Sony CFO and COO Hiroki Totoki talked about the PlayStation Business and announced a revision to the PS5 sales prediction for the full fiscal year. The company also doesn't expect to release any game from major existing first-party franchises until April 2025.
Ubisoft says they are focusing on two "core verticals," and that's to return as a leader in the open world genre, and live service games.
Calling Ubisoft a leader in open world gaming at any point in time would be like calling Dollar General a leader in retail.
I don't think they were ever the leader tbh. I've never really cared for any of their open world games. I do wanna try watch dogs 2 because it looks like it's set in San Fran. Looked interesting
Xbox and EA have recently made baffling moves that define how bleak the future of the gaming industry is with major companies at the helm. Ryan Bates from "Last Word on Gaming" posits in this op-ed that maybe it's not ineptitude, but intention.
Rockstar Games founder Dan Houser's new studio, Absurd Ventures, is currently working on a AAA open world action adventure game.
I'm really curious to see what he's going to do. It seems like a GTA-style game, but I wonder how it'll differentiate itself.
“ The company also doesn't expect to release any game from major existing first-party franchises until April 2025”
The actual f***
What the hell have some of these studios been working on? I want to give them the benefit of the doubt and say this is because of their GaaS plans being scaled back and the studios have went through a knock on effect but still
2nd year they got beat by Xbox 1st party.
More to come.
They're great numbers of course, and this will get downvoted to high hell ... but I have to admit, this console gen has failed to truly "launch" for me.
I really didn't think that Astro's Playroom was going to be THE highlight of the PS5 "new gen" experience.
They also mentioned thay wanted to focus on making live service first party games. Not a surprise considering that they bought bungie and dabbled with making Tlou multiplayer a live service game. But I don’t like hearing every major studio and game company focusing so much on making live service games. There’s too much of them already imo.
If you re-watch Mark Cerny's key adress in late 2020 of the Playstation's 5 hardware today, I think, especially regarding First Party games, it probably boils down to three things:
1. Getting the most out of the new hardware only by a complete re-framework of the engine. (If you re-watch it, it's insane how different and more powerful the hardware really is compared to PS4).
2. It takes time (to give players the quality they are used to get from Sony's Frist Party games). Even over the course of a 7 year lifespan, it has become much more complex to build two, even one AAA game from scratch.
3. Probably some re-shifting in the business strategies.
I am putting out a bet:
PS5's late lifecycle will be nothing but amazing.
With at least six First Party titles going to get released within the last two to three years.
We will be blown away.
Of course - Sony knows about 2024 going to be dry. They rather tell the truth now. But they know they have to deliver.
And I bet my left butcheek they will.
The shift from HDD to SSD, to RDNA2 or 3, 3D sound, etc., is technically so huge, opening up so many new possibilties, that you have to do a complete re-work in design.
The late PS5 First Party games will probably also pave the way for early PS6 titles.