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[EruditeHobo]

After Xbox 360, all MS had to do was not fuck up and the next gen was theirs.

PS3 already caught up by the end of the X360.

Sure, XB1 had issues that caused MS to get soundly beaten that generation... but Sony had already gotten their shit together and were flying by then.

The successes at end of the PS3 laid the groundwork for the triumph that was PS4... and frankly the same thing was true of the transition between PS4 & PS5.

 

[nial]

Their only Japanese studios left are Polyphony and Team Asobi

Wow, they went from two to... two. Sony Japan's internal division has been pretty inefficient since 2002, perhaps a restructuring was long overdue.

 

[Gamerguy84]

I'm happy they're making more profits then ever before but to me what matters is games. Between ps3/4/5/psp games through ps premium and games I've bought I've never been so satisfied.

Same experience with PS premium. They've got a hi quality library

 

[Shubh_C63]

I still think Sony strategy is high risk high reward but god bless them they keep nailing it for so many years now.

 

[reinking]

Among some of the major decisions Sony have made in the last few years (please note I am just listing them with no judgment on whether they are positive or negative, I want you to decide those):

• Expanding their IP cross-media (with TV, movies, and anime)
• Expanding their IP cross-platform with late PC ports for their exclusives (and some multiplatform releases, like Bungie's games, and the MLB games)
• Long term cross-gen support for games
• Charging for cross-gen upgrades
• Premium pricing model - expensive console, accessories, and games
• Raising the price of games to $70
• Having fewer sales on their games, and for much lower discounts than before
• Raising the price of the PS5 two years after launch
• Expansion into GAAS games
• Investing in an expensive VR platform that is not wireless and not standalone
• Investing heavily in marketing and branding deals for major third party multiplatform games
• Securing timed exclusives from third parties
• Trying to close down legacy stores, but backing off on it after community uproar
• Closing down studios like Japan Studio
• Re-releases of classic and older games - on the PS5 alone: The Last of Us Remastered, Spider-Man Remastered, Ghost of Tsushima: Director's Cut, Death Stranding Director's Cut, Uncharted 4, Uncharted The Lost Legacy, a Demon's Souls remake, and a rumoured re-release for Horizon Zero Dawn and The Last of Us Part 2

In terms of sales numbers, profits, and revenues, these are objectively good business decisions judging by how successful Sony has been in general for the last few years, but I am not asking from a business perspective, I am asking you, as a gamer, what do you personally think of Sony's overall direction as a business these last few years? Do you like it? Why or why not?

No judgement detected...

-Expanding their IP cross-media (with TV, movies, and anime)
-Expanding their IP cross-platform with late PC ports for their exclusives (and some multiplatform releases, like Bungie's games, and the MLB games)
-Long term cross-gen support for games
-Charging for cross-gen upgrades
-Premium pricing model - expensive console, accessories, and games
-Raising the price of games to $70
-Having fewer sales on their games, and for much lower discounts than before
-Raising the price of the PS5 two years after launch
-Expansion into GAAS games
-Investing in an expensive VR platform that is not wireless and not standalone
-Investing heavily in marketing and branding deals for major third party multiplatform games
-Securing timed exclusives from third parties
-Trying to close down legacy stores, but backing off on it after community uproar
-Closing down studios like Japan Studio
-Re-releases of classic and older games - on the PS5 alone: The Last of Us Remastered, Spider-Man Remastered, Ghost of Tsushima: Director's Cut, Death Stranding Director's Cut, Uncharted 4, Uncharted The Lost Legacy, a Demon's Souls remake, and a rumoured re-release for Horizon Zero Dawn and The Last of Us Part 2

 

[T0minator]

Numbers don't lie, they're doing just fine. I'm liking this gen so far primarily because of the PS5. I can always use more multiplayer games. They're keeping the single player cadence going, so it doesn't bother me on any way.

Being back Twisted Metal and release The Last of Us Online in great shape is all I ask

 

[CitizenKratos]

In terms of the ps5 and it’s software it’s been an impressive showing.

 

[Heisenberg007]

Not really happy with the direction of their first party. TLoU 2, Ragnarök and Forbidden West are all completely unnecessary sequels IMO.

 

[Heaven Angel]

• Premium pricing model - expensive console, accessories, and games
• Raising the price of games to $70
• Having fewer sales on their games, and for much lower discounts than before
• Raising the price of the PS5 two years after launch
• Investing in an expensive VR platform that is not wireless and not standalone
• Trying to close down legacy stores, but backing off on it after community uproar
• Closing down studios like Japan Studio
• Re-releases of classic and older games - on the PS5 alone: The Last of Us Remastered, Spider-Man Remastered, Ghost of Tsushima: Director's Cut, Death Stranding Director's Cut, Uncharted 4, Uncharted The Lost Legacy, a Demon's Souls remake, and a rumoured re-release for Horizon Zero Dawn and The Last of Us Part 2

These are bad

Expansion into GAAS games

This is the worst.

tbh, as soon as Jim Ryan took over as president and CEO these has been multiple bad decisions for Sony than better ones. His predecessors did much greater job of building a brand which he is milking it as much as possible. Not good for us.

 

[Heisenberg007]

Numbers don't lie, they're doing just fine. I'm liking this gen so far primarily because of the PS5. I can always use more multiplayer games. They're keeping the single player cadence going, so it doesn't bother me on any way.

Being back Twisted Metal and release The Last of Us Online in great shape is all I ask

This.

Yes, there are a few decisions here and there that I don't like or agree with, but then, we don't have to agree with all the decisions a company makes -- because the company continues to perform amazingly well.

People who criticize PlayStation (not saying that OP is criticizing) really need to imagine for one second how this generation would look like in terms of games and features if there were no PlayStation, and only Xbox.

Most of us wouldn't even be gaming.

 

[Topher]

Not really happy with the direction of their first party. TLoU 2, Ragnarök and Forbidden West are all completely unnecessary sequels IMO.

Although I loved TLOU 2, I get that TLOU ended properly and did not need a sequel. God of War and Horizon Zero Dawn definitely had more story to tell. Horizon still does, obviously. It is necessary to complete the story.

 

[LRKD]

Playstation is Dead to me, as far as I am concerned the Vita was their last console. Everything after that is a completely different company that I have no love for.

 

[Robb]

They’re killing it at the moment. But for me personally a lot of the stuff they’re going for aren’t for me. I have no interest in VR and don’t care at all for their GAAS/multiplayer push.

 

[Loxus]

For those that say Sony is taking the wrong road and they shouldn't have made sequels to certain games, check and look at how PlayStation is doing at the moment.

PS5 is selling like hot cakes and those sequels sold millions of copies and got a lot of rewards. Keeping the company alive in the process.

This is the reason why you are commenting on a thread and not running a cooperation.

 

[Damigos]

I dont like 3 things :
1) the closure of some studios (which brought the death of arcade racers like wipeout)
2) the many many re-releases of previous gen, despite the epic port of tlous1
3) and the most important, the openess towards live service games, which i think will bite them in the a$$. I personally hate with a passion anything live service games/cosmetic shops/microtransactions/battle passes.. and all that kind of $hit and Sony, until now, seemed to have some kind of small resilience towards. But after the last days of play it seems like the only way forward will be Nintendo (which is ironic )

 

[kazuyamishima]

I prefer previous CEO’s.

But under Jimbo, SIE has seen the most financial success.

 

[TropicanaTwista]

It's fine. It's really just a continuation of the ps4 era, which is really a continuation of the late PS3 era. They haven't really had a lot of blunders or long gaps of first party releases. For me, they are still the best publisher in the industry and I tend to enjoy their games more than from other devs/publishers and not much has changed this gen for me. Out of my top 3 games to release since this gen started, I would have GoW:R and returnal on that list. I know spider man 2 is gonna be awesome come this fall as well.

Some if the "issues" you bring up don't really make sense to me. The price increases are across the board. Sure you can call it a negative, but I don't see why they would reflect only on Sony when it's an industry thing. Also for the movies/shows, I don't really see how it's even relevant.... It's two different mediums. Makes sense that they are doing this but I fail to see why this would be a bad or good thing in any way.

My only negative I would say, like most people on here, is the push for gaas. But even with that said, I'm nowhere near upset or worried as most people on this board. From all accounts this isnt a replacement from their traditional first party games but just branching out. Even when looking at their actions and buying a couple of new studios to help develop those

 

[Kilau]

They’ve abandoned the old identity I was a fan of. PlayStation is just another western console now. Sure it’s been successful but there are a lot of successful companies that make things I’m not interested in.

 

[Aces High]

Platform-wise I'm super happy with PlayStation. The value for money of the hardware is amazing since Cerny is system architect. They have sales all year round, and with PS5 I finally have super fast download speeds. What's also important: I can connect to the brand on a psychological level.

I'm not so happy with the games right now.

God of War Ragnarök was a huge disappointment. That ultra slow high-brow storytelling was cool and new during the PS360 era when Naughty Dog introduced it with TLOU, but two console generations later it's just stale and boring. I'm not interested in walking and talking games anymore. Also the game controls like everything is in slow motion with input lag from hell. God of War doesn't look good enough to control this badly.

Horizon Forbidden West was also a let down. Visually, it's probably the most impressive game out there, but I just can't stand how boring Aloy is. I don't care how she looks or if she's thin or fat, Aloy is plain boring. Horizon had the potential to be the coolest IP ever with robo dinosaurs and awesome combat, but instead of making it amazing and awesome they made a boring national geographic documentation with focus on stupid wannabe-realistic tribes that dress like complete idiots.

Gran Turismo 7 is among the best PlayStation games right now imho. It's super addictive. But I don't play it anymore because I'm at that point where I can't progress without hours of stupid grind or investing real money to buy an 80s & 90s prototype car.

Ratched and Clank is a true 10/10 game. This game is pure fun. Insomniac absolutely nailed it.

My wish for the future is that PlayStation games focus more on gameplay and the core what makes a good video game instead of trying to be a multimedia version of a Dostoyevski book.

 

[Kenneth Haight]

Serviceable, but there’s now nothing upcoming in their first party I’m particularly excited for. They need to get me excited again.

 

[Omnipunctual Godot]

They need more variety in their first-party games. Have they published any new games on PS5 that weren't third-party action games?

 

[majorgamer10]

The way Playstation's games have inflated, like everything else in the world, I don't do much shopping there even with a PS5.

 

[Esppiral]

Fire Jimbo

 

[TheTony316]

As long as they make games that appeal to me, i couldn't care less.

The only one that really bugs me is the closure of Japan studio.

 

[Fredrik]

I don’t like:

Delayed PC releases.
Why? Because it makes me double dip.

Delayed PS+ game catalogue releases.
Why? Because I’ve already played the games which makes the sub library pointless.

No PC support for PSVR2.
Why? The market is too small to have multiple headsets.

Third party exclusives.
Why? If I have all hardware then I want to be able to play the games on the hardware that have the best version.

The console design.
Why? Because it’s ugly and it’s in my living room.



I like:

The high quality 1st party games.
Why? Makes every 1st party release an event worth being excited for.

PS+ game catalogue.
Why? Saves me money.

PC ports on 1st party games.
Why? Great games with even better graphics and framerates.

That they believe in VR.
Why? Because VR is great, just needs more AAA games.

Controller haptics.
Why? Because when it’s well implemented it’s amazing. Like in Ratchet and the Glitch sequences.

 

[StealthGoblin]

I’m pretty happy.

Many of the right moves IMO and as long as they keep pumping out GOTY standard single player game, which they’ve committed to do, then it’s all good.

 

[MagnesD3]

Honestly, legendary.

People will look back at this time period in 10 years and recognize how vital and successful the GAAS pivot was for PlayStation. Most people are really 10 years behind reality on this stuff.

Oh im sure they will make money but the actual gamers will suffer lol, its awful.

 

[Mr Hyde]

I have mixed feelings about Sony right now. PS5 is a great console and the first party support was stellar the first two years but now when they are headed into GaaS-universe, cutting down on their single player games, they can fuck right off. The premium pricing model they have taken on sucks balls as well. The prices on their digital storefront is ridiculous, with new games costing upwards 100 dollars. And I ain´t having that shit. Sony used to be a company who invested in all sorts of cool stuff but now they just seem complacent and safe, greenlighting boring shit I have no interest in. It´s why I have started to distance myself from Playstation and seek out new frontiers, such as PC gaming. I will always be a fan of PS but right now I´m very unhappy with them. Hopefully they ditch this live service shit soon enough and go back to where they belong.

 

[KungFucius]

Honestly, legendary.

People will look back at this time period in 10 years and recognize how vital and successful the GAAS pivot was for PlayStation. Most people are really 10 years behind reality on this stuff.

lol. No. Most older gamers hate the GaaS shit because it is not fun. It prioritizes trying to extract money from the type that get addicted to games. Many people just like to play one game for a week or 2 and then move on to something different instead of "investing" in some game that goes on forever.

 

[GigaBowser]

GaaS broked my heart

I wants new single player IPS please Sony pleeeeeeeeease

 

[Drizzlehell]

Their exclusives became so cookie-cutter that they're slowly losing their appeal as system sellers to me.

 

[Ar¢tos]

I'm just kinda even on it for now. More, cautiously wait and see. I'd like them to take more creative risks on new IP with their big studios like ND, SSM, GG, and Insomniac.

I don't find their GaaS push anywhere near as objectionable as most of Gaf. I've been an avid Destiny 2 player since launch and so I know how fucking great GaaS can be when it's done right. That said, I'm saddened to see that Sony's big GaaS push so far seems to have gone all in on MP-only gaming. That's pretty shit to me. Destiny 2, Warframe, and many others are examples of how GaaS can serve both SP and MP fans. Sony with their incredible legacy of delivering top-tier SP games, should be pushing GaaS games that do both SP and MP... it's inexplicable to me why they would alienate their core fanbase by backing big GaaS games that are entirely not for the core. That's a huge missed opportunity.

Well, at least Helldivers 2 is a nice exception. I'm hoping that game is great. I'm excited to play that.

Otherwise, I'm stoked about what they're doing with 3rd party studio partnerships. Death Stranding 2 will be fucking lit. Stellar Blade will be sex and the more AAA Korean dev talent Sony can cultivate, the better. Korean artistic and creative sensibilities share commonalities with the Japanese. So I'm expecting big things from some of the Korean devs Sony is looking to partner with. And if future acquisitions can create for them an Asian development hub in Korea that is able to scratch the itch that the late Japan studio was able to do, then all the better.

Their GAAS push is bad because they killed all their AA single player output in pursuit of easy GAAS money.

 

[Badlucktroll]

Its delivering for me, and will get even better when the Konami games start coming back.

 

[PropellerEar]

Doing great, I can't wait for SM2.
Sony has been carrying AAA gaming...

 

[PharaoTutAnchAmun]

A scam


PS4/5 got 4k/8k logos on them and won't deliver either in 90% of the games

Just as the MS has done about the Xbox Series X, they where also promoting the Series X as a 4k/8k console.
Its on the box and theyr PR where also talking about it.
And the PS5 and the Xbox series X did deliver more then 10% 4/k games. What are you talking about?

And that the PS4 was promoted as a 4k/8k console is a lie. A quick search on Google debunked that lie.
Sony promoted the PS4pro as a 4k console. They never promoted the PS4 as a 4k/8k console.

 

[skit_data]

Hard to say actually, much of the stuff released so far was in the pipeline before they started shifting their strategy. That plus the fact that COVID causing shortages and the war in Ukraine causing uncertainty in the global economy makes it very hard to tell exactly what is part of their new strategy and what is a reaction to those circumstances.

Edit: and of course the effect of MS being more agressive than ever. I think that's probably among the largest contributors to their decisions in pretty much every area of their business.

 

[veterangamerUK]

Today´s Sony is best Sony.

Is this a parody post?

 

[Pejo]

About what you'd expect when a bean counter takes over instead of an industry veteran. Kaz/Jack/Shawn/Yoshida were great and actually (at least seemed to) care about more than just the dollars. I dislike the focus on fewer but more expensive to create games, and I dislike their shift to primarily western first party studios. I used to be about as big a Playstation fan as you could find, now my PS5 sits unused for over 8 months.

 

[the_master]

I am really grateful they still invest a lot of money in AAA single player games. That is important for me

 

[Horseganador]

These threads are curious, according to the Sony and Ryan forums-twitter they are doing it wrong despite delivering goty quality games every year and selling consoles at an incredible rate, on the other hand the narrative with MS and Spencer is much more positive despite selling worse than ONE, bringing Xbox series to the market with nothing, throwing all of 2022 with nothing, etc... surreal.

 

[trent_the_gent]

For those that say Sony is taking the wrong road and they shouldn't have made sequels to certain games, check and look at how PlayStation is doing at the moment.

PS5 is selling like hot cakes and those sequels sold millions of copies and got a lot of rewards. Keeping the company alive in the process.

This is the reason why you are commenting on a thread and not running a cooperation.

A good chunk of self identified "gamers" don't like sequels but John Q Average buys FIFA/CoD/2K every year and GTA 5 is still a top selling game.

Sonys strategy is sound based on the way the market is at the moment.

 

[Moriarty1889]

Jim Ryan is just riding the wave of success from PS4. He has made some poor decisions imo with putting games on PC and wasting time with devs resources for GAAS. We shall see what comes of it all I guess. Either way, not a fan of Jimbo.

 

[mrmustard]

I just don't like their strong focus on cinematic games. Otherwise they are doing fine especially with the pc approach. I bet if their GaaS day1 on pc do extremely well they will overthink their singleplayer pc port time windows as well. When everbody plays, we all win

 

[bitbydeath]

I don’t like the $130 dollar games, they no longer feel worth it for the most part, that is insane money, especially if you think how it now only takes a few games to add up to the same cost of the console itself.

-Cross-gen has been a drag.
-Sony is a poor communicator.

Other than that, they are smashing it. Excellent hardware, they really outdid themselves in this space, and their first party has never been in such a good state before, ever. Even if you were to exclude the purchases they have made this gen.

 

[VitoNotVito]

Lots of misinformation on this post, i.e. others charge $70 for their games as well, consoles only increased price in EUR/GBP zone due to currency exchange trend, they are however going back down and more

Anyway, I like their strategy. They understand that average gamer's age is going up. Those are people with "life" and commitments. Their free time is sparse and precious. Therefore, as long as they prioritise quality over quantity with their games they will be fine (which they do by the way). I don't value Gamepass. It's cheap and filled with mediocrity. Who wants to trade their free time for Redfall or Halo Infinite?

 

[Guilty_AI]

They're adjusting to the market. They're a mainstream platform aimed towards normies, and what they choose to do, from producing GAAS to charging extra for things they know they can get away with as well as expanding to TV/Cinema, all of those reflect that.

Many people dislike the direction they took the last decade or so, me included, but thats because we're not the people they're interested in targeting, and i'm fine with it. I can get what i want elsewhere.

Those are people with "life" and commitments. Their free time is sparse and precious.

Valuing free time is the complete opposite of what GAAS usually do tho.

 

[nightmare-slain]

This is the least I've ever been interested in Playstation. I like that they are bringing games to PC but even that isn't great because they could be doing so much better. A lot of the exclusive games simply don't interest me and I'm still waiting to find a reason to buy a PS5. I mean I will probably pick one up for VII Rebirth because I don't want to wait for the inevitable PC release. I could wait but I might as well because I could finally play Demons Souls (a 2009 game) and I could play GTA VI (which we all know won't be on PC for 1+ year after release) and for Persona 6 which is still quite likely to be a Playstation timed exclusive.

The focus on GAAS is a huge turn off. I enjoyed Naughty Dog games but I've had enough of TLOU. Other than that I can't think of any good exclusive games on Playstation. Compared to previous gens this seems the most dire and boring gen yet.

 

[Woopah]

They have invested in quality single player games that I really enjoy (God of War, Horizon and Ghost of Tsushima) plus their platform has excellent third party games that I can't get on Switch or wouldn't run well on my laptop.

I don't care about the GAAS, VR or multimedia stuff.

 

[VitoNotVito]

Valuing free time is the complete opposite of what GAAS usually do tho.

That's very true. Those games are dominated by "next generation". That's where they see growth. My son plays Valorant with his school friends. Every single freaking day.

 

[Onironauta]

They are certainly doing fine financially, but I keep getting less and less interested in PlayStation as a customer.
I only buy new consoles when it gives me access to new games I wouldn't be able to play otherwise.
At the time I bought PS4 because I wanted to play exclusives like The Last Guardian and Gravity Rush, and multiplatform games that were not available on PS3.
I feel like PS5 has very little new games to offer to me, especially since they started porting games to PC.