Sony has reiterated its commitment to first-party franchises as part of an organisational reshuffle that will see some of its most forward-facing executives promoted up the corporate ladder. Shawn Layden, who will continue to front Sony Interactive Entertainment America and act as the Chairman of Worldwide Studios, will “concentrate his focus on [...] providing platform-defining content” for the company. According to a press release, the firm’s “mission to create and develop the most attractive and powerful first-party titles has become more important than ever”.
That’s a pretty reassuring statement for fans of PlayStation’s exclusives. As announced earlier in the year, Jim Ryan has been promoted to Deputy President and Head of Global Sales and Marketing, meaning that the company’s various regions will all report directly to him. While fans have been critical of some of Ryan’s comments in the past, it’s perhaps worth remembering that he’s led PlayStation Europe to its strongest position in over a decade. He’s pretty darn good at his job.
Elsewhere, Phil Rosenberg – a long-time PlayStation veteran – has been appointed Head of Global Publisher and Developer Relations, while Hideaki Nishino has been promoted to Head of Platform Planning and Management. Many of these changes will go into effect as of 1st April. It’s a lot to wrap your head around, and perhaps won’t mean all that much for us as consumers. But the company believes these changes will help it to “remain the leader in the constantly evolving business environment”.
[source sie.com]
Comments 42
Pleased the likes of Shawn Layden are moving up because there people that understand what PlayStation is and how it's been successful so there voices will be important.
When you look at this year's lineup it's hard to doubt them.
Yeah, great press release. Means they're committed to the current strategy, and even strengthening their output. Which I imagine is what we all want as fans!
All i want is if they ever release a Ps5 ir should come with backwards compatibility at the least with PS4 titles so i can enjoy all this first party titles in one machine.
That's great. Exclusives really matter and I really want Sony to keep thinking like that.
This is why I'm a PlayStation gamer . Sony knows how to deliver .
Great to have it confirmed, Sony do a great job of just letting their studios get on with making what they want to make, and the end results show that passion, i just hope that this means some of their dormant franchises like Ape Escape and Syphon Filter might be revisited sometime soon as they'd compliment the newer I.P's like Horizon quite nicely i feel.
@SlimDrizzyLamar Doubling down, not necessarily double.
@Neolit It's also worth remembering that PS4 is the only PlayStation console since PSone to not have any form of BC at all. I know they've done a crap job this gen, but they've been pretty good with BC in their history.
PS5 will work with all PS4 stuff I think. Pretty confident.
Nice, I hope sony not forgetting their old ip though, there's many sony old ip that I want to play with 4k & 60 fps, like ape escape, colony wars, twisted metal, etc.
I love it. Sony exclusives sway me more than Nintendo honesty. Granted, I need to play my copy of BotW, but I have a hard time believing Nintendo will pump out enough games like that to dethrone Sony. The Switch could change that perspective, but Sony plus third party will always reign supreme. I also like they put out a variety of things for everyone. Even down to making excellent GotY T rated games, which I think is need. Not saying it's necessarily bad if something is rated M, but a balance is needed.
Just give me the release date of Spiderman. My most anticipated ps4 2018 exclusive game by far and maybe even overall for this year.
Playstation were always successful because of games, exclusivity and quality games, back on the original playstation, Nintendo 64 were more powerful than the original PS but with the holster of great games and exclusives it had made it one of the best console ever, Playstation 2 the same thing, The Gamecube and the original XBOX were more powerful but at the end games were the reason the Playstation 2 is the biggest console of all time... so keep the big games coming, quality games and exclusives i assure you that the PS5 will follow in the PS4's footstep loud and proud.
Just as long as they don't start pushing western releases over Japanese games I'll be fine, but if they push away Japanese developers and publishers again like they did in the early PS3 days we'll have a problem. Not everyone likes western style games and you can NEVER rely on Nintendo for a constant stream of JRPG's as a result from 2006-2010 the genre nearly died out. Please don't repeat your mistakes Sony...
@Jaz007 well remember some were hoping the Big N would finally go 3rd Party which = Either Nintendo May go PlayStation exclusive or release on every platform.
@Derpie1 I don’t think that’s happening anytime soon with the success of the Switch though. Nintendo making money with its one console pretty happily right now.
Its perfect for what us gamers want to hear. Exclusives is the one area that Sony are particularly strong on at the moment. I know they have VR which is doing 'OK' but not exactly mainstream - yet.
With Nintendo and certainly Microsoft, their first party is what will ultimately separate them. Nintendo have a great first party line-up and the added advantage of mobility.Microsoft seem to have the advantage (currently) with high end (console) 3rd Party games and with 'cross-play' becoming more a thing - as well as Backwards Compatibility, 4k Bluray, Atmos etc, the one big area that Sony are excelling is their first party line-ups.
After the news about the PS+ IGC ending on Vita and PS3, this news too offsets some of that negativity. I know the two PS4 offerings this month softened some of the blow but this also helps. Of course I would still keep my PS+ subscription regardless and still keep with Sony anyway but it may help some of those sat on the fence...
@AlejandroMora That's very likely. The reason the PS4 couldn't be backwards compatible was because of the change in architecture, but there's no reason to assume that will change again with the PS5. So it should be backwards compatible out of the box.
PlayStation is the best.more games.give me sly cooper.syphon filter.resistance 4.word up son
Very good. More exclusive games is always nice.
@get2sammyb
The early slate for this year might be better than last. SotC remake in Feb. MLB The Show this month. God of War in April. Detroit: Become Human in May.... That's not mentioning a big third party exclusive in Yakuza 6.
Last year the early lineup was Gravity Rush 2, Horizon and MLB The Show. I'm not sure any of this year's games will be as awesome as Horizon is (GoW has a chance) but the quality is there again and in a bit greater quantity.
2016 was a really strong year that got the ball rolling but the last two have been huge and put PS4 well on track to becoming my second favorite platform in the PS family. What a library it's built up in a fairly short space of time after an up and down beginning.
Focus on first-party titles? Brilliant
Yeeez, more first-party exclusives, ... see how great games can become when developers only focus on one platform?!
@get2sammyb "PS5 will work with all PS4 stuff I think. Pretty confident."
Will PS5 just play them "as is" or upres upframe them like PS4 Pro does? Making PS5 "New PS4 Pro" (2 PS4 duct taped together maybe)? I think BC almost has to be a given, but I'm not sure if they'll try to be slick and say PS4 games run like PS4 games on PS5 (see Wii games on Wii U) and that you'll still want to buy a remastered 4k version on PS5 to get 4k and 60fps. And I'm not exactly sure why you would need to if PS5 could be a PS4 Proier Pro, but it worked so well w/ GTAV and TLoU2 I'm not sure they're willing to give that up.
Anyway on topic. While it's an almost no-brainer move and announcement by Sony, 1st party is their bread & butter, do you think this announcement had anything to do with the larger gaming landscape? (I don't think anything happens in a vacuum.) By making this announcement is Sony saying to EA and Ubi et al, "hey, don't go looking to get us in a bidding war w/ MS for mutliplats, we'll take your games but not pay for them." Or just the opposite is Sony trying to run MS out of the gaming business by buying up great AAA exclusives leaving MS w/ the dregs?
Just feels to me like there is something bigger picture going on here. Sony could have easily done this in house without making a big deal out of it. Seems to me like they are sending a message to 3rd party devs and/or MS, I'm just not quite sure what that message is, well besides "put your games on PS, not Xbox" that much is obvious. I don't think they care that much about Nintendo, they'll share their home console dominance with a portable if they are truly out of the portable market.
Could be a retort to EA Access not being on PS4. I just feel like there's something more to this, like it's the beginning of the build up to PS5 following yesterday's no PS+ on PS3 starting next March. Sony is sending a message to everyone loud and clear, I just can't decipher it b/c it isn't meant for consumers, it's meant for others in the industry.
@rjejr What's EA got to do with it? They're restructuring the company slightly, and they explained why. It's got nothing to do with EA Access or the portable market.
I think PS5 will probably upgrade the games same as PS4 Pro does, but I don't think they'll do anything quite as advanced as Microsoft is doing. Hopefully they do, though, 'cos that's wizardry.
@get2sammyb "What's EA got to do with it?"
I don't know, I thought I heard somebody mention them once, thought they were an important company to discuss on a gaming site, my mistake. I'm sure Sony is unaware of EA's existence and this announcement is all just about Sony, classified info, for their eyes only.
"'cos that's wizardry"
Wizadry for the consumer is bad for the corporate bottom line me thinks. How many PS3 games have you purchased on PS4? I don't even double dip but I have a few. Mostly PS2 games on PS3 then on PS4, it's hard to keep up sometimes. I have a lot of PS2 games on PS3 in HD. PS4 Pro level of improvements while not getting to full 4k might be a nice dividing line though, keep people happy yet still let them sell remasters in FULL 4K or whatever they call it. I just can't imagine a PS5 without a new version of H:ZD in a PS5 box. Gonna be interesting to see what they finally announce. Whenever they announce it.
@rjejr I just don't understand how you're connecting the dots between EA Access and a Sony corporate restructure which puts a focus on first-party?
Obviously EA is a hugely important partner for Sony, but I think this restructuring is simply Sony focusing on what it does best as new management comes in and it presumably prepares itself for a new console launch.
No objections here. Show me the goods and I will show you the money.
In fairness when haven't Sony supported First Party games? Medievil, Ape Escape, Gran Turismo, Syphon Filter, Parappa and Twisted Metal all on PS1 Ratchet & Clank, Jak & Daxter, Sly Cooper, God Of War, Ico, Killzone & Shadow Of The Collous on PS2 Resistance, Motorstorm, Uncharted, Infamous, Little Big Planet & Last Of Us on PS3 and so far on PS4 The Order 1886, Knack, Drive club, Horizon Zero Dawn and soon Days Gone and Ghost Of Tsushima (not to mention the returning franchises) - always supported well
cough Become the Publisher of Granblue Fantasy. Buy the NieR franchise. Make Gravity Rush 3. Another Infamous! SOONY!!! The skies are the limit!
Didn't think their first party output could get much better to be honest! Although I wouldn't say no to a new Sly Cooper game. I'm on the third game now of the HD Collection, love the characters, cant believe I'd never heard of the game series until recently.
@rjejr
What you just explained as a potential scenario is so out there that if it actually happened it would mark the first time, ever, that I'd be surprised by something stupid the market leader has done. Every time a company gets into a position of power it's like it becomes allergic to success and does whatever possible to push it away because 'we can't have that.' But the fact is PlayStation, for as good as its first party games have been, is the house that third parties built. PSone may have still been very successful and the brand might still be around if Resident Evil had debuted on N64 or Saturn and if Square and Enix had not jumped ship with Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest, but it's more likely we'd have seen it fade away like so many other contenders to Nintendo's crown had done at the time. It wasn't Crash Bandicoot that shot PlayStation past Nintendo. It wasn't Jak & Daxter or Ratchet & Clank that held off the original Xbox and Gamecube. The one gen where Sony had to rely mostly on first party it barely took second (distant at that) and was running third for much of that gen.
I agree most things don't happen in a bubble in this industry, but in this case, I don't think there's any subtle messages other than Sony saying 'hey PlayStation fans, look at the cool games we've got for you.' That's the only thing that makes sense. If it was trying to send a message to EA, Ubisoft, SquareEnix and other third parties that 'we don't need you anymore,' that'd be the worst, and frankly dumbest, decision the company has made since 599 U.S. dollars and it might even be dumber than that. In the years I've been gaming since the mid-NES era only one company I can think of has been able to rely on first party alone to carry it. And even then, N64, Gamecube and Wii U were hammered by the competition.
@get2sammyb "I just don't understand how you're connecting the dots between EA Access and a Sony corporate restructure which puts a focus on first-party?"
Well I'm having a problem connecting the dots. It's like I know there's a message there written in invisible ink but I'm having a problem locating my lemon.
Everything else you wrote just sounds naive to me. I know you aren't naive, you've been in this business for at least a decade now, but it sounds naive to me. Read all the other posts, Sony has always been big on 1st party games, this isn't news or surprising to anyone. so I think there has to be a reason. Maybe not EA, maybe not MS, maybe smaller devs or Konami or Kojima, I don't know what exactly, just that it feels like they are saying something bigger than and other than they are saying.
@Gamer83 "What you just explained as a potential scenario is so out there"
Which one, I think I gave a couple.
As I said, I'm not sure what it means, that's why I was asking sammy what he thought, though of course I'm more than happy to hear from you as well, I just feel like it means something we aren't privy too. We all know Sony has great 1st party games, GoW, Uncharted, inFamous, now Horizon, they don't really need to announce it. Sony and MS are so competitive in gaming, I don't think either ever does or says anything w/o the other in mind. Even when it's just something nice on Twitter there's always a dig in there somewhere. Look at all the back and forth w/ cross-platform w/ Minecraft and, well whatever the other game was, Rocket League maybe. Sony probably wasn't happy when Xbox 360 got FF 13 as a multiplat. They couldn't have been happy about Xbox's 1 year timed exclusive Tomb Raider. This announcement feels like some kind of statement to me, I just haven't been able to quite figure out what that statement is. There's always an underlying message, there's always something to read between the lines. That's just how I feel about any announcement from any corporation. It's always spoken as about them, meaning it's unspoken about someone else.
Sony is more than happy I think to live side by side with Ntinedo, but I think everyone who works at Sony wants to crush MS and the Xbox. By Sony saying - hey, PS4 isn't all about 3rd party sports and FPS this year, we have the 1st party exclusives and we're going to double down going forward w/ PS5 in the not too distant future - well that's a statement aimed and presented with MS and EA in mind. It just is. I know that, I'm just not sure what it means, but it means something.
@rjejr
I honestly think you're reading too much into things. Especially the EA thing. Unless behind the scenes Sony knows MS is buying or has already bought EA there's no reason at all to take shots a company that has been an important partner and a big part of PlayStation's success over the years. It would just be a stupid move. And why just EA and MS? Wouldn't this also be a message to all the other third parties Sony works with, if we're going to look at it like that? It makes no sense. We've seen companies do this before. Nintendo gives announcements from time to time where it discusses corporate on-goings and game lineup, MS does, this time Sony did it. The message here is, 'this is what's going on at the top, and here are the games we have lined up.' Nothing more, nothing less.
Legit.
@rjejr Having read through this thread, your comments, and particularly the one about Sony's intentions with this release sort of hit the nail on the head. It's true, Sony has been doing the First Party thing for a while and are known for it.
It got me wondering if perhaps Sony just wanted to ramp up the momentum. First the Double big title game freebies on PS Plus, then there's the March releases anyway. This announcement is one way to get the attention of people like us, as well as the twitterverse, Kotaku, etc. I wonder if there's some kind of AGM / Annnual review / Shareholders report coming up.
Then there's things happening like Disney buying out Fox, Comcast going for Sky in the UK. Maybe Sony just wanted to say "We're big boys too remember."
Well that makes me really excited for E3, looking forward to the line-up. Until then, I'm all about MHWorld and God of War.
Sony knows what we want. Good.
I just wish Sony would take PS2 Classics more seriously because I would love to play some of them again. I mean I found Mercenaries Playground of destruction on PS3 the other day but would love to have it on PS4 because it's my main console. My PS3 is now a media player for my room like Netflix before sleep etc and sometimes a back log PS3 game I have yet to finish
@nathanSF "Maybe Sony just wanted to say "We're big boys too remember.""
Thanks for the positive reinforcement, everybody else seems to be taking the news at face value, which I just never do, from anyone, I always look for the ulterior motive, too many cops shows I guess.
Sorry for the week late reply, my inbox is a mess, nothing personal.
@rjejr Seems Cop shows have gotten into the routine of throwing 2 often three suspects at us then revealing that the guy in the first scene or a total stranger was the culprit. Elementary was pretty good at hidden agendas. But the masters of backhand and devious dealings goes to Suits on Netflix.
Just finished Jessica Jones season 2 which threw twists in like there's no tomorrow, most of them half predictable, some not.
@nathanSF I still need to watch JJ season 2, we're waiting to finish up all of our regular season shows in May, then we'll get NF over the summer and catch up on Punisher and JJ just in time for Luke Cage in June. I never did get around to watching Elementary or Suits, catching up on Pysch now, but it's always the first innocent looking person they show who did it, the 2 or 3 guilty looking people later are just to drag out the rest of the episode. I think cop shows learned that from the original Scooby Doo TV show back in the 70's but it was probably L&O that made it a staple.
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