Sony to Prioritize AAA Games Rather Then Indie Titles

There is unrest at Sony because they are not focusing on the indie developers as reported in an article for Bloomberg by Jason Schreier.

By    Ingo  |    Windfell

DECADES OF PLAYSTATION SUCCESS

Sony’s PlayStation has ruled the console generation since it first launched its very first console in 1994.

Three of the top five best-selling consoles of all time are from Sony which are the PlayStation, PlayStation 2 and PlayStation 4. PlayStation 2 is the top-selling of the three having 155 million units sold.

Part of the console’s success is that it came with exclusive games.

Huge games from the franchise are Grand Turismo, Uncharted, The Last of Us, God of War, and The Last of Us had been huge moneymakers for Sony and continue to do so with the games launching for the next generation console.

Image Source: Polygon

THE THREAT FROM XBOX GAME PASS

Because of Microsoft’s Xbox Game Pass, PlayStation’s dominance is being threatened.

The Xbox Game Pass offers both Xbox and PC subscribers access to a lot of titles, with some calling it the “Netflix for video games”.

The subscription also recently acquired EA Play adding EA games to it. Xbox Game Pass was even offered to be available for the PlayStation and Nintendo Switch.

Another thing is that Microsoft has been purchasing huge publishers, one of which is ZeniMax. ZeniMax is the parent company of Bethesda Softworks and it had been bought for $7.5 billion. This means that Fallout, The Elder Scrolls and DOOM franchises are now a part of their library.

With everything that had been mentioned, Sony needs to make huge decisions moving forward.

Image: Bethesda

PLAYSTATION EXCLUSIVES

PlayStation does come with amazing exclusives like the ones mentioned, however, they only would want to keep the game’s on their console and not add them to PC, unlike Xbox.

Image Source: Bleeding Cool

A similar service to Xbox Game Pass is available which is the PS Now, but it doesn’t have the same impact.

Sony had been reluctant in sharing their exclusive titles for the PC, but that changed with the game Horizon Zero Dawn and Detroit: Become Human in 2017 and in 2018. At that time though, the games are still exclusive but with Epic Games.

At this generation, to compete with Xbox Game Pass, PlayStation would have to share their games with PC owners.

PlayStation AAA Games

PlayStation’s response is to focus on developing more in-house PlayStation games rather than bringing in more developers and creating games that are available across different platforms.

Because of the decision, Schreier said that problems had arisen among developers as they submit their titles to a handful of trusted studios like Naughty Dog.

Proof of this is the reorganization of the Japanese office as well as letting go of other developers saying “they no longer want to make smaller games that are only successful in Japan.”

Sony Bend, the studio behind Days Gone, had the sequel canceled by Sony and the team is now under Naughty Dog to work on a different project.

One game that had the potential to be big was the sandbox game called Dreams. The game launched to impressive revies as well as amazing critical acclaim.

Image Source: EGM

However, Schreier said that “Sony didn’t put much marketing muscle behind the quirky video game… As a result, PlayStation may have missed out on its own version of Roblox, a similar video game tool.”

LACK OF PS5 GAMES BEING DEVELOPED

Right now there is a lack of games being released for the recently launched PS5. This is not a bit surprising given that it is hard to get a unit as well as the global pandemic happening.

Right now, it looks like Sony is focusing on remaking games instead of creating new ones.

Schreier said that “Remakes are considered a safe bet since it’s cheaper to update and polish an old game than it is to start from scratch, and they can be sold both to nostalgic old fans and curious new ones.”

Image Source: CNN

There are still new games coming to the console this year but since it is a new console, the developers still would need to fully understand how to utilize its potential. And because of that, Sony is concentrating on remaking games that were previously successful.

If you think about it, Sony is taking an easy approach since selling games is what is important and AAA and remastered games sell.

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Ingo Ingo is fast! Studied e-commerce and has his roots for now in lively Germany. At the same time, as an ambitious influencer consultant, he is close to gaming communities & game developers. He often knows what trends are currently going on. Ingo has a special fascination as game review editor.

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