datamonkey

@knight_spg you’re right but weren’t those contracts only related to cod?

“the plan’s the plan until it’s not the plan”

Honestly I feel that sums up Xbox since the Kinect turned up.

MS/xbox must have a world record for the number of 180’s on decisions they’ve made.

Nothing at all would surprise me at this stage but I can’t see sharma straying too far from their current multi-platform strategy.

@GamingGod exactly. Insomniac have been by far Sonys best studio this gen. What an absolute bargain they were at 300m vs bungies billions!

@Yor-sama thing is dude sony need more studios not less.

Their output ps5 gen has been pathetic compared to previous gens. It’s their past release cadence most of us remember and want back. Shutting any studio isn’t going to help, especially if it’s due to Sony’s live service push and bad management as opposed to anything the studio did wrong.

“Quick, they’re pissed we closed bluepoint down, what can we do?”

“Call insomniac, the wolverine release date should help cover it”.

@Titntin I don’t necessarily agree or disagree with you but by your logic should naughty dog be shut down too?

Never played this series but it somehow made me miss the sleeping dogs franchise 😂

We’ve had a good few days now for this to sink in and I still find it as baffling as I did last week.

Can’t see her reversing the ps releases if they’re selling as well as Forza. No doubt fable, halo and others will do just as well.

@Boxmonkey yeah bluepoint vanished like they never existed. Sad.

@Oram77 no me either, I’m just hoping for some catalyst that’s going to knock some sense into these companies 😅

After my copy of Nioh 3 went missing in the post I’ve decided to play kena bridge of spirits instead.

After seeing the sequel at last weeks sop thought it was about time I knocked it off my backlog list!

At this stage I think Xbox going back to exclusivity is exactly what Sony needs to sort their own crap out.

@White_oyster yeah I’d like to think the bluepoint staff can take some solace knowing us gamers appreciated them even if Sony didn’t.

@Th3solution do they even have a PR department? I’ve seen no attempt at damage control.

The best thing in my opinion would be for hulst to come out and speak honestly about this. No bulls**t, no corporate politics just genuine honesty.

Of course I doubt that will happen but it would be refreshing and go a long way.

@Cherip-the-Ripper I thought it was Herman faults? 😅

@AdamNovice I wondered the same. It feels to me Phil put up a lot of resistance to nadella but he had none of it. I reckon Phil may have wanted the acquisitions to drive Xbox exclusivity forwards, not to go multiplat but the investment was so much nadella wanted a quick return.

Of course my thoughts could be complete garbage but either way this new ceo appointment feels like nadella has a “yes man” (woman) to dictate to who will happily oblige and in other words Xbox totally under MS direct control.

@rjejr yeah but remember Iwata didn’t leave Nintendo out of choice.

@Dan12836666 hah true, honestly at this rate I reckon me or you could do a better job 😂

@Boxmonkey yes the shakeup is that Phil’s going to take over from Herman 🤣

I actually quite liked the last far cry. The world they created was amazing but they still need to make improvements in enemy ai. Dem is dumb yo!

Sony must be grateful this has taken some attention away from the bluepoint fiasco!

@Shepherd_Tallon I agree with you in that they’d be a good fit for Sony on paper, the new Kena looked great.

However I originally thought the same about bluepoint. Being a good fit doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a good idea with Sony at the moment.

I think you’re right though about totoki, can’t see any more acquisitions, I just hope there’s no more closures…

@johncalmc kudos great post 💪

@Dalamar yes it was only last week I said Sony should buy ember labs. Happy to eat my words indeed, not such a good idea 🤣

I feel like they deserve the backlash in this instance.

Bluepoint were badly managed by Sony and hulst. They followed their orders which have largely failed and now feel the brunt of those decisions through no fault of their own.

Meanwhile the execs continue collecting their bonuses while others suffer from their poor management. It doesn’t sit well with me, Herman blaming this on “market conditions” I mean what an easy scapegoat that is. His comment was totally out of touch, generic corporate speak, even using it as an opportunity to big themselves up. Read the room Herman.

Sony deserve all the backlash they get for this in my opinion. It’s not backlash for backlash sake. Yes the internet can overreact but Sony need to hear what’s being said as frankly it’s not good enough. Their management isn’t good enough. PlayStation isn’t what it was even just a generation ago and people are concerned.

I’d consider replaying it on switch if it released there. Great game!

@N1ghtW1ng yes Sony, Herman, Jim all failed bluepoint.

The thing that disgusts me is the fact bluepoint have paid the price for the executives poor management, leadership and decisions while the execs walk away Scott free blaming “market conditions.”

@Old-Red agree with you but I don’t think Sony will respond any further about this. They’re so out of touch in many ways and communicating with their fanbase is one of them.

@get2sammyb well said sammy that’s a great opinion piece.

I also find Herman’s message insulting. Blaming market conditions while failing to mention his own mistakes makes me wonder if he’s spineless or just deluded. Either way it’s not good.

@amatmulisha not only that but Sony should move their HQ out of California back to Japan.

Look at how badly studios by Sony and MS (both US based) are managed versus Nintendos in Japan. The culture is totally different and the teams are considered an asset in Japan as opposed to disposable in the US.

@Ristar24 exactly these studios are being closed thanks to the failure of the execs and their mismanagement.

In a fair world this would be Herman being shown the door, not bluepoint closing. The least he should do is give up his likely ridiculous bonuses and share it between the people who he’s just made jobless.

“I'm confident in the direction we're headed”

Thing is Herman, we’re not confident in you…

@playstation1995 Herman faults 🤣🤣

@Flaming_Kaiser good shout also does he have twitter?

“many now blame Hulst for the stunted state of the PS5's first party library”

Yes and even the fact he started his bluepoint comment waffling on about unrelated positives is telling.

He knows he’s managed these studios badly and it feels like damage limitation.

The truth is Herman has done a terrible job since taking over. His demotion from ceo wasn’t just bad luck.

@Boomers-r-us get off your high and mighty pedestal. People are free to express their opinions about things they are passionate about.

This is actual insanity. Sony need more studios not less. Bluepoint did such a good job and at the very least could’ve been used as a remake/remaster studio…

This is so sad and seems a crazy decision to me.

Herman really needs to go, being demoted from ceo isn’t enough, he needs demoting further back to gorilla or somewhere he can handle.

I actually can’t get my head around this. It was such a good acquisition. Wtf Sony?!

@graymamba yeah is a bit poor there’s not at least a pro mode with high fps and resolution. Forza had it.

If nothing else I just appreciate this looks like it’s trying some new ideas.

7/10 obviously isn’t bad, it’s just not ‘god of war’ good.

It seems really good for fidelity but pop ups not so much.

This is why a world of digital only is bad for the consumer. If/when that happens they’ll have total control over pricing.

Such a shame but not surprising to be honest. Developers know the risks that these kinds of games come with and it just hasn’t worked out this time sadly.

I mean if they’re gonna reimagine the originals into something completely different why not just make it a new game?

Nah we need more different types of game in my opinion and the fixed camera style of the originals would be a welcome change from yet more open world sandboxes.

Good to see this on ps5 but I have approximately 7,482 games I’d prefer to play before this so doubt I’ll get round to it myself.

I have to say this piece does read like a paid ad by bungie. To make it worse some of the comments seem suspect too.

@Boomers-r-us hah well there’s no rush!

@Boomers-r-us there were no swords in the excellent Darwin’s paradox demo I played last night. Give that a go if you need a change.