Lol, Sony already reached this milestone with Concord.
Astro Bot Director rules out PSVR2 version but wants to hear from fans about potential PC version
- Thread starter John Elden Ring
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The fact is that ports are a symptom of a hidden cancer residing deep inside SIE.
It's not that I even disagree with you or anything like that. It's that it's 2024, not 1995 or even 2015, gaming changes, companies change, everything changes. Nothing in life stays the same. Sony is simply changing as they're trying to grow their eco-system and platform by growing their IP's and im sorry, I just don't believe that they will get that growth ONLY on console. All they're really doing is retaining what they've had.
Gaming is an artform perhaps for us but for companies, it's a business and Sony is going to run their company as a business. The way you draw more people into your platform and eco-system isn't by just staying within the console anymore. It just isn't regardless of who likes it or not. Sony makes a lot of revenue but their profit margin leaves a lot to be desired and as a company, they simply want to increase those margins and they're not going to do that by staying with ONLY the console. That means growing by expanding which leads to going to PC which has a massive user install base.
You mention that it's about encouraging creation of the best to draw more people in and draw more respect as an artform. I already talked about the artform aspect above company wise and the suits, shareholders, investors, etc. simply don't see gaming that way. They see it as a business and decisions that are best for their business need to be made regardless of those who like or dislike those decisions.
As for creating the best to draw more people in, you could argue that they've been doing that for the better part of 30 years and yet, have they truly grown? The answer is no because consoles are limited in how many will sell regardless of what Sony does in relation to the console. Granted, Sony is making more revenue but they're also charging more for the console and their games and their services so even if you simply retain what you've had, you're going to get more revenue but getting more revenue off basically the same consumer base as the generation before and the generation before that isn't growth at all. It's literally stagnation.
PC is a massive user install base that Sony truly hasn't even started to tap into yet. Not sure if you would agree with me on this or not but I believe Marvel's Spider Man is the biggest IP that Sony has access to gaming wise in their entire portfolio. Granted, they don't own the IP but since they do own the movie rights, that gives them leverage to use the IP for gaming and exclusively at that. I'm pretty certain the three Spider Man games console wise have sold 50m+ units combined if not more.
Imagine how much bigger Spider Man would be right now if those three games released on PC day one? You would get 100m+ units combined. Of this, I have zero doubt. You may wonder how that benefits you as a PlayStation console gamer. Well, if they had that, their leverage increases significantly to where maybe they get even more licenses or deals because companies with license would want to take advantage of that. In turn, this will give you even more of what you want game wise on your PlayStation. Sure, PC will get it day one as well but does that really matter if you're getting more than what you would have gotten if Sony wasn't releasing on PC day one?
Obviously, that was a hypothetical situation that can't happen since it's all in the past but the point is, what if Spider Man 3 launches on PC day one and what I just said happens due to this? Are you and others not willing to accept a trade off that easily benefits everyone including PlayStation console owners because you would get more out of this as opposed to getting less?
I simply believe that Sony is changing and are doing so because they see the writing on the wall especially when they know consoles will not be around forever regardless of what anyone wants to believe and they simply can't sit around waiting with their thumbs up their ass. People can shit on Microsoft all they want but think about it, in 2013, they wanted to be all digital and always online.
Well, 95% of those who play games are literally always online. I'm one of the very rare exceptions that isn't connected online when playing games but the vast majority are and the companies have the data to prove it. So 11 years later, Microsoft saw the future and ended up being correct.
Then with regards to digital, Sony announced a month ago that as of June 30th, 2024, their software sales are 80% digital. This is not just for their games but all base games sold on their platform. This was an increase of 21% compared to June 30th, 2019. By this pacing, Sony will be at 96% all digital by Fall 2028 when PlayStation 6 launches.
Point im trying to make is that Sony is looking ahead into the future which is what company especially a tech company like Sony should be doing because if you miss that window for whatever the future will be, you're going to be left behind and I would like to think that no matter what, no PlayStation fan wants that.
In closing, I simply believe that PlayStation fans (like Xbox fans a while ago) should simply come to the realization that Sony is changing and speeding up their PC process and accept it just like I personally accepted Microsoft's direction. And it's not because you love it, like it or even agree with it, it's that it simply doesn't matter how anyone feels about it because they're going to do what they want to do as companies and you can either accept it and enjoy what you're getting for yourself personally, move on to another option that may not be better for you compared to what you have now or quit gaming.
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Folks are overreacting. Sony wants some extra money and they have said several times that the stagnating console audience does not bring enough.
I can't believe how PC ports of old single player titles piss you off so much when the real issue is the exaggerated shift to GaaS of tried and true single player studios. And the shift to AAA or nothing, killing many of their studios.
PC ports just leave less ammo for war, that's all there is.
I can't believe how PC ports of old single player titles piss you off so much when the real issue is the exaggerated shift to GaaS of tried and true single player studios. And the shift to AAA or nothing, killing many of their studios.
PC ports just leave less ammo for war, that's all there is.
I agree, this is a problem with public traded companies and their need to grow infinitely. We already saw it with services like PS Plus or Game Pass, the moment the number of subs don't go up they need to raise prices. The only company that generally gets praised for treating their customers right is Valve that is still privately owned, but the moment Gabe steps down or it goes public we are going to see some enshitification too.
How did that worked out for Xbox consoles
Xbox consoles will be defunct in a couple of years. Over 75% of Xbox console gamer transition to PC or other platform. Xbox series already selling over 50% less then Xbox which was deemed a disaster failure lolValve wins, Gabe’s gets to enjoy becoming the default & defacto platform/storefront/ecosystem in gaming w Xbox & PS fading away. Looks like exclusive is the only thing that is keeping Steam & Nintendo seeing growth & increase profit while platforms that don’t have exclusive see less growth & less profits. To paint a picture MS had to spend 100 billion to just keep afloat for 1 year from all the damage they’ve done since 2014. Who would’ve thought Xbox would be in this position back in the 360
I know that timeline hurting many people through the reflectionGabe would be dumb to go public. Valve being private is what allowed them to dominate at there own pace while other competitors diminish there platforms/storefrotn. Ig you can say Xbox & PS are short sighted because Nintendo is public yet they don’t diminish there platform & seek other means of seeing growth/profits from there gaming franchise like cross media, parks, merchandise & other means
I agree. I don't think Valve is going public as long as Gabe newell is here but he is not immortal, sooner or later the company is going to be directed by some other executive.
I also agree about Nintendo but they are an exception to the rule. Most public companies are not like that.
You fail to see different aspects:
1) Noticable drop of quality of titles (including SP ones) because PC is an additional platform included in the development process. I doubt anybody would have a problem with the ports if it were of games two generations apart.
2) GaaS focus and PC initiative go hand in hand. SIE SP games have been selling like shit on PC, so they are trying it with GaaS.
3) Shift to AAA or nothing: A cheap AA game selling mildly would probably have the same ROI of a PC port. Yet they choose the latter. This happenes when you run the business to please your investors and only them.
How did that worked out for Xbox consoles
Valve wins, Gabe’s gets to enjoy becoming the default & defacto platform/storefront/ecosystem in gaming w Xbox & PS fading away. Looks like exclusive is the only thing that is keeping Steam & Nintendo seeing growth & increase profit while platforms that don’t have exclusive see less growth & less profits. To paint a picture MS had to spend 100 billion to just keep afloat for 1 year from all the damage they’ve done since 2014. Who would’ve thought Xbox would be in this position back in the 360
It's all about trust. Not many folks trust MS ability to deliver quality videogames in a consistent basis. Or to truly have a global console instead of a five eyes box.
NIntendo is portable, cheaper HW and folks like their family friendly games, Sony has been the console market leader for 30 years. PC is the naturally superior way to game.
Xbox has no perceived strengths. It's still perfectly viable way to game, but the loss of goodwill on the past give or take 15 years has been significant.
