How're you feeling about the business direction of PlayStation?

[vivftp]

We got a pretty good glimpse of PlayStations plans in their investor stream yesterday so I'm curious where everyone's at on their business decisions in recent years and their stated upcoming plans. A lot of these initiatives began around 3 years ago and we're starting to see them bear fruit. I'll try to provide a summary off the top of my head for reference but please feel free to add anything I may have missed. Does all of this excite you? Some of it? Are you unhappy with their direction? Want them to do more of something or do something else entirely?

Here's a link to their slides from yesterday's meeting for reference if you want to take a look:

https://www.sony.com/en/SonyInfo/IR/library/presen/irday/pdf/2022/GNS_E.pdf

- SIE has "over 25" games in production with nearly half of them being new IP. This is something we learned several months ago.
- They've expanded their business massively in the past 3 years by growing all their studios (some have become multi-project), also via acquisition (Insomniac, Firesprite, Bluepoint, Haven, Bungie, Valkyrie, Nixxes and Housemarque), and via new partnerships (Firewalk, Deviation and Haven before they were acquired). Further expansion is planned.
- Investing heavily into live service titles to add to their existing single player lineup. They currently have 1 live service franchise (MLB) and plan to have 12 total by FY25. They plan to have 2 more unannounced live service franchises release before the end of this fiscal year.
- PlayStation Productions was launched in 2019 and the first title under its banner was released this year with the Uncharted movie (even though the movies existence predates the division), and their first fully homegrown project should arrive early next year with The Last of Us on HBO. They've got about 12 film/TV projects underway as it stands for IP like Horizon, God of War, Ghost of Tsushima, Gran Turismo and Twisted Metal.
- Sony's begun putting their IP on PC and plans to continue down that road. To date they've had Horizon Zero Dawn (2.398 million sales), Days Gone (852K sales) and God of War 2018 (971K sales). By FY25 they plan for nearly 1/3rd of their first party releases to be on PC
- They've begun an initiative to bring their IP to mobile. Last year they hired the former content boss of Apple Arcade to head up their mobile plans. They plan to utilize first and third party resources for their mobile titles and by FY25 they aim to have about 1/5th of their first party output to be on mobile.
- Regarding subscription services Sony are currently in the process of launching their revamped PS+ service which merges their existing PS+ and PS Now services into a single offering with 3 tiers. Through this they'll be offering premium content to more countries than PS Now previously did. The overall quality of the content is improved and they've begun offering legacy content from the PS1, PS2 and PSP on top of PS3/PS4/PS5 games that were previously offered on PS+/PS Now
- Regarding console sales we all know supply constraints have limited the number of consoles that could be manufactured and supply is not able to keep up with demand. According to the info shared by Sony they expect the next FY to be where the PS5 will overtake the PS4 sales for the same relative period of time post-launch.
- VR is something Sony's been investing in for many years and PSVR2 could launch either later this year or early next year. They've got 20 titles in the works for launch (not specified if that's day 1 launch or launch period) from first and third parties.


Their business has changed quite a bit over the past 3 years and they plan to continue down those roads. What's your take on all of this?

 

[Helix]

Sony = DOOMED

 

[Bxrz]

They're releasing games. More than ever before and in more places.

Not sure how anyone can be mad.

 

[Dunlop]

Nothing about their direction excites me, most news lately is pretty negative. I will always love their first party games but for the first time in decades I do not own each console at the onset of a new generation.

 

[Diarrhea Day-Lewis]

Im satisfied overall. Some things could be better but they've given me stellar first party games in the last 5 years I have nothing to complain about there

 

[Glio]

I like more multiplayer games from them and that I don't need a PS5, just a PC. But I don't like VR and that their games are so expansive now. So, no strong feelings.

 

[Toumari]

Stronger focus on GaaS titles is probably the only part I'm a bit vary of.

If they end up being more PvE co-op focussed with a strong narrative rather than being PvP titles (which seems to be the case for quite a few of them) then I'll probably find some interest in them.

Outside of that I have no real complaints on the current direction.

 

[RivalGT]

They seem to be at the top of their game

 

[PlanetSmasher]

I'm not particularly pleased with any aspect of their business right now. As someone who has played games primarily on PS (with a secondary focus on Nintendo for first-party games) since the original PS1 console, I have never felt less catered to than now. Even the early PS3 gen was less miserable than this, and the early PS3 gen was practically a walking nightmare.

 

[hey it's that dog]

They're releasing games. More than ever before.

Not sure how anyone can be mad.

Click to shrink...

Rest assured era's best anger scientists are hard at work on this problem as we speak.


As a serious response to the thread, I won't pretend to know how their abstract plans are going to play out in practice. I don't care for GaaS but as long as they keep putting out big single player games they'll have my attention. No other first party is serving that need for me as well as Sony is for the time being.

The first year and a half of PS5 has had some impressive releases, so much better than the corresponding time frame for the PS4. I don't see them somehow getting worse as time goes on and COVID production problems are resolved.

 

[Zukkoyaki]

Pretty indifferent tbh.

Excited to see if any of their service games are great and take off. My friends are pretty bored of our current slate.

 

[Smitch]

I'm pretty happy,
Don't care about gaas game or mobile game but i love their single player game
Very exited about VR
Liked Uncharted movie and i'm looking forward their tv show and movie

 

[St. Elmo's Fire]

I like that they will continue to make more great AAA singleplayer games.
I like that they keep supporting VR with the upcoming PSVR2 headset.

I don't like GaaS & MP games, so I don't like seeing 10+ GaaS games from them.
The lack of first-party RPGs and japanese first-party games is really disappointing.

 

[NinjaScooter]

have no shortage of things to play so its not really any skin off my back from a personal/consumer angle.

They seem to be trying to adapt and react to a changing industry, so I can at least understand the direction and the moves they are making. Enthusiasts are often the most stubborn/resistant to change, and oftentimes lack the ability the ways their favorite hobby is changing right underneath their feet, so I wouldn't be surprise if these shifts and attempts at diversifying their business is met with cynicism around here.

 

[Milennia]

I know they're trying to sure up their multiplayer output, so that's fine, we need to see what comes of it before I start complaining

Other than no big multiplayer titles right now, I'd say that I'm unhappy about the outlook of their services in comparison to the competition, however I don't see how they can improve upon this to meet the competition at the same time?

I'm happy with their studios and the output is about as good as it's going to get I think
I strongly dislike Horizon gameplay, and that's now out the door so thankfully everything beyond that is up my alley pretty much

 

[vivftp]

Stronger focus on GaaS titles is probably the only part I'm a bit vary of.

If they end up being more PvE co-op focussed with a strong narrative rather than being PvP titles (which seems to be the case for quite a few of them) then I'll probably find some interest in them.

Outside of that I have no real complaints on the current direction.

Click to shrink...

My guess is that many of their live service games will have a strong narrative focus as Sony's talked about that a few times over the past year where they feel live service doesn't mean a game can't have a good narrative. REALLY hoping for some good co-op PVE experiences I can play with friends. We already play Destiny 2 all the time, so if they give us some more experiences along those lines I'll be a happy viv.

 

[Transistor]

They need an internal scrubbing to clean up their company what with the sexism allegations and Jim Ryan's both sides bullshit.

On the games front, as long as I like the games they make, that's all that matters.

 

[TaySan]

Meh. Not feeling the new subscription service, but I'm excited for whatever new games they reveal in the near future.

 

[Xeonidus]

I'm excited overall but a few things aren't for me. Like, I'll try some of the GAAS games coming to see if they click with me but it may not be my thing. Other than that, their known lineup looks excellent, they potentially have a lot of cool announced stuff, PSVR2 looks exciting, and I'm overall happy with the new PS+.

 

[Perkin_Warbeck]

They're putting out a lot of real polished games, but it's sequel city over there and not much of it really excites me at the moment. I'll probably check out the new God of War, but I can't think of anything else really. I am looking forward to hearing about Team Asobi's next project though.

 

[Strike]

They're doing fine, but I wish they'd they would see more value in their legacy.

 

[Jarod McChicken]

Fascinating, risky, logical and dangerous at the same time, somehow.

I'm a single player lover and games such as Horizon, God of War, Death Stranding or Ghost of Tsushima were my GOTY, but I can't get behind the idea that they should do this type of game only and forever, just because they know they are good at it.

PlayStation is growing bigger and bigger each year just like the market itself. Yes, they must try PC, yes they must try mobile and yes they must try GaaS.

 

[Smitch]

.

 

[Shoot]

It's hard to believe that 12 live service games with 18 studios won't affect single player development so I'm not too excited about this gen for PlayStation.

The anti consumer and in some cases illegal penny grabbing from consumers is also really bad.

 

[overthewaves]

Give us a Morbius GAAS game Sony

 

[Greywaren]

They make as many good as bad decisions lately, so I'm kinda neutral at the moment.

 

[Musubi]

Playstation brand is strong. PS5 is a great piece of hardware. They got a lineup of killer first party software in the pipeline. Next few years should be exciting.

 

[riotous]

Love the PC stuff. I'm hoping they have devs wanting to really stretch their PC legs and do like strategy games or something exclusive for PC or PC-first design wise, but not holding my breath.

GAAS can be fun, I'd love to see Sony's spin on it, but with their $70 game pricing, forcing $70 new controllers to play PS5 games, etc. I do have some worries about crappy GAAS economies.

Mobile I can do without though.

Sub services aren't really my interest either.

 

[Prine]

Still don't care for VR direction, but good to see more emphasis on PC releases & subs like Xbox. Id love to see day 1 releases and better value for their PS subs, overall they're headed in the right direction. I think they need to work on their platform though, make NOT using a console to play games easier. Free cloud saves, better treatment of older games. Would absolutely be down for streaming only sub with PS5 games.

 

[TheChrisGlass]

Everything is 2 steps forward and 1 step back.
They always come with compromises that are inexplicable and easy to handle.

VRR, the PS1 PAL issue, PS+ upgrading, killing the Vita/PSP transfer from PS3. Everything they do is with complete ignorance of any follow through. They don't care beyond finishing a checklist of things they need to stay competitive.

Fuck, you want a prime example that hasn't even come up officially?
They're too chickenshit to say the PSVR2 isn't backwards compatible yet because they know it'll upset people.

 

[Raigor]

Absolute disaster so far because I can't play bloodborne at a proper resolution and framerate.

 

[Deleted member 13798]

In the middle. They still seem to be doing some things they do well very well, but the shift to live service titles as me raising an eyebrow or two. I'm not even inherently against those, I just think they are banking a lot on that approach without really having that stellar of a track record and sustainable multiplayer experiences to begin with. I know that's one of the reasons they bought Bungie for as much as they did, but I'm not excited at all yet.

I also don't really like Jim Ryan in general, which doesn't seem to be a controversial opinion.

I'm still not of the opinion that VR is going to replace traditional gaming, but after getting a chance to try it out through a friend for the holidays, I will say that the fact that they are continuing to invest in it is some thing that will continue to be a unique offering within their ecosystem, especially as they continue to expand to publishing.

 

[HardRojo]

Business? Good. They're releasing several single player titles and they are also entering the PC market with their bigger IPs.
Lack of MP games seemed to be a common complaint and they're working on that, although it doesn't interest me much tbh.

It's not really the business side of things that I'm concerned about, the latest PR blunders have been of a different nature mostly.

 

[Deleted member 81119]

I've never been a huge fan of Sony first party stuff. Not that I don't think it's good, it's just not always the kind of thing I like. So that's not changed.

But Sony bringing back PS1/PSP Classics is an extremely exciting development for me. So really it depends on how that turns out.

 

[HellofaMouse]

i dont like the "we're making a billion million gaas games yall" thing.

big fan of their single player output as always.

 

[Deleted member 12867]

Love the games hate the leadership and business decisions.

 

[PlanetSmasher]

i dont like the "we're making a billion million gaas games yall" thing.

big fan of their single player output as always.

Click to shrink...

The fact that they announced they plan to release nearly two dozen GaaS games and can't even greenlight a single RPG (of the W or J flavor profile) made me feel like fucking Mugatu.

 

[BrickArts295]

I'm happy; management, services, customer support and PR could be better but the games have been great so far and that's all that matters.

As for the upcoming GAAS wave, I'll have to wait and see. I honestly don't mind more multiplayer experiences with Sony budgets.

I feel like they only need to improve their Japanese support. Not sure how, maybe starting new studios from the ground up like Haven or Deviation or acquiring someone.

 

[E.T.]

They are the best in the biz. PS5 has delivered big time on the software front and its only getting started.
Just wish they sort out their supply so more people can enjoy the wonderful games.

 

[BabyDontHurtMe]

I mean they seem to be doing well right now. Not much of a fan of Jim Ryan (as most people are) but they seem to have a lot of interesting things in the oven. The GaaS push hasn't been fully realized yet (or even manifested into a game), but I'm hesitant in saying I'm excited for it because I don't know how much I trust them to make a solid MP experience. That being said, I like their products fine and their services seem to be getting a big makeover which is nice. Overall, I'd give them a 7/10.

 

[DarrenM]

I'm looking forward to some of the games that aren't service games, and PSVR2. The service games I could come around to, depending on what they are, and how bad the grind/MTX is.

The new plus tiers have not enticed me enough to sub yet, but I had the same thought about Game Pass, which I now love. So I'll wait and see how compelling Sony can make it.

Overall I'm happy with the hardware and the games released so far, but some of the decisions Sony has made has definitely annoyed me.

 

[androvsky]

The one bright spot in Playstation the last many years is they at least put money into solid single player games that weren't so heavily reliant on DLC that they felt desperate. Now they they're going after GaaS hard, that's even going to wane. I'm sure they'll make plenty of money, but it doesn't matter if I'm not interested in whatever daily grind chores they're putting out.

Hopefully they'll put real effort into VR this time.

 

[Smitch]

The fact that they announced they plan to release nearly two dozen GaaS games and can't even greenlight a single RPG (of the W or J flavor profile) made me feel like fucking Mugatu.

Click to shrink...

I'm with you on this playstation really need 1st party RPG game

 

[jroc74]

I dont really play GaaS, Live Service games. GTA Online is the exception, lol.

That and Factions, GT7.

I'm indifferent. Just give me single player games to play, and I could care less what else they dip their toes into.

The movie, TV show tie ins....if its a hit, great. If not, oh well.

Just let me pre order PSVR 2....

 

[Rosebud]

They seem to hate Brazil with their pricing, so I'm not pleased.

 

[Yesterday]

Only here for Kojima and FFXVI

 

[Blackleg-sanji1]

Don't particularly gel with my gaming tastes anymore I'm more so on the PlayStation train for the money hats and deals than for their first party but from a business standpoint it's hard or rather impossible to argue they not doing great.

 

[Wishbone Ash]

I'm wary of the direction they seem to be going in a few areas. The focus on live service games particularly, not just because I generally don't play multiplayer games which I assume is a focus but also the potential for annoying, greedy, or generally poor mechanics bleeding into even single player stuff. Just have to wait and see there though.

Their changes to Playstation Plus are pretty underwhelming, even ignoring all the negative talk from the past few days. Like the live service stuff, I am at least willing to see how this plays out before really judging it. I just hope the emulation ends up solid and there is a much bigger focus on actual classic titles from PS1, PS2, PSP.

The relative trickle of games so far is expected thanks to new hardware and the pandemic, I suppose, and that applies to Xbox's major games too. I'm always a fan of their IP and single player offerings, so in the end if those continue I can ignore most bullshit anyway. I have a Series X for gamepass and get lots of awesome stuff there, and I get pretty much every exclusive on the Switch, so I'm pretty well-balanced even if Sony fucks up my favorite part of their library.

 

[jerf]

They're releasing games. More than ever before and in more places.

Not sure how anyone can be mad.

Click to shrink...

Where do you think we are?

I expect at least 1-3 concern threads by the end of the week

 

[Kinthey]

I like their single player games. Not so sure about all that TV and live service stuff, but as long as it doesn't affect the former i don't really care