Sony's New First-Party Studio Working on Lighthearted Team-Based Action Game for PS5

I feel for em. Better hope this first game lands or else bye bye.

Multiplayer and a game designed to keep you trapped for ages. Really no. Live service crap.

I feel kinda sad for all those studios in the gaming world, established in pursuit of easy live-service money and almost doomed not to be profitable. There might be talented and inspired developers, who will get tons of negative all over the world and get fired once another poorly-managed / poorly-planned project flops.

You're not going to make the next Fortnite, Sony. Stick to single-player games, which is something you do very well when you want to.

@Shepherd_Tallon Build factions and they will come !

We're really still trying this, aren't we? What does Vaas from Far Cry 3 say about insanity?

@Tomato_Goose And what about all the single player game studios that got shut down in their last few years, all the ones formed and shut down before they even release a game because of zero funding? Why pretend it’s some weird live service thing?

Yay another team game 🙄If i was them id take my time with it ,because as soon as it releases ,Sony will shut them down a few weeks after.

Let's fu**ing go!

@get2sammyb firewalk seemed very passionate about their game as well.

I really hope Team Look for a Group doesn't turn into Team looking for a job. I'm curious to see what they'll produce but I'd hate to work on something that's outcome determined if you'd have a roof over your head or not. There must be insane levels of stress at the lower levels for some of these studios.

I have two questions:

What the hell is that studio name, and what the HELL is a "frog-type" game?

I'm glad I'm not the only one who has never heard of a "frog type game". They talking about Frogger? Leap-Frog? What do they mean!?

Regardless I doubt there is any chance I'm going to be interested in whatever this "gummy bears" game is but good luck to them. I'd love to be pleasantly surprised.

Oh the studio name though. Please dear God change that at least.

„teamLFG“ sounds so disposable. Makes it easier to „make the hard decision to…“

@get2sammyb in this case let's hope their project will go live at some point and will be decent at least

This sounds terrible already

So how long till this one is shuttered. Also PS really needs teams and talent not based in the US

“Our first game is a team-based action game that draws inspiration from fighting games, platformers, MOBAs, life sims, and frog-type games,”

I don't know WTF is frog type games but this new studio trying to do a lot of stuff from different genre instead of focus on one type of game and that's a big red flag for me.

But eh whatever. I can only say good luck to this studio. Although i'm not surprised if one year later Hermen put them in the chopping block.

I like team based games. Team based single player games like some JRPGs?

@themightyant Always fun to remind the people who think no one buys live service games that Helldivers 2 is Sony IP.

@RBMango Im assuming "frog-type" means that it'll be focused on jumping and grapple-movement?? Like Frogger & Frogun.

I am actually interested to see what this might be, always like to see new things from Sony. But yeah, wtf is with that name lol hope that isnt any indication of their creative skills

That's two out of the three secret first party studios. With the last being rumored on working on the next uncharted so we'll see. When they say frog like games I'm thinking like frogger? Lol

Let's Froggin' Go!

@CutchuSlow I also prefer these kinds of team based games. Or games with an Ellie helping me to hunt down Clickers.

@Shepherd_Tallon honestly they should give factions to bend studio and try to at least get that out this gen since it was rumored to be close to finished

Nice, exactly what PlayStation fans have been clamouring for, a studio dedicated to live service multiplatform games. /s

I'm curious to see what they'll make as their first game, and I agree, it'll likely draw in a bunch of ire from people when it's first shown.

@Tomato_Goose Don’t feel sad for them… If the developers didn’t want to work on live-service games then they wouldn’t have applied… It not like studio was making AAA award winning single player games before this then all a sudden turn to making to live service.

If the developers didn’t like the idea of working on live service then apply to a different studio… No one is forcing anyone to work on these games.

Staff should already freshen up their CVs and start applying elsewhere by the sound of this.

@themightyant You're missing the forest for the trees of what I'm saying.

-The Show is an institution that has existed for decades; people play it habitually.
-Sony didn't own Bungie during 90% of Destiny 2's lifecycle.
-Helldivers 2 is not a game developed by a 1st party studio.
-Gran Turismo has microtransactions, sure, but that hardly makes it a live service.

My point is that it is foolish for Sony to invest hundreds of millions of dollars having their own studios develop a live service game with the hopes of making blockbuster.

You yourself said, "On top of that they can see that most of the top 20 most played games are live services and the highest grossing games are all live services." EXACTLY. And how many of those live service games in the top 20 were developed by Sony first party studios? That was my point. We cannot forget Concord. We cannot forget the years that Bluepoint and Sony Bend just lost working on canceled live service games. That was my point.

@get2sammyb Which is not saying much, because Sony also saw a lot of promise with Concord. So much promise that they bought entire studio...

Well I'll probably never touch one game this team puts out.

what on earth is a "frog-type" game?

@joeyflannel

Helldivers 2 is not a game developed by a 1st party studio.

It was funded by Sony 100%, and Sony own the IP. Additionally Sony refer to it as a First Party game, so your distinction here is irrelevant.

@RBMango
Frogger type game is all I can think. Jumping across rivers on logs and such?

@ChrisDeku Ah, fair enough, I'll give you that one

@joeyflannel Edit: I directed this at you, but i didnt read your comment well enough. You were saying that their first party studios shouldnt all be tasked for live service, which is a fair point. So i guess this is just directed in general now:

I’m bothered by the double standard. Everyone likes to pile up on Sony. They are like one of the last publishers to even seriously pursue live service, and they certainly haven’t been as aggresive with microtransactions as other publishers.

Meanwhile almost all the other publishers like ABK, Tencent, EA and Unisoft create live service all the time, and long before Sony ever did. And you have games like Diablo 4 offering cosmetic DLC which can cost up to $150, not to mention FIFA, AC series and Call of Duty with its heavily infected microtransaction games.

But no, Sony, for just attempting live service gets all the heat. A clear double standard

Yes, lots of those 12 live service games got cancelled by Sony, but that is par for the course in game Development. Lots of games get cancelled, most we never even hear about. Those games was already calculated in the cost, it’s not like Sony doesn’t think these things through. I’m sure their financial teams factor in everything before green lighting all these projects

@ChrisDeku People are always arguing that. Sony defines several projects as first-party, but they're obviously trying to deceive gamers and shareholders alike.

@LogicStrikesAgain I'm less worried about the financial stakes and more worried about the opportunity cost. Every second a developer works on a live service game that either fails or gets canceled is a day they could have spent working on a single player game, or even a single player game with a traditional multiplayer suite. Bluepoint could have already had a remaster released, or a single player game well into development, but we had them working on a God of War live service game for years? Despite them having no experience or expertise making such a game? What are we doing here?

EDIT: I read YOUR edit, and understand we're somewhat on the same page here. BTW I should point out that I think Ubisoft are outta their MINDS for repeatedly trying to enter the live service market. They can't take a hint!

@LogicStrikesAgain

Yes, lots of those 12 live service games got cancelled by Sony, but that is par for the course in game Development.

People quickly forget that Sony have always been quick to cut things that aren’t working and quickly moving onto the next project, and to big success in the past. Santa Monica was 18 months into a Sci-Fi new IP when it got cancelled(and key personnel let go) and then they moved onto God of War(2018). Sucker Punch had a working playable version of a Steam Punk adventure game(it’s called Prophecy and there is a leaked video of it) before deciding to move onto Ghost of Tsushima.

@joeyflannel You’re right, and i agree. Their mistake with their live service pursuit was going all in and letting most of their single player studios work on live service, which did affect their opportunity cost a bit.

However i still think they get a disproportionate amount of scrutiny for just mentioning anything live service. Like Tencent can announce a new Gacha game tomorrow and people would just eat it up, shrug and move on. If Sony did the same it would be a 300+ outrage comment section on Push Square

@Shepherd_Tallon definitely agree, they can salvage bend this gen by giving them faction to finish and maintain. Faction would actually be super successful too.

@ChrisDeku small correction pretty sure Santa Monica was more than 18 months in development of the sci fi game, pretty sure they were close to completion.

@ChrisDeku Exactly, it’s called having good business sense. People think cancellation automatically means failure, but as your examples show it can also lead to greater succes, if done with the right insight

Keep throwing mud at that wall! Some of it might stick

A new week, a new studio. I miss the PS3/PSP era of PlayStation where you got a truly mixed bag of games and experiences. You had your Uncharted and God of War and got one offs like Puppeteer and Patchwork Heroes. Or something weird but amusing like Eye of Judgment or Wonderbook.

Nowadays, it’s seeing what will last more than a month as a live service venture and the studio is shuttered after 6 to 12 months.

Another live service studio …

Just from the description alone, I already know they'll have to rebrand to teamLFJ soon.

Sony quadruppling down on live service bull 💩. You can't parody this, as Sony is already a joke. They can't read the room at all. SMH. 🤦‍♂️

And the studio name is pure cringe. JFC... I have second hand embarrassment. What happened to you, Sony? 🤦‍♂️

And what if this game turns out to be good will the people already Writing the game off change their tune.

So many questions. What even is a ¨frog-type¨ game? What the heck is that studio name? What is the game they are working on gonna be like?

I'm curious how long this studio will exist.

Frog type game? So they’re making frogger 2? 😂

@Hongo I love Puppeteer so much. Amazing game!

Another studio made up of some ex-Bungie & other live service games,feel like we heard this before! Unfortunately Hermen Hulst seems enamoured with whatever Bungie (& those that split from them),have spun to him to keep greenlighting new live service projects in the hopes of finding the next COD/GTAO/Fortnite when Bungie's creative outputs of recent times has been seemingly mixed at best!

Not to mention the litany of cancelled projects & studio closures during his reign. All the while old Sony IP's like Resistance, Little Big Planet, Motorstorm,Twisted Metal etc.,that had both solid single player & online modes that could be tailored for add-ons keep lying dormant in the storage chest in the attic. 😕

I'm really intrigued to see this genre of frog-type games we've all been oblivious to.

I have no hope for this. It will be a trending pile of slop then an Astro or something as exciting. Programmers/animators wasting our time, artists making decent to good art. What else is new with this bland terrible industry with mentality of factory production in their minds. All robots the lot of them money hungry, trend following or nostalgia dumb and can't think for themselves creatively or problem solve.

Just make something people have wanted, like Astro, something Japan Studio like. Something that ISN'T TV show or movie transferable or live service, and isn't like the 99% of what Sony makes.

But great a Smash, MOBA, Roblox, Fortnite or other trending corners approach. What a PS Allstars BR 3? Can Sony like wake up & have a better idea for once then go oh this corner, no this corner. They are too late to Smash clones (platformer fighters, whatever other term) attempts or kart racers or other corners they fail at, move on already.

How about the anti grav space? Oh too niche, not enough money back. Sigh. Like I don't know not WipEout Rush but another console one?

What about something different and unexpected then a genre revival or other things. That's too much for them to bother with at all anyway.

Are they that uncreative and desperate and want to fail again, and again. XD They are masochists seriously. What a waste of talent, mentality and stupidity this industry has it just makes me laugh and sad more and more.

I can look at a DK for Switch 2's moveset (like any game movesets, level design or progression, but devs can't even break from their cycle at all) or Nintendo niche games like Rhythm Heaven and go wow. I can't do that with others or can only odd Indies. The rest of the industry are a joke of repetitive slop.

I don't respect AAA, AA or Indies with lacking creative mentalities of trends, nostalgia, or even if skilled or not no creativity to work around their skills. Being underskilled is not a problem, not living up to it in creative enough ways despite that is a problem, so why would I respect this. This is another waste of time, money, audiences time looking at articles and companies wanting to make us laugh more and more at their stupidity.

To me PS3/360 was a mix of older and newer. Nowadays 8th+ gen has been that design but dumbed down with less mechanically excitement and not refinement but forced direction design I can't stand for 10+ years now, trend following and unoriginal slop besides the odd that do well.

Do companies learn at all? Execs/pubs, devs, vet devs/different pubs and the same repetitive design over and over. Even Indies with nostalgia/not as skilled (that's totally fine they build up to it) but still trend following slop as well.

No one in this industry seems to learn at all for some reason so I go back to retro as the competition, movesets, level design mechanics and more were smarter at approaching each. Then we got just more copy this, fail to learn and copy another but take the bad from it and not notice. It's hilarious how they copy and take the bad and don't learn from it just go oh this is trending yet learn nothing of WHY they were so good, what to add themselves at all.

Nowadays they end up as the same gameplay but the art and code is different wow what safe lining, the trends/inspirations are obvious and boring.

Part 2:
Same with AA or A or B or whichever. They can have any size team, make any project but they still make the same mentality and design cues so why would i support them? What a waste of effort making the same gameplay slop and covering it in artwork. Substance is in the gameplay, the functionality, not the artists doing the work and the animators, programmers and more being formulaic uncreative wastes of space.

Trending, repetitive slop as AAA just without MTX or messaging. I want gameplay and to me I don't see it in ANY of them due to their mentality and their inspirations or waste of time mentality for their ideas are not creative enough and not what I want to see at all.

But audiences seem content with PS3/360 type games 20+ years into the future while to me I liked PS3/360 games when they still had the mechanically/level design/moveset/progression depth of PS2/Xbox/GameCube not PS3/360 that PS4/Xbox One tries to continue but has dumbed down and Indies/AA/AAA alls still take the easy away with them and I hate that. That's not what I want.

I want substance with gameplay, not repetitive character weight, movesets, level design, skill trees and other repetitive game design garbage that all budgets, all veterans of AAA, all Indies repeat of nostalgia or the same design over and over again.

I say no to visuals, story and barely anything exciting to do with those worlds because they don't offer what I'm looking for on a gameplay front.

I literally gave up on Sony in 2017 and have been since to retro or odd niche Nintendo titles because Nintendo or Ubisoft or a handful have niche IPs I want. Or odd Indies. The rest are there for the mainstream and that's fine but I want their niche ones when they can get around to them.

But why would they do that, they push over those IPs to Namco because Sony barely marketed them, doesn't care about them and just goes here you deal with them and Sony gets their cut and Namco gets most of the focus and handles it better because they actually put the effort in. XD

I have no respect for Sony or this studio with a headline or paragraphs about them. This era is terrible.

I don't even respect many Indies lacking ideas to try harder, their lacking skills is totally fine, their lack of creativity despite those skills is why I get annoyed at them.

Grabbing the popcorn again. Sigh. All companies no matter the industry seem to be insanely stupid and continue to. Do they wake up at all and see anything past themselves, or see only money, fake convenience/efficiency and seem to believe all the nonsense, have it done to themselves and kill themselves for they notice. XD

If it's like Astro sure (not that I think much of Astro) I'd be ok with that though.

If it's a like Destruction Allstars (Lucid as well as Sony's stupidity there) to appeal to young people in weird ways, why bother. This will be a Roblox, Fall Guys or Fortnite or something else because Sony doesn't know when to say no. I can tell. It's going to be garbage.

@Hongo We all do. The better balance of variety, audiences and more. But nope.

Xbox has their variety and it hits and misses.

Nintendo keeps up the mainstream and niche IPs when they can. Some with the Tetris 99, F Zero 99, Mario 35, Pacman 99 in there or others but still good enough quality Another Code, Famicom Detective Club remakes/Emio, Rhythm Heaven Groove (I'm excited for, I hope doesn't disappoint me like Pikmin 4 did and I caught up to past entries before eshops ended), Endless Ocean that vary in quality but still happen and I'm always excited for.

I think Ubisoft tries but just to a different extent that still disappoints people and I can understand why some work and some don't despite their efforts. The Red Steel 1 & 2s, Mario Rabbids 1 & 2, Prince of Persia Lost Crown, Immortals Fenix Rising besides their Riders Republic or Trackmania or others that can be but have the same live service or other nonsense issues. Or Child of Life/Valiant Hearts I guess more so really.

Sony just refuses to give us more than or like an Astro, and Ratchet is still a cinematic game like the others so it just fits its own in a way of part Astro like and part the others Sony offers.

So besides GT Sport/7 which are live service and to me just not the direction I wanted the series to go in.

The only two I can think of that fit that other audiences we'd like to see is Sackboy and Astro. Or the next Media Molecule project if they aren't dead by then.

They have very few of that Japan Studio magic or any western studios like a Double Fine (again if Media Molecule aren't dead by then like London and others are) or others willing to do anything creatively interesting at all. Sigh.

Wish Sony would make Fat Princess 2

@lazarus11 Yes, but if everyone is negative in advance and doesn't play it, it won't amount to much.

i don’t like the word “light-hearted”

i’m so tired of cartoony multiplayer games, please can we get some realism or games that look like they were at least made for young adults. the fortnite disease is real out here

@LogicStrikesAgain there is definitely a double standard when it comes to Sony and live service games vs. other companies. But that's only logical: over the years Sony has cultivated an audience that wants single player games with a good narrative. That is what they've always done in the past, that is what they've shown to be extremely good at, and that is why they've drawn the type of customers to their ecosystem that expects these kinds of experiences from them. When they're getting something else (live service), of course there's going to be more disappointment than a Tencent announcing a Gacha game because that is what is expected from them.

In short, Sony has set the standard for their games themselves and it's only normal their fans are expecting them to adhere to it

@grimgaming You’re right, and I understand. That’s why i also said that i agree that Sony going all in and letting most of their single player narrative studios focus on live service was a bad strategy.

But they also had succes with Helldivers 2, so apparently people dont necessarily mind live service, as long as it’s good.

What some people overlook is that Sony is a multi billion dollar company thats publicly traded. If they don’t pivot with market trends, they will be criticized for not understanding the market, not being adaptable and not having good business acumen.

Sure Sony should cater to it’s core audience, thats why i agree they approached this live service thing wrong. However only focusing on single player until people get sick of it (plenty signs of single player fatigue at the end of the PS4 era) also isn’t a very good strategy.

Completely ignoring a huge market segment of gamers and trends in the industry, and not try to capture some of those, would make Sony look out of touch or that they lack the insight to innovate or strategize.

It’s not like all publishers pursue live service just because they want to throw money away, it’s because all the numbers and stats show that thats what the majority in the gaming space is spending time and money at (unfortunately)

Sony would seem incompetent if they’d ignored that reality. To clarify again, i agree, they went about it the wrong way, but business wise i understand what they were trying to do

@LogicStrikesAgain yeah I agree with most of what you say. I think most fans’ frustration is borne out of the fact that it’s not only a diversion in type of game (single player vs live service) but also in style: the more grounded, gritty or realistic games of the PS4 gen (GOW 2018, Ghost of Tsushima, Days Gone, Uncharted 4, TLOU2) vs the overly colourful and cartoony style of the live service games (Concord, Fairgame$, Marathon, Gummy Bears). That’s why I’ve always thought that Factions not releasing was a massive blunder because it would have been an ideal way to ‘ease’ Sony’s single player audience into a live service title after which they’d perhaps be more open to try out other live service stuff

@grimgaming Thats a really great point! That makes a lot of sense, actually. Also, i can definitely see how that approach might have worked out far better for them than what they did. They just really fumbled with their approach and had no clear vision

Hope this isn't the first step to dismember Bungie

@joeyflannel I don't think you understand what a live service game really is , it is a game that is continuously updated after launch with new content, features, events, or fixes, often with the goal of keeping players engaged over a long period of time. a few examples are , No mans sky , Assassins creed Valhalla , and yes Gran Turismo 7 falls under it as well.