One of the big points of forum discussion in recent years is how Microsoft plans to improve its first-party output. The organisation has responded by purchasing a bunch of previously independent teams, such as Ninja Theory and Obsidian. Many of these studios seemed on the precipice of financial ruin, so the Redmond firm’s investment is welcome in that regard.
But can Xbox’s newly acquired subsidiaries compete with Sony’s Worldwide Studios? It’s a question that’s been on the lips of message board dwellers for months, and according to ex-Naughty Dog employee Jonathan Cooper, the answer is fairly straight-forward: not right now. According to The Last of Us: Part II animator, it’ll take long-term support to close the gap.
Of course, the interesting thing here is that the Team in Green does appear to be on a different path. While this generation has seen Sony rely on a handful of tentpole AAA titles every year, it feels like Microsoft is looking for smaller, frequent releases to pad out its Xbox Game Pass subscription. Neither strategy is right or wrong, of course, but it strikes us the platform holders are on potentially different paths.
[source twitter.com]
Comments 47
I think it’s a good idea from MS to go down the smaller and frequent route. Game Pass is brilliant and having games like Ori, The Outer Worlds and such added encourage people to play AA games. It’s certainly a different route from Sony but that’s not necessarily a bad thing, the two have been somewhat indistinguishable for the past couple of gens and a little difference never hurt anyone.
Xbox fanboys always think Microsoft can just buy their way to the top. The reason why Sony first party studios are so good is because Sony work hard building them up and managing them to greatnesses .
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I think it's a matter of taste to say which studios are "better". Sony focuses on interactive story-telling. Microsoft focuses on action and multi-player.
I do agree that if Microsoft wants to compete in interactive story-telling space, the company has a long way to go with it's new studios. However, with the way Sony shuts down game servers after a while, Sony has a way to go to compete in that space from first-party offering standpoint.
It will be interesting to see how Series X and PS5 shape-up.
Well yes of course they can compete, to be honest I feel it's only really the last 3 or 4 years where Sony has had a distinct advantage in that regard. Last gen Halo was arguably bigger than anything Sony had to offer and the Gears of War series was no slouch either. Let's not forget that a lot of Playstations exclusives haven't even been made by Sony such a Yakuza, Persona and Bloodborne.
I love my Playstation but I've had a hell of a lot of fun with the likes of Cuphead, Forza Horizon, Halo 5 and the Master Chief collection and Gears 5. I have even played a lot of Sea of Thieves. Sony are killing it in the single player story driven genre but I'd suggest that Microsoft are well ahead in several other genre's
@GamingFan4Lyf just because Sony tells great stories you cant seriously lump Horizon, God Of War or really any of their AAA games that way. The majority all have fantastic gameplay and evolve the 3rd party action genre. Yea games like Detroit and Death Stranding lean heavy that way. But even DS has some wild mechanics
Yup, microsoft needs to take a chance on their own studios, like sony with ND (let them make jak & dexter, then uncharted, then tlou). Let them make a new ip, not just keep them to make halo, gears, forza, forever.
@GamingFan4Lyf Disagree, metacritic score and sales is a good metric to know if some games are better than other according to reviewer and gamer. And some sony games like killzone shadow fall, uncharted and gran turismo has multiplayer. Some sony games like bloodborne and death stranding has some sort of multiplayer too.
MS have the money to invest in every one of their studio's, build them up to the size of Sony's big studio's and employ some of the best in the business.
Look what Ninja Theory managed to do with a skeleton crew working on their own IP (Hellblade) whilst the majority of the team worked on outside projects to keep the company afloat. Just imagine what they can do with the full staff team all working together. Obsidian released one of the 'games of the year' on a limited budget.
I know a fair few of the studio's acquired were 'small' and haven't had a long history of developing games and its these predominantly that will take time and investment to be competing with Naughty Dog, Guerilla etc and MS also set up a new studio from scratch too - the Initiative. I can't see Undead Labs, Compulsion Games or even Double Fine producing AAA blockbusters - I could be wrong but I think they would need a lot of investment, time and growth to get to that point - if that even is the end goal for these studio's.
Maybe a few companies have been on the verge of collapse for a few years, having to make compromises to even make the games they did due to financial constraints but that doesn't mean that they can't make great AAA games to compete with the best that Sony (or other Publishers) can make with the support, budget and time that MS could give them.
Games are not built overnight either and so its going to take 'years' for these acquisitions to develop and release games. Most of the studio's only been with MS for 18mnths and some of those had existing projects in development. So its likely we won't see too many, if any 'big' releases before the launch of next gen consoles.
Indeed.
''Rome wasn't built in a day.''
@wiiware They have multiplayer, but how focused is it really compared to Gears of War, Forza, or Halo? Other than Gran Turismo, the bread and butter of those games is the story-telling experience.
@Nyne11Tyme I disagree. Old God of War games may have set the bar high in action-oriented gameplay, but the latest one isn't anything genre-defining in the gameplay front. Horizon is Monster Hunter with a more defined story and less grind.
Look, I am not being insulting to Sony first-party. I love first-party Sony games, but I do think that there is a taste difference between Microsoft die-hards and Sony die-hards. I love the consoles for various reasons. I turn to Sony for story-telling. I turn to Xbox for blowing [expletive] up - oh and multi-platform releases!
Best comparison is like comparing Martin Scorsese films to Michael Bay films. One is known for great stories, the other is known for spectacles. One wins Academy Awards, the other just likes to have fun!
Well the Backwards Compatibility barrel is running dry, so they need to put something on Gamepass to keep all the subscribers subbing.
I just hope MS has learnt that mediocrity is not going to be good enough and have learnt from Crackdown 3, State of Decay 2 and Sea of Thieves (at launch).
Gears 5 is a bit more like it but still it's more of the same.
Halo Infinite will generate a lot of interest but now we're talking about AAA exclusives again.
I suspect alot of Gamepass subscribers have tried out loads of the games available on there, however I would gamble that only a small percentage of those tried have been completed, which goes along with the AA ideal.
Why create something like HZD or Bloodborne if 90% of players only play it for less then 10 hours?
@thefirst don't say that, I much prefer DC's movies
Well why would PlayStation news sites care anyway?
I mean that's more Xbox news what Ms need or doesn't need.
Just sounds like multiplat sites console wars topic thing
@carlos82 - Bloodborne is a Sony Japan Studio game, they came up with it and approached Miyazaki to help them make it.
@nessisonett Gamepass is a terrible thing for both consumers and the industry. Anti-consumer on our end, and devalues a product from the developers end. Don't let Microsoft taking the Xbox brand 3rd party fool you into thinking they're doing anything good. Keep in mind that since 2002 Xbox has consistently made our hobby worse while 'making it more accessible to gamers'.
@Shigurui I know Sony own the IP and approached them to make it, I don't think Japan Studio had anything to do with it. My point is even with that it was still an independent studio in FromSoftware who made the game and not one of Sonys own studios which is what the article is about
@Futureshark Halo Infinite isn't an exclusive though. Launching simultaneously on 3 platforms. Yeah yeah, Microsoft exclusive, Super Mario Bros. is Nintendo exclusive but it's on every Nintendo system thereby canceling any actual exclusivity. Halo Infinite as an exclusive makes an incentive to buy the Series X, as a Gamepass title available on 3 platforms there's absolutely no reason to buy it and instead pay another $1 to play it on the 2013 Xone.
@carlos82 - The Japan Studio logo is shown right after the From logo when you start the game. There's an IGN first video with an interview saying directly that Japan Studio came up with Bloodborne and worked with From on the game.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oiGPTI06fn8
@carlos82 if you believe it happened in the last few years you clearly looking at the situation with rose-colored specs. Sony has been killing MS in the games department for over a decade just a fact.
@BAMozzy Money does not create great games studios it takes many many years to get to where Naughty Dog & the others are at Sony MS cannot just pump money in with no return it is not a fix for creative talent.
@GamingFan4Lyf I think they will have more multiplayer focused games next-gen, the first game they announce for ps5 (godfall) is multiplayer focused, and I think tlou 2 multiplayer will be a stand alone game. I like single player games more so I don't have any problems if sony not too focused on multiplayer games.
@Shigurui fair enough, I stand corrected on that. My point still stands in that many of the exclusives still aren't made by Sony though
@carlos82 Those exclusives are made by Sony. Sony funds them. DS was by Kojima but it’s was funded by Sony. Same with Bloodborne. Sony owns the IPs.
@David187 I barely played the 360 so how is it rose tinted specs? If you're looking for facts then Halo 3 sold more than double of any of the Uncharted games or the Last of Us on PS3. Halo 4 also outsold all of them and the Gears of War games weren't far behind them
@Face76 the article is about studios, Sony does not own any of those studios
@carlos82 to me Sony have had an advantage longer than 3/4 years. MS’s output was poor in the second half of the 360’s generation (first half was good) as soon as Kinect appeared. I’d say the advantage is more like 6/7 years...
In fact it’s the reason I sold my 360 for a PS3.
@carlos82 what has that got to do with the games? we all know those Playstation games you mentioned sold millions as well what has that got to do with the quality of MS game output compared to Sonys you said the last 3 or 4 years Sony got good that is simply not true.
@David187 I said it's only the last 3 or 4 years where they have had an advantage in regards over Microsoft in its output of first party exclusives. In the sense that Sony's had improved while Microsoft's dipped. It was you who claimed Sony had been killing Microsoft for over a decade when clearly that isn't the case
@Dodoo all I'm saying is that it always seems to be portrayed as this huge gap between the quality of Microsoft's and Sonys exclusives and the last few years that is true, just that it hasn't always been the case. And for every Crackdown 3 there is a Knack 1 or 2 which we like to forget. I wasnt even a huge 360 gamer and have always favoured Playstation but I can recognise that they ha e been hugely successful with several key franchises
@Nintyfan Wow, you really changed my position on Game Pass! Just from your half-baked ‘argument’ telling me it’s anti consumer, I’ve uninstalled all those games I never would have played such as Outer Worlds, Forza Horizon 4, Halo, Hellblade and Ape Out, all of which I played this month with my £1 subscription!
You can't buy talent and passion with money.
@nessisonett I was gonna say I've played a hell of a lot of games for very little money on Gamepass. I can't believe they're been so anti consumer as to charge you next to nothing for their brand new games, great classic games and other great games released throughout the year including some brilliant indie games. I hate that service so much 😂
@David187 Whilst I do agree in principal, MS have acquired studio's with a great track record and are not complete novices. It does take time and money though to make games like Naughty Dog, Guerilla Games etc and if you have a 'limited' budget and/or have to rush to release a game to start to recoup investment, that impacts on quality.
I pointed out that some studio's are not that experienced, certainly not in creating the big blockbusters and will take time and money to get to that point - if of course that is what MS want - they maybe happy to let those studio's focus on smaller games - like we Happy Few or Contrast.
Obsidian, Ninja Theory and Playground games have a good history of developing high quality AAA games - although Playground haven't released anything other than their Award winning Forza Horizon games.
Money does create good games - it can be used to employ the best people and give them the time to develop and polish games etc. Being part of bigger collective also gives studio's help and support to realise their projects, help to understand and get the most out of the hardware and game engines etc.
Not every studio acquired was a newly formed, small studio with no history of developing AAA games. Its not like they are starting from scratch and/or only made indie games. There is a lot of experienced game studio's responsible for games like Fallout: New Vegas (the last great Fallout game), Devil May Cry, South Park: the Stick of Truth, Star Wars: KoToR2, the Wasteland series, Psychonauts, Grim Fandango, Enslaved. The newly formed studio, the Initiative, has ex-Crystal Dynamix veteran at it helm with an impressive CV of games under his belt - inc a lot of the Tomb Raider games. Of course that is still an unknown and will depend on who else is working in that studio but there is a lot of pedigree at Xbox Studio's with a LOT of big AAA blockbusters on their CV's.
@carlos82 Knack 1 or 2 are still good games for the genre they are in with great graphics & production values. Crackdown 3 was a complete disaster with the cloud power it looked like a bad 360 game. guess let's just agree to disagree.
@David187 the second isn't too bad but the first is the very definition of mediocre and I wouldn't say great visually either and its local multiplayer was poorly thought out. I certainly wouldn't be putting them up anywhere near the likes of Ratchet and Clank and Tearaway
@BAMozzy I hear what you are saying but it is going to take them a long time IMO & money is not just the answer time & effort is.
let us not forget as well Ninja Theory would have closed if MS did not buy them & I think that was true or on the verge for some of the others as well.
I really hope MS does it the right way or it will show in the work. I hope they do because great games are good for us gamers & the industry.
I’m compelled to get Game Pass and an Xbox as well as a Switch lite. I primarily play PS at home so it’s hard to justify both in the household
@David187 Money does affect the time they have to develop a game and what that game can be. You have a staff team with wages/bills to pay and its difficult to recoup those costs before the game releases. Without the big budgets, you can't pay for voice actors, motion capture and motion capture artists etc as well as maybe have to reduce the scope and scale of the game.
Ninja Theory were in a difficult position - having 80%+ of their staff team having to work on other peoples projects, being developers for hire to enable 20% of the team to make Hellblade. InXile and Obsidian had been using crowd funding to raise money to make their games too but they don't have that issue now.
MS could limit both their budget and time scale to develop their projects but that doesn't mean that they don't have the talent and skill to make AAA blockbusters. It seems that MS are prepared to give the both the budget and the time to develop the games they want and being part of a 'big' collective of studio's, can call upon others to help them realise their ambition. If they haven't worked with Motion Capture before for example, there is going to be the money, the time and experienced people around to help. Sony have this network too of course.
There are some studio's as I have mentioned that are not experienced in developing big blockbusters and its those that would need to be brought up to that level - assuming that's the type of games they are looking to make. They could continue to make the smaller games they were known for before.
Time and money are linked - Money can buy training, buy time, buy staff, buy Motion Capture artists etc. The longer it takes to get a game to the standard necessary to release too costs money. If it takes longer than estimated to release because the game needs to polished more, that costs money which MS have as does all the advertising and promotion which can really help a game too.
Whether you want to play the games these studio's make is a different matter and there is a part of gaming that doesn't matter how 'good' a studio is - that's the part about coming up with a concept, an idea, a story that people want. It doesn't matter how great the visuals look, how well the game plays etc if the story and characters don't appeal to large audience. Sony have a number of highly rated games that haven't sold in their millions but having the money to allow these devs to make those 'niche' games works in their favour because other big publishers wouldn't make those games. It doesn't stop them being AAA games of quality though. Popularity isn't always the sign of quality so I don't know how you intend to judge the Studio's.
Point I was making though is that a lot of the Studio's had been limited on budget, time and support - having to generate funds to develop their projects but now have all that by joining Xbox Studio's. They can call upon 'experts' if they need help to do something they haven't done before, have money and time to develop games on a scale they haven't had for a long time but also have impressive AAA games in their CV's already so are not complete novices either.
As always, time will tell but I don't think its going to be a decade before some of these studio's are making games to challenge ND, GG or SP....
I was speaking to an ex-McDonald's drive thru employee who told me that the Series X is gonna be the bomb yo, and that customers are going to have to invest their own money if they wish to play it. Its madness!!
Speaking of which, I hope Sony brings in a new studio before PS5 launches.
What Sony and Microsoft need to do is mix it up. Sony has single player story games, which are boring to me now. Microsoft has multiplayer dudebro “I ****** your Mom” games. More variety please.
money cannoy buy knowledge, experience, culture and to a lesser extent, talent. sony has this in spades. microsoft simply does not outside of a few studios. ninja theory was a grat pickup and sony should be kicking itself for not purchasing the studio when it had the chance. did heavenly sword really fare that badly for sony? they never collaborated again after that and it is a shame. that said, i don't think xbox will ever match sony's 1st party output. anyone who thinks otherwise likely hasn't played sony's best exclusives or severely under estimates what it takes to make a game on the level of god of war or uncharted 4, etc. there is a reason why those games are among the best ever made and certainly in the discussion for most beautiful and cutting edge graphically. nothing else really comes close from a technical level. sony has a 20 year head start over microsoft in this area.
sony should stop making small games (let the indie devs handle this part) since ps fans wants those aaa games from them, and add separate mp mo on their games like what naughty dog is doing witi tlou2
I do love the Gears of War and Halo series (not so much lately), but Microsoft really needs to step up with their first party studios. Every e3, Phil Spencer gets on stage, and just says a bunch of nonsense full of buzzwords to make people feel good.
If they want to get on Sony's level, they need to take years to cultivate and support these studios. They're just now finally letting Rare take some actual creative risks.
I think both offer something for everyone, realistically.. we are all very lucky both exist, if it wasn't for MS, Sony may of not pushed even further into development after the PS3, the games this generation has been high quality! I have both, and I'm happy with both consoles and their relevant games, they offer completely different experiences but great in their own right.
@JoeBlogs MS only had a few studio's a year or so back. 343 set up to make Halo games - not just FPS but also the RTS 'Wars' and top down shooter Arcade game too for example. The Coalition was set up to make Gears - which will branch out from its 3rd Person Cover shooter to offer various other genres set in the Gears universe like the upcoming Tactics - a turn based tactical shooter like XCOM. Forza too has more than 1 'genre' of racing covered with Motorsport handling the Sim racer and Horizon the more Arcade racer. I think its a disservice to limit these MS's games to 3 IP's when each offers more than 1 type of genre.
MS have also brought us games like Sea of Thieves, State of Decay, Crackdown, Recore, Ori and Killer Instinct. OK so some of those were pretty average (at best) - although Sea of Thieves does seem to have turned things around from its launch and this was all before MS acquired new studio's.
The potential is there for MS to compete with Sony. Whether they make 3rd Person Action single player games like ALL of Sony's biggest (Uncharted, Last of Us, God of War, Horizon etc) or not, we will see but the potential is still there to make great AAA games of Quality....
@Jay767 Why so salty. I'm sure the big companies don't care about you personally, so why do you have to defend them blindly. Xbox fanboys know that they can't assume anything since the games aren't out yet. Neither can you. So no need to attack blindly
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