Sony's PS5 Strategy: Aim to Please Hardcore Gamers, Focus on Exclusives and Big Publishers

Niche product?

I don't like a lot of stuff this dude says when he talks. Hopefully the pricing isn't stupid. I'll go as high as $500 if there's something at launch I feel like I have to play but if they go over that, I'll wait a bit. My concern when they say 'focus on the hardcore' means they know the price will be high, at least initially. PS4 was a massive success right out of the gate because it focused on everybody and was priced intelligently.

Sounds good to me.
And game streaming, as I always say, is and will be completely pointless until a decent, high speed internet connection is available everywhere. It is not. There's no market for streaming.

@Gamer83 For what it's worth, the market has changed drastically, especially over this last generation. Sony makes so much money off PSN that it could, at least in theory, release a high-end console and sell it at a loss, in the knowledge that it'd recoup those losses through the PSN.

The bottom line is that we're no longer in an era where companies like Sony need to sell a box and that's that. If anything, the console's now just a gateway to the larger (and much more profitable) online ecosystem. It's the same with Xbox and its focus on subscriptions.

With that in mind, you'd hope that Sony would price the PS5 reasonably.

@ShogunRok
I don't care at all for the direction MS is going and I'd like to see Sony avoid that as best as possible. I get the market has changed but it does that every gen. The way it's headed now, with eyes towards all-online services and streaming isn't something I'm a huge fan of.

it's going to be called the ps5.not whathever it's going to call.but ps5 will be a 14 teraflops console.word up son

Great exclusive and great 3rd party support, ps5 future seems bright. Can't wait for gow 2, horizon zd 2 and spider-man 2 on ps5

@themcnoisy Compared to other things like smartphone gaming, console gaming is niche.

Them focusing on hardcore suggests that the price could be higher than expected. If so, then I'll likely wait until it has a big library of exclusives before getting one.

Doesn't seem that smart to me. One of the main reasons the PS4 did so well is that it launched cheaper than the xbox, which forced MS to remove the kinect and lower their price.
The reason the PS3 did so badly to start off with was it's initial high price.
The only way this would work is if the new Xbox is similarly priced so one doesn't look more attractive than the other.
Or in theory they could treat it like the PS4 Pro... I could see all games releasing at launch for PS5 also being available on PS4 so people won't feel a need to upgrade straight away.

I don't get most of y'all comments. Where does it say pleasing the hardcores translates to a higher priced console? It's just saying more and more games for us with even more quality exclusives jeez I guess it's just nice to be negative these days. I wasn't initially excited about the PS5 that much but this news' got me excited.

@ShogunRok
"The bottom line is that we're no longer in an era where companies like Sony need to sell a box and that's that"

When was it the case for Sony? To my knowledge, they always sold new hardware at a loss and relied on owners buying one or more games to make a profit.

@ShogunRok "or whatever it ends up being called"

I see I've finally worn you guys down. 😉

It could of course be PS5, that's the safe bet, but I wouldn't mind seeing them mix it up a bit. Just call it "The Playstation" or "Playstation". Yes, I know we already had one of those, but we also already had "God of War" as well. And that way when the inevitable Slim and Pro come out we can just call them PS Slim and PS Pro. And it there is a PS6, well that's what, 8 years from now? Will we still have dedicated home consoles in 8 years?

Call it The Playstation, the console to end all consoles.

@naruball It's true, but I'm mostly referring to the console now being a "gateway" to a larger ecosystem. Sony wants people on the PlayStation Store.

"LaPlayStation" or "PSV" given that the Vita was never really referred to as such

@ShogunRok Yup. That most certainly has changed.

I’m sure it will be at a reasonable price. You would think Sony learned their lesson with PS3.

Given the state of the 3rd party AAA gaming market, I'm a little bit concerned at the "focus on the big publishers". With few exceptions, most 3rd parties this gen have increasingly gone towards service based online/co-op,&/or mtx ridden affairs...
I probably won't be very popular saying so, but was a huge fan of RDR 1/rockstar games as an example. When I fired up RDR 2, the clunky controls & extra mechanics being added purely geared towards the online mode's mtx , I went back to God of War & didn't regret it.
Long story short. Yep, I love the majority of the Sony exclusives we've had this gen. But in between those games I've enjoyed a lot of smaller indie titles/niche products too. I don't want to see this sector migrate towards gamepass or Switch exclusively.

like the sound of that 👍👍

@Robocod sure it will have all that but at the PS5 core will be big games that is what it is being built for why it will have so much power. the PS4 was the same it focused on the gamer first.

Sounds perfect to me. Basically more of the same... just "Better"

Finally get into PSVR.

Definitely like the sound of targeting hard-core gamers. Those who can’t afford it can just keep playing the PS4 until the price comes down. I suspect we are in for a long transition with the PS4 third-party support continuing for longer than it did for the PS3.

The 360 and PS3 era saw the true start of digital, and the One and PS4 saw the natural evolution of digital into a platform specific ecosystem. Sure, you had Live and PSN and your username/gamer tag, trophies/achievements and gamer score, but outside of that, there wasn’t much locking you to a system. That’s one of the (many) reasons the PS4 was able to take and expand on its lead in hardware sales over Xbox. There was no backwards compatibility at the start of this generation, so there was no need to maintain a loyalty to a console. We were all starting fresh.

Now however, with both consoles offering BC at the launch of this upcoming “next gen”, my digital purchases tied to my PSN/Live account mean a great deal. I already have a 100+ games library waiting to be upsampled to higher frame rates or visual fidelity. To move to a different ecosystem would require me to leave that library behind, or keep it on last gen hardware.

With all that being said, I don’t believe Sony will price itself out of the market. “Niche” and “hardcore gamer” are trigger words that cause concern, because they suggest something that the mainstream public won’t want initially, and volume is how we get better “perks” from publishers (third party exclusivity, early releases, betas, etc.). However, the money Sony is making off of its PSN ecosystem is insane. This is a company that some thought was on the brink of insolvency. Now, thanks in large part to PlayStation, they’re doing fine. Based on this, I believe Sony will price the next PlayStation reasonably, even to the extent of taking a major up front hit on cost, to continue their momentum and tie users to their ecosystem. It only makes sense.

Now watch me be 100% wrong.

What does he mean by "device". Is he implying that the PS5 is more than just a console???

@playstation1995 they're saying because it's not official yet.

@Gamer83 thing is is Sony let MS go off in the direction they are going and they stick to traditional gaming then each one of the big 3 would cover all areas of the market and that's probably a good thing

you want a traditional experience, get a PlayStation
you want a service based experience, get a XBOX
you want a portable experience, get a Nintendo

that way there is something for everyone

@vhsodre it's going to be ps5.thats a fact.word up son

@playstation1995 everybody knows that, grasshopper. But it's not a official name yet. It may be when Sony reveal de console.

@vhsodre it's still going to be ps5 dog .regardless he still say ps5 a lot on this topic.so even the 👽 aliens knows that it's going be call the ps5 .word up son

So are the 100 mil ps4s "niche" lol. Me like

I think Sony might want to remember it's gaming history and never lose focus of the whole gaming spectrum and the powers that look to disrupt an industry.

Cos there was a time back in 80s land, snuggle up gamers, when Nintendo and Sega ruled. Every eager new publisher indie or large wanted in and be part of a slice of Sega/Nintendo to sell their games. Gen after gen Nintendo and Sega roared, they scoffed at Neo Geo, Atari, Amiga, 3DO, etc. Before Nintendo was Atari. Then a little enthusiastic console appeared on the scene, it was lovingly nicknamed PSX. It was young, hungry to please... Everyone. It had a library which copied Nintendo and Sega, and came up with its own exclusives too. It worked! Year after year the eager bods at PlayStation played ball in order to please the consumer and hardcore players.

But, a big but. As the previous console makers bathed in their glory, little demons called gluttony, capitalist greed and brand pride entered each team's headspace. Gone are the teams at Atari, gone are the teams at 3DO, even Sega lost its focus. If Sony doesn't respect the past errors of previous console makers they sadly might fall like all before.

So what is Stadia doing right now? It's allowing everyone enthusiastically to make games on their machine. Ring a bell here PSX? Stadia is not greedy with pride or high demands. Ring a bell here PSX? I think Sony needs as many game publishers on board as possible. Don't forget the indies. Don't forget how from nothing each company slaved away to bring games over to PlayStation.

Win all the established players and still help, yep enthusiastically help the new Stadia developers to get their games easily onto PS5. Sorry isn't PS4s motto for the players? Then play with everyone. Why not become the benchmark and community spirit where all gamers are welcome. Play in peace with fun, united, cos what's going on in the real world is scary! Peace

I like the sound of this. Focus on the hardcore audience? I’m pretty sure that’s me.

@playstation1995 Every time I read a post of yours, I get hyped for the future.

Sony can do whatever they like, but if they're still being run by prudish Americans, I won't be buying a PS5.

@rjejr no that's horrible playa.ps5 is the name it's going to be .even the 👽 aliens knows it's the ps5.word up son

@Nickolaidas haha thanks 😁👍man I'm hype as always.and I always makes my comments as original as it can be.word ☝ up son

@RainbowGazelle Yeah. I mean, what's the point of playing video games if they don't have double D's?

if you throw around the word "niche" it makes me believe the price point will be a bit higher than people expect? if ps5 launches higher than $450-500usd, there will be a cause for concern indeed. the possibility of a 25% tariff looming makes this price point very real. to put it into perspective, a $500usd console would cost $650 in canada. in other words, a hell no from me until a major price drop

State the obvious!!! Of course the 'hardcore' and financially well off, will be the first to jump in to the PS5 at the start whilst the rest will be happy to make do with what they have been happy to play on the hardware they already have whilst waiting for the price to drop, more games available on just that gen etc.

Sounds more like cater for the fan boys, rather than hardcore gamers. Snubbing indie and small publishers to concentrate on exclusives and big publishers, to me, sounds like the arrogant Sony of old, aka the PS3 days where they had to play catch up and back peddle on promises ( eg dual boot, etc). They should be careful how they handle the wider gamer community

Spot on. Leave others to try reach out for those 2billion 'gamers '

Makes sense to me, the Internet has given customers, sorry I mean people, a voice that companies can now hear very loudly.
Seems silly to ignore them.

@AyanamiReign
The ps3 didn't do as well initially because it was released 10 months or so after the 360 and it was more expensive but it later caught up and I believe it now has sold more then the 360. But it was mainly the fact people had already bought a 360 by the time ps3 launched, I did and then sold it once ps3 arrived.

@DanM I'd have to agree. It's been around for about 5 years now, and if figures are accurate, is being used by less than 1% of PS4 owners - and a good chunk of that is probably to play PS3 games.

Combined with the recent survey suggesting 70% of European gamers aren't interested in streaming, it would seem to be a very limited market for the foreseeable future.

I've been say it will cost more and still believe it. And I agree, Playstation is the perfect name for it. Not like anybody will confuse it with the original. Besides, this will be the last traditional console they have(aside from things like slim models). I think we will see Playstation and Xbox as final names for both.

Can't buy a playstation 5 until they end the censorship. I'd like them to apologize to the companies they greatly inconvenienced through arbitrarily applied censorship demands and inconsistent enforcement but the world isn't made of stardust and unicorn farts.

@kyleforrester87 "I’ve been saying it’ll just be called PlayStation for ages, so if it is, don’t be thinking about stealing my thunder."

I'll give ya the thunder, but ya gotta take @playstation95 as part of the bargain.

The PlayStation. TPS.

I must admit, the fact they’ve released all these specs and marketing strategies probably 18 months away from release has absolutely turned me cold on the PS5 and the XB2. The fact they’ve avoided saying about games and pricing yet hasn’t enthused me that I need this thing immediately, or maybe even ever.

Both Sony and Microsoft are vamping at the moment because the next year and a half doesn’t have much in the way of inspiring releases. If Stadia releases in any competent form in October, the two big boys could lose a segment of their fans while we wait for next gen (Not me though, I’ll be playing stuff all year on the Switch).

But whats his definion of Hardcore?

For all we know, he means Fortnite players.

@BAMozzy
Not that obvious tbh. It's good that they confirm PlayStation focus on its traditional approach ; exclusive content enticing dedicated gamers to buy the console. Ms has a different approach.

@eltomo
What's the definition of 'hardcore'?
I never liked the term, often used as a sort of bragging in the same way of 'I'm a true gamer and not you' crap. Many fortnite players are very much dedicated.

@JJ2 it's a very odd term to use and virtually has no meaning or at least means very different things to different people. Is somebody playing Mario Bros less hardcore than someone playing COD?

For me personally I use it to define gamers who play many different games as opposed to the amount of time gaming. I know many who just play COD, FIFA and GTA and even they don't consider themselves hardcore as they ignore 99% of the games that release. What worries me is if Sony uses it to mean those who just play the most popular games and looking at the PS store and seeing Fortnite and FIFA plastered all over it, maybe they do.

What has made Sony special for me is having those but also your Persona 5's, a Nier Automata or a Yakuza 0 together with their impressive first party content. Also concerning is how they are ignoring Indie games at a time where Nintendo are embracing them and letting them use their IP and great games like The Messenger are releasing late to little fanfare on PS4 or in many cases not at all and even remakes of classics such as Panzer Dragoon yet to be confirmed for the system. It's all well and good Sony arrogantly stating that their platform is too big to ignore but when these games are far and away more successful on the Switch and even the Epic store which pushes them, then it'll become very easy for them to ignore Sony. They just need to remember that its these games that make the system so appealing so many different people

@kyleforrester87
You do realize that the article you linked to actually says the same thing I did?
Here's a quote from it:
"All of that changed in September of 2018 when Sony also allowed for the downloading of games. Sony CFO, Hiroki Totoki:
Since the launch of this download service, gameplay time per user has grown significantly to the point where gameplay time on downloaded PS4 titles is double that of streamed titles, a trend which has contributed to higher user engagement with, and retention on, the PS Now service.
According to Sony, subscriber count has grown nearly 40% on average each year, leading to a grand total of 700,000 users as of right now. "
So, to recap, most of the people that subscribe, and STAY subscribed to PlayStation Now are people that download games and play offline. The rest of the user base is a revolving door of people that try streaming and then leave.
So... Thanks for confirming I was right, and maybe next time actually read the articles you link to before trying to be condescending? Just a friendly suggestion.

@JJ2 The method of 'delivery' could be different with MS but it would seem that MS have learned from their mistakes of the the XB1 which had less of a focus on games. The building up of Xbox Studio's in recent times as well as having numerous 'big publisher' games (Cyberpunk, Star Wars etc) would indicate that they are looking to put gaming as their primary function even if the 'console' itself isn't the only method for gamers to access their games.

From what we have heard from Sony, it would seem that they are considering expanding the way Sony gamers can access games too. Streaming was listed as a method of delivering games but exactly how that may be implemented and what that means for gamers, we will have to see.

MS have been a bit more open about their plans and have been merging their PC and Console customers together for a while. It seems that their Console will be just 1 option for Xbox gamers where 'xbox' is no longer 'just' the console anymore. Xbox encompasses MS's whole gaming branch and will not be splitting up MS gamers just because of platform. Their xCloud also looks like a method of playing your Xbox games anywhere with any compatible device. In other words, you can play Forza on the console, carry on playing on the bus/train commute, carry on playing during your lunch hour on a PC, continue to play on the ride home and play on the Xbox when you get home - all saves, achievements etc count across all formats and you only need to buy it once too - at least that's how MS seem to be going.

Sony doesn't have a 'big' stake in PC's but they do have Mobiles. There gaming is focussed very much on the console but whether that can be expanded with Streaming or will be just another way to play on PS5, we have yet to find out. Its possible that Sony could be offering something similar - have streaming options on mobiles/PC's - their own EA Access on PC for example - where you sign into your PSN account from compatible devices - inc Mobiles and play digitally owned Playstation games on multiple devices - or it could be more limited and offer a 'subscription' service like Game Pass but with a select library of Playstation (of all eras?) games streamed to PS5 - not that it matters to me but the point is, Sony haven't really talked about their plans as far as streaming are concerned and it could be as 'broad' as MS's (ie streamed to any compatible device), be more localised to just their console or maybe streamed to their other devices like Sony Xperia mobiles, Sony Bravia TV's.

The point I was making though is that their strategy is NO different and not unexpected either. Its stating the obvious that Sony will continue to make exclusives and have partnerships with 3rd Party devs (as usual) and whether you like the term or not, be a 'hardcore' gaming platform - which tends to mean at the forefront of 'technology' for gamers and bringing the majority of the latest titles to those gamers from day of release so they can be amongst the first to play. That hasn't been any different from Siny's previous generations either...

"Hardcore gamer" ... what is that even?!

As much as I don't like exclusives, I understand their need to exist in order to sell console units or in order to compete with Steam. The PS4 would not have sold so well without its strong selection of single-player focused AAA titles. So it's understandable they want to focus even more on this with the PS5, they need to keep the momentum up and be powerful at the PS5's launch.

@carlos82
I think they just mean dedicated or just as opposed to those 2 billion gamers market Google or Ms talk about and aim at with the cloud

@3MonthBeef

But my point is 18 months out they’ve made a big song and dance announcing specs and who they’re competing with and who their product is for, but it’s just general waffle. How can you start think about if you want to buy something on it’s specs when A: you don’t know what they can actually achieve with these specs in reference to games, and B: Am I actually going to get a good deal for this box with these specs? Is it just an equivalent to an overpriced off the shelf bundle PC? It should have be announced all together A LOT closer to launch (Say 4-6 months).

The truth is they have to say something to keep their brands in the news because very little is going on in the world of PlayStation 4 (and even more so XBox One) at the moment- but without context we just have some numbers and people constantly saying ray tracing without actually knowing what that will look like on this box and if we’ll be overcharged for it.

@kyleforrester87
Well, the article you yourself posted said that there was a small market for it and it got even smaller. I'd say you look silly posting an article that argues against your own point.
Beside, there is no market. Period. It's not my opinion, it's a fact.
For there to be a market, you need customers and the service needs to be available to those customers. There is no widespread high speed internet connection. That's a fact. So there's no customers, or there's so little of them that makes no matter. I frankly don't see what is silly about taking facts and reaching a logical conclusion. Saying there is a growing market for streaming right now is like saying there is a growing market for space tourism right now. It is available only to a very very small percentage of the population (those lucky ones that enjoy good internet connection). It will be different in the future, sure, but not anytime soon, which was my point.
Anyway, no harm no foul, you keep your silly opinions, I'll keep my silly facts and maybe next time read the articles you post links to... Who knows, you might learn something too...

@kyleforrester87
Again, there is no widespread available good internet connection. That is also not a difficult concept to grasp.
Also, it seems to me that we are talking about two different things.
I said I agree with Sony that they're right to not focus on streaming right now, because, like the article you posted says, most people are not interested in it or just cannot use it. Whereas you seem more interested in the definition of the word market.
Maybe we should make the distinction between a few customers and a profitable service.
I am not saying no one uses streaming, that would be silly, I am saying less than 200.000 people in the whole wide world does not constitute a market. I use the word market in the sense a corporation like Sony would use it, that is: large user base = profit. While you are saying that there is a market because more than 0 people stream-play games.
So let's meet in the middle and use your definition of market and merge it with my, and Sony's, interpretation:
There is a very, very small market for streaming games, not profitable and with a minuscule userbase, which will not grow easily anytime soon, because, outside of silicon valley, very very few people have a decent internet connection.
Can we agree on that or do we have to keep this merry go round going? I've better things to do than argue all day about streaming Good night, mate, or good morning, I don't know what it is where you're at, good wathever-it-is, anyway...

the days of sony and microsoft selling hardware at huge losses is long gone, imo. between them xbox360 and PS3 had $8bn dollars in losses, almost crippling both game divisions. neither of them repeated it this gen, and i wouldn't expect them to do it next either. i think they're more likely to press AMD for big savings in production costs, especially since they can guarantee orders for tens of millions, in order to reduce the final cost of the unit.

@carlos82 Yep, agree on the indie concerns, especially in terms of places like the EU/AU territory. Games too that release later or not at all yet get released on Switch/XB in the same regions. (Eg: Battle Princess Madelyn).
One euro based Indie dev kindly gave some insight that Switch/XB used a new IARC classification system,yet the EU psn still use the more expensive PEGI. Let alone their slow approvals & poor social inteactions. When devs & publishers are being denied sales discounts or bound by red tape not experienced on US psn or competing formats, its not a good look.

@NintendoFan4Lyf yeah ps5 is more powerful than x box.so I don't know what you talking about.x box needs to be more powerful than ps5 .ps5 is more powerful than x box.its gonna over so soon and if ps5 is cheaper it's doa for box x.hahaha.word ☝ up son