Ainu20

It makes zero business sense. It didn't work for them during the Xbox One generation when they had a huge base to build on from the 360 gen, it failed spectacularly in the following gen due to the failures of the previous one and now they want to try again when they have virtually no base left? You can't release exclusives on a dead platform.

@Czar_Khastik Don't forget to open the curtains to keep the neighbours updated.

Definitely the type of game you want your family to catch you playing. "It has a deep, mature and emotional storyline, I promise!"

@Sakai Well in that case if you're absorbing the hits and managing to keep the board of directors happy, fair play to you.

@Sakai The obvious question here is, are you talking about a privately owned company? Because if so, it's not comparable.

Massive backlash against Sony in the comments, and while that's understandable, I also feel like some perspective is needed. Microsoft raised the price of the Series X to $650 last year, and since then, RAM prices and the general global economy has worsened dramatically. It's something of a small miracle that the PS5 has only now reached parity.

Sony has done a lot of things wrong this generation, but this is much bigger than just them.

I had hoped for something more substantial on Stranger Than Heaven than a light trailer and a deep dive announcement at a later date. A bit lame. Other than that, there were some mildly intriguing trailers in there, but nothing that instantly made my wishlist. Except Hades 2, but we already knew that's an incredible game.

I see a lot of comments here in agreement that it's unsustainable, we need more cheaper and shorter games, etc. The reality is that the amount of top quality, shorter and cheaper games getting released every year is so overwhelming there's no time to play them all. We don't need more of those games, they're already here, if people bother to look. Of course, another reality is that, despite people always claiming that's what they want, they don't do nearly as well as they should.

I don't see it as a big issue to have a few studios that produce games that are extremely expensive to make, as long as they're pretty much guaranteed sellers. The likes of Insomniac, Naughty Dog and Santa Monica, just let them do what they do best.

Once again I simply fail to see the issue. It looks like certain users are getting deeper discounts than publicly advertised, which is great for them. As long as users aren't getting worse discounts than advertised, what is the problem?

Regardless, there's one simple rule: never buy a game at a higher price than you're comfortable with.

I'd hazard a guess that most of us on here are "old". Wouldn't be surprised if the average age of the user base is closer to 40 than 30.

Like others, I'm of the opinion that the mainline series has become too silly. There was always a bit of goofiness to the series, but with all the fantasy elements of the Ichiban games, the balance has been lost and I doubt they're going to pivot back. So I'm very much looking forward to something more grounded here, much like the Judgement games.

It's worth pointing out that the current share price after the drop is still higher than at the start of this year, just a few months ago. In other words, this is just a correction. I guess this is how it goes with video games media and content creators, first they hype a game beyond the stratosphere, then they get to do a bunch of doom and gloom coverage afterwards.

The argument that control remains in the hands of the creatives is incredibly weak. Once you add generative AI into the mix, you're giving up creative control by definition. The only way to then retake creative control is by painstakingly going over the results and correcting them to fit the art, tone and lighting of the original creative vision, which would lead to more work, not less.

I see only two possible outcomes here: either a total rejection of this tech, or games looking like they passed through an Instagram filter.

@Globo No it doesn't. That comment mentions they are up in court over dynamic prices, which is not the case. They are up for a an alledged monopoly on the digital storefront because they don't allow third-party key sales.

@Globo The PlayStation court case that you seem to be referring to is not about dynamic prices, that's something completely different.

This story seemed vague to me initially and it's still not much clearer. Most of the anecdotal evidence seems to suggest you might see a lower price when logging in, which is surely not a big deal at all. The only example of seeing a higher price (or rather, lesser discount) seems to be AC Unity. Until there's more evidence of Sony charging more than advertised, I'm going to ignore this. One case really isn't compelling evidence of a wider trend.

People on the internet are complaining, not exactly the sort of shocking revelation that deserves its own article. It's a shame for the few people who would actually buy this on PC and can't afford a PS5 on the side, but judging by Returnal's reception, that's such a small group it really doesn't move the needle.

@Bez87 I used to have a pair of GunCon 2s at home, what a time that was. Nothing beats the arcade versions though - that heavy, mechanical recoil those guns have makes the whole experience so much better. The downside being you have to deal with the purposely awful calibration. XD

On a side not, I went to Japan about a year ago and found an arcade in Akihabara with, among other things, cabinets for every edition of Time Crisis and House of the Dead, felt like stepping into 90s heaven. It took quite a bit of willpower not to spend a fortune in that place.

The suggestion at the end of the article that Naughty Dog's reluctance to let another team work on the franchise might be a problem is baffling to me. No other studio in the world should have the right to work on Uncharted without Naughty Dog's blessing, and it only makes sense for Sony to respect the wishes of one its jewels in the crown.

If Naughty Dog feel Uncharted has run its course, at least for the foreseeable future, than we should all accept that. In the space of 10 years, there were 4 mainline entries, one very substantial spin-off and a couple of handheld games. That is plenty, it was time to let it rest. Let it return at some point in the future when it might feel fresh again. And if it never returns, it had a great run with a beautiful epilogue.

@DartLOD No, people can like whatever they want. I'm complaining about those that shoot stuff down before even knowing anything about it.

@DartLOD All (excluding the one that hasn't released yet for now) fantastic games, so what is the problem?

The mentioned studios have been going strong - although it remains to be seen if Saros can appeal to a wider audience than Returnal - so it makes sense.

@ChikaBambus I don't think that's an excuse for such behaviour (not directed at you btw). There have been more than enough articles on Sony's mismanagement and I've made my feelings very clear in those comment sections as well. There's a time and place for these things.

The trend we're seeing essentially boils down to people lambasting literally everything that isn't exactly as they imagined it in their heads. Oh it's not what I wanted? Then it's complete and utter garbage!

@cainhurst94 I don't want to fall into the trap of thinking of this comment section as a hive-mind. Contrasting opinions are not only possible, but normal. It's just that on every single article, it's always the immediate negativity that is the loudest. It's so hopelessly exhausting.

I've said it before on here, I genuinely want to engage with fellow PlayStation fans, but almost every comment section just sucks the joy out of pretty much anything related to gaming. Do people on here have a compulsive need to hate on everything or what?

Reading this comment section, it seems like very few people are willing to give any new ideas a chance. If a studio like Santa Monica hasn't earned the benefit of doubt from PlayStation fans, then who has? What a depressing state of affairs.

While I'm usually a sucker for unique experiences like these, I have to say this one failed to grab me when I played it. I can't quite put my finger on why, maybe it was just not the right game at the right time for me. I should revisit it at some point.

Man, Capcom really delivered with this game. What it also shows is that this generation, and especially the Pro, still has so much untapped potential, which ties into those poll results about a potential delay of the PS6 from a week or two ago. This is what we want to see more of - and hopefully what we'll be getting more of - in the next few years.

As lame as this sounds, I absolutely love a good golf game. I enjoyed the previous PGA 2k games but surprisingly, I've found EA PGA Tour a much better game, so I hadn't bought 2k25 yet. Time to check it out, I guess.

It sounds like Microsoft is just making up its Xbox strategy as they go, much like they have been doing for a while. How such an approach is possible at a multi-trillion company is beyond me.

@marcoboyle I can get behind the idea that the industry has become too large for its target market to support, but it's still in big trouble in the sense that established studios with rich histories are at risk and that a ton of people have lost and will continue to lose their jobs. That's pretty grim.

I'm not worried about video games in general - I could probably survive full-time on indie creations alone - but I am worried about who and what we'll have lost along the way.

@FredBiletnikoff Nah, that's too much. I appreciate most of his work on here, but feel this wasn't the best judged choice of title.

@get2sammyb Might sound harsh but that choice of title can only steer the comment section towards ridicule. We all know Sony has done a terrible job promoting PSVR 2. It's a must-own for Gran Turismo 7 players, where it truly transforms the experience, and perhaps for VR enthusiasts. It's hard to recommend it to anyone else though, as it's just not supported enough, particularly by its own creator.

@Frmknst I've always found blanket complaints about remakes very exhausting. Yes, some remakes are unnecessary, like The Last of Us Part I or Horizon Zero Dawn, but remaking older games that are either in rough shape or not available on modern platforms can be a fantastic way to bring them to current audiences and/or assist in preserving them. The likes of Resident Evil 2, Shadow of the Colossus and Demon's Souls definitely fall into that category.

@UltimateOtaku91

if only theses people complaining bought Bluepoints games to begin with. Where was the backlash of this magnitude when Japan Studio and London Studio were closed?

That is such a silly argument. Considering you're on a PlayStation centric site, there's a good chance the people complaining here did buy their games. I certainly did, I own almost everything they've ever made. Oh and people still haven't forgiven Sony for closing down Japan Studio.

@LikelySatan I don't know if it was a typo or a pun, but I'm going to be using "on the sane page" from now on. With all that's going on we could all use some more sanity around us.

Look at those great results! Time to close another studio and make them even better.

Maybe Hulst can take some inspiration from them and follow suit. We can only hope.

On another note, it's going to be interesting seeing Phil Spencer turn up in podcasts at some point in the future and really speak his mind. I don't necessarily expect him to take shots at his former employer, but he must have a lot of stories to tell.

@Jey887 It's not just you, I completely get where you're coming from. Reading about video games and especially the industry has become a pretty depressing affair in recent times. We've had several years of mass layoffs, games being taken offline quickly after release, studios closing, AI controversies, component shortages and the associated rising costs and doom and gloom news about video games losing the fight for young people's time and attention. It's a lot.

I remember the monthly gaming magazines that I used to get as a kid and always being so excited to open them and finding out what was going on, which games were coming. Nowadays, I'm almost scared to open a gaming website. Sometimes it does feel like it's best to take a step away from it all, but then on the other hand I want to be able to share my passion for video games with others who feel the same. Sadly it feels like we rarely get to do that anymore.

Obviously everyone is angry right now, as am I, but this story does nothing for me. It's someone publicly communicating about their own remake project using copyrighted IP, of course you're going to get a cease and desist. It doesn't make Sony look worse in my opinion. The real issue is they're already doing a tremendous job of making themselves look bad enough.

@Artois2 You're probably just mocking me but I appreciate the mental image anyway, it got a laugh out of me.

@Oram77 I feel you. I'm sitting at work and should be getting stuff done, but I'm still too angry to focus.

Usually I try to stay more measured when it comes to laying blame at individuals, but enough is enough. Hermen Hulst has been at the head of first party studios since 2019. In that time, we've seen the closure of Japan Studio, the astonishingly dumb gung-ho live-service push (which mostly gets attributed to Jim Ryan but Hulst was right there throughout all of it), first-party output slowing down to a trickle, possibly the biggest flop in video game history with Concord, numerous live-service projects getting canceled and now this studio closure as a result (the first of several?).

It's a historically horrendous run for PlayStation studios, all under his leadership. This man needs to be shot out of a cannon as far away from PlayStation as humanly possible. His legacy is one of ruin, and the longer he stays the more ruinous it'll be.

That is an incredibly out of touch, tone deaf and disgraceful statement. I can only imagine it's not just us fans that are furious about this, but staff at other studios as well. Horrendous leadership.

@Boomers-r-us This is a tired, old and pointless argument. Just because there are greater injustices in the world, doesn't mean people can't be genuinely angry at something. This is basically the old "children are starving in Africa and you're worried about x?" nonsense.

@get2sammyb One thing I could easily imagine is that key members of its staff had already left the studio because of the change in direction, and that that might have contributed to the decision to close it. Not that that would make it any better, but it would mean that the damage was already done long ago and just putting them to work on something else might not have been an option anymore. I hope some details will get out, but who knows.

Wow, this is beyond shocking. This is Arkane Austin levels of disgusting. Truly horrendous decision by Sony. Heads need to roll for this.

If people want to spend time on those things instead of play video games, than I don't really see what can be done about it. There's already more than enough low-entry, addictive video game slop out there, if that doesn't even reach those people, I don't see what will.

@Shepherd_Tallon There's a big difference in maintaining an engine for in-house use (and sharing it with a select few partners) and making it commercially viable. They would have to staff up significantly to be able to support the engine for widespread use while still making games at the same time.

@graymamba I think we're not seeing more first party studios use it because many of them already have proprietary engines that rank among the best in the industry and are tailored exactly to their needs, such as Naughty Dog, Santa Monica, Insomniac, Sucker Punch and Polyphony Digital. I'm even inclined to include Team Asobi, as I can hardly imagine a better fit than their own engine. Housemarque has their excellent particle technology working well with Unreal Engine.

That doesn't leave many studios. Of all the first party studios, the one that feels like the best fit to adopt Decima would be Bend Studio, as they don't seem as accomplished in that area. If their current project, whatever it may be, is open-world, I wouldn't be surprised if they're using Decima.

Oh well, at least Sony got their Konami back.