@The_Wailing_Doom Lol. Do you really think Microsoft cares about little outrage on the internet? People are going where the games are. They don't care about "outrage" of small core audience on internet forum thinks.
For Microsoft it's about money (what isn't). After ABK purchase they need to get their margins on a certain level, and this is a result. It's a stupid and short-sighted, but what are you going to do?
@PuppetMaster Only people who are surprised are people who can't read. Microsoft from the beginning said that XGS, Bethesda and Activision are separate branches with separate marketing, publishing and budgeting.
Meaning, that there is no connection between closure of Bethesda studio and creation of this studio.
Not to mention fact that if you check people who work in this studio, it's pretty clear that studio is 1,5-2 years old. It just got an official name.
@Shwing PR wins won't bring you revenue. By the time Tango would have a game ready, nobody will care about cheap PR points. Not to mention fact that The Evil Within, GhostWire and Hi-Fi Rush ip's remains with Microsoft.
Microsoft closed Tango (and Arkane) because they chose to streamline ZeniMax. So yes, Tango was a fat that needed trimming. For Microsoft. Not for me, since Hi-Fi Rush was my second favourite game last year. Which is why I think that closing of Tango is just tragedy.
So I don't understand why you think that Sony investing in Tango is good idea. You have devs, without valuable IP's attached to studio. And studio that didn't produce any commercially successful game in very long time.
@Shwing For what? The Evil Within 2 flopped commercially. Same for GhostWire Tokyo. Hi-Fi Rush also didn't set world on fire and didn't even placed in TOP 20 on PlayStation store in the month game was released.
Sony is also trimming fat in their studios and you want them to invest in a studio that haven't produce true commercial hit since their first game?
@MrBook No. I'm not making excuses. It's ridiculous that 3 trillion dollar company can't spare few millions for two studios to continue to exist.
I'm just challenging the opinion that nothing like that would have happened without Microsoft buying Bethesda. Because I truly think that Bethesda would be ***** as a whole without external investments.
It's hilarious that we are seeing studios closures left and right, independent and studios under publishers and first thought that people will say is "consolidation is bad." Just lol.
@MrBook Lol. Do you really think that Bethesda, which already had a problems with cashflow would be able to sustain studios like Arkane Austin or Tango by themselves?
Let's not kid ourselves please. Bethesda wanted to sell because they were in deep financial *****. They pivoted hard into live services like Redfall, Fallout 76 and Wolfenstein Youngblood, because of their problems.
And that's not to excuse Microsoft. Because their financial situation is more than fine and their actions are just sad. But I would argue that Bethesda without buyout would be even worse.
It's not like Deathloop and GhostWire set world on fire from commercial perspective.
@get2sammyb Context is pretty simple. PS5 had huge problems with supplies in 2021 and first half of 2022. Sony resolved those problems in late 2022 (around of launch of Ragnarok) and sales shot up in the sky in first three quarters of 2023.
Those increased sales are pretty much response to the fact that console had supply problem at the start. But that time is just over now. Sony had to decrease price of PS5 multiple times late last year (not counting holiday season) to at least get into 20,8 million consoles sold for fiscal quarter (not to mention that they were prepared to create 25 million consoles at the start of fiscal year). Which means that supply is bigger then demand.
It is downhill PS5 from now. I mean. It's not hard to understand. If Sony expects 1 million consoles sold less then in PS4 gen at same time after release, while having new shiny console (PS5 Pro) on the market in fall, you kinda know that they are not expecting instalbase of PS5 to catch up PS4 ever again. And that is if they will even hit their estimates (which they didn't last fiscal year).
Which is not end of the world, but you have to realise, that first-party games costs 3x more than in PS4 gen. All the while you are selling those 3x more expensive games to smaller instalbase.
I think that it's just matter of time when Sony will start making all first-party games on PC day one.
I mean. It's kinda is problem. Because PlayStation just needs to grow. And when their console userbase shrinks, Sony would need to find it's growth elsewhere. Which means PC of course.
@Kevw2006 Series X shortages eased up maybe 2-3 months sooner than PS5 Series S was more available, that's true.
But it would be easy to say "If there was no shortages, Series X/S would sold as many consoles as Xbox One" like people are now claiming that if there was no shortages, PS5 would have outsold PS4.
@UltimateOtaku91 I think we can finally put "bu bu but COVID shortages" behind us. Because PS5 had surge of sales in late 2022-early 2023 that were responses to previous shortages. Basically that period covered late 2021-early 2023 when there were actual shortages. There are many reports that are basically saying that Sony and Microsoft have warehouses full of consoles that people don't want.
Let's not forget that Sony forecasted 25 million consoles and they achieved 20,8 million. So that's with plenty of discounts on console hardware. So Sony was prepared to ship 25 million consoles into shops around the world and they only shipped 20,8 million.
It's also hilarious that nobody uses "but but but shortages" when they are talking about Series X/S sales
Actual reality is that PS5 will end up selling less consoles then PS4.
So basically Sony is admitting that PS5 sales will not catch up to sales of PS4. At least short term. PS5 is already behind and Sony is forecasting 18 million consoles sold in next fiscal year, while PS4 sold 19 million at the same timeframe after release.
@UltimateOtaku91 Logical thing would be to let Helldivers 2 slip, since they could not managed to have it in working shape at release and just introduce mandatory PSN account in next Sony games.
@UltimateOtaku91 Let's not pretend that uPlay, EA Acc and Xbox Account requirements were not met by some kind of backlash.
It's just...people got used to it. But it was similar ***** storm. But Helldivers 2 is worse. Because they are enforcing this requirement 3 months after release. So if you live in country unsupported by PSN (Philippines for example) and you bought Helldivers 2 at release, you are *****.
Lol. On one hand it's hilarious that journalist have private conversation where he states his opinion (based on nothing) and somehow it transforms into huge "leak"
On other hand it's hilarious to see how PlayStation players wants that "bad Xbox exclusives"
@ChrisDeku "This is basic fact" supported by nothing
Mate. Just look at the most popular PlayStation games currently. https://www.truetrophies.com/news/ps5-top-40-helldivers-2-vs-fallout-4
There are probably 10 SP only games in TOP 50. That should tell you all that MP games are more popular on every platform with exception of Switch. It's not PC only thing.
Also. Can we just not use PlayTracker as a source for game sales? Because there are several trackers on internet and for example VG Insights is showing 15 million copies sold of Baldur's Gate 3 on PC.
It's also hilarious that you are latching onto 20 million singleplayer sellers on PlayStation when there are probably 2-3 SP only games that hit that mark. Spider-Man, God of War and Horizon Zero Dawn. So selling that much isn't a common thing. It's a rare thing to achieve.
Bethesda games are usually selling best on PC, same for CD Projekt RED games. So pretending that PC games don't care about SP games is just pure fantasy. It's more like PC gamers are preferring different type of SP games, not "over-the-shoulder third person action adventure with 3 hours of cutscenes."
Also, money from PC gamers into SP games are split into way more games, since PC has way way way more games than any console.
@ChrisDeku Claiming that PC is multiplayer dominated medium while Baldur's Gate 3 broke records last year and Cyberpunk 2077 was best selling on PC (from three platforms) and while Manor Lords is booming is pretty dumb statement.
Especially since most popular games currently on PSN are Fortnite, Modern Warfare, EA Sports FC 24, GTA V, Helldivers 2, Rocket League, Rainbow Six Siege and Overwatch 2.
PC is same multiplayer dominated as every other platform with exception of Switch. So pretending that it's "PC only thing" is strange.
@Undeadcop Lol. So, basically with that attitude every game is automatic 10/10 because you can't make better game?
Why are people so weird?
I think that if you put 40€ (or however much The Medium, Layers of Fear and Observer cost) for product they are offering, you have right to say if it was good or bad. Especially in sea of mediocrity that is Bloober Team.
Step by step First PC ports Then day-and-date releases on PC for some games (Helldivers 2) Now PlayStation overlay
In next chapters I expect Full fledged PlayStation Store on PC (in vein of Uplay or EA Client) day-and-date PC releases for all PlayStation Studios games
We know how it will go. Sony will demand something and then dev reality will hit. Just remember that Sony/Microsoft were talking about 4K 60 this gen. And even cross-gen games can't hit that most of the times. Native next-gen games like Immortals of Aveum can barely run in decent resolution on those machines.
So, Sony claiming 4K/60 with ray tracing is just sad at this point.
Good luck to Bungie. Because it seems like that fate of entire studio is entwined with success of The Final Shape. I won't be there, because after playing Destiny 1/2 since The Taken King up until Lightfall, I'm just burnt out.
@dark_knightmare2 Nice way to dodge my post. So I will ask again. Why they are hiring people to transform Bend into live service studio, if they are not making live service game?
It's like if Sony Santa Monica had on their website that they are hiring for PvP Shooter, but you would try to tell me that they are working on action adventure game.
Bend wasn't on live service slide because they didn't appear at the slide at all. So arguing with that is pretty dumb in my opinion.
@dark_knightmare2 So...they are hiring people who will "redefine studio from traditional 'boxed product' focussed game development into live service development studio in a key leadership role" because they are not making live service game?
@BrettAwesome From reporting it looks like Sony and Disney werent thrilled with Aspyr's work and Sony even backed away from project. But game was moved to Saber Interactive
@naruball Ehh. No? Comparing games that were in deep production by the time Ryan and Hulst were promoted vs. new-ish games that probably waited for their turn into full production is pretty much different thing.
Not to mention fact, that overwhelming majority of games you talked about are straight sequel to popular games which is safest bet in existence in gaming world. All they had to to is let teams cook and not ***** it up.
I mean. If you think that current management of PlayStation under Ryan and Hulst under PlayStation Studios is fine, then okay. But even many hardcore PlayStation fans have no problems to admit that they are ***** things up in a big way.
Outside of Helldivers 2, Sony don't have any big game from internal studios for entire 2024. And even labelling Helldivers 2 as a big game is a pretty big stretch, since that game is selling for 30 bucks.
So let me sum things up for you No big-brand AAA first-party developed game until April 2025 at earliest (we would be lucky if we can get Concord) Naughty Dog spend 5 years of internal resources and development for game that will not be released - meaning that we will be probably glad if they will be able to release at least one game for WHOLE PS5 GEN. Ryan and co. installed Sony XDev people into management of Firesprite which lead to toxic culture and many experienced people already left the studio after they received retention bonus Japan Studio, Pixel Opus, London Studio shuttered and Media Molecule is shell of it's former self Bungie ***** up Lightfall expansion which lead to insufficient revenue, which in turn leads to risk that Sony will replace board of directors in the studio with their own people (and I'm sure people would not pack their bags after that happens)
@naruball Probably because all of those games were greenlit under "previous regime." Ryan and Hulst came into their respective positions in 2019. Hell, even big success for PlayStation this year (Helldivers 2) was greenlit by previous management since that game was in development for 8 years.
So I'm primarily talking about their management. It was them who pushed hard into live service. They bought and mismanaged Firesprite. They shut down all of studios I mentioned. They bought Bungie (which currently looks like huge miss). They develop a partnership with Deviation.
@twitchtvpat So, letting Naughty Dog develop TLOU Online and after 5 years of development "we found out that this game would mean that entire studio would need to commit to live service" is good management? Please, spare me excuses.
I mean. You can't even look at situations with whole live service push, toxic enviroment in Firesprite, shuttering of several studios etc. and don't think "this is mismanaged." Unless you have rainbow googles.
It was the same way with Xbox and 343. There were plent of signs that studio is mismanaged. And people refused to accept a reality. But it took failure of Halo Infinite live service for Xbox management to realise how bad situation is and only then they acted and restructured whole studio.
@theSpectre Yes and? It's not like they didn't fund and oversaw project development.
Splending gamemaking by Sony this gen...really glorious Naughty Dog - TLOU online game cancelled after several years into the project London Studio - shuttered Pixel Opus - shuttered Japan Studio - shuttered (Asobi has risen from ashes) Deviation Games - closed before they shipped their first game Firesprite - Sony installed XDev devs to run the studio and they mismanaged it. Twisted Metal reboot cancelled.
Jesus Christ. I thought that Microsoft is the one who is mismanaging studios.
@DeathlySW There is no way Sony will allow Game Pass in it's current form on PlayStation like...ever And there is no way Microsoft will be sharing 30% of subs price with Sony.
Yeah. I'm trully shocked that those "bad Xbox games" are selling on PlayStation. It's almost like many PlayStation fans were calling them "trash" because they couldn't have them.
Similar thing would have happened if Sony started porting some of their games on Xbox. Suddenly God of War and The Last of Us would not be labelled "boring dad simulators"
@UltimateOtaku91 That's *****. Those talks are here for years, but were postponed during pandemic boom, because industry was growing rapidly and Microsoft and Sony thought that they would be able to grow their console business. That was proven incorrect and industry is in recession for second straight year. So they need to find new audience because of ballooning cost of AAA game development.
Making games like Rise of the Tomb Raider, Dead Rising 3, Street Fighter V etc. was just easy, because budget of those games was pitiful compared to today. So you are investing exponentially more millions of dollars for exclusivity in market that is not growing. ROI is close to non-existent.
Head of development of Tekken 8 recently said that Tekken 8 budget was tripled compared to Tekken 7.
And Layden was warning about this for years. So it's not like this is a new thing.
I find it hilarious that Sony layed-off people in Insomniac Games, that made 3 games in 3 years and 2 of them sold more than 10 million copies and people here are pretending that everything is okay.
@PsBoxSwitchOwner "But honestly SM2 cost £300m, it’s sold 10m. At an average of probably £55 (if not higher) which is £550m. So it’s making money and it’s making good money. So I personally don’t think big AAA need to go multi plat. For any console." You are forgetting that 1. Sony need to send 19-26% of revenue to Marvel for license. 2. Many from those 10 millions were sold through PS5 console bundle where Sony need to send 35-50% (from price of the game) to Marvel. Also, because they were bundling that game to console and they were selling that console with discount, it's pretty much obvious that they were not profiting from those copies of Spider-Man 2.
Basically Sony confirmed that they need to sell 7,2 million copies at full price just to break even.
Of course it is. PlayStation Studios went from AAA games costing 100 million at worst to producing games that cost 300 million and are serving SAME customers as they were few years ago.
As Spencer said. You either find a way to get more money from same people, or you need to find new customers.
I mean. I get what they are trying to say. Hogwarts Legacy with optional seasonal content and Battle Pass system would bring even more money, so it's obvious that they want to chase that.
And I get suicide Squad comparison is tempting, but the fact is that Suicide Squad failed because it was bad game, not because it was live service game.
@Nakatomi_Uk On one hand I feel bad for Insomniac On the other hand...the kinda brought it onto themselves.
They are currently built on power of Marvel licenses, which means that 20%+ revenue of their games are going to the Marvel. Also, they are responsible for fact that Spider-Man 2 cost 3x more then Spider-Man while looking just a touch better.
Comments 751
Re: Rumour: New DOOM Game Reveal at Xbox Showcase, Coming to PS5
@The_Wailing_Doom Lol. Do you really think Microsoft cares about little outrage on the internet?
People are going where the games are. They don't care about "outrage" of small core audience on internet forum thinks.
For Microsoft it's about money (what isn't). After ABK purchase they need to get their margins on a certain level, and this is a result. It's a stupid and short-sighted, but what are you going to do?
Re: Hideo Kojima Is Mad Max Director George Miller's First Choice for a Video Game Adaption
Please no. I really don't want Mad Max game with 5 hours of cutscenes
Re: Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2 Dev Ninja Theory's Next Game Has Reportedly Been Greenlit
bu bu but Microsoft is preparing to shutter Ninja Theory...
Re: Activision Tasks New AAA Studio with Crafting Narrative-Based Series
@PuppetMaster Only people who are surprised are people who can't read.
Microsoft from the beginning said that XGS, Bethesda and Activision are separate branches with separate marketing, publishing and budgeting.
Meaning, that there is no connection between closure of Bethesda studio and creation of this studio.
Not to mention fact that if you check people who work in this studio, it's pretty clear that studio is 1,5-2 years old. It just got an official name.
Re: Hi-Fi Rush Director 'Emotional' As Xbox Shutters Acclaimed Tango Gameworks Team
@Shwing PR wins won't bring you revenue. By the time Tango would have a game ready, nobody will care about cheap PR points. Not to mention fact that The Evil Within, GhostWire and Hi-Fi Rush ip's remains with Microsoft.
Microsoft closed Tango (and Arkane) because they chose to streamline ZeniMax. So yes, Tango was a fat that needed trimming. For Microsoft. Not for me, since Hi-Fi Rush was my second favourite game last year. Which is why I think that closing of Tango is just tragedy.
So I don't understand why you think that Sony investing in Tango is good idea. You have devs, without valuable IP's attached to studio. And studio that didn't produce any commercially successful game in very long time.
Re: Hi-Fi Rush Director 'Emotional' As Xbox Shutters Acclaimed Tango Gameworks Team
@Shwing For what? The Evil Within 2 flopped commercially. Same for GhostWire Tokyo. Hi-Fi Rush also didn't set world on fire and didn't even placed in TOP 20 on PlayStation store in the month game was released.
Sony is also trimming fat in their studios and you want them to invest in a studio that haven't produce true commercial hit since their first game?
Sure...
Re: Hi-Fi Rush Director 'Emotional' As Xbox Shutters Acclaimed Tango Gameworks Team
@MrBook No. I'm not making excuses. It's ridiculous that 3 trillion dollar company can't spare few millions for two studios to continue to exist.
I'm just challenging the opinion that nothing like that would have happened without Microsoft buying Bethesda. Because I truly think that Bethesda would be ***** as a whole without external investments.
It's hilarious that we are seeing studios closures left and right, independent and studios under publishers and first thought that people will say is "consolidation is bad." Just lol.
Re: Hi-Fi Rush Director 'Emotional' As Xbox Shutters Acclaimed Tango Gameworks Team
@MrBook Lol.
Do you really think that Bethesda, which already had a problems with cashflow would be able to sustain studios like Arkane Austin or Tango by themselves?
Let's not kid ourselves please. Bethesda wanted to sell because they were in deep financial *****. They pivoted hard into live services like Redfall, Fallout 76 and Wolfenstein Youngblood, because of their problems.
And that's not to excuse Microsoft. Because their financial situation is more than fine and their actions are just sad. But I would argue that Bethesda without buyout would be even worse.
It's not like Deathloop and GhostWire set world on fire from commercial perspective.
Bu bu bu but consolidation.
Re: Reaction: Why You Shouldn't Worry Too Much About PS5's Year-on-Year Decline
@get2sammyb Context is pretty simple. PS5 had huge problems with supplies in 2021 and first half of 2022. Sony resolved those problems in late 2022 (around of launch of Ragnarok) and sales shot up in the sky in first three quarters of 2023.
Those increased sales are pretty much response to the fact that console had supply problem at the start. But that time is just over now. Sony had to decrease price of PS5 multiple times late last year (not counting holiday season) to at least get into 20,8 million consoles sold for fiscal quarter (not to mention that they were prepared to create 25 million consoles at the start of fiscal year). Which means that supply is bigger then demand.
It is downhill PS5 from now. I mean. It's not hard to understand. If Sony expects 1 million consoles sold less then in PS4 gen at same time after release, while having new shiny console (PS5 Pro) on the market in fall, you kinda know that they are not expecting instalbase of PS5 to catch up PS4 ever again. And that is if they will even hit their estimates (which they didn't last fiscal year).
Which is not end of the world, but you have to realise, that first-party games costs 3x more than in PS4 gen. All the while you are selling those 3x more expensive games to smaller instalbase.
I think that it's just matter of time when Sony will start making all first-party games on PC day one.
Re: Reaction: Why You Shouldn't Worry Too Much About PS5's Year-on-Year Decline
I mean. It's kinda is problem. Because PlayStation just needs to grow. And when their console userbase shrinks, Sony would need to find it's growth elsewhere. Which means PC of course.
Re: PS5 Sales Reach 59.3 Million as Sony Falls Just Short of Fiscal Year Forecast
@Kevw2006 Series X shortages eased up maybe 2-3 months sooner than PS5 Series S was more available, that's true.
But it would be easy to say "If there was no shortages, Series X/S would sold as many consoles as Xbox One" like people are now claiming that if there was no shortages, PS5 would have outsold PS4.
Re: PS5 Sales Reach 59.3 Million as Sony Falls Just Short of Fiscal Year Forecast
@UltimateOtaku91 I think we can finally put "bu bu but COVID shortages" behind us.
Because PS5 had surge of sales in late 2022-early 2023 that were responses to previous shortages. Basically that period covered late 2021-early 2023 when there were actual shortages. There are many reports that are basically saying that Sony and Microsoft have warehouses full of consoles that people don't want.
Let's not forget that Sony forecasted 25 million consoles and they achieved 20,8 million. So that's with plenty of discounts on console hardware. So Sony was prepared to ship 25 million consoles into shops around the world and they only shipped 20,8 million.
It's also hilarious that nobody uses "but but but shortages" when they are talking about Series X/S sales
Actual reality is that PS5 will end up selling less consoles then PS4.
Re: PS5 Sales Reach 59.3 Million as Sony Falls Just Short of Fiscal Year Forecast
So basically Sony is admitting that PS5 sales will not catch up to sales of PS4. At least short term.
PS5 is already behind and Sony is forecasting 18 million consoles sold in next fiscal year, while PS4 sold 19 million at the same timeframe after release.
Re: Helldivers 2 on PS5, PC Is Sony's Fastest Selling Game of All Time
@REALAIS So, I guess in Europe it's skewed more towards PC, since that continent is more about PC gaming...
Re: Helldivers 2 on PS5, PC Is Sony's Fastest Selling Game of All Time
I would like to see split between PlayStation and PC sales
Re: Square Enix to 'Aggressively' Pursue Multiplatform Strategy from Now On
You want to tell me that PlayStation is just not enough in year 2024?
Colour me shocked
Re: Helldivers 2 PC Players Blindsided by Seemingly Sudden PSN Account Requirement
@Mortal You know that lying about your residence when creating PSN account is against Sony TOS right? And can lead to ban of your account, right?
Re: Helldivers 2 PC Players Blindsided by Seemingly Sudden PSN Account Requirement
@UltimateOtaku91 Logical thing would be to let Helldivers 2 slip, since they could not managed to have it in working shape at release and just introduce mandatory PSN account in next Sony games.
Re: Helldivers 2 PC Players Blindsided by Seemingly Sudden PSN Account Requirement
@UltimateOtaku91 Let's not pretend that uPlay, EA Acc and Xbox Account requirements were not met by some kind of backlash.
It's just...people got used to it. But it was similar ***** storm.
But Helldivers 2 is worse. Because they are enforcing this requirement 3 months after release. So if you live in country unsupported by PSN (Philippines for example) and you bought Helldivers 2 at release, you are *****.
Re: Many, Many More Xbox Ports Plotted for PS5, New Speculation Suggests
Lol. On one hand it's hilarious that journalist have private conversation where he states his opinion (based on nothing) and somehow it transforms into huge "leak"
On other hand it's hilarious to see how PlayStation players wants that "bad Xbox exclusives"
Re: Helldivers 2 Is Already One of Sony's Best-Ever Sellers in the US
@ChrisDeku "This is basic fact" supported by nothing
Mate. Just look at the most popular PlayStation games currently.
https://www.truetrophies.com/news/ps5-top-40-helldivers-2-vs-fallout-4
There are probably 10 SP only games in TOP 50. That should tell you all that MP games are more popular on every platform with exception of Switch. It's not PC only thing.
Also. Can we just not use PlayTracker as a source for game sales? Because there are several trackers on internet and for example VG Insights is showing 15 million copies sold of Baldur's Gate 3 on PC.
It's also hilarious that you are latching onto 20 million singleplayer sellers on PlayStation when there are probably 2-3 SP only games that hit that mark. Spider-Man, God of War and Horizon Zero Dawn. So selling that much isn't a common thing. It's a rare thing to achieve.
Bethesda games are usually selling best on PC, same for CD Projekt RED games. So pretending that PC games don't care about SP games is just pure fantasy. It's more like PC gamers are preferring different type of SP games, not "over-the-shoulder third person action adventure with 3 hours of cutscenes."
Also, money from PC gamers into SP games are split into way more games, since PC has way way way more games than any console.
Re: Helldivers 2 Is Already One of Sony's Best-Ever Sellers in the US
@ChrisDeku Claiming that PC is multiplayer dominated medium while Baldur's Gate 3 broke records last year and Cyberpunk 2077 was best selling on PC (from three platforms) and while Manor Lords is booming is pretty dumb statement.
Especially since most popular games currently on PSN are Fortnite, Modern Warfare, EA Sports FC 24, GTA V, Helldivers 2, Rocket League, Rainbow Six Siege and Overwatch 2.
PC is same multiplayer dominated as every other platform with exception of Switch. So pretending that it's "PC only thing" is strange.
Re: Helldivers 2 Is Already One of Sony's Best-Ever Sellers in the US
So the lesson for Sony is probably, that staggered PC releases are dumb and day one PC releases are way to go...
Re: Bloober Team Says Silent Hill 2 Remake Its 'Most Important Test'
@Undeadcop Lol. So, basically with that attitude every game is automatic 10/10 because you can't make better game?
Why are people so weird?
I think that if you put 40€ (or however much The Medium, Layers of Fear and Observer cost) for product they are offering, you have right to say if it was good or bad. Especially in sea of mediocrity that is Bloober Team.
Re: Bloober Team Says Silent Hill 2 Remake Its 'Most Important Test'
Bloober is definition of mediocrity in gaming space.
I honestly have no faith in them.
Re: Sony Reveals PlayStation Overlay for PC Ports, Supports Trophies, Friends List
Step by step
First PC ports
Then day-and-date releases on PC for some games (Helldivers 2)
Now PlayStation overlay
In next chapters I expect
Full fledged PlayStation Store on PC (in vein of Uplay or EA Client)
day-and-date PC releases for all PlayStation Studios games
It's inevitable.
Re: Fresh PS5 Pro Report Reiterates Sony Demands for Upgraded Games
We know how it will go.
Sony will demand something and then dev reality will hit.
Just remember that Sony/Microsoft were talking about 4K 60 this gen. And even cross-gen games can't hit that most of the times. Native next-gen games like Immortals of Aveum can barely run in decent resolution on those machines.
So, Sony claiming 4K/60 with ray tracing is just sad at this point.
Re: Despite Hype, Analyst Says Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth 'Underperforming'
Good. Maybe Square Enix will finally realise, that confining new Final Fantasy games into "PlayStation only" box is actually hurting the brand.
And I'm not advocating or port-begging for Xbox version of the game. I'm talking more about PC day one release of those games.
Re: Bungie Announces Destiny 2: The Final Shape Showcase for Next Week
Good luck to Bungie. Because it seems like that fate of entire studio is entwined with success of The Final Shape.
I won't be there, because after playing Destiny 1/2 since The Taken King up until Lightfall, I'm just burnt out.
Re: Days Gone Dev Bend Studio Staffing Up for 'AAA Live Service' Game
@dark_knightmare2 And who exactly said that open world SP game can't be live service?
Assassin's Creed ringing any bells?
Re: Days Gone Dev Bend Studio Staffing Up for 'AAA Live Service' Game
Removed
Re: Days Gone Dev Bend Studio Staffing Up for 'AAA Live Service' Game
@dark_knightmare2 Nice way to dodge my post. So I will ask again. Why they are hiring people to transform Bend into live service studio, if they are not making live service game?
It's like if Sony Santa Monica had on their website that they are hiring for PvP Shooter, but you would try to tell me that they are working on action adventure game.
Bend wasn't on live service slide because they didn't appear at the slide at all. So arguing with that is pretty dumb in my opinion.
https://static.tweaktown.com/news/9/4/94381_24_playstation-live-games-will-focus-on-quality-not-quantity-sony-says.png
Re: Days Gone Dev Bend Studio Staffing Up for 'AAA Live Service' Game
@dark_knightmare2 So...they are hiring people who will "redefine studio from traditional 'boxed product' focussed game development into live service development studio in a key leadership role" because they are not making live service game?
ehh?
Re: Bungie Shuffles Marathon Leadership as Fears of Further Layoffs Loom
"PlayStation Boss Jim Ryan Says Bungie Offers ‘Way More’ Value Than Activision Does for Xbox"
This aged like milk
Re: Sony Allegedly Pausing PSVR2 Production Due to Surplus of Unsold Stock
@GoingTheDist But I'm talking about Xbox division vs. Reality labs division. But okay...
Re: Sony Allegedly Pausing PSVR2 Production Due to Surplus of Unsold Stock
@GoingTheDist Unless you realise that Xbox is pretty fine. They are for sure not posting 3 billion loss every quarter.
Re: Sony Allegedly Pausing PSVR2 Production Due to Surplus of Unsold Stock
@GoingTheDist And yet, Reality Labs division of Meta posts 3 billion loss every quarter...
Re: KOTOR Remake Still Sounds Like Its Far, Far Away from Releasing on PS5
@BrettAwesome From reporting it looks like Sony and Disney werent thrilled with Aspyr's work and Sony even backed away from project. But game was moved to Saber Interactive
Re: KOTOR Remake Still Sounds Like Its Far, Far Away from Releasing on PS5
I doubt Sony is involved with this project anymore
Re: Sony Partner Deviation Games Shuttered Before Shipping Its First PS5 Project
@naruball Ehh. No?
Comparing games that were in deep production by the time Ryan and Hulst were promoted vs. new-ish games that probably waited for their turn into full production is pretty much different thing.
Not to mention fact, that overwhelming majority of games you talked about are straight sequel to popular games which is safest bet in existence in gaming world. All they had to to is let teams cook and not ***** it up.
I mean. If you think that current management of PlayStation under Ryan and Hulst under PlayStation Studios is fine, then okay. But even many hardcore PlayStation fans have no problems to admit that they are ***** things up in a big way.
Outside of Helldivers 2, Sony don't have any big game from internal studios for entire 2024. And even labelling Helldivers 2 as a big game is a pretty big stretch, since that game is selling for 30 bucks.
So let me sum things up for you
No big-brand AAA first-party developed game until April 2025 at earliest (we would be lucky if we can get Concord)
Naughty Dog spend 5 years of internal resources and development for game that will not be released - meaning that we will be probably glad if they will be able to release at least one game for WHOLE PS5 GEN.
Ryan and co. installed Sony XDev people into management of Firesprite which lead to toxic culture and many experienced people already left the studio after they received retention bonus
Japan Studio, Pixel Opus, London Studio shuttered and Media Molecule is shell of it's former self
Bungie ***** up Lightfall expansion which lead to insufficient revenue, which in turn leads to risk that Sony will replace board of directors in the studio with their own people (and I'm sure people would not pack their bags after that happens)
I mean. It's cool resume if you ask me. /s
Re: Sony Partner Deviation Games Shuttered Before Shipping Its First PS5 Project
@naruball Probably because all of those games were greenlit under "previous regime." Ryan and Hulst came into their respective positions in 2019. Hell, even big success for PlayStation this year (Helldivers 2) was greenlit by previous management since that game was in development for 8 years.
So I'm primarily talking about their management. It was them who pushed hard into live service. They bought and mismanaged Firesprite. They shut down all of studios I mentioned. They bought Bungie (which currently looks like huge miss). They develop a partnership with Deviation.
Re: Sony Partner Deviation Games Shuttered Before Shipping Its First PS5 Project
@twitchtvpat So, letting Naughty Dog develop TLOU Online and after 5 years of development "we found out that this game would mean that entire studio would need to commit to live service" is good management? Please, spare me excuses.
I mean. You can't even look at situations with whole live service push, toxic enviroment in Firesprite, shuttering of several studios etc. and don't think "this is mismanaged." Unless you have rainbow googles.
It was the same way with Xbox and 343. There were plent of signs that studio is mismanaged. And people refused to accept a reality. But it took failure of Halo Infinite live service for Xbox management to realise how bad situation is and only then they acted and restructured whole studio.
@theSpectre Yes and? It's not like they didn't fund and oversaw project development.
Re: Sony Partner Deviation Games Shuttered Before Shipping Its First PS5 Project
Splending gamemaking by Sony this gen...really glorious
Naughty Dog - TLOU online game cancelled after several years into the project
London Studio - shuttered
Pixel Opus - shuttered
Japan Studio - shuttered (Asobi has risen from ashes)
Deviation Games - closed before they shipped their first game
Firesprite - Sony installed XDev devs to run the studio and they mismanaged it. Twisted Metal reboot cancelled.
Jesus Christ. I thought that Microsoft is the one who is mismanaging studios.
Re: Smooth Sailing for Xbox Exclusive Sea of Thieves As It Tops PS5 Pre-Order Charts
@DeathlySW There is no way Sony will allow Game Pass in it's current form on PlayStation like...ever
And there is no way Microsoft will be sharing 30% of subs price with Sony.
Re: Smooth Sailing for Xbox Exclusive Sea of Thieves As It Tops PS5 Pre-Order Charts
Yeah. I'm trully shocked that those "bad Xbox games" are selling on PlayStation.
It's almost like many PlayStation fans were calling them "trash" because they couldn't have them.
Similar thing would have happened if Sony started porting some of their games on Xbox. Suddenly God of War and The Last of Us would not be labelled "boring dad simulators"
Re: Exclusivity Is the Achilles' Heel of Huge Blockbusters, Says Former PlayStation Exec
@UltimateOtaku91 That's *****. Those talks are here for years, but were postponed during pandemic boom, because industry was growing rapidly and Microsoft and Sony thought that they would be able to grow their console business.
That was proven incorrect and industry is in recession for second straight year. So they need to find new audience because of ballooning cost of AAA game development.
Making games like Rise of the Tomb Raider, Dead Rising 3, Street Fighter V etc. was just easy, because budget of those games was pitiful compared to today. So you are investing exponentially more millions of dollars for exclusivity in market that is not growing. ROI is close to non-existent.
Head of development of Tekken 8 recently said that Tekken 8 budget was tripled compared to Tekken 7.
And Layden was warning about this for years. So it's not like this is a new thing.
I find it hilarious that Sony layed-off people in Insomniac Games, that made 3 games in 3 years and 2 of them sold more than 10 million copies and people here are pretending that everything is okay.
Re: Exclusivity Is the Achilles' Heel of Huge Blockbusters, Says Former PlayStation Exec
@PsBoxSwitchOwner "But honestly SM2 cost £300m, it’s sold 10m. At an average of probably £55 (if not higher) which is £550m. So it’s making money and it’s making good money. So I personally don’t think big AAA need to go multi plat. For any console."
You are forgetting that
1. Sony need to send 19-26% of revenue to Marvel for license.
2. Many from those 10 millions were sold through PS5 console bundle where Sony need to send 35-50% (from price of the game) to Marvel. Also, because they were bundling that game to console and they were selling that console with discount, it's pretty much obvious that they were not profiting from those copies of Spider-Man 2.
Basically Sony confirmed that they need to sell 7,2 million copies at full price just to break even.
Re: Exclusivity Is the Achilles' Heel of Huge Blockbusters, Says Former PlayStation Exec
Of course it is.
PlayStation Studios went from AAA games costing 100 million at worst to producing games that cost 300 million and are serving SAME customers as they were few years ago.
As Spencer said. You either find a way to get more money from same people, or you need to find new customers.
Re: Warner Bros' Reaction to Suicide Squad Flop Will Make You Question Your Sanity
I mean. I get what they are trying to say.
Hogwarts Legacy with optional seasonal content and Battle Pass system would bring even more money, so it's obvious that they want to chase that.
And I get suicide Squad comparison is tempting, but the fact is that Suicide Squad failed because it was bad game, not because it was live service game.
Re: Reaction: What Is Happening to the Video Games Industry and Why Are There So Many Layoffs?
@Nakatomi_Uk On one hand I feel bad for Insomniac
On the other hand...the kinda brought it onto themselves.
They are currently built on power of Marvel licenses, which means that 20%+ revenue of their games are going to the Marvel. Also, they are responsible for fact that Spider-Man 2 cost 3x more then Spider-Man while looking just a touch better.