LogicStrikesAgain

but a new table from Circana really puts into perspective why the Xbox titles are going multi-platform.

I don’t quite understand how this is supposed to be the “why” behind Microsoft multiplatform push. Why would this table put things in perspective all of a sudden? Only new perspective that could be derived from this chart are the Forza sales. Most of these titles have always been multiplatform. If anything, that perspective should have been obvious a long time ago.

Namely, if you want to maximize sales potential of your games, it would probably be ideal to publish it on a platform with the most users.

Only thing this table shows is that Microsoft bought two of the biggest third party publishers in the world and therefore own many of the game releases.

And that Sony hasn’t released much in the same Q2 period. Although Q3/Q4 will probably look different when they include the sales of Death Stranding 2 and Ghost of Yotei etc.

I think it’s time for Sony to buy some big publishers of its own, so it can boast about having a large output as well .

[i]not really a Sony game[i] given that MLB has always been cross platform.

All the Xbox games on that list have always been cross platform, except for Forza and Indiana Jones.

Using the same logic, would you say that Doom, CoD and ES are also not really Xbox games?

@TrollOfWar

PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X are hardware-wise pretty much the same, probably 90% of the games released are on both systems. Having to buy an Xbox if you already have a PlayStation, which does basically the same, just to play a few "exclusive games" is very inconvenient.

The fact that the Xbox and the PS5 have basically the same hardware makes it even more understandable that they need to differentiate in other ways, to make their products stand out.

What i was explaining is the strategy of product differentiation. It’s a smart and legitimate strategy to drive costumers to buy a product. It doesnt mean every business and or product uses that strategy.

Something may make sense for lets say selling consoles, streaming services, the whole fashion industry, pc hardware like nvidia/amd, apple, samsung, fast food chains like BK, MC, KFC etc, like every new startup that creates a new perfume line or whatever. But it might not make much sense for BD players or TV’s to create exclusive software for example as you’ve pointed out, so the comparison to consoles isnt that relevant.

Not every product uses or needs differentiation or “exclusives” to sell their products. It’s just a strategy you can use thats all. My point is that there’s nothing inherently wrong with it, and it’s a valid strategy for some products or businessess.

In the case of consoles i think it makes sense. These two consoles play like 97% of the same games anyway. It’s just a small percentage of games that’s used to create brand recognition. I think there’s nothing wrong with that model.

The concern some people have here is that by foregoing that exclusivity, it might dilute the brand, and therefore might make their consoles less interesting. Just look at whats happening to Xbox and the diminishing interest people have in their console. There’s a bit more nuance to it than just fanboyism

@SMJ I agree that the future of gaming is probably digital and streaming. But even then for Sony to compete, it will need exclusives. Until that digital future though, the more immediate future will still be hardware based.

And i think you might be right with your prediction of how many hardware based console generations there are left

@TrollOfWar

They don't want gaming to change and will find all sorts of justifications why they think that exclusive games are better, hoping to relive those past memories. They feel somehow special if something releases "exclusively" to them rather than for everyone. They treat the current 1st party releases of once exclusive games like hostage exchanges.

Having exclusives on your platform or service is a legitimate way to make it attractive for people to buy your console.

There’s a reason people subscribe to Netflix, HBO Max, Disney+, Apple+ etc.
They all offer exclusive content that people want to see. Heck, exclusivity is why you go to Burger King. Exclusivity has become a bad word in the gaming industry, but i see it as a valid way to distinguish yourself. It’s what many companies do, offering things that are found nowhere else to attract people. A pretty common practice in business actually.

Up until a few years ago, Xbox fans had no problem with this logic, but now it seems it’s something completely incomprehensible. (wonder why?👀)

Look at what going full multiplat is doing to the Xbox brand. Yes, software sales are better now, but the hype for their console brand has shot down globally.

If you know that Sony’s biggest revenue comes from their 30% cut from games sold through their stores and not the revenue from their first party titles, you could understand how important it might be for Sony to keep their ecosystem valuable and keep selling consoles.

That said, i do think there’s room for more inclusivity in gaming as well, these things arent mutually exclusive

@SMJ

So many of the comments here are very strange to me. It seems they love other people not having things rather than actually having those things themselves. Or they love the console itself rather than the games.

There’s a bit more nuance to it than that, and of course i can only speak for myself.

It’s because some people here are simply Playstation enthousiasts (shocker, i know) and they want the brand and company to do well long term.

It’s not about not wanting other people to play their games, for some here the concern is that the choice to go full multiplat (if that even happens) might be very detrimental to their brand.

If Xbox can fail, despite backed by the wealthiest company in the world, then you can imagine how vulnerable a brand like Playstation is, considering Sony is roughly 20x smaller.

Things change and nothing is certain. Even large brands have disappeared over time in the past. Sometimes a company is just a few big mistakes away from failure and becoming obsolete. And Sony doesn't have the wealth to back up too many big mistakes like MS does.

What i think happening is that you might be focusing too much on less nuanced posts, and filter out the many people here that tend to have well thoughtful and balances takes on the industry

@HonestHick

You really think the Last of us or God of War wouldn’t sell 3 million copies to the 35 million Xbox fan base?

Have you considered long term implications though? Sony biggest income isn’t the sales of first party titles, it’s the 30% cut they get from (mostly third party) games sold in their store. And the reason they make money is because they sell so many consoles. I don't think focusing on God of War selling 35 instead of 25 million would really be a smart focus for their brand overall.

But heck what do i know, I’ve given up on speculating what these companies will do nowadays. I just sit back, grab some popcorn and watch how things unfold lol

Sony can do whatever they want, i don't own any stock in them.

However, if i extrapolate the scenario in my head of Sony porting their games to all other consoles, perhaps even Day 1, i can’t see them keeping their dominance in the console space anymore.

So, very curious to see what Sony’s game plan is here.

I’m assuming they won’t be porting key IP’s as to maintain the brand recognition, because that’s one of their biggest selling point. But i don’t assume anything anymore in today’s gaming industry lol.

But hey, this might just be the beginning of an inevitable shift in gaming. That’s why i always said Sony should buy some key IP’s if they want to compete in the future game streaming wars

The market is saturated. Too many games releasing. Not too mention the ever rising costs of development. Studios are having a hard time brraking even (let alone make profit) unless you’re a massively popular (oftentimes lacking innovation) IP like FIFA or CoD.

So studios/publishers come up with all sorts of ways to continue to be viable in this market. Like raising game prices, live service models, agrssive microtransactions or consolidating the market by buying publishers. But most people (often rightfully so) bemoan or reject these options.

Meanwhile studios are closing left and right and people are being layed off at an unprecedented scale. Now i see a lot of people here seeing it from the pov of the consumer (again, rightly so). But i wonder if anyone has an answer for this problem if they honestly take a comprehensive look at the industry? Something a bit more substantial than “studios should just focus on AA games”, which might help, but is hardly a solution

Now that doesnt mean i’m in favour of $80 games, per se. But i just think game prices should reflect the amount of money and time it takes to develop these games. Honestly, it’s a complex problem to fix. I’m curious to see where the industry will be in 5 years, as in my opinion this industry is way too bloated

Playstation’s user base is so large, they constantly ask for contrasting things. When Sony does single player games, there’s too much cutscenes or people demand more innovative AA games. When they do something else like Astro Bot, people hardly buy it. When they do multiplayer some people want them to stick to single player narratives, as long as it’s not a sad dad sim. Some want new IP, but not if it’s too diverse. Some hate remakes, some want old IP’s to be revived. Sony just can’t win with such a diverse and large user base

As far as i understand they’re working on 2 games. I’d like to see a GoW set in ancient Egyptian mythology, but with some fresh gameplay, and perhaps mixing the styles of the og trilogy and the Norse saga games.

And preferably a new IP. But since rumours are saying it’s probably not a new IP, maybe a reboot of the inFamous series. Open world game with awesome superpowers by Santa Monica? Sounds good to me, would love to see their take on it

Bummer, would’ve loved a Sci-fi game. Maybe a reboot of Infamous? Damn, that would be nice as well.

Btw, am i correct that there are currently 2 games in development at Santa Monica? So probably at least one is GoW. Hoping they go with Egyptian Gods and mythology next

Why no mention(b-roll) of Crunchyroll? Seems like an excellent opportunity for some cross marketing there

I’m sure there are people out there excited about this, i’m not one of them

A Sci-fi game from Santa Monica would definitely push all my hype buttons, can’t wait to hear more soon!

Why is it so outrageous though? Isn’t this like the highest rated xbox game of this generation? Is it really that crazy that it’s selling well? It’s also the kind of game that tends to click with both the large casual crowd and the hardcore crowd.

Edit: Just did a little research on metacritic, and i’m a bit surprised honestly, apparently FH5 (together with FH4) is the highest scoring xbox game not just of this gen, but of the last 17 years! The last time an xbox game scored higher was with Gears 3 in 2008, which scored a 93

@Exerion76

I remember, when the fanboys said, that they wasn't interested in Xbox games. 😂

Maybe they still aren’t 🤷🏻‍♂️

this has been nothing but a coasting generation for sony

Maybe they should buy 2 publishers of their own so they can boast about having a large output as well 😇

I love the western vibes with eastern sounds. I’m not particularly sold on the main theme though. The standout for me here is the “The Yotei 6” track. Starts off as if made for a stand off scene in a Tarantino film (0-0:45). Then shifts to perfectly dark menacing sounds (0:45-1:24), and ends up as a beautiful score for the main enemies

Their approach to the open world seems promising, less hand holding and checkbox style design and more exploration, which is good to hear.

Also the storytelling through perspective changes from the past and present seems like a cool feature, curious to see how it’ll all play out

Sony’s limited edition designs for their controller and consoles tend to be a miss for me. This finally looks a lot better!

@Coffeeglitch @Sanquine Both fair points!

I do think the art style still looks amazing though.

I will say, while i agree graphically i was expecting a bit more, it does seem to be 60fps, where Ghost of Tsushima was a 30fps game even on the PS4 Pro.

Also it stated that this footage was specifically from the base version. So i’m curious to see what improvements the PS5 Pro might bring.

Gameplay wise, at least what i inferred from it, it looks like you’re totally free how to go about taking your revenge on the Yotei 6. Seems like a good open world approach on paper, so i’m curious to see how that’ll play out

Funny how some people complain about console upgrades, saying we don’t need better hardware. But at the same time expect every new game to look significantly better. Can’t have it both ways.

I agree though, it expected a bit more graphically. But i’m sure when DF puts this game and it’s predecessor side by side, the difference will be much more noticeable then we think.

At least for me, i always seem to remember PS4 games being way prettier than they actually do when i look back on them or when compared to current gen games

Open world approach looked good, combat very fluid, amazing art style as always, graphics wise it looks amazing, even if its more of an evolution than a revolution. Anyway, i’m sold

I think what the service offers at each tier for their price points is damn near perfect. Adding things such as Day 1 first party games is just not reasonable at this price point.

Anyway, what i would like to see is native PS3 downloads, some additions to Premium like Metal Gear Solid and GoW (original), maybe a bit more AA third party Day 1 games, maybe crunchyroll integration (limited library, to entice people to subscribe perhaps) and PS+ library fully accessible from a PS Portal

Now these are some good designs. Why don’t you hire these guys to design your limited edition controllers, Sony?!

@OmegaStriver While i agree somewhat about the silence being a bit dissapointing. I think their approach is better compared to some publishers who announce games way too early. I think there is something to say for keeping games under wraps until they are mostly ready. Like how they announced Astro Bot only 3 months before it released.

Wolverine is the outlier here, and shows exactly why Sony shouldn't announce things so soon. People start complaining when it takes too long.

And funnily enough, while some people like to complain about not having heard anything from Wolverine yet, it got announced less than 4 years ago.

Meanwhile Elder Scrolls was announced 7 years ago, Perfect Dark 5 years, Everwild 6 years and State of Decay 3 5 years ago. Obviously some of those have just been cancelled, which is another reason not to announce games too early, or at least wait when you know they are close to being ready

@PuppetMaster Yeah, i understand what you mean. And i do think you’re right about that. I’m just so curious about what they’re cooking 😅

@PuppetMaster You missed:

• Firesprite: Rumoured to be working on Until Dawn 2.
• Dark Outlaw Games: Probably new FPS IP by Blundell
• XDev: Marvel Tokon.

Also, i’m guessing Team Asobi is probably already working on a sequel or spin-off. Polyphony Digital has also probably started pre development on Gran Turismo 8. Guerilla Games is also working on a Horizon Online MP game. Insomniac rumoured to be working on Venom as well. And rumours are there’s a God of War 2.5D in development (although not sure if Santa Monica is working on this or an external studio).

All in all there seems to be plenty currently in development at Playstation Studios. But i do agree with the commenter you replied to: I wish Sony was a bit more transparant

Edit: Never mind, you did include Firesprite, im blind

I thought i was a (gaming)nerd, then i see this guy doing a 26 min deep dive on a single spaceship 😂

Love the passion though, and i do like the design as well. Then again, i’m in the minority who actually liked the Intergalactic trailer

Would be great if we could get a bigger state of play event from Sony around that time?

Also, doesnt Nintendo go to these events? If not, i wonder why? It’s the biggest gaming event in Japan. And they’re one of the biggest Japanese publishers.

@AdamNovice hopefully a release date 🤞🏼

I think the problem with Game Pass is the promise of Day 1 for all their AAA games just isn’t sustainable with such such a small user base, especially if it doesnt seem to be growing.

They projected to be around 60M before 2026 if i’m not mistaken. But they’re probably still around the same 35M they were a few years ago. They also probably realized that not all subscribers stay subscribed to a service for the long term, some just subscribe for a month to play the game. Even if subcribers increase, many would still just sign up for a month or two, and leave again. That further makes it difficult to be sustainable long term. This is also the reason they (and Sony) don’t reveal subscriber numbers anymore, it probably just fluctuates too much.

The service is great and it helped them out of a situation where their brand was becoming obsolete. But they also kind of shot themselves in the foot by promising Day 1 for all their games. They’re locked in to this model now. Especially now that they bought all these studios and publishers, they have to put even more AAA games on it Day 1. And since their subcription numbers aren’t growing, and with development costs continually rising, this is just totally unsustainable in the long term. Only reason it’s held on is because the parent company is the wealthiest company in the world. They are probably figuring out how they can pivot from this situation.

Maybe they just need to say that not every game can be Day 1 anymore (ofcourse there will be backlash, they will just have to project if they can manage the backlash aka loss in subcriptions) and go back to a more sustainable service where some of their games are available to buy for lets say 3-6 months, and some maybe even up to a year before they go on the service. Basically how films usually release in cinemas first, and then after a few months go on streaming services

Sony entering the mobile space, interesting!

Not into mobile games myself though, but still interesting. I think they are one of the last publishers to really venture into mobile. It looked like they were struggling how to go about it, so maybe this’ll be their way in

@HonestHick You know what? It takes a lot to say sorry, especially online, where it’s easy to just hide behind anonymity. So i appreciate that, and i want to apologize as well for being too critical on you.

Also, just to clarify, while i was being critical on you yesterday, I wasn’t actually defending those people or disagreeing with your main points.

I agree, it’s a bit hypocritical for people to want a company to fail and then get mad at them when layoffs happen. And that goes for both sides, as i’m sure you’d agree.

Either way, it’s all good. Respect for owning up to your side, i do appreciate that 👊🏼

@HonestHick

if Sony releases more and more live service games in the future and they come to all platforms. How much of a difference will the libraries look from PS and XBox in the future

Here’s where i agree with you! I think a main pillar of Sony’s business is exclusives, and if too much go multiplatform, i do think they might be in trouble, as it would make it harder for them to differentiate themselves.

Although, i don’t think Helldivers 2 getting ported means that they’re suddenly shifting their strategy to porting all IP’s to Xbox. But on the long term, who knows? You can’t really predict what happens in gaming anymore 😆

That’s unexpected! Still haven’t got around to this game, but still plan to get it, it looks like fun!

Maybe in a few years we can just merge all these sites together and just have 1 😂

GTA5 still in the top 3 😵‍💫

@HonestHick

Again you can defend them cause you’ve done that better than seeing my point

Me criticizing the way you tend to communicate here does not equal me defending or siding with those people you talk about. Just want to make that clear. That’s a just a leap you’re making, dare i say….an assumption?

Funny thing is, personally i don’t even judge MS for these lay offs. I actually tend to see things from a business perspective. Bet you didn’t assume that 😜

But there’s no point for me to keep replying, i feel like you’re all over the place. I think i just don’t get your communication style, and i’m sure that’s likewise. So let’s just leave it at that

To be clear, I’m not talking about your stance on this whole lay off situation or what your thoughts on it are. I am talking about how you tend to communicate:

“My role is to call out the lack of common sense and total BS that seems to slide and become the norm”
Not sure if you see it, but this could be an example of bias awareness

“If anything calling out the fanboys that wanted one of the big 3 to fail and they are to an extent only to then say how awful it is that people lost their jobs”
Generalization. How do you know that the many commenters above who are concerned about the workers, are the same ones wanting Xbox to fail?

Also, are you actively ignoring all the fans that want Sony and their endeavours to fail? Can you see how your views might come across as one sided?

“Yore not calling me a fanboy with any merit”
Not calling you a fanboy at all. I’m saying the way you communicate sometimes has fanboy energy, what with all the bias, assumptions and sweeping generalizations you tend to make.

“But you knew that, and choose a topic in which you can’t defend”
Assumption. And don’t know what you mean by this. I’m not defending Xbox, Xbox haters, or any particular stance here. Just making a comment on the energy you send out.

“Let’s keep cheering on those that want industry pieces to fail”
Another assumption and generalization. You’re assuming everyone critical on something Xbox does, wants them to fail. People can be critical towards Xbox and still be concerned about people losing their jobs.

I think we can both agree that this has dragged on a bit too far. I apologize if my comments hurt your feelings. Lets just agree to leave it here and move on 🤝🏼

@HonestHick I’m not calling you a fanboy. I’m saying your posts sometimes exhibit fanboy energy. If you don’t agree, that’s fine. That’s how it comes across to me.

You often talk about other peoples biases and contradictions without acknowledging your own. You don’t seem to want to engage with other people’s points at all. You don’t come across neutral to me, no matter how many consoles you own. I’m not talking about that, i’m talking about your energy and the way you communicate.

The reason im not engaging in the things you’re asking is because you come across as baiting people in to console war discussions. You don’t come across as if you’re willing to have a thoughtful conversation.

Not everyone on here wants Xbox to fail. You talk like all people here are just a bunch of fanboys, and you’re supposedly totally not one.

Actively ignoring many people here on this site who do have thoughtful and balanced opinions, with which you can have constructive conversations with.

I’m not calling you a fanboy. I mean, how could you be? You own all 3 consoles 😉

@HonestHick

think before you speak, cause i am also on Pure right now trying to remind people that many of those layoffs were from teams that announced games in 2018- 2022 and still have nothing going right. That will lose you a job in the entertainment business. Also, do people not say they want Xbox out of the industry on this site? Honest question, did i make that up? Do you skip past it? Or does someone telling the truth and not following status quo upset you? Cause nothing i said is made up. So i will make sure to tag you in the Xbox should quit, throw in towel, they won’t make new hardware etc etc posts and then i will ask well if that happens does that person have a job anymore? Microsoft is a poorly ran company that thinks size and money helps fix problems, there is a reason Apple runs circles around them as a company, and Sony does in gaming. But they do have things i like and i think the more in the business is for the better. But if you are on MY post to defend the people wishing failure only to then say how awful it is they don’t have jobs. You might want to reconsider whom to speak with. Cause i support this industry as much as possible and rip into people speaking out both sides of their mouths for a reason. No one ELSE WILL!

See, it’s the way you communicate that gives off that energy.

Every time is see a post of yours, it’s full of assumptions about other peoples intentions and motivations. You often make sweeping generalizations.

And here we are. Another overreactive reaction full of overblown claims and assumptions

@HonestHick Why you always gotta talk down on the users of this site bro?

anytime i speak highly of XBox on here i am met with harsh comments

Maybe if you get fanboy energy from some people here, it might be because you send out fanboy energy yourself

I wonder what the cancelled game was that started development in 2018? 🤔

@Max_the_German Sometimes it’s worth mentioning when publishers (in this case Sony) have been doing things right, and continue to due so, while others are changing their priorities

Wow the statements in that email are really something!

I understand he has to acknowledge how strong the company is. But leading with how great their numbers, platform and profits are, just makes what follows sound extra nasty!

@Shad361 Padded in what way? He asked about exclusives, i listed them. What do you mean by padded? Are there games on there that aren’t exclusive? If so, i’ll gladly take them off the list if you want to point them out

@Thumper People like to mention remakes as a burn on Sony for focusing on them this gen, but in reality, Sony actually only made 3 remakes.

The only real remakes this generation: Demon Souls, Last of Us part 1 and Until Dawn.

The first two scored a 92 and 89 on Metacritic. So if we’re talking that level of quality, plus older remakes like Shadow of the Colossus etc, i’d say bring on the remakes!

Personally, i’d like to see Bloodborne, Killzone 2&3(+ multiplayer) and Jak & Daxter 😁

@HRdepartment

that’s not a very long list for a 5 year old console

It’s 4,5 years old, and i’d say it’s arguably a pretty long list, especially if you compare it to other current gen 4,5 year old consoles. When averaged out, they’ve gotten more than 4 exclusives/year so far. I don’t think thats too bad at all.

Many don’t realize Playstation had 11 exclusives last year alone.

This year they have 9 exclusive games. And that’s just what we know of so far.

@Liamsufc1

remakes upon remakes I don't need to play 25 year old games with netter visuals

Only 3 games out of the 35 i listed are remakes

95% of those are on ps4

Still exclusive to Playstation. Also only 3 games out of the listed 35 are available on PS4. How did you come up with 95%?

wolverine? It's years away

Speaking of ps5 exclusive games where are they? What's coming up?

Ironically the game you mentioned, Clockwork Revolution, doesn't have a release date etiher, not too mention you specifically asked whats coming up? So i listed all anounced upcoming exclusives

@OldGamer999 Now that would have been really interesting for sure!

@PuppetMaster No time wasted, just copied most from my notes 😆

@Rich33 I think most first party games have optimized their loading times to near instant, like Demon Souls, Spiderman, Ratchet, GT7, GoW, HFW, Astro and now Death Stranding 2.

Regarding other studios, yeah you’re probably right. I guess Sony just delivers the hardware, and how that hardware is used is just up to the studios themselves