FWIW, I think at least a good chunk of this
is believable. Between Factions 2 getting soft-rebooted, the Deviation game seeing tons of layoffs, the (small) possibility Fairgame$ might either get canned or soft-rebooted following trailer reception and Sega's (very) similar Hyenas also getting cancelled...yeah, I can imagine a lot of the internal GaaS titles are having growing pains ATM
I think the more troubling part is that most new GaaS titles have been failing in the market of late. Diablo 4 is just dead. Halo Infinite is dead. Overwatch 2 is dead. I think if the vast majority of Sony's GaaS titles were FPS/sci-fi shooter-focused, they are in some trouble, because that particular genre for GaaS is saturated and covered with very strong IP like Fortnite, Apex Legends, VALORANT, and Counterstrike 2.
If they want to find success in the GaaS space, it'll have to be through more unorthodox genres and innovating that way. No one saw stuff like Fall Guys blowing up the way it did, but part of the reason is because it was really unique among other GaaS/live-service stuff. Party Animals seems to be picking up where Fall Guys left off. IMHO, Sony's GaaS push should be focused on quirkier, nicely-budgeted AA-type games in genres that could bring a lot of fun new stuff to that model, like rhythm games or golfing games.
Why haven't they selected IP like MLB The Show to transition into a GaaS model? They could've been made a MLB The Show Batzone or whatever, had it out on all devices (PS, Xbox, PC, Nintendo, mobile) and bringing in a ton of money without need for a massive budget. Sony should've identified IP already available that could be (relatively) easy to spin off into a GaaS without requiring massive budgets, and IP like MLB The Show were just perfect for it.
Instead they are likely sinking quasi-AAA level budgets into a flock of GaaS that are thematically and genre-wise very similar to the aforementioned Fortnites, Apex Legends, VALORANTs, Counterstrike 2s, Division 2s etc. So that may not only step on the toes of such games by 3P partners, but also make it that much more difficult for Sony's own games to stand out. They've found massive success with the 1P AAA traditional games because they were focusing in a space most 3P abandoned, and in dosing so inspired 3P to start trying more with big story-driven mature games.
Sony have to replicate that approach with GaaS but IMO stuff like Fairgame$ isn't going to do it. Marathon has a solid path because it's Bungie, but Deviation's game doesn't, even if the team has vets from IW and other studios onboard. But at end of the day, I suppose all this GaaS stuff only becomes a genuine problem if it means we're going to see a big gap in Sony 1P AAA (or AA, tho most of Sony's studios aren't focused on AA-type games) traditional releases.
Some people are going to point to charts showing funding for those games hasn't dropped, and it'll increase, but just because a game's being funded doesn't mean it'll be releasing anytime soon. Any AAA game that was just funded to begin dev say last year, won't likely be seeing release until 2028. By that point it could just be a PS6 launch title. Any that started dev in 2021, earliest we'll see them is 2027.
So, does anyone know what 1P AAA games initialized funding and started development in 2018 or 2019? Because those are the ones which could see release in 2024 and 2025, or 2026. I know Wolverine is one such game, but is it alone? And yes, Sony is doing things with 3P on a 2P-like basis, like with Rise of the Ronin and Stellar Blade. But how much of that involves Sony's own 1P studios sharing development? How many of those are like, say, a Bloodborne scenario, where Japan Studio and From Software pretty much co-developed the game together from start to finish?
Also, I feel this is just another reason why Sony should not have dropped AA traditional games altogether, internally. Those games don't need $200 million budgets (or in many cases even a quarter of that), they don't need 6-7 year development cycles, and they don't need to sell 10+ million copies to be lucratively profitable. I think Sony expected/assumed 3P AA would default exclusively to PS this gen (either naturally or through 3P deals), but didn't account for a scenario where Microsoft was willing to use its deep pockets to buy out some of those notable AA devs (Ninja Theory, Double Fine, Obsidian) and 3P pubs who still make some of those games (Zenimax, i.e games like HiFi Rush which 100% would've been on PS4 & PS5 if MS didn't gatekeep the release).
But now there's also Nintendo in the mix, and Switch 2 will likely be getting a lot of 3P support the Switch went without. That means less in the way of potential 3P AA exclusives for PlayStation, particularly from Japanese publishers. And no matter what some people want to pretend, yes:
EXCLUSIVES MATTER! They differentiate one platform's value proposition to the market from its competitors. It's the easiest and most natural way to do so.
If Sony wanted to easily bring in more GaaS to the fold, IMO this is what I think they should've done:
1: Use the MLB The Show IP/license to make a GaaS spin-off, maybe with dream teams and fantasy matches, on all platforms. Main differentiator between it and regular MLB The Show being content and, of course, the service model with game models designed around it.
2: Keep GT Sport around, focusing the online component on it while having GT7 completely focus on single-player and limited, traditional MP where some progress could be shared with GT Sport. Keep GT7 to console while expanding GT Sport to PS5 & PC.
3: Remake the Factions MP from TLOU and add live-service support (make it quasi-GaaS) with new content and such, launch on PS5 & PC Day 1. They could've done this around the launch of PS5 or in its 1st year, IMO. Use community feedback to build towards Factions 2, and tease some Factions 2 content and features into it (like how Capcom introduced Luke and a few SF6 mechanics/ideas into SFV Season 5). Then when Factions 2 is ready, seamlessly transition Factions remake players to it while offering newcomers a fair price point to jump into Factions 2.
4: Port Dreams to PC (& add enhancements for PS5) and figure out a way to let people make and publish/monetize their own games made with the engine while getting a cut off software sales. This could've been done a year or so after the PS4 release.
Those should've been the big 'Phase 1' GaaS focus points for Sony. MLB The Show "Warzone" ('Batzone') (PS/Xbox/PC/Switch/mobile) stuff & Factions remake for PS5 & PC launch or within the launch window (or 1st year). Dreams port to PC with game publishing & monetization for PS5 & PC around 2021 - 2022. GT7 & GT Sport 2 for late 2022. This probably would've allowed Factions 2 to release this year, or early next. Meanwhile, the MLB The Show GaaS, Factions remake, Dreams, and GT Sport 2 could continue getting regular updates, and of course Destiny 2 joining that under Bungie (now owned by Sony).
Get
THOSE games to work, and
THEN they could roll into a 'Phase 2' of GaaS with Marathon, Concord and maybe two other, smaller-sized AA type titles, to have for the back-half of the gen alongside the aforementioned MLB/GT/Factions stuff. That's how I would have approached it, anyway. My other priority would've been to get internal 1P AA games back on the dock, and do away with the PC ports of 1P traditional titles outside of legacy collections with remastered content (i.e Uncharted 1-3 Remaster Collection, Sly Cooper 1-3 Remaster Collection, etc.).
Unfortunately that's not the scenario PS is in, though they can make it so and maybe they have already made some of these types of changes internally, or done so many months back. I guess we'll be seeing at some point.
