PlayStation Studios Head Says Sony Isn’t Taking Devs off Market with Acquisitions

[ethomaz]

Well he is not wrong.

Sony acquisitions are based in partnership they already had and the only one with games outside PlayStation was Bungie which they said to support external platforms.

 

[Dabaus]

In light of Brazil approving the act blizzard deal with no stipulations, this approach sounds even more ridiculous than it did to me a few hours ago. Imagine if instead Sony wasn’t on the side lines complaining they were wrapping up deals themselves. Say at the end of this year they bought bungie, deviation, arrowhead, square enix, and topped it off with their investment in from software. That wouldn’t be at all a bad response from them at all and in some aspects come out ahead if one of those gaas games really took off.

 

[DynamiteCop]

"Don't look at us or anything we're doing, hey, look at that over there!"

The interview.

 

[thicc_girls_are_teh_best]

I think the only worry for sony right now is microsoft. They are the only ones with the potential to buy a large publishers and block those games from coming to playstation.

As we’re seeing now sumo digital was purchased Tencent earlier this year and they’re still working on a AAA playstation exclusive. Tencent doesn’t care as long as they get their money.

Yep. I still have my issues with Tencent, although if it's true they're trying to distance themselves from the CCP then that is a good thing IMO and would alleviate a lot of concerns. However, companies like that don't have their own gaming platforms or subscription services to push, so the companies they invest into (or outright buy) won't be used as leverage against other platform holders or subscription service providers...not anything initiated through companies like Tencent themselves.

Now if an actual other platform holder or subscription service provider happens to work out deals with the companies they have investments in or own to get things like an exclusive, that's something besides the point. That's still an actual platform holder working out a deal with a 3P publisher that just happens to be owned by another company or investment group.

True, a Tencent, Embracer Group etc. could always decide they want to make their own console or service in the future, or throw their weight behind a new entry (like how EA did with the 3DO back in the day), or just back one of the platform holders exclusively. But the chances of any of those happening are very low. For one they could only really do that with companies they actually own. Also, unless they got the support of employees at the companies they own, they would risk a mutiny, or a bleed out of talent at a mass scale, significantly weakening them.

I hope that if there are people who don't quite get that yet, they will in the future.

In light of Brazil approving the act blizzard deal with no stipulations, this approach sounds even more ridiculous than it did to me a few hours ago. Imagine if instead Sony wasn’t on the side lines complaining they were wrapping up deals themselves. Say at the end of this year they bought bungie, deviation, arrowhead, square enix, and topped it off with their investment in from software. That wouldn’t be at all a bad response from them at all and in some aspects come out ahead if one of those gaas games really took off.

They could be doing that, we genuinely don't know. Keep in mind this acquisition stuff's a pretty complicated game of chess; you could speak one thing to draw attention to that while actually doing something totally different behind the scenes.

I also think the answers Hulst gave don't prevent Sony from making further acquisitions; they may just have a preference for a different approach. An increasingly idealistic one if not necessarily one that can be done in practice exclusively, but a preferred one in any case. And one that I generally would prefer as well, if there was no major threats to big chunks of the 3P market being consolidated through acquisitions.

 

[Remember_Spinal]

Yep. I still have my issues with Tencent, although if it's true they're trying to distance themselves from the CCP then that is a good thing IMO and would alleviate a lot of concerns. However, companies like that don't have their own gaming platforms or subscription services to push, so the companies they invest into (or outright buy) won't be used as leverage against other platform holders or subscription service providers...not anything initiated through companies like Tencent themselves.

Now if an actual other platform holder or subscription service provider happens to work out deals with the companies they have investments in or own to get things like an exclusive, that's something besides the point. That's still an actual platform holder working out a deal with a 3P publisher that just happens to be owned by another company or investment group.

True, a Tencent, Embracer Group etc. could always decide they want to make their own console or service in the future, or throw their weight behind a new entry (like how EA did with the 3DO back in the day), or just back one of the platform holders exclusively. But the chances of any of those happening are very low. For one they could only really do that with companies they actually own. Also, unless they got the support of employees at the companies they own, they would risk a mutiny, or a bleed out of talent at a mass scale, significantly weakening them.

I hope that if there are people who don't quite get that yet, they will in the future.



They could be doing that, we genuinely don't know. Keep in mind this acquisition stuff's a pretty complicated game of chess; you could speak one thing to draw attention to that while actually doing something totally different behind the scenes.

I also think the answers Hulst gave don't prevent Sony from making further acquisitions; they may just have a preference for a different approach. An increasingly idealistic one if not necessarily one that can be done in practice exclusively, but a preferred one in any case. And one that I generally would prefer as well, if there was no major threats to big chunks of the 3P market being consolidated through acquisitions.

It doesn’t even make sense for tencent to try. They make more than enough money holding the rights to a bunch of IP, and just gaining passive income from all theses investments that work indepdently. They aren’t even a publisher, they literally have no real say in the business or reasoning for trying to insert themselves into the competition, they’re already winning. They are just a major investment firm that found a goldmine in gaming as of recent

As of now tencent or embracer or even Saudi Arabia being the owners of these companies don’t mean anything to me. For me, its no different than them still being like any other multiplatform 3rd party company. I dont know all the owners of the other gaming companies either, it just doesn’t effect me. Unless its a platform holder.

There are other human rights issues at play but thats another discussion that extends beyond gaming.

 

[thicc_girls_are_teh_best]

It doesn’t even make sense for tencent to try. They make more than enough money holding the rights to a bunch of IP, and just gaining passive income from all theses investments that work indepdently. They aren’t even a publisher, they literally have no real say in the business or reasoning for trying to insert themselves into the competition, they’re already winning. They are just a major investment firm that found a goldmine in gaming as of recent

As of now tencent or embracer or even Saudi Arabia being the owners of these companies don’t mean anything to me. For me, its no different than them still being like any other multiplatform 3rd party company. I dont know all the owners of the other gaming companies either, it just doesn’t effect me. Unless its a platform holder.

There are other human rights issues at play but thats another discussion that extends beyond gaming.

Well, all of these companies can eventually go down a slippery slope and either try enforcing types of censorship on the creativity of the game developers they own, so that is something I consider worrying about. Then again, platform holders can do that as well, so it's not unique to simply publishers or investment firms.

The Saudi Arabia Sazzy Group, though, that one does concern me more than usual because that's essentially something directly linking to a Saudi prince, therefore the Saudi government. I just take issue with government institutions pumping money into entertainment in general, because that's when the propaganda really starts kicking in.

There's interesting history with people from various social movements in America's past, for example, becoming liaisons for the government groups, then for certain entertainment industries like Hollywood in order to help cultivate certain messages in films at certain points in time.

In light of Brazil approving the act blizzard deal with no stipulations, this approach sounds even more ridiculous than it did to me a few hours ago. Imagine if instead Sony wasn’t on the side lines complaining they were wrapping up deals themselves. Say at the end of this year they bought bungie, deviation, arrowhead, square enix, and topped it off with their investment in from software. That wouldn’t be at all a bad response from them at all and in some aspects come out ahead if one of those gaas games really took off.

If Sony want to try not enabling the ABK deal to go through, they may be withholding on acquisitions that could be ongoing behind-the-scenes from progressing further until they see where the leaves fall WRT regulators approving the deal. Or, they could just be waiting until the the end of the current fiscal quarter (Q2, ends December 30th) before making any announcements.

 

[Remember_Spinal]

Well, all of these companies can eventually go down a slippery slope and either try enforcing types of censorship on the creativity of the game developers they own, so that is something I consider worrying about. Then again, platform holders can do that as well, so it's not unique to simply publishers or investment firms.

The Saudi Arabia Sazzy Group, though, that one does concern me more than usual because that's essentially something directly linking to a Saudi prince, therefore the Saudi government. I just take issue with government institutions pumping money into entertainment in general, because that's when the propaganda really starts kicking in.

There's interesting history with people from various social movements in America's past, for example, becoming liaisons for the government groups, then for certain entertainment industries like Hollywood in order to help cultivate certain messages in films at certain points in time.

Microsoft might as well be a government institution, they have contracts with the US Military, and so does COD.

 

[ksdixon]

single player PC ports of PlayStation exclusives will remain delayed by at least a year compared to the console debuts, while multiplayer games will likely launch simultaneously.

So answer the simple question. If that is the roadmap (goalpost moved smaller to only 'at least a year' now), and pc ports often contain various dlc/director's cut content... Is my PS5 essentially a £500 nebulous upto-12 month early access machine?

 

[TubzGaming]

So answer the simple question.

That was a little passive aggressive.
It is a Minimum of 12 Months but i am willing to bet it will be longer if games sell really well within the time frame, as it will make people want to buy a PS4/5.
Multiplayer games will most likely come day and date, which i agree with as the more people playing them the easier it is to get lobbies full.
It will just come down to Time/Sales. More sales the more likely if will be longer then 12 Months, If below what they hoped for then they will hit the 12 Month date.
At the end of the day no one is forced to buy any Console or PC, Exclusives are great but i play where i choose.

 

[ksdixon]

That was a little passive aggressive.
It is a Minimum of 12 Months but i am willing to bet it will be longer if games sell really well within the time frame, as it will make people want to buy a PS4/5.
Multiplayer games will most likely come day and date, which i agree with as the more people playing them the easier it is to get lobbies full.
It will just come down to Time/Sales. More sales the more likely if will be longer then 12 Months, If below what they hoped for then they will hit the 12 Month date.
At the end of the day no one is forced to buy any Console or PC, Exclusives are great but i play where i choose.

That was directed at Herman, sorry.

My whole gripe is the idea of PS5 development being hampered by PC and PS4 also rans still being accounted for within the game design. It's a stupid example to oversimplify the point. But I was promised no more loading screens disguised as squeezing through a wall etc.

It's equally as galling that the PS4 is redundant for the most part if you have a PS5. I hate the PS5 UI, but I'm not keeping the PS4 because PS5's load times are so much better. But if that is Sony's full steam ahead plan, at least round out the offering. Make a PS4-P that I can flush out with PSN purchases or PS+ streaming. The Vita also won't remote play a PS5, I heard, Sony need to evolve their portable standards as they're falling behind. Sony can keep making PS4 ports and I'll shut my mouth if that focus is softened by the addition of a portability aspect.

 

[Yurinka]

So answer the simple question. If that is the roadmap (goalpost moved smaller to only 'at least a year' now), and pc ports often contain various dlc/director's cut content... Is my PS5 essentially a £500 nebulous upto-12 month early access machine?

Sony won't release all their exclusives on PC and will continue releasing more PS only games than PC ports per year. Meaning that the amount of PS only games will increase over time instead of decreasing.

And "at least a year" is compatible with not porting most of their games and basically all their PC ports being released on PC several years after the original PS release. As an example TLOU will be released on PC around 10 years after its original version.

 

[Deleted member 13]

And "at least a year" is compatible with not porting most of their games and basically all their PC ports being released on PC several years after the original PS release. As an example TLOU will be released on PC around 10 years after its original version.

I'm actually very disappointed that you believe Sony knew they would port TLOU to PC once they released it for the PS3 and that they would wait for 10yrs before releasing it to the PC. We have this argument over and over again to no avail.

The decision to port games to PC was recent (within the last 3yrs). Shouldn't you start the clock on waiting for a PC port AFTER they decided to push for PC? TLOU is a 10yr old game but it was remade with the last year or so for the PS5. Right around when most 1st party devs were refactoring their graphics engines for PC support.

I would wager $100 that Sony will not wait 10yrs to port GoWR, TLOU Part 1 Remake, Spiderman 2, HFW, etc..

 

[Yurinka]

I'm actually very disappointed that you believe Sony knew they would port TLOU to PC once they released it for the PS3 and that they would wait for 10yrs before releasing it to the PC.

Please, stop mading up stuff.

I never said Sony knew or decided that they were going to port TLOU to PC 10 years ago. I said that the PC port of TLOU will be released around 10 years after its original release on PS, which is different.

TLOUP1 exists because a part of Sony VASG was tired of being always a support team and wanted to be on charge of their own projects. They tried making CG movies or tv shows using materieal from game cutscenes or cgs but Sony didn't greenlighted them that idea and asked them to focus in games instead, later tried pitching with remakes because thought it was easier to get a greenlight but tried with Uncharted 1 but didn't work because it needed more gameplay redesign and programming than they thought. So moved to TLOU1 because thought it needed less gameplay redesign and could use the TLOU2 tech and bundle it with TLOU2 PS5 version.

It got greenlighted, and pretty likely they also saw an opportunity of releasing it also on PC because they started to increase their PC output and also matched more or less the timing of the tv series so maybe saw potential on the obvious synergies there making the IP available to more people.

 

[Deleted member 13]

Please, stop mading up stuff.

I never said Sony knew or decided that they were going to port TLOU to PC 10 years ago. I said that the PC port of TLOU will be released around 10 years after its original release on PS, which is different.

I'm confused as to your argument then.

You mention TLOU1 being released to PC 10yrs later. How is that significant to how long it will take after initial release to the PS5 for it to come to the PC? The conversation is all about how long it will take for the PC to get a port once it's been released on the PS5.

 

[Yurinka]

I'm confused as to your argument then.

You mention TLOU1 being released to PC 10yrs later. How is that significant to how long it will take after initial release to the PS5 for it to come to the PC? The conversation is all about how long it will take for the PC to get a port once it's been released on the PS5.

It isn't confusing at all.

I think that looking at facts we see that very likely their future PC port releases will have different distances from their original PS release:

• The games released or announced until now range from around 2 years to around 10 years
• Hermen said that they were going to experiment with different distances
• Hermen, Jimbo and Sony said their main focus is PS only releases and that PC is secondary as a way to grow their fanbase among who never would buy their console and also a secondary revenue source for their very expensive game. So they will prioritize sales on PS over sales on PC because of many reasons
• They have a limited amount of internal and external PC porting resources can't release a ton of ports per year
• Even if they could, it would make sense that they would find synergies with other products that could justify to delay the release of certain ports like using the PC port to promote an upcoming movie/tv show/PS only sequel, or to get extra revenue for the work made in a PS5 SKU/port/remaster/remake etc
• Depending on the market they could think they also will prioritize or reshuffle the PC port releases. Like trying to capitalize market trends. Example: they could prioritize/try to release faster Demon's Souls and Bloodborne because Elden Ring performed way better than any previous Souls, or may prefer to push back certain ports to don't compete against similar powerful PC releases around the timeframe they had internally scheduled. I mean, imagine they would own No Man's Sky and it still wouldn't have a PC port and internally they had it scheduled to released it Spring 2023 but since Starfield is supposed to be released there they could try to release it way before or way later to avoid competing directly during launch months.

The distance between the PC and PS releases is depends way more on Sony's strategy on when do they decide to release each title taking into consideration what it's better for their interests as a whole for the entire SIE (including here their gaming division and the movies and tv series) than in how much time each port needs to be developed/ported.

When building and reviewing every quarter or half a year their long term roadmap for the next 3-5 years they strategically they place their 1st, 2nd (and 3rd party strategic deals) releases in PS, PC and mobile, also taking into consideration the known releases from the competition or 3rd party partners, their movies/tv shows or their key hardware/accesories/services releases.

 

[peter42O]

My prediction remains the same since Horizon Zero Dawn went to PC, their exclusives will be on PlayStation and PC day one before next generation begins which is probably six years away so a lot can change in the next six years.

 

[ksdixon]

Sony won't release all their exclusives on PC and will continue releasing more PS only games than PC ports per year. Meaning that the amount of PS only games will increase over time instead of decreasing.

I know, clutching pearls and all that, but Sony's messaging is still whack. At the same time they're trying to ally fears over day 1 pc, they're putting stray and destruction all-stars "free on PS+" on release; or they're saying "well the gaas ones will be pc day 1". Always seems so inefficient and haphazard these days.

 

[Yurinka]

I know, clutching pearls and all that, but Sony's messaging is still whack. At the same time they're trying to ally fears over day 1 pc, they're putting stray and destruction all-stars "free on PS+" on release; or they're saying "well the gaas ones will be pc day 1". Always seems so inefficient and haphazard these days.

Their message is clear. What people mades up in forums or 4 chan is a different thing.

Sony never said that the GaaS ones will be day 1 on PC, read what he EXACTLY said (I wrote it in the related thread highlighting important words).

My prediction remains the same since Horizon Zero Dawn went to PC, their exclusives will be on PlayStation and PC day one before next generation begins which is probably six years away so a lot can change in the next six years.

Sony releases a new gen every 7 years, meaning that if they continue at the same pace they'd release PS6 in 2027.

Sony said they plan to release zero PS Studios PS+PC releases both in the current FY and in the FY that ends in 2026, so I'm pretty sure that other than the Bungie games and maybe a handful GaaS exception like MLB there won't be day one PC releases.

 

[Alabtrosmyster]

This is what MS is doing by buying those studios and not releasing games.

 

[peter42O]

Sony releases a new gen every 7 years, meaning that if they continue at the same pace they'd release PS6 in 2027.

Sony said they plan to release zero PS Studios PS+PC releases both in the current FY and in the FY that ends in 2026, so I'm pretty sure that other than the Bungie games and maybe a handful GaaS exception like MLB there won't be day one PC releases.

Before Covid, I was thinking 6 years so November 2026 but now, im thinking this generation goes 8 years so November 2028.

Fiscal Year that ends in 2026??? That can't be right. Why would they mention a fiscal year that's basically 4 years away? Of course, what Sony says and what they do could easily be two very different things.