"[...] the company’s live service push clearly has been poorly executed, even if it’s not necessarily a bad idea".
It has always been necessarily a bad idea, and the poor execution is the proof. You see, one of the hardest decisions executives have to make is when to stick to your guns and when to expand to adjacent markets.
Sony obviously went all in with the latter, while Nintendo chose the former. Who had the better idea?
The web client is a joke. Not sure if it's a local issue, since I access the Brazilian store, but often a search will not return any results even for exact matches.
And I second the complaint about not being able to see prices for games that have a PS+ demo. Super annoying.
How ironic that these tech bubbles sometimes cancel each other's effects.
Covid caused a massive interest in gaming because people suddenly would get paid to lay on their couches and play videogames. Hence, enormous investments were made which then created thousands of jobs.
Now, all those jobs are being sacrificed on the altar of the AI god.
@naruball That's a good question, but I don't think they would. The covid rush has inundated the market to a point where a new game based on an IP that doesn't have a captive audience has to include a number of key ingredients:
Mass market appeal.
Good enough gameplay.
Some differentiating factor.
Simply being corky and weird just won't cut it. And sure, anomalies such as those viral Steam games are the exceptions that prove the rule.
I guess my point is that being good or even excellent from a pure gameplay perspective is not enough these days. And maybe my perspective doesn't represent the general audience, but it does represent a substantial chunk, I believe.
@Rich33 This is purely empty virtue signaling targeted at people also prone to empty virtue signaling. A giant waste of engineering resources if you ask me.
People are rightly pointing out the average quality of the game as a key factor for its lack of success, but I'd go a bit further and focus specifically on its derivative aspect. This game could be well above average in terms of gameplay and I would still not be attracted since it looks like a thousand other games I've played before. Originality is the key differentiator these days.
@Seredesderedee That's a reasonable argument, but this time it's definitely different.
Every other disruptive tech has impacted one or maybe a dozen industries at different scales. AI has the potential to deeply impact every single industry in ways that society is just not structured to accommodate.
The only parallel that might make sense is the industrial revolution, which completely reshaped humanity for better or worse. The problem with AI is the timeframe in which it is taking place. We're talking years instead of centuries.
I agree that this is no reason to reject AI as a tool, because that would be shooting oneself in the foot. But my adoption as an individual doesn't stop me from being extremely worried for society in general.
I did get another unit but, unfortunately, it behaves the exact same way. I did a bit of research so, here's the deal:
The jitter is inherent to the tech that PSVR2 employs. Few people are aware of this, but most of the headset tracking is actually done by the internal sensors (gyro, accelerometer) because they are super low latency when compared to the cameras (2.000Hz versus 60Hz, I think). The cameras are there to actually correct the position in VR, because the sensors are not precise enough. And the jitter is in fact the manifestation of those micro-corrections. As the engineers would say: it's a feature, not a bug.
Now, the better your environment is for the cameras, the less noticeable the jitter will be. But it's always there, and it seems some people are simply more sensitive than others (I know I am). Also, the closer to you objects in VR are, the more noticeable the jitter will be (because of perspective in stereoscopic 3D). And it's also more noticeable when you're stationary, and that explains why it's so annoying in Puzzling Places.
Do a bit of research on Reddit about room setup (lighting, contrast, etc.) if you haven't already. And now, to the good news: I used to obsess over this in the beginning, but now I barely notice it. I play VR several times a week, and the jitter isn't an issue 99% of the time. You just come to accept the limitations of current technology.
Despite the campaign to make it look like a massive success, AC Shadows really came and went like a fart in the wind. No long tail at all. Right along Veilguard, SW Outlaws and a few other duds that the legacy media unsuccessfully tried to push.
Regardless, it's time for Phill to go. I just don't think Sarah looks like much of an improvement. Xbox desperately needs a full-on overhaul that is long overdue.
@Whately86 Lol congress... Dude, there are over 600 politicians there between congress and senate, and there might be, maybe, a dozen that are truly ideological (both left and right). The rest thinks about nothing but their own bellies and will simply go with the flow.
Yeah, unfortunately I'm Brazilian. I've been buying fewer and fewer games because it's been getting ridiculous. But honestly, this has nothing to do with Sony. And sorry, but it's impossible to not get political. The Brazilian socialist government simply thinks public money is endless, and fiscal irresponsibility will always result in rampant inflation. It's basic math/economics.
“There is no such thing as public money; there is only taxpayers' money.” - Margaret Thatcher
What a tour de force Gran Turismo is. It's the only game I've been consistently playing since the original on PS1. It's PlayStation's most valuable IP hands down. I tip my hat to Polyphony.
I couldn't handle one minute of GT7 when I got my PSVR2 at launch. Now, I can play for hours. Going in reverse is the only thing that gets me. So, growing one's VR legs is definitely a thing.
With that said, this game does involve a lot more movement with the constant leaning on curves. And I still can't stomach a couple specific games like Subside and Kayak VR.
Anyway, VRider looks awesome, so I'm willing to give it a go.
@Trousersnake I know, right? What really fascinates me is why VR hasn't taken off yet. I have my theories and the reasons are multifaceted, but it's mind-blowing enough that it should be more popular. Cheers.
@Dodoo Both the PC and live service initiatives have been fool's errands from the outset. Sony should stick to their guns instead of blindly chasing the latest trend. Nintendo has been mightily successful by doing exactly that.
Nietzsche's "Become who you are" is one of the most powerful quotes ever, and it totally applies here.
Fact: the climate is changing. Also fact: it's been changing since the dawn of Earth.
What smart people disagree about is the extent of mankind's contribution. Some believe it is insignificant, whereas others believe it is mostly man made. The truth is somewhere in the middle, as always.
Well, if in doubt, shouldn't we tackle the problem from the more conservative side (not politically)? That is, if there's any chance we're destroying the planet, shouldn't we be doing everything in our power to avoid this potential catastrophe?
Sure. What people in this side of the argument fail to understand is that this point has been abused to death by those in power to justify all manners of tyrannic measures. In turn, that's been causing the erosion of that originally fair point.
It's amusing to read the comments blaming Sony for a decision that is 100% Meta's. Could PSVR2 have had better support from PlayStation? Theoretically, yes. Financially, no.
Ironically, ending Beat Saber's support for the platform is a result of Meta (not Sony) deprioritizing VR gaming in favor of VR computing.
People love to complain. But to me, PSVR2 has been the reason I'm still into gaming this generation.
That's cool and all to whoever wants a portable PS, but supporting another device adds additional burden on developers thus further lengthening dev cycles.
Not only they have to split the code base to target multiple similar SKUs, but now they have to worry about the complexities of scalability from the outset of a project.
And no, it's not like the Pro. Scaling up is way easier than scaling down. And yes, this also applies to the PC version, and that's why the PC initiative also sucks.
Long gone are the good old days of developing to a fixed platform and extracting every ounce of power from them.
@Dodoo Yeah, it kinda feels like a self-fulfilling prophecy: by fear of consoles going away in the future, Sony starts releasing games on PC. And by doing that, it slowly erodes the value of its own brand, pushing people towards the other platform. And that drives growth in the PC ecosystem, attracting not only players by also investments, thus creating a virtuous cycle.
I don't know, by this statement sounds a bit like backtracking to me.
@HonestHick Yep. For me, Sword of The Sea and especially Lumines VR, given both studios' pedigree. I also love Hitman, but the 007 trailer failed to impress me for some reason.
Which is all weel and good but again, pretty meager when compared to the mythical E3 press conferences from the PS4 era. Third-party has always been the bread and butter of every generation, but the first-party tentpoles are paramount to drive the general sentiment, and they've been lacking.
@HonestHick "if you can’t find one game you like from the latest State of Play, then perhaps you’re in the wrong hobby"
When you get sentences in the article that belong in the comments section, you know it has become a battleground. And when this happens, people become emotional and irrational, overreacting and exaggerating every point.
It's been like that from both sides. There's a disillusioned group that is all doom and gloom, and there's Push Square & Co. that behave like gaming is at its finest.
"we’re not sure we fully understand the criticism about the lack of first-party"
If you don't fully understand the criticism, you guys are really losing connection with the audience. Yes, there are reasons: ridiculously long development cycles and the ill-fated live service initiative, but there's no denial that firsty-party output on the PS5 pales in comparison with the PS4 era.
"this was excellent"
You're entitled to your opinion but when, according to your own poll, only 14% of the audience of Push Square agrees with it, it's time to take a long look in the mirror. Sorry, I used to love this site and still do to an extent, but the "toxic positivity" (for the lack of a better word) is hurting it. I'm not even suggesting this State of Play was bad by any means, but behaving like it was the greatest thing sounds disingenuous.
@wildcat_kickz EA is neither good nor bad, it is simply behaving like any other private business does and should. You can't have the good of capitalism (videogames) without the bad (cycles of growth and contraction).
@wildcat_kickz Apart from government and a few exceptions, pretty much every industry works this exact way. Yes, it is more notable in the creative industries especially in times of contraction, but any private company would (and should) be cost conscious and get rid of teams that don't perform. It's not greed, it's meritocracy, which is one of the bedrocks of modern civilization. This is the exact reason why the State is so dysfunctional.
@Ajbr8687 Sure, it's all conjecture. My opinion is based on how the industry has been trending over the last few years. You know, investments made during the covid bubble now need to be adjusted. At the end of the day though, the reason was probably manifold as you've pointed out.
@wildcat_kickz In fact, it is crazy because you're thinking backwards: those people weren't laid off because the game was cancelled. The game was cancelled because they needed to lay off people.
Videogames are a business, and businesses need to make a profit in order to be viable. When a company's financial expectation is not met, costs need to be cut. I know it sounds harsh and all, because it is. Life is harsh.
Sorry, but EA is not a jobs program. Crazy, I know.
@ShogunRok You're so desperately trying to defend this game's "success" that you're missing the point. Yes, it clearly sold well by some standards (relatively to other AC games or to other titles so far in 2025). But the actual metric that matters is how much money it made relatively to its overall cost. And we all know how bloated Ubisoft is. Afaik, we don't have that number, but judging by this financial report, it doesn't look so good.
@LifeGirl Here is the one thing you should keep in mind about real-time game graphics in the 2020s: the main limitation is not hardware power anymore. It's mostly about the game's budget.
It's actually a lot more nuanced than that. Graphics could improve dramatically, but not in the brute force way it used to be. CPU and GPU power just does not scale well anymore, but software still can, especially when coupled with custom function hardware.
Path tracing (or full ray tracing) can have a transformative impact in the way games look. And additionally, it has the potential to ease the work of developers, which is another important bottleneck to today's graphics.
More importantly, AI could really advance graphics to the point of offering quantum generational leaps. DLSS/PSSR/FSR4 are the tip of the iceberg. And of course, AI also has a gigantic potential to ease the work of developers, but that coin has two very different sides. If abused, and it will be abused, things could get ugly for a while.
I will be all over this soon. Hitman is a very special game, and it seems perfect for VR. The locations, the thrill of stealth, the goofiness... I'm glad this thing exists.
@Max_the_German Sony is definitely funding many of those third party efforts. I think it's a fair compromise, as there's simply no business justification to prioritize VR over flat within the bounds of first party.
I would also love an Astro port, but here's the reason it probably won't happen: that game was designed for the dualshock, but PSVR2 cannot track the dualsense controllers.
I'm sure Sony has considered this at some point, but Japan Studio probably said that translating the input from the dualshock to the VR sense controllers would not be feasible. Which I actually tend to agree. It's certainly possible, but that doesn't mean it would be good. Or maybe the game would just have to be thoroughly redesigned, which in turn would bring us back to my initial argument (too big of an investment).
@DennisReynolds Neither here nor there. Yes, this kind of deal takes months (even years) and, because of that, it usually includes several triggers.
I know the games media is desperately trying to make you believe that Shadows was a smash hit, but I don't think it's a coincidence that the deal materialized days after the game came out.
Comments 736
Re: 'They Don't Know What They're Doing': Analyst Sticks the Boot in Sony's 'Clueless' Management
"[...] the company’s live service push clearly has been poorly executed, even if it’s not necessarily a bad idea".
It has always been necessarily a bad idea, and the poor execution is the proof. You see, one of the hardest decisions executives have to make is when to stick to your guns and when to expand to adjacent markets.
Sony obviously went all in with the latter, while Nintendo chose the former. Who had the better idea?
Re: 'We'll Continue to Evolve the PS Store': Sony on Making PS5, PS4 Shopping Better
The web client is a joke. Not sure if it's a local issue, since I access the Brazilian store, but often a search will not return any results even for exact matches.
And I second the complaint about not being able to see prices for games that have a PS+ demo. Super annoying.
Re: Xbox Game Pass May Make Devs 'Wage Slaves', Says Ex-PlayStation Exec
Humans function essentially by incentive mechanisms. This is a universal, unescapable truth. Moreover, these incentives compound.
Wanting to deliver compelling products is an incentive alright. But the potential financial reward is a powerful motivation multiplier.
Yes, Layden is right on the money (pun intended).
Re: Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2 Enhanced (PS5) - Cinematic Spectacle Offers Little Else
@Ricky-Spanish Cool, thanks!
Re: Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2 Enhanced (PS5) - Cinematic Spectacle Offers Little Else
Should I play the original to be able to enjoy this?
Re: Official PlayStation Fighting Stick Named FlexStrike, Out in 2026
I have no great interest in fighting games, but this could be a dream for arcade emulation (on PC, of course).
Re: 'By Every Objective Measure, We're Thriving': Microsoft CEO Expresses Gratitude to All Those Laid Off
How ironic that these tech bubbles sometimes cancel each other's effects.
Covid caused a massive interest in gaming because people suddenly would get paid to lay on their couches and play videogames. Hence, enormous investments were made which then created thousands of jobs.
Now, all those jobs are being sacrificed on the altar of the AI god.
Re: 'Increasingly Selective Consumers' to Blame for Underperformance of Blades of Fire
@naruball That's a good question, but I don't think they would. The covid rush has inundated the market to a point where a new game based on an IP that doesn't have a captive audience has to include a number of key ingredients:
Simply being corky and weird just won't cut it. And sure, anomalies such as those viral Steam games are the exceptions that prove the rule.
I guess my point is that being good or even excellent from a pure gameplay perspective is not enough these days. And maybe my perspective doesn't represent the general audience, but it does represent a substantial chunk, I believe.
Re: New PS5 Beta Firmware Update Out 24th July, Includes Teased Controller Feature
@Rich33 This is purely empty virtue signaling targeted at people also prone to empty virtue signaling. A giant waste of engineering resources if you ask me.
Re: 'Increasingly Selective Consumers' to Blame for Underperformance of Blades of Fire
People are rightly pointing out the average quality of the game as a key factor for its lack of success, but I'd go a bit further and focus specifically on its derivative aspect. This game could be well above average in terms of gameplay and I would still not be attracted since it looks like a thousand other games I've played before. Originality is the key differentiator these days.
Re: Xbox Port Forza Horizon 5 Reportedly PS5's Best-Selling New Game of 2025
Removed
Re: Worried About AI in Game Development? It's Here, and It's Only Getting Worse
@Seredesderedee That's a reasonable argument, but this time it's definitely different.
Every other disruptive tech has impacted one or maybe a dozen industries at different scales. AI has the potential to deeply impact every single industry in ways that society is just not structured to accommodate.
The only parallel that might make sense is the industrial revolution, which completely reshaped humanity for better or worse. The problem with AI is the timeframe in which it is taking place. We're talking years instead of centuries.
I agree that this is no reason to reject AI as a tool, because that would be shooting oneself in the foot. But my adoption as an individual doesn't stop me from being extremely worried for society in general.
Re: Mini Review: Puzzling Places (PSVR2) - A Lovely Game with a Few Problems
@Ssimsim Hi, mate.
I did get another unit but, unfortunately, it behaves the exact same way. I did a bit of research so, here's the deal:
The jitter is inherent to the tech that PSVR2 employs. Few people are aware of this, but most of the headset tracking is actually done by the internal sensors (gyro, accelerometer) because they are super low latency when compared to the cameras (2.000Hz versus 60Hz, I think). The cameras are there to actually correct the position in VR, because the sensors are not precise enough. And the jitter is in fact the manifestation of those micro-corrections. As the engineers would say: it's a feature, not a bug.
Now, the better your environment is for the cameras, the less noticeable the jitter will be. But it's always there, and it seems some people are simply more sensitive than others (I know I am). Also, the closer to you objects in VR are, the more noticeable the jitter will be (because of perspective in stereoscopic 3D). And it's also more noticeable when you're stationary, and that explains why it's so annoying in Puzzling Places.
Do a bit of research on Reddit about room setup (lighting, contrast, etc.) if you haven't already. And now, to the good news: I used to obsess over this in the beginning, but now I barely notice it. I play VR several times a week, and the jitter isn't an issue 99% of the time. You just come to accept the limitations of current technology.
Hope this helps. Cheers.
Re: Publishers Pitch Sony on Adding Retro Classics to PS Plus
Sega Ages would be a slam dunk.
Re: Death Stranding 2 and Rematch Trade Blows in PS Store's Top Selling PS5 Games of June
Despite the campaign to make it look like a massive success, AC Shadows really came and went like a fart in the wind. No long tail at all. Right along Veilguard, SW Outlaws and a few other duds that the legacy media unsuccessfully tried to push.
Re: Xbox's Phil Spencer 'Not Retiring' After Dark Day of Cancellations and Job Cuts
Regardless, it's time for Phill to go. I just don't think Sarah looks like much of an improvement. Xbox desperately needs a full-on overhaul that is long overdue.
Re: Brazilian Gamers Infuriated by Sudden PS5 Price Hikes
@Whately86 Lol congress... Dude, there are over 600 politicians there between congress and senate, and there might be, maybe, a dozen that are truly ideological (both left and right). The rest thinks about nothing but their own bellies and will simply go with the flow.
Re: Brazilian Gamers Infuriated by Sudden PS5 Price Hikes
Yeah, unfortunately I'm Brazilian. I've been buying fewer and fewer games because it's been getting ridiculous. But honestly, this has nothing to do with Sony. And sorry, but it's impossible to not get political. The Brazilian socialist government simply thinks public money is endless, and fiscal irresponsibility will always result in rampant inflation. It's basic math/economics.
“There is no such thing as public money; there is only taxpayers' money.” - Margaret Thatcher
Re: More Gran Turismo 7 Content and Upgrades in New PS5, PS4 Update
What a tour de force Gran Turismo is. It's the only game I've been consistently playing since the original on PS1. It's PlayStation's most valuable IP hands down. I tip my hat to Polyphony.
Re: Licensed PSVR2 Superbike Game May Require a Strong Stomach
I couldn't handle one minute of GT7 when I got my PSVR2 at launch. Now, I can play for hours. Going in reverse is the only thing that gets me. So, growing one's VR legs is definitely a thing.
With that said, this game does involve a lot more movement with the constant leaning on curves. And I still can't stomach a couple specific games like Subside and Kayak VR.
Anyway, VRider looks awesome, so I'm willing to give it a go.
Re: PSVR2 to Lose the Support of Its Best Game This Month
@Trousersnake I know, right? What really fascinates me is why VR hasn't taken off yet. I have my theories and the reasons are multifaceted, but it's mind-blowing enough that it should be more popular. Cheers.
Re: Sony Taking 'Very Measured' Approach to Picking Which PS5 Games Get PC Ports
@Dodoo Both the PC and live service initiatives have been fool's errands from the outset. Sony should stick to their guns instead of blindly chasing the latest trend. Nintendo has been mightily successful by doing exactly that.
Nietzsche's "Become who you are" is one of the most powerful quotes ever, and it totally applies here.
Re: Sony's New PS5, PSVR2 Game May Be the Most Important It Releases This Year
Fact: the climate is changing.
Also fact: it's been changing since the dawn of Earth.
What smart people disagree about is the extent of mankind's contribution. Some believe it is insignificant, whereas others believe it is mostly man made. The truth is somewhere in the middle, as always.
Well, if in doubt, shouldn't we tackle the problem from the more conservative side (not politically)? That is, if there's any chance we're destroying the planet, shouldn't we be doing everything in our power to avoid this potential catastrophe?
Sure. What people in this side of the argument fail to understand is that this point has been abused to death by those in power to justify all manners of tyrannic measures. In turn, that's been causing the erosion of that originally fair point.
Re: PSVR2 to Lose the Support of Its Best Game This Month
@StonyKL Yep, super overlooked and underrated. To me, it's right up there at the top along with GT7 and Tetris Effect.
Re: PSVR2 to Lose the Support of Its Best Game This Month
It's amusing to read the comments blaming Sony for a decision that is 100% Meta's. Could PSVR2 have had better support from PlayStation? Theoretically, yes. Financially, no.
Ironically, ending Beat Saber's support for the platform is a result of Meta (not Sony) deprioritizing VR gaming in favor of VR computing.
People love to complain. But to me, PSVR2 has been the reason I'm still into gaming this generation.
Re: There's a Brutal Lack of Interest in Marathon from Hardcore PS5 Fans
It's a marathon, not a sprint.
Re: PS6's Rumoured Handheld Is Getting More Tangible by the Day
That's cool and all to whoever wants a portable PS, but supporting another device adds additional burden on developers thus further lengthening dev cycles.
Not only they have to split the code base to target multiple similar SKUs, but now they have to worry about the complexities of scalability from the outset of a project.
And no, it's not like the Pro. Scaling up is way easier than scaling down. And yes, this also applies to the PC version, and that's why the PC initiative also sucks.
Long gone are the good old days of developing to a fixed platform and extracting every ounce of power from them.
Re: Bungie Delays Marathon Indefinitely, No New PS5, PC Release Date Given
@DennisReynolds I don't think the word "wise" should be seen anywhere near this train wreck.
Re: Sony Taking 'Very Measured' Approach to Picking Which PS5 Games Get PC Ports
@Dodoo Yeah, it kinda feels like a self-fulfilling prophecy: by fear of consoles going away in the future, Sony starts releasing games on PC. And by doing that, it slowly erodes the value of its own brand, pushing people towards the other platform. And that drives growth in the PC ecosystem, attracting not only players by also investments, thus creating a virtuous cycle.
I don't know, by this statement sounds a bit like backtracking to me.
Re: Mini Review: The Alters (PS5) - Thought-Provoking Sci-Fi Caper Is 11 Bit Studios' Best Game Yet
Some of those screenshots look uncomfortably similar to my Windows desktop.
Re: Reaction: Sony Finally Understands the Assignment with One of the Best State of Plays of the PS5 Era
@HonestHick Yep. For me, Sword of The Sea and especially Lumines VR, given both studios' pedigree. I also love Hitman, but the 007 trailer failed to impress me for some reason.
Which is all weel and good but again, pretty meager when compared to the mythical E3 press conferences from the PS4 era. Third-party has always been the bread and butter of every generation, but the first-party tentpoles are paramount to drive the general sentiment, and they've been lacking.
Re: Reaction: Sony Finally Understands the Assignment with One of the Best State of Plays of the PS5 Era
@HonestHick "if you can’t find one game you like from the latest State of Play, then perhaps you’re in the wrong hobby"
When you get sentences in the article that belong in the comments section, you know it has become a battleground. And when this happens, people become emotional and irrational, overreacting and exaggerating every point.
It's been like that from both sides. There's a disillusioned group that is all doom and gloom, and there's Push Square & Co. that behave like gaming is at its finest.
And as always, it's neither here nor there.
Re: Reaction: Sony Finally Understands the Assignment with One of the Best State of Plays of the PS5 Era
"we’re not sure we fully understand the criticism about the lack of first-party"
If you don't fully understand the criticism, you guys are really losing connection with the audience. Yes, there are reasons: ridiculously long development cycles and the ill-fated live service initiative, but there's no denial that firsty-party output on the PS5 pales in comparison with the PS4 era.
"this was excellent"
You're entitled to your opinion but when, according to your own poll, only 14% of the audience of Push Square agrees with it, it's time to take a long look in the mirror. Sorry, I used to love this site and still do to an extent, but the "toxic positivity" (for the lack of a better word) is hurting it. I'm not even suggesting this State of Play was bad by any means, but behaving like it was the greatest thing sounds disingenuous.
Re: Lumines Arise Brings the Puzzler Back in Gorgeous Style on PS5
Really excited for this. That cliché of Tetris Effect being a "religious experience" on PSVR2 is actually a pretty apt description.
Re: EA's Black Panther Game Cancelled, Studio Shut Down
@wildcat_kickz EA is neither good nor bad, it is simply behaving like any other private business does and should. You can't have the good of capitalism (videogames) without the bad (cycles of growth and contraction).
Re: EA's Black Panther Game Cancelled, Studio Shut Down
@wildcat_kickz Apart from government and a few exceptions, pretty much every industry works this exact way. Yes, it is more notable in the creative industries especially in times of contraction, but any private company would (and should) be cost conscious and get rid of teams that don't perform. It's not greed, it's meritocracy, which is one of the bedrocks of modern civilization. This is the exact reason why the State is so dysfunctional.
Re: EA's Black Panther Game Cancelled, Studio Shut Down
@Ajbr8687 Sure, it's all conjecture. My opinion is based on how the industry has been trending over the last few years. You know, investments made during the covid bubble now need to be adjusted. At the end of the day though, the reason was probably manifold as you've pointed out.
Re: EA's Black Panther Game Cancelled, Studio Shut Down
@wildcat_kickz In fact, it is crazy because you're thinking backwards: those people weren't laid off because the game was cancelled. The game was cancelled because they needed to lay off people.
Videogames are a business, and businesses need to make a profit in order to be viable. When a company's financial expectation is not met, costs need to be cut. I know it sounds harsh and all, because it is. Life is harsh.
Sorry, but EA is not a jobs program. Crazy, I know.
Re: Reminder: 22 PS Plus Games Expire on Tuesday, Replaced with One of Service's Worst Updates
To any PSVR2 owner: if you haven't already, there's still time to experience Before Your Eyes. Don't sleep on it.
Re: Assassin's Creed Shadows Can't Stop the Ubisoft Rot of Star Wars Outlaws and XDefiant
@ShogunRok You're so desperately trying to defend this game's "success" that you're missing the point. Yes, it clearly sold well by some standards (relatively to other AC games or to other titles so far in 2025). But the actual metric that matters is how much money it made relatively to its overall cost. And we all know how bloated Ubisoft is. Afaik, we don't have that number, but judging by this financial report, it doesn't look so good.
Re: Xbox Is Stepping Up Its Backwards Compatibility Efforts Again, to the Envy of PS5 Fans
Microsoft is hiring people to make sure older games run on their next Xbox: the PC.
Re: Rockstar Silences the Sceptics, Confirms GTA 6 Trailer Was a Mix of Gameplay and Cutscenes on Base PS5
@LifeGirl Here is the one thing you should keep in mind about real-time game graphics in the 2020s: the main limitation is not hardware power anymore. It's mostly about the game's budget.
Re: Poll: Are You Hyped for GTA 6 After Trailer 2?
I'm equally hyped and worried. Really, this game looks impossible.
And anyone hoping for a 60fps mode is completely delusional.
Re: Returnal, One of This Gen's Best Games, Gets a Massive PS5 Pro Upgrade
@Brundleflies21 I'm sure they considered it, but the CPU is probably the bottleneck here. Maybe on PS6..
Re: Almost All PS5 Fans Are Against $80 Games
"Almost all cows are against the carnivore diet."
Re: PS6 Can't Rely on Cutting-Edge Graphics, Sony Must 'Change Its Way of Thinking'
It's actually a lot more nuanced than that. Graphics could improve dramatically, but not in the brute force way it used to be. CPU and GPU power just does not scale well anymore, but software still can, especially when coupled with custom function hardware.
Path tracing (or full ray tracing) can have a transformative impact in the way games look. And additionally, it has the potential to ease the work of developers, which is another important bottleneck to today's graphics.
More importantly, AI could really advance graphics to the point of offering quantum generational leaps. DLSS/PSSR/FSR4 are the tip of the iceberg. And of course, AI also has a gigantic potential to ease the work of developers, but that coin has two very different sides. If abused, and it will be abused, things could get ugly for a while.
Re: Reaction: Switch 2 Looks Solid But the Many PS5, PS4 Ports Won't Spook Sony Yet
What is the drama exactly? This is the exact same situation we've had since the original Switch launched.
Re: PSVR2 Owners, It's Time to Immerse Yourself in the Headset's Best New Game
I will be all over this soon. Hitman is a very special game, and it seems perfect for VR. The locations, the thrill of stealth, the goofiness... I'm glad this thing exists.
Re: PSVR2 Owners, It's Time to Immerse Yourself in the Headset's Best New Game
@Max_the_German Sony is definitely funding many of those third party efforts. I think it's a fair compromise, as there's simply no business justification to prioritize VR over flat within the bounds of first party.
I would also love an Astro port, but here's the reason it probably won't happen: that game was designed for the dualshock, but PSVR2 cannot track the dualsense controllers.
I'm sure Sony has considered this at some point, but Japan Studio probably said that translating the input from the dualshock to the VR sense controllers would not be feasible. Which I actually tend to agree. It's certainly possible, but that doesn't mean it would be good. Or maybe the game would just have to be thoroughly redesigned, which in turn would bring us back to my initial argument (too big of an investment).
Re: Ubisoft Spins Off Assassin's Creed, Far Cry, Rainbow Six into New Subsidiary with Tencent
@DennisReynolds Neither here nor there. Yes, this kind of deal takes months (even years) and, because of that, it usually includes several triggers.
I know the games media is desperately trying to make you believe that Shadows was a smash hit, but I don't think it's a coincidence that the deal materialized days after the game came out.