recently, most profit is coming from microtransactions and season passes on F2P games. The console maker receives a percentage of each sale, or each transaction.
Sony has had "Special" deals in place to increase their profits from these MTs. They could get these special percentages as the console leader. Now, Epic and the like can push back on Sony to reduce their cut and remove the special rules about MTs. I think the rule was the reason why Sony was refusing to do crossplay. Maybe someone with more time on their hands can explain this better than I can.

I don't believe it is about console sales, or even individual consumers. It is about removing business advantages Sony had in the PS4 generation.
This is a long running business war. Nintendo never picked this fight and were very careful not to antagonize either Sony or MS. Sony, on the other hand, reveled in rubbing salt in the wounds of MS mistakes.
I think Shawn Layden could see that if Sony continued down the aggressive strategy path it would back fire. Jim Ryan, on the other hand, is a man who wanted to wave his dick about.
 
Last edited:

Gravemind

Member
I wouldn't really call it a strategy to be honest. The truth is that they just can't afford to be buying publishers for billions of dollars.

You do know that if they could afford to be throwing around that kind of money, they most definitely would be. Sony have been greedy for all the exclusive content that they can get their hands on for a long time. Don't kid yourself.
 
Let's look at the math here

Sony purchases a smaller dev Insomniac for $229 million who have talent but little known IP

They now have a consistent 20 million selling IP in Spiderman

If for some crazy set of circumstances Capcom wanted to sell and Sony bought them it would cost them 5 billion dollars, and they only have a couple 10 million (at best) selling franchises that are less impressive even because they're multiplats.


MS's never ending pockets can afford them to make ridiculous purchases like 70 billion for COD.

A strategy that may be good for one is not good for the other.

Nintendo is breaking sales records for Switch with first party studios alone and a lot of those games are pretty low budget to make.

Playstation's brand value and development talent is what's going to see them through because all their first party franchises are starting to put up the big numbers

GOT 8 million
Horizon well over 10 million
GOW 20 million plus
Spiderman 20 million plus
The floor with this comment is "Spiderman" is not an original Sony creation. Or an insomniac creation. Horizon is about to launch and we will see how well it does this gen. You can't apply previous generation sales to a new gen.. Look at how that worked out for Nintendo on the Wii U.
 

mckmas8808

Mckmaster uses MasterCard to buy Slave drives
I think the best/smartest move would be to put MP games on PS+, so that they'd be sort of semi-F2P - people already pay to play online, so they'd definitely try those games regardless, but those who don't but are interested would have to sub, so either eay Sony woyld still get some money from those games.

Yep! Or Spartacus or whatever the new service will be called. Maybe this is the master plan that Sony is supposed to be revealing soon.
 
Top Bottom