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Pushsquare, “Reaction: PS5 Livestreams Are No Longer Speaking to the Fans Who Built the Brand”

ArtHands

Thinks buying more servers can fix a bad patch



there’s a growing sentiment that PlayStation is no longer speaking to the fans that built its brand with these broadcasts. The overwhelming reaction from both readers on Push Square and on social media in general is that the platform holder’s latest livestream was middling at best, and it’s not exactly the first time.

The problem for PlayStation right now – through a heady combination of its own adjusted marketing plans, the aftermath of the pandemic, and never-ending development cycles – is that it feels like it’s abandoned the kinds of software that fans have always valued most. The success of the PS3’s latter years and PS4’s entire lifecycle was built on single player experiences like The Last of Us and Ghost of Tsushima; with new titles from Naughty Dog and Sucker Punch missing in action, many feel slighted by the manufacturer right now.

The upcoming Silent Hill 2remake, a console exclusive, is a big deal, for example; Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth and Stellar Blade launched just a couple of months ago. But enthusiasts are desperate to see that PS Studios logo followed by eye-melting, new-gen justifying experiences – and these projects are, sadly, now taking unprecedented lengths of time to build.

Astro Bot looks delightful, of course, and channels that old-school Japan Studio energy that so many propose to be lacking from the PlayStation of today – but for an audience that grew up on a steady stream of Resistance, inFAMOUS, and Uncharted, the PS5 feels sorely lacking in comparison. There’s a larger discussion about the dynamics of this generation that contextualises why, but at the end of the day, it doesn’t change the fact that the Sony of 2024 seems out of touch with the fans who ultimately built the brand.
 

James Sawyer Ford

Gold Member
Over 50% of Sonys revenue is from around 10 GaaS titles, most of which started during ps3/ps4 era

So no…the most casual audiences that made up half of PlayStations success are in the GaaS space

Funny thing is, those gamers aren’t hardcore and aren’t vocal and don’t even watch showcase shows or state of plays
 

Robb

Gold Member
I’m not sure if that’s the problem. People seem to love Helldivers 2.

I’d think most people just expect quality output when they see the PS Studios logo, and then they’re presented with something like Concord which looks like the most generic by-the-numbers title filled with obvious DEI nonsense.
 
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gothmog

Gold Member
Over 50% of Sonys revenue is from around 10 GaaS titles, most of which started during ps3/ps4 era

So no…the most casual audiences that made up half of PlayStations success are in the GaaS space

Funny thing is, those gamers aren’t hardcore and aren’t vocal and don’t even watch showcase shows or state of plays
Shhhhhhh. Nobody wants to hear that PlayStation used to do cool multiplayer games and PC MMOs.
 

gothmog

Gold Member
SOE was awesome. Planetside (first one, not the second) is one of my favorite games of all time. Everquest was an enormous hit before WoW was even a thing. Shame how things went.
Yep. I'm hoping they might get some of that former glory back but I think it's easier to trash them than to realize the whole brand was built on taking risks.
 

mclaren777

Member
I watched the recent presentation and concluded that I was probably better off playing old games (especially those from the PS4 era) because the industry doesn't make games that I want to play any longer.

AAA releases lost my interest this generation and there just aren't enough indie games to keep me coming back.
 
This article is spot on. I've been saying this for almost 2 years this is NOT the same Sony that used to exist. Gone are the actual next gen games that pushed the hardware, replaced with greedy and safe Sony focusing on Cross gen, gaas, and PC....the focus is on everything but taking advantage of the PS5's hardware.

Sony can't even do remasters right this gen, instead doing ports to ps5 and lying about them being upgrades...that's pathetic- remasters used to actually improve graphics and resolution.

Sony is also getting lapped by the likes of Ubisoft and Ninja Theory when it comes to graphics ...imagine that
 

MacReady13

Member
What I, and MANY I know loved (and got me back on board the PS3 after being 360 exclusive BEFORE the Kinect came out) was Uncharted. NOT multiplayer games like some on here are trying to spin it. It was the single player games.

They had them on PS2 (Silent Hill 2 being a prime example) and even on the original PlayStation (Resident Evil, Tomb Raider etc…). But they excelled on the PS3 and especially the PS4. Where in the fuck are they this generation? Stop spending $300 million on games for no fucking reason! Focus on quality stories and great gameplay and less on trying to get 4K ray tracing bullshit in games today! Funny how the game of the showcase was generally perceived to be Astrobot which looked like something they’d have released on the PS2 with great, cartoony graphics that looked NOTHING like Spider-Man and didn’t need ray tracing to show its charms.
 

gothmog

Gold Member
This article is spot on. I've been saying this for almost 2 years this is NOT the same Sony that used to exist. Gone are the actual next gen games that pushed the hardware, replaced with greedy and safe Sony focusing on Cross gen, gaas, and PC....the focus is on everything but taking advantage of the PS5's hardware.

Sony can't even do remasters right this gen, instead doing ports to ps5 and lying about them being upgrades...that's pathetic- remasters used to actually improve graphics and resolution.

Sony is also getting lapped by the likes of Ubisoft and Ninja Theory when it comes to graphics ...imagine that
Those hardware pushing games tended to come late in the generation. I thought most of the games announced on the SoP were PS5, PSVR2 (which is PS5), and PC? I don't think I really paid attention to what was on PS4.
 

phaedrus

Member
PS6 should be handheld only, the games need to get these crazy budgets under control and should follow the Nintendo model.

james franco wtf GIF
 
To further explain the article/thread title: This is less about the type of content being shown and more about dev times of said content being longer and longer.
I made this point in another thread a little bit back, but I will just say again, why is this a Sony problem? This is industry wide, yet Sony consistently gets blasted for this.

Most of their studios have released games over the past 5 years, including: ND, Sucker Punch, GG, Insomniac, SSM, bluepoint, Asobi and Media Molecule. Hell I'm sure I've missed some but like that's pretty good, no?

We use to get big assassin creed games every year, but Ubi stopped with that. GTA, do people remember when we would get multiple of those games a gen? It's been a gen and a half since a new one. CoD has still been going with the every year release but their quality has seemed to fall off and this year is basically just a remaster of a decade old game, in which plays worse. I looked this up the other day because it was one of those things that I knew already but didn't really realize. Do people realize it's been a full fucking decade since Nintendo dropped a new Mario Kart. The furthest between main entries before is like 7 years. And there isn't one in sight yet (although probably a good chance there is one that comes with switch 2). ToTK took over 6 years and it literally copies the map of the previous entry. I could also go off on MS and their anemic output of quality, quantity and timelines but they get shit on enough on this site.

I would love to know who in this industry makes high quality games, that are AAA and does so in a timely manner. Because outside of FROM and Insomniac, I don't think another dev exists. It's just a shitty part of this industry currently.

As a last point, I don't think that this means Sony and their first party is perfect. SM2 costing has much as it did is just flat out insane for also keeping basically the same map. Bend seems in turmoil, days gones sucked and just with how quiet they've been about their next project. Then obviously the whole fractions 2 debacle with ND. I just wish people would look at the overall state of what is going on and not just blame a single dev or publisher.
 

Pejo

Member
Sony turning their backs on quirky fun Japanese games is what killed my interest in Playstation. Tokyo Jungle, Gravity Rush, Shadow of the Colussus, the Wild Arms games, Freedom Wars, Soul Sacrifice, etc were the types of experiences that I used to look forward to from Sony. Now it's all agenda driven western garbage that takes hundreds of millions and 7~ years to make.

I don't think it'll ever improve until an ex-developer CEO with some passion about gaming returns, or they move the HQ out of California.
 

Go_Ly_Dow

Member
Lifelong Playstation owner but have come to accept Sony is becoming far removed from the company that made the games I grew up with.

This may also extend soon to the wider industry as the next generation of gamers have grown up playing Roblox, Fortnite and Minecraft and could potentially rehsape the industry into something that's unrecognisable compared to lets say even the PS4 generation.

You look at gutter junk like Concord and compare it to the beauty of Shadow of the Colossus and you can't help but think art that wants to pursue beauty is dead. Instead it's being replaced by a flashing lights casino made by executives.

 
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GigaBowser

The bear of bad news
caneven believe astrobot traler never got viral looks armazing sony fans must all purchase this please
 

Bojanglez

The Amiga Brotherhood
People are so entitled and I think a bit unrealistic. As the market changes you have to evolve the products and the marketing cadence. Not everything is going to appeal to everyone, you cant have quarterly updates, all packed with new unannounced first party AAA games.

Now don't get me wrong, not all the games they showed appeal to me, but I would be worried for the platform as a whole if they did.
 

ZehDon

Member
Yes, but with good cause. PSN is their biggest money maker, and outside of a small number of titles, it's largely driven by third parties. Last year, Microsoft bought up one of its biggest money makers and one of its biggest pushers of PS+: Call of Duty. Now, Sony needs to ween itself off it's dependence on Call of Duty and start delivering multiplayer titles that can drive the profits necessary to give studios like SSM $300m to go make a proper next-gen God of War. They banked a lot on Bungie being able to deliver titles in that vein, while their own studios, like Naughty Dog, struggle.
 

ProtoByte

Weeb Underling
I have my problems with Sony's current direction, but this article is engagement farming concentrate. I didn't see the media calling out this shit when Sony first talked about their bevy of new initiatives, even though this, like what's shook out with Gamepass, was the obvious conclusion.

State of Plays have barely ever been an indicator of what people want from PS. It's a marketing obligations splurge, mostly to third parties. Unless you're someone who claims they like smaller games, and not the "cinematic movie game walking simulator" showstoppers who should be happy with what they saw.

Beyond the SOP, it's all well and good that we lament the way Sony is conducting themselves, but it's hard to be surprised. There is way too much money in one way, and way too much risk in the other, and that's the fault of consumers. Fortnite skins, Call of Duty microtransactions and FIFA Ultimate Team do more for Sony's revenue than their biggest single player games combined. The brand was, to this point, "built" on a combination of third party licensing fees, online subscriptions, and then first party spending. And guess which comes last in that list, by a wide margin.

It's on PlayStation to go ahead and do what they need to do - and they do need to appeal to the core/hardcore base to a large degree - but it was inevitable that this was going to happen at some point.

You don't want to pay more for your games after 15 years at the same price not accounting for inflation and increased dev costs, you don't want devs to crunch and you want them to get paid high salaries with benefits and studio pizza parties, you don't want tools like AI used to streamline the production process, and yet you expect them to behave the same way they did back in '06 while Genshin Impact rakes in a billion dollars from waifu, husbando and furry skins. Doesn't add up.
 
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Duchess

Member
Controversial opinion here: gaming has not been aimed at "the old guard" (i.e., those who have been gaming since the 8 bit era) for several years now.

That's the price we paid for our hobby going more mainstream, and no longer being considered something that sad, lonely little boys spend time doing, locked away in their darkened bedrooms.
 
I made this point in another thread a little bit back, but I will just say again, why is this a Sony problem?
It’s not. People are using a less-than-stellar State of Play to springboard opinion pieces and videos on their gripes with Sony and the AAA industry.
Most of their studios have released games over the past 5 years, including: ND, Sucker Punch, GG, Insomniac, SSM, bluepoint, Asobi and Media Molecule. Hell I'm sure I've missed some but like that's pretty good, no?
It is, but it will never be enough for people who simply want those fast-release sequels with a ton of reused assets, like in those earlier generations.

People don’t understand the internal workings of AAA gamedev because not many gamedevs are actually willing to share their internal workings, aside from the creative and fun stuff. No one is going to ask random programmers and artists why 4k assets at 60fps with ray tracing blows up their budget. Just like no one is going to ask Random Number Cruncher Joe how he helps with budgeting said studio and keeping them afloat, and how he is stressed beyond belief when a big budget game flops.

The consumers just care about the end result and not the process. The problem is that there has been this phenomenon for a while now where these same consumers would rather choose to wait on only their preferred select few AAA releases, not play nor look at anything else(including their own backlogs), and choose to complain about things instead.

It’s annoying but it’s best not to let it get under your skin too much 🤷‍♂️
 

Pejo

Member
Controversial opinion here: gaming has not been aimed at "the old guard" (i.e., those who have been gaming since the 8 bit era) for several years now.

That's the price we paid for our hobby going more mainstream, and no longer being considered something that sad, lonely little boys spend time doing, locked away in their darkened bedrooms.
I don't think that's all that controversial of an opinion. The thing is, "the old guard" didn't really want the changes that came, which is why you see a lot of pushback for current day games, direction, and monetization practices in enthusiast circles (like GAF). I'd love for gaming to go back to being a niche hobby, personally. That's why I keep cheering for the next big crash.
 
Sony turning their backs on quirky fun Japanese games is what killed my interest in Playstation. Tokyo Jungle, Gravity Rush, Shadow of the Colussus, the Wild Arms games, Freedom Wars, Soul Sacrifice, etc were the types of experiences that I used to look forward to from Sony.
I agree about this abandonment doing more harm than good. They never quite matched the charm of Nintendo and Sega at their peaks, but Sony had charm of their own.

I’d argue they also put way too much budget last gen and the gen before in games that should have been considered experimental, smaller I.P.

The two biggest Vita devs, Bend Studio and Ready at Dawn, should not have been given such huge budgets and monetary gain requirements for both of their first PS4 games.
 

DenchDeckard

Moderated wildly
Astro bot saved that stream. If Hulst had got his wish and shut team asobi we would have been in a nightmare of his and Jimmy's creation 😆
 

Pejo

Member
I agree about this abandonment doing more harm than good. They never quite matched the charm of Nintendo and Sega at their peaks, but Sony had charm of their own.

I’d argue they also put way too much budget last gen and the gen before in games that should have been considered experimental, smaller I.P.

The two biggest Vita devs, Bend Studio and Ready at Dawn, should not have been given such huge budgets and monetary gain requirements for both of their first PS4 games.
This is why I liked Jack Tretton, Adam Boyes, and Shawn Layden, even though they'll never reach Kaz/Shuhei levels for me personally. They acknowledged that it was about fostering the ecosystem with smaller titles that they knew wouldn't sell mutli-million copies, but brought variety and depth to the Playstation catalogue. Now it's very much become "if you don't like the cinematic story games or live service games, why are you even on Playstation?" which isn't a healthy attitude to have for a platform, in my opinion at least.

And yea, agree about their Vita studios. Bend had/has a ton of potential but they got thrown directly into the fire to really nobody's benefit in the long run.
 
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