Or, MS could just release an optional disc drive that plays OG XBox games all the way through to Series games. Plus DVDs, BluRays and maybe CDs. That seems a LOT simpler and would satisfy collectors a lot more.

They're still working on The Outer Worlds 2 DLC, right?

God of War Trilogy Remake probably won't be on disc. Boo, Sony!!!

Even if they release a game and ot reviews well, they can still be laid off.

Morale should continue to be low until management improves.

Good job, Brazil. I hope it works!!

I wish Frogwares nothing but the best and hope that they can continue to improve. Backed this one in crowdfunding.

The game industry is doing great, y'all.

A LOT of people will stick with current gen if the next gen continues to have diminishing returns on graphic improvements and innovations.

Same or similar games that look about the same and play about the same won't entice people to buy a $1000+ system.

If most of their money is made from live service games that are already on a PS5, how many of those players will want to upgrade to PS6? If the games they love aren't upgrading $1000+ worth for the next gen, then they won't.

Why would a company like Epic bother making a drastically improved version of Fortnite for PS6 when they make the same amount of money without doing that?

Watch live sevice games be the reason gamers don't need to upgrade to next gen. Lol

The PS6 will be very expensive. The Portable PS6 will also be expensive. Sony will wall up their Garden and PSN Store will be your main option for games. PSN is not particularly good or safe and has terrible consumer protections. PS Plus is required to play online (and an upgraded version is required to trial some games). PS Plus costs $80/year right now. But Sony will raise that price. In the past, when Sony raised the price of PS Plus I don't remember it improving in any way. Sony is not releasing exclusives very quickly. The money they invest in Live Service games will naturally be on PC as well since they require a large audience.

PC is high cost but kind of a pain at times. Has at least 3 places competing to sell you games (Steam, Epic and GOG). NO charge to play online. No subscriptions necessary for game trials. Much better customer service and protections (at least on Steam). Will probably have Microsoft "exclusives."

Compare the value proposition of a Nintendo Switch 2 vs. A PS6 and Portable PS6. Compare the graphics/performance, cost and utility of features. Compare exclusives and cost to buy products for the 2 different platform ecosystems.

For me, a Switch 2 will be in my future. I strongly suspect that a PC may be as well.

I think Sony's fanbase is gonna shrink and more people are going to game on PC and Nintendo.

Sony will respond by fleecing their remaining fans even more.

The thing is, the PS6 is gonna have a VERY difficult launch year. If angry customers like myself and others abandon them and the vast majority don't have the money to upgrade to PS6 or see value in it (so far it does not seem like a generational leap to me) then Sony's business will hurt. Then thebPS Plus cancellations and the tide turning where people who abandoned Playstation to go to PC proselytize their new platform.

Don't forget that if a console PS6 is about $1000 (or more) to get access to their "innovation" of a Portable unit what is that gonna cost?

The portable unit won't have cartridges or discs so it is all digital. Will they require constant online access to play games on your portable device?

What is the value proposition (cost, performance and utility) between a PS6 + PS6 Portable vs. just a Switch 2?

When I cancelled just a few days ago, I was offered 25% off another year. But keep in mind, normally it is about $80/year. The service hasn't improved... it has just gotten more expensive.

And they will raise the price again to get money from existing customers when PS6 fails to sell.

Well, I think that they still have 2 DLC expansions to put out for The Outer Worlds 2. Would be a shame if they are now half-baked. But I wouldn't put anything past Microsoft (or Sony).

Demos/Trials should not be part of a paid subscription, much less a PREMIUM version of that subscription.

Sony has done this before but add it to the pile of completely disrespecting their customers and fans.

Price, global economic realities for the majority of the world, incremental improvements rather than old-school generational leaps, loss of physical media and a "walled garden" approach to monopolize costs are going to ruin the launch of PS6 compared to launches of other Playstation Consoles.

Players around the world are gonna look at what PS6 costs and what it offers compared to a PS5 and/or Switch 2 that they already have or can get much cheaper.

And if the biggest money makers are still GTA, FIFA and Fortnite and you can play those just fine on older hardware...then why buy a PS6 at launch?

This launch will be toast. Sony will spin it. They will probably manufacture less and claim to sell out creating a false demand/narrative.

The numbers everyone loves to quote are intentionally skewed data. They include purchases for microtransactions in free-to-play titles and dlc purchases alongside full game purchases. Sony and every other digital purveyor take the data and present it to you in a way to make you say "gee golly whiz, I guess the humble, on-our-side giant corporation just didn't have any choice but to go all digital." What they really want is total price control.

Never forget that Sony has already experimented with different prices for different customers...

They are NOT our friends. They do NOT deserve loyalty.

If Sony can't or won't change course in time to address customer concerns then they can just lose business, right?

We do not have to care about a company that does not care about us.

Strange analogy, but if you love your partner and they suddenly try to take all the money in your joint account and all the power in your relationship... then you leave them before that can happen.

Sony wants ALL of the power in our dealings with them and ALL of the money from anything available on Playstation.

This is defeatist. Never ever stop pressuring them for their desire to make a walled garden marketplace. Never ever stop pressuring them to make a better online experience. Never ever stop pressuring them to make things that they charge for (like PS Plus and online play) have value for their cost.

Sony and Playstation are NOT your friend and do NOT deserve loyalty. Don't pay them if you want things to change.

I don't expect to buy a PS6 due to price, (probably) a lack of innovation, slow trickle of exclusive games, no physical ownership and a walled garden (virtual monopoly) on purchasing digital games.

The PS6 will not sell well at first. Price will be too high and incremental improvements will not be enough for many people. On top of that a loss of physical products and a crummy PSN Store experience (as listed in the article including consumer rights/protections).

But I bet the only thing Sony blames is the price and "Market Conditions."

The handheld unit could be fine without a disc drive.

Basically, you would put your disc in a Playstation device (like your PS5 or PS4) and connect it to your PSN account. Then you would be allotted a certain amount of time to play it digitally. Maybe 2 weeks to a month. You would re-verify the game when time runs out and you want to continue to play it on your handheld PS6

That is not perfect or ideal for many, but it is an easy enough workaround, I think.

Where do we go from here?

If Sony doesn't treat customers well, then we go away from Sony.

For me, it could be PC and Nintendo. Maybe Evercade.

Sony's news gives me less and less reason to use PS Plus. I barely use it anyway.

@Deadlyblack

Absolutely. PC has competition in the marketplace.

Sony wants an online monopoly of their ecosystem where you can't lend games, return games or pass on your library to anyone else when you die.

As the saying goes: "You will own nothing and be happy."

@Fyz306903

I haven't really used Steam but they seem more consumer friendly. They allow returns pretty easily and I think you can lend out digital games. On top of that, they have competition on PC with Epic and GOG.

Sony is working towards a closed ecosystem of digital sales that all go through PSN. Which means they track all of that data and will have no competition aside from physical sales of download codes (which will inevitably stop if they get their way). Which means digital sales will be less and less of a discount.

What are they counting as digital sales? Is every Fortnite microtransaction a digital sale? I mean, if you are going to talk about how much money live service games make and all of their sales are digital sales, then that is gonna skew the results.

Ah but will there be a disc version?

@Vertere

That would be ideal and could go some way to make me want a PS6, but it would be better if it had memory card slots and accepted UMD and Vita carts (I realize that this is a pipe dream that will never happen). A fully backwards compatible way to use the PS6 would at least be a nice goodbye to physical media (again, it won't happen).

Anyway, I just ordered a PS5 Disc Drive and will start shopping for a PS5 Pro. That may be my last Sony console.

Well, if there is no disc drive option for PS6 then PS5 will be my last console with Sony. Unless I find a PS5 Pro and a disc drive, then that will be my last.

There will still be physical games made by small boutique kinds of places for PS5 I assume. But that will die out over time.

My incentive to buy a digital only game at launch is 0. Maybe if it was multiplayer but that isn't my main interest.

So... if I can only get a game I want digitally, it is back to the backlog until that game goes on a deeeeep sale. And even then, I probably would just invest in a PC where there is far more digital competition for pricing. Sony just wants to hold a monopoly over game pricing and for that they can lose my business.

I have plenty of physical games to last now through retirement.

"Never-Before-Seen"

I am very confident that someone has seen those concept artworks.

Hooray for a huge backlog of games!

No need to buy a PS6 until the world regains some sanity. The game industry will have to adapt. Smaller, high quality games at reasonable prices on current hardware would be fine by me for quite a while.

I don't even see a need for new consoles at the moment.

I have had good experiences with VGP. I also prefer physical media.

Personally, I have no interest in Rockstar's games, but I wholly support a compnay that sells physical product to refuse the sale of digital product.

Fatekeeper and Eternal Life of Goldman are reasons for me to be excited.

If they start laying off everyone, their messaging will get even worse.

Helix will either not come out or be a disaster.

Not sure how MS can expect to ship a new console in this economic climate with their reputation.

If they release a console, it will likely be dead in the water. I guess we'll find out in time.

Very much looking forward to this one. I think that the physical edition comes a few months later around December.

I really wanted to like this game. It has a lot that I love about it.

But just playing the prologue demo (which I would highly recommend for anyone interested in this), I decided against it.

Mainly, the story felt very weak and the dialogue and voices were irritating and much longer and more frequent than necessary. The side quests in the prologue were lame and the dungeons seemed to have no visual flair or identity.

I did enjoy the retro combat, movement and art VERY much. But this is a crowded time for videogames, the backlog is intense, the economy sucks and at some point ya gotta pick and choose where your time and money goes.

I may decide to get it later on down the line, but the demo effectively sold me against it for the time being, at least. Again, for anyone interested, try out the demo and make sure you like it! Just my 2 cents...

@RoomWithaMoose

Sony buying them is a wish, not a prediction.

But regardless they have been in the industry for a long time and I appreciate their output even if all of it doesn't interest me personally.

And I am confident that they could find success with the right budget. That doesn't mean a huge budget by the way.

@RoomWithaMoose

I would love to see Sony support them. Their products are niche, but with the right size budget, I think that their talent, passion and creativity could make awesome experiences.

I hope we get a chance to see and play their next endeavor.

Come On, DoubleFine! Get independent!!

@BearsEatBeets

Interesting. Thanks!

@BearsEatBeets

Maybe the mobile one is an adaptation of the console one from Maple Flood. Or maybe Maple Flood is doing a multiplayer Cyberpunk? I thought the team in Boston was working on Cyberpunk 2 set in that area...

Love me some Witcher but this sounds like a trap. I guess we'll know more later.

Would love to see more of The Witcher 1 Remake and hopefully a Witcher 2 Remake or Remaster for consoles.

Personally, I found the dialogue in the demo of Laufey to sound dumb and kind of for the youtube audience. But I also haven't played Ragnarok yet. C'est la vie. The dialogue in Christopher Nolan's new Odyssey movie also sounds dumb to me.

To each their own I guess, but it isn't complaining for the sake of complaining. That's just a poor response to people with different opinions.

On the flip side, the dialogue in Space Marine 2 ALWAYS sounds like what you should expect from a Warhammer 40K property. And from what I can remember of it, the dialogue in Witcher 2 and 3 always sounded appropriate. I would assume that the dialogue in a GTA, Red Dead or Deliverance also sounds appropriate.

As a final point, I have been a fan of God of War since the beginning and have played all of them but Ragnarok and the new Sons of Sparta. It is 100% possible to be a fan of something, enjoy it, and still have things about it that you can criticize. Nothing is perfect.

Didn't Kratos BECOME the God of War at the end of the first game? If I am remembering that correctly, then the game is definitely named after him since it is the story of how he became the God of War.

@JbumiSandra

Actually, I am gonna have to wait for more confirmation that the full game is on the disc. IGN probably was just talking about different versions, i.e. standard, deluxe and collector's editions. I think that they were using their default reporting when they stated that the base game is on the disc.

AI may have valid uses, but what was described and then the build process does not sound like one to me.

This is a nonsense answer for how to use AI.

Having worked in game development, you do not need AI to "visualize" how an object works in the world to THEN actually do a concept of the object. You just use your imagination and if it seems worthwhile you do a concept and then build it.

This is marketing spin.

@JbumiSandra

Thanks!!!

Aw crap, looks like I'm spending 70 bucks. Lol.

@GraniteFraggle

Brand new entry.

@get2sammyb

Man, I used to really enjoy the Fable series. But I am also a physical collector and prefer preservation of media. If this has the game onndisc then I'll buy it. Outer Worlds 2 didn't and I intend that to be my last empty disc purchase.

Something publishers should know, is that with physical media getting scarcer, fans like me will buy a game on disc at launch (full price) because we are afraid it won't be available later (i.e. Evil West was very hard to find physically after a while).

Whereas I personally have 0 reason to pay full price for a digital game unless I want to support the devs and/or play it immediately. Otherwise I will wait for a deep, deep sale on digital. Or buy it when I know I will play it.

As an aside, it feels like the PSN store is not doing the deep price cuts that it used to. Or not as often. I don't have any data for that, just a feeling.

Maybe not important to most, but I want to know if the disc will have the game on it.

It's MS, so the answer is almost certainly "No."