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[I collect VHS tapes]

decided to pick up DS3 a few days ago to familiarize myself with Elden Ring's combat system and I'm totally hooked. did not expect to love the game nearly as much as I do.

made me do some more research on Souls games and I saw that both Bloodborne and Demon's Souls remake are PS exclusives

Elden Ring isn't tho and I plan on picking it up on my XSX

I have a feeling DS3 is going to send me down some rabbit hole where I want to play all the titles

it looks like, at the very least, BB and Demon's Souls are going to remain exclusives

I guess my question is whether there is any rhyme or reason behind which games are exclusives and which aren't, and whether they will remain exclusives. it looks like Sony had a hand in the making of BB, so that makes sense.

I really haven't had a reason to pick up a PS5 until now, seriously considering grabbing one down the road if I'm left wanting more after beating Elden Ring and DS 1-3 on my XSX.

 

[Hendrick's]

BB and DeS are Sony IP. The rest aren't. It is unknown if any more of these titles will be made or if they would be done by From or a Sony studio like Bluepoint and the DeS remake.

 

[alabtrosMyster]

Sony hires them to develop some products with IPs that belong to Sony, this is not a secret. They are just in love.

 

[Danjin44]

Dark Souls is spiritual sequel to Demons Souls and the only reason it wasn’t called Demons Souls 2 because FROM wanted go multiplatform but DeS IP belonged to Sony.

 

[I collect VHS tapes]

makes sense, thanks guys

 

[haxan7]

So you're just discovering Souls games now? How lucky you are.

Just don't burn yourself out before Elden Ring drops.

 

[Tiago Rodrigues]

Sony always had an amazing relationship with FromSoftware. They were basically a 1st part studio for the first 5 years. Sony still hires them to develop games. That's why Demon's Souls and Bloodborne are Sony IPs.

 

[I collect VHS tapes]

So you're just discovering Souls games now? How lucky you are.

Just don't burn yourself out before Elden Ring drops.

I played Demon's Souls when it first came out what like 15 years ago?

I remember liking it but not all that much, I was really into FPS games at that time

my tastes must have changed and/or DS3 is just a much better game, but this is the most fun I've had in a while

 

[bitbydeath]

Sony just setup a partnership with From’s parent last year, which is targeting games (among other things) so you can expect more exclusives on the way.

 

[Mibu no ookami]

As others have mentioned Sony has published a few of their games and owns the IP to Bloodborne and Demon's Souls, but not the others.

An interesting note is they also own a small percentage of From Software's parent company, which could potentially lead to a buyout of sorts, but they wouldn't own the IP for Dark Souls.

 

[Kilau]

Sony always had an amazing relationship with FromSoftware. They were basically a 1st part studio for the first 5 years. Sony still hires them to develop games. That's why Demon's Souls and Bloodborne are Sony IPs.

Man I remember picking up King's Field the day it came out, first game I needed a memory card for. I think it was actually King's Field II in Japan but anyway the game was hard as hell and I had no idea what I was doing, awesome times.

 

[Pedro Motta]

And Elden Ring plays best on PS5, so there is that.

 

[I collect VHS tapes]

And Elden Ring plays best on PS5, so there is that.

I wouldn't buy a PS5 in time for Elden Ring. they're too goddamn hideous at the moment.

I'll wait for the next release/new model of them and grab one then if I do.

 

[Mibu no ookami]

Sony just setup a partnership with From’s parent last year, which is targeting games (among other things) so you can expect more exclusives on the way.

It wasn't just a partnership, they bought 1.93% share in the company. Obviously that doesn't mean anything more than that, but Sony has done something similar with Epic Games. We'll see where these investments go over the next few years. They've invested 450 million into Epic. So probably about 2 percent of their company. Clearly not a controlling investment.

Sony has to be really careful with how they invest, but so far their moves have made a lot of sense. I could see them buying Kadokawa and selling the rest of the company and keeping From Software, but also not sure whether buying From Software is actually worth it, outside of Microsoft buying Kadokawa, there really isn't much incentive for Sony to change the current dynamic. They get their games anyways.

 

[Tiago Rodrigues]

Man I remember picking up King's Field the day it came out, first game I needed a memory card for. I think it was actually King's Field II in Japan but anyway the game was hard as hell and I had no idea what I was doing, awesome times.

First memory with a FromSoftware game? Playing the Armored Core demo that was included on a PS Demo Disc. I don't think it was the Demo Disc 1 that was included with the console...but one demo from a PS Magazine. Good times!

 

[remember_spinal]

Don’t be surprised if Armored Core 6 is exclusive

Sony and Kadokawa already have one game coming out, I’m sure they plan on releasing a lot more

 

[LazyParrot]

Sony always had an amazing relationship with FromSoftware. They were basically a 1st part studio for the first 5 years.

I don't think that's due to any special relationship they had with Sony. They were a Japanese developer in the mid to late 90s primarily targeting the Japanese market. Playstation was the place to be.

 

[kyliethicc]

Demon's Souls and Bloodborne are Sony 1st party games.

Dark Souls, Elden Ring, and Sekiro are 3rd party games. (Bandai Namco / Activision)

They passed on fully publishing Demon' Souls on PS3 worldwide, they didn't think it'd sell. Sony could have had Dark Souls as 1st party too, but they fucked up and let FromSoftware go to Bandai Namco. Then Sony realized they fucked up and got Bloodborne made as amends. And later FromSoft made Deracine for PSVR. It was Sony 1st party too.

 

[Tiago Rodrigues]

I don't think that's due to any special relationship they had with Sony. They were a Japanese developer in the mid to late 90s primarily targeting the Japanese market. Playstation was the place to be.

I mean...considering the last 2 exclusive games they worked on are PS4 exclusive (Bloodborne and Déraciné (PS VR), plus the rumors of another PS exclusive on the way, it's safe to say there's something there between these 2 companies currently, even if Switch is the place to be in Japan now.

 

[skneogaf]

And Elden Ring plays best on PS5, so there is that.

My pc say hi!

 

[RoadHazard]

I think I remember reading there was a 3 game deal? Demon's was the first, BB the second, and I don't know if Deracine counts as the third or if that's still coming.

 

[recursive]

decided to pick up DS3 a few days ago to familiarize myself with Elden Ring's combat system and I'm totally hooked. did not expect to love the game nearly as much as I do.

made me do some more research on Souls games and I saw that both Bloodborne and Demon's Souls remake are PS exclusives

Elden Ring isn't tho and I plan on picking it up on my XSX

I have a feeling DS3 is going to send me down some rabbit hole where I want to play all the titles

it looks like, at the very least, BB and Demon's Souls are going to remain exclusives

I guess my question is whether there is any rhyme or reason behind which games are exclusives and which aren't, and whether they will remain exclusives. it looks like Sony had a hand in the making of BB, so that makes sense.

I really haven't had a reason to pick up a PS5 until now, seriously considering grabbing one down the road if I'm left wanting more after beating Elden Ring and DS 1-3 on my XSX.

I see you collect VHS tapes. Are you also new to gaming? Get a ps5, it will make you happy.

 

[Dream-Knife]

I mean...considering the last 2 exclusive games they worked on are PS4 exclusive (Bloodborne and Déraciné (PS VR), plus the rumors of another PS exclusive on the way, it's safe to say there's something there between these 2 companies currently, even if Switch is the place to be in Japan now.

I wonder if Nintendo has approached them.

 

[LazyParrot]

I mean...considering the last 2 exclusive games they worked on are PS4 exclusive (Bloodborne and Déraciné (PS VR), plus the rumors of another PS exclusive on the way, it's safe to say there's something there between these 2 companies currently, even if Switch is the place to be in Japan now.

Well, yeah. What they're doing now is obviously a different story. But you explicitly said they always had a special relationship with Sony and used their output in the 90s and early 2000s as an example.

I don't think their relationship with Sony was anything special back then. It wasn't unusual at all for Japanese developers to only release their games on Sony consoles in those days, since they had virtually no competition. PS1 outsold the N64 4:1 and the Dreamcast and Saturn were mere blips on the radar in comparison. PS2 was even more dominant.

 

[ethomaz]

Both Demon's Souls and Bloodborne are Sony's IP.

 

[Codes 208]

decided to pick up DS3 a few days ago to familiarize myself with Elden Ring's combat system and I'm totally hooked. did not expect to love the game nearly as much as I do.

made me do some more research on Souls games and I saw that both Bloodborne and Demon's Souls remake are PS exclusives

Elden Ring isn't tho and I plan on picking it up on my XSX

I have a feeling DS3 is going to send me down some rabbit hole where I want to play all the titles

it looks like, at the very least, BB and Demon's Souls are going to remain exclusives

I guess my question is whether there is any rhyme or reason behind which games are exclusives and which aren't, and whether they will remain exclusives. it looks like Sony had a hand in the making of BB, so that makes sense.

I really haven't had a reason to pick up a PS5 until now, seriously considering grabbing one down the road if I'm left wanting more after beating Elden Ring and DS 1-3 on my XSX.

You literally answered your own question. BB was published directly by sony as a second party exclusive (like what pokemon is to nintendo), same goes for demon souls, ergo sony at least partly owns those IP’s.

As for dark souls and elden ring, these were privately developed by fromsoft and released on multiple platforms (notably the ps360 consoles, and ps4/xb1 for ds3 and sekiro. The latter of which being published by activision)

And Elden Ring plays best on PC, so there is that.

Fixed that for you. No point praising one console over the other when they both are having framerate issues.

 

[Pedro Motta]

I wouldn't buy a PS5 in time for Elden Ring. they're too goddamn hideous at the moment.

I'll wait for the next release/new model of them and grab one then if I do.

 

[kingpotato]

I collect VHS tapes there is a reasonable chance that Bloodborne may be coming to PC this gen. It hasn't been confirmed, but there are loads of rumors and it seems in line with Sony's business strategy.

I love Bloodborne. Have played it for hundreds of hours but honestly if there is any chance of playing the game at 60fps, it's probably worth the wait. You have a big backlog, might as well save the best for last.

 

[remember_spinal]

I wouldn't buy a PS5 in time for Elden Ring. they're too goddamn hideous at the moment.

I'll wait for the next release/new model of them and grab one then if I do.

 

[yurinka]

I guess my question is whether there is any rhyme or reason behind which games are exclusives and which aren't, and whether they will remain exclusives. it looks like Sony had a hand in the making of BB, so that makes sense.

Fun fact: From Sofware made 10 PlayStation exclusive games for the PS1. Since then they made many exclusive games for all Sony consoles excluding PS Vita. They were bought by Kadokawa, who themselves and many other studios and publishers they acquire also made dozens of PS exclusive games since PS1.

They have a long and successful business relationship, they should be comfortable if they keep working together. In the past I assume it wasn't needed to get paid by Sony, they made the games PS exclusive because during PS1 or PS2 they were the clear market leaders. But now to make AAA game is way more expensive than before, so they prefer to make them multi to get more revenue. But from time to time Sony paid/published their game.

They did make games with Sony and also with Bandai Namco, like the Elder Ring that will be released now. But they are part of Kadokawa, who I assume will publish their future games. But the thing is that Kadokawa gave 2% of their company to Sony in exchange to help their games reach the worldwide market, since until then they were focused on Japan, and its console market is imploding, the opposite than the west. So they wanted to get help from Sony to make games and IPs with global appeal (plus they also want help from Sony to help them bring their anime to the west).

You literally answered your own question. BB was published directly by sony as a second party exclusive (like what pokemon is to nintendo), same goes for demon souls, ergo sony at least partly owns those IP’s.

Both Demon's Souls and Bloodborne are Sony brands. Sony can port, remeaster, remake or release sequels without From Software. From Software can't work with them without Sony's approval.

 

[BusierDonkey]

To be fair, he does collect VHS tapes so he likely prefers the OG Xbone.

 

[01011001]

decided to pick up DS3 a few days ago to familiarize myself with Elden Ring's combat system and I'm totally hooked. did not expect to love the game nearly as much as I do.

made me do some more research on Souls games and I saw that both Bloodborne and Demon's Souls remake are PS exclusives

Elden Ring isn't tho and I plan on picking it up on my XSX

I have a feeling DS3 is going to send me down some rabbit hole where I want to play all the titles

it looks like, at the very least, BB and Demon's Souls are going to remain exclusives

I guess my question is whether there is any rhyme or reason behind which games are exclusives and which aren't, and whether they will remain exclusives. it looks like Sony had a hand in the making of BB, so that makes sense.

I really haven't had a reason to pick up a PS5 until now, seriously considering grabbing one down the road if I'm left wanting more after beating Elden Ring and DS 1-3 on my XSX.

wait till you find out that From Software made 5 Xbox exclusive games back in the day, and 3 Xbox 360 exclusives lol

the answer is simple... publisher deals



also freindly reminder that Otogi 1 and 2 are backwards compatible now!
GET THEM OR THE DEMONS WILL GET YOU!

I am still sad that Tenchu Z is not backwards compatible... loved that game, it was very low budget but really fun and is stuck on Xbox 360 top this day
certainly one of the FromSoftware games I would have wanted on Series X, but alas it was not in that final wave

same with Ninja Blade... a rough diamond imo

but that later came to PC as well, not sure how that port is tho

 

[yurinka]

I think I remember reading there was a 3 game deal? Demon's was the first, BB the second, and I don't know if Deracine counts as the third or if that's still coming.

There's no 3 game deal. From Software released almost 40 PlayStation exclusive games.

 

[Mibu no ookami]

wait till he finds out that From Software made 5 Xbox exclusive games back in the day, and 3 Xbox 360 exclusives lol

the answer is simple... publisher deals



also freindly reminder that Otogi 1 and 2 are backwards compatible now!
GET THEM OR THE DEMONS WILL GET YOU!

I am still sad that Tenchu Z is not backwards compatible... loved that game, it was very low budget but really fun and is stuck on Xbox 360 top this day
certainly one of the FromSoftware games I would have wanted on Series X, but alas it was not in that final wave

I mean there was also a time where creating two versions of a game wasn't as cheap and thus wasn't always worth it. Now that all these games are developed on x86 it's too easy to port them from one system to the next. There used to be a time when games barely were ported to PC and when they were the ports were half assed and rushed. Just not worth playing. Now games are generic PC games that are just scaled for the appropriate system all the way down to the switch.

 

[01011001]

There's no 3 game deal. From Software released almost 40 PlayStation exclusive games.

there was a deal, they released those other exclusive games because the publishers they worked for wanted them to be on playstation and not any other system because they thought there was no market for it

Demon's Souls and Bloodborne were developed FOR Sony in cooperation with Sony Japan Studio

 

[01011001]

I mean there was also a time where creating two versions of a game wasn't as cheap and thus wasn't always worth it. Now that all these games are developed on x86 it's too easy to port them from one system to the next. There used to be a time when games barely were ported to PC and when they were the ports were half assed and rushed. Just not worth playing. Now games are generic PC games that are just scaled for the appropriate system all the way down to the switch.

yeah, hence Publisher deals. Sega went to FromSoftware, told them they wanted a game, told them it is targeting Xbox only, and FromSoftware made it.
same with all the games that were only on PS2 by them... the publisher wanted them on PS2 and nothing else.

with Otogi 1 and 2 it was part of the Sega deal with Microsoft tho, so it is in a way comparable to the Demon's Souls and Bloodborne situation as Sega had a multi game deal with Microsoft for exclusives

 

[Kerotan]

It wasn't just a partnership, they bought 1.93% share in the company. Obviously that doesn't mean anything more than that, but Sony has done something similar with Epic Games. We'll see where these investments go over the next few years. They've invested 450 million into Epic. So probably about 2 percent of their company. Clearly not a controlling investment.

Sony has to be really careful with how they invest, but so far their moves have made a lot of sense. I could see them buying Kadokawa and selling the rest of the company and keeping From Software, but also not sure whether buying From Software is actually worth it, outside of Microsoft buying Kadokawa, there really isn't much incentive for Sony to change the current dynamic. They get their games anyways.

MS trying to buy them is enough reason alone.

 

[KingGhidorah]

Sony don’t appreciate From Soft games. They are not cinematic enough for them.

Two times Sony had a chance to make From Soft franchise, Demons Souls and Bloodborne, and both times they blew it

 

[Banjo64]

DeS is the grandfather of modern From games so no complaints with Sony exclusive From games.

 

[Mibu no ookami]

MS trying to buy them is enough reason alone.

I mean they have to want to be bought though. You look at the companies that own Kadokawa and they're mostly Japanese companies. It would be difficult to buy a controlling stake in the company.

 

[Mibu no ookami]

Is there any reason to believe that Sony and Bluepoint can't take over Demon's Souls and Bloodborne without From Software? They don't need to make a massive investment when they already have the IP.

 

[Banjo64]

Is there any reason to believe that Sony and Bluepoint can't take over Demon's Souls and Bloodborne without From Software? They don't need to make a massive investment when they already have the IP.

Just the fact that they wouldn’t have Miyazaki so the games would likely be shitty imitations.

 

[01011001]

Is there any reason to believe that Sony and Bluepoint can't take over Demon's Souls and Bloodborne without From Software? They don't need to make a massive investment when they already have the IP.

the question is if Bluepoint is actually able to make and design a good game. so far almost 100% of thier library is ports and remasters
in that case the gamedesign is already layed out and all they have to do on their end is to polish what's already there

the only game they ever released that was made by them and not a port/remaseter is this here

that is the only game they ever made


so it is save to say that these are untested waters for that studio. a sequel would be a relatively save first game to try it, but we will see

 

[kalecsan]

DeS is the grandfather of modern From games so no complaints with Sony exclusive From games.

I think DeS is just the big brother.
King's Field would be the father and Wizandry the grandfather.

And Shadow Tower the weird uncle.

 

[Mibu no ookami]

Just the fact that they wouldn’t have Miyazaki so the games would likely be shitty imitations.

There are plenty of writers you can hire who would be just as good. From Software for all they've done still aren't great at the technical aspect of making games and Bluepoint is probably better in that respect. The amount of money you could put into those two franchise and into that studio that you would save from trying to buy From or Kadakowa, not to mention the rest of the investments into first party... it honestly doesn't make sense.

 

[Mibu no ookami]

the question is if Bluepoint is actually able to make and design a good game. so far almost 100% of thier library is ports and remasters
in that case the gamedesign is already layed out and all they have to do on their end is to polish what's already there

the only game they ever released that was made by them and not a port/remaseter is this here

that is the only game they ever made


so it is save to say that these are untested waters for that studio. a sequel would be a relatively save first game to try it, but we will see

I'm not saying game design is easy, but they have all the elements needed in order to do it.

 

[Banjo64]

There are plenty of writers you can hire who would be just as good. From Software for all they've done still aren't great at the technical aspect of making games and Bluepoint is probably better in that respect. The amount of money you could put into those two franchise and into that studio that you would save from trying to buy From or Kadakowa, not to mention the rest of the investments into first party... it honestly doesn't make sense.

Lmao Bluepoint have never ‘made’ a game, only remakes. If writers like Miyazaki are a dime a dozen why are From games amongst the highest regarded in the entire industry?

 

[01011001]

I'm not saying game design is easy, but they have all the elements needed in order to do it.

game design is hard, evidenced by the fact that modern games often have really shit game design cliches like forced slow walking (but then again, that is done on purpose in order to fulfill mainstream "ooohh look how cinematic this is" people, and I'm sure everyone involved knows very well what dogshit gamedesign that is) and simple 2D platformers that rather have button mappings and tutorial screens pop up everywhere instead of teaching the player how to play in a natural way, the way oldschool games already perfected it...

say what you want about Arin Hanson (I know many people dislike him nowadays) but this video hits the nail on the head



apparently this video is used in game design schools nowadays, but this shit is still not common practice sadly

the only modern 2D game that I know of that actually did this and pulled it off with flying flags is Shovel Knight and all its DLCs

 

[Mibu no ookami]

Lmao Bluepoint have never ‘made’ a game, only remakes. If writers like Miyazaki are a dime a dozen why are From games amongst the highest regarded in the entire industry?

A dime a dozen is a stretch, but look at the writing in most sony first party games. Sony isn't struggling to find creative directors and writers.

 

[01011001]

A dime a dozen is a stretch, but look at the writing in most sony first party games. Sony isn't struggling to find creative directors and writers.

the writing in these games is mediocre at best, wouldn't turn heads if they were movies. we just have pretty low standards in video games, and for a reason... usually game designers design games not because they wanna tell a story but because they have cool and interesting gameplay ideas they want to realise.
only recently has it become popular to have these "cinematic" games, which i honestly despise to the core, because during development they often move the focus away from what is important in a videogame