They are launching a new division that will handle game movies and shows but still it's not like their games are not big.
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One of Sony's biggest problems is the lack of an big IP with merchandising. Will it change with the PS5?
- Thread starter plow
- Start date
I think it's an interesting discussion. Which Sony IP's would benefit from a more multimedia, broader approach?
To me it feels God of War is really fit for this. I'm thinking of movies, novels, merchandise, etc. It's how you grow your IP's.
Just look at Pokémon, Minecraft or Sonic.
To me it feels God of War is really fit for this. I'm thinking of movies, novels, merchandise, etc. It's how you grow your IP's.
Just look at Pokémon, Minecraft or Sonic.
It's likely just super out of date, know how secretive the industry is with everything. GTA5 is the highest grossing thing out of all entertainment, estimated to have brought in at least 6 billion on it's own, I'd imagine it's not fully factored in to GTA's total.
This. I mean, there's an argument to be had with Sony not needing to invest in making its IPs cross media forms, but there is money to be made, and it's a way to market their IPs to the bigger market.
And which IP? There's a case to be made with TLOU and Uncharted, since they are two of Sony's biggest IPs, but done wrong, they can feel derivative of past works and may not have a strong a hook to the market. My take? Horizon: Zero Dawn--strong female lead, interesting lore with which you can do so many visually stunning things, and who doesn't want Robo-Dinosaurs on screen?
I still don't get your points honestly.
Them focusing on games that aren't highly merchandisable or that can have infinite sequels (like mario) and instead focusing on new experiences every few years (here comes the part of the game series on the list being 2 decades old) isnt a problem.
I think it is so much better that Sony studios have the freedom to try out new things, instead of forcing a studio to do the same stuff over and over (see CoD or whatever).
I don't get why they have to make more money out of these IPs just because they can.
Is it better? yes. Is it important? no. PS business can survive without having an IP that is big in merchandise. They're trying tho with a gear store, a new studio responible for adapting their IP into tv shows\movies as well as licensing IP (like uncharted and tlou) to Sony pictures.
The thread is about franchises as a whole - and Halo is on the list that OP provided - TLOU is not.
I don't find it particularly interesting to discuss either, but it's what the thread is about..
dear lord people get so defensive over everything. being bad or not great at one thing doesn't mean they're bad at other stuff. no one is saying their games sell bad, but somehow some people take the statement that they don't use their IPs outside of gaming as a personal offense.
to be able to get on that list, they need series that continue to be big for more than two generations, and use the IPs outside of gaming as well. it's understandable if that's not something they're interested in tho.
to be able to get on that list, they need series that continue to be big for more than two generations, and use the IPs outside of gaming as well. it's understandable if that's not something they're interested in tho.
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If I am being blunt, Sony make great games, but they are not iconic. Very few games manage to make it to iconic status. And it is very difficult to make merchandise off the back of that.
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They absolutely missed a trick with Sackboy, possibly their one and only iconic character. There is the mascot for the Japan region I believe, but that is not used worldwide.
Edit:
They absolutely missed a trick with Sackboy, possibly their one and only iconic character. There is the mascot for the Japan region I believe, but that is not used worldwide.
Well, Uncharted will soon have a movie with Tom Holland starring in it.
Sony also produces Spider-Man movies.
(I wonder if this is the reason that they also cast Tom for Uncharted.)
Other than that Sony doesn't really need to sell merchanise or make movies to have many well selling IPs.
Sony also produces Spider-Man movies.
(I wonder if this is the reason that they also cast Tom for Uncharted.)
Other than that Sony doesn't really need to sell merchanise or make movies to have many well selling IPs.
I've never heard of that and from looking it up, it seems extremely niche. I'm thinking more about what you see when you walk inside ThinkGeek. Tons of Mario/Zelda stuff, tons of Halo stuff. Not a lot of specific Sony IP's.
I can kinda understand what op is saying, I would love more merchandise for Horizon Zero Dawn. Give me Bandai/Kotobukiya model kit of many Horizon mech. Action figures, lego set, animated series etc
Given the recent news from ThinkGeek, that's pretty niche too.
OP
OP
They are "loosing" tons of money out of this and if you think Sony does not care i don't think you know how business works. Being able to do a shit ton of money through merch like Pokemon and Mario are doing, means that you are not bound to the success of a game or console. Pikachu shirts or mario costumes for Halloween are selling regardless.
Here is the struggle with marketing an IP. This is the roster for All-Stars Royale:
Out of that, the only entity that is iconic - and we are talking the Pokemon, Sonic, Mario, Angry Bird Red, Minecraft Steve tier of universal iconic here - is Sackboy. Without that level of gravitas, you cannot creat an industry around it.
You cannot dispute the quality of the IP and the awareness of said IP within gaming circles. It is just several tiers down from those titles which have the massive merch ecosystem around it. Take Nathan Drake for example - the archetypal everyday dude. Could you see that selling plushies, t-shirts for kids, a toy range, mass market penetration? No.
Getting to that level is a bit like lightning in a bottle.
- Big Daddy (BioShock)
- Cole MacGrath (Infamous)
- Colonel Radec (Killzone)
- Dante (DmC: Devil May Cry)
- Emmett Gravesa (Starhawk)
- Evil Cole MacGrath (Infamous)
- Fat Princess (Fat Princess)
- Heihachi Mishima (Tekken)
- Isaac Clarkea (Dead Space)
- Jak and Daxter (Jak and Daxter)
- Kat and Dustya (Gravity Rush)
- Kratos (God of War)
- Nariko (Heavenly Sword)
- Nathan Drake (Uncharted)
- Parappa (PaRappa the Rapper)
- Raiden (Metal Gear)
- Ratchet & Clank (Ratchet & Clank)
- Sackboy (LittleBigPlanet)
- Sir Daniel Fortesque (MediEvil)
- Sly Cooper (Sly Cooper)
- Spike (Ape Escape)
- Sweet Tooth (Twisted Metal)
- Toro Inoue (Doko Demo Issyo)
- Zeusa (God of War)
Out of that, the only entity that is iconic - and we are talking the Pokemon, Sonic, Mario, Angry Bird Red, Minecraft Steve tier of universal iconic here - is Sackboy. Without that level of gravitas, you cannot creat an industry around it.
You cannot dispute the quality of the IP and the awareness of said IP within gaming circles. It is just several tiers down from those titles which have the massive merch ecosystem around it. Take Nathan Drake for example - the archetypal everyday dude. Could you see that selling plushies, t-shirts for kids, a toy range, mass market penetration? No.
Getting to that level is a bit like lightning in a bottle.
Uh do you have a source for that? From what I can tell it was only aired on a niche channel called SPEED which was discontinued in 2013 and are on Nissan's YouTube channel with like 25k views.
Are people being serious with the comparisons of characters from 16-18+ rated games not having the same universal appeal to Mario, Pokemon or Minecraft? The latter 2 especially are largely built with selling merch in mind nowadays, it's not even close to realistic expectations and certainly isn't where big I.P starts.
Halo was primarily an M rated series and had a huge franchise beyond the games themselves.
well they've had E-rated characters that were successful pretty much in every generation (ps1, 2 and 3), they just weren't able to manage those IPs well and take advantage of their popularity.
I think you confused Sony with Microsoft. They're the ones who need a big IP. Halo 5, Gears, and all other games weren't even holding a candle to God of War or Spider-Man in terms of sales, reception, and overall impression.
The 360 had a good library of games I genuinely wished to play as a PS3 owner. With the One I just looked at sunset overdrive and quantum break. The rest were beyond meh for me.
Sony kicked ass with the PS4 this gen.
The 360 had a good library of games I genuinely wished to play as a PS3 owner. With the One I just looked at sunset overdrive and quantum break. The rest were beyond meh for me.
Sony kicked ass with the PS4 this gen.
Oh, I was about to bring up the Fate series. Games, anime series, manga series, tons of merchandise and a huge fanbase all over the world. Everything OP asked for.
is this about not having a cipher mascot?
Those are popular, sure.. they are easier for people to fit right in. But I find it a bit problematic if your contribution to a medium is too reliant on those vessels of message delivering.
Those are popular, sure.. they are easier for people to fit right in. But I find it a bit problematic if your contribution to a medium is too reliant on those vessels of message delivering.
Be sure to bring this up at the next shareholders meeting, OP.
Seriously though, why is that a concern to you? Sony doing new IPs ever gen is their biggest strength.
Seriously though, why is that a concern to you? Sony doing new IPs ever gen is their biggest strength.
You do know that the calculations in the wiki article is wack?
Sony could do better in the merch game. They could start doing crossovers of their popular char in other games and trying to get an entry out every year not necessarily in the same genre to build fame around it but i doubt they will.
Sony could do better in the merch game. They could start doing crossovers of their popular char in other games and trying to get an entry out every year not necessarily in the same genre to build fame around it but i doubt they will.
Halo isn't even close to those 3.
Because they moved on, in most cases to bigger and better stuff that were just not ever going to be universally appealing. Crash and Spyro would have probably been that mainstay I.P for them with GT (massively limited in this regard) if things went differently, but even they wouldn't come close to them 3, nothing outside of Disney I.Ps do.
OP
OP
People here get defensive pretty easily apparently.
You can't even discuss something without being told that "how is that your problem OP?", "Why does it concern you"?
As far is i know Sony doesn't own the whole IP. i might be wrong though.
You can't even discuss something without being told that "how is that your problem OP?", "Why does it concern you"?
As far is i know Sony doesn't own the whole IP. i might be wrong though.
Weird that I never heard of it. Anyways the show hasn't been on for years and their Twitter Page last posted in 2017 so it seems like it no longer has a large presence.
that's the thing, they just like to move on to newer things. it's clearly working for them and their fans, but the downside is they can't really make anything into a media franchise that they can profit from for decades.
I get what you mean but sony AAA titles mostly focused on 16+ 18+ and its hard to make those IPs as you mentioned for many reasons.
Unless they try to build an IP from the ground up to be a merchandising juggernaut that's not really going to happen organically. Very few gaming franchise just stumble upon that avenue for revenue unless you've reached cult status like Mario or Zelda to a lesser extend.
Even Nintendo probably struggle with it. I'm sure Animal Crossing could have had the potential to be a merchandising giant if the franchise started a decade earlier.