REPORT: Sony plans to invest $2.1 billion in research and development for its gaming arm, focusing most of its attention on live service

anonpuffs

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You said it yourself, Diablo is a monster franchise with a built-in installbase. Those whales are going to exist no matter what, for years to come. A game like that doesn’t die in 6 months.
Well that's not quite what Sony is doing right?
 

Remember_Spinal

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yep that's how most of the publishers did it, acti with king, take two with zynga and sega with rovio. The bungie acquisition should've satisfied their GaaS fever but it seems like instead they want to turn their actual studios into live service workhorses which is too much of a gamble, instead of adding it on top like you said.

There’s really not many indepdent studios or smaller publishers left with huge GAAS titles left to buy. Activision is basically it.

The only companies left that would make a significant difference are EA and Take Two and sony is not spending 30billion+ on anything. Sony has enough talent, money, and clout to create their own competitors. Theres nothing proprietary about Apex Legends, COD, Fall Guys, etc.

Sony have enough pull in the industry and marketing to drive a portion of their installbase to their games
 

Remember_Spinal

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Nhomnhom

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Called it, GaaS is their answer to everything. Am I allowed to doom now?

Their strategy just seems naive, odds are all their GaaS that are not GT, MLB, TLoU Multiplayer or a Bungie game will flop.
 
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anonpuffs

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We don’t really know what they are doing, we only know they have a dozen multiplayer games in development, we dont know their pricing structure, gameplay loops, genres, etc.

They’ve gone on record saying they aren’t making a 12 destinys.

Right. So they aren't making 12 destinys, and a lot of their IP aren't really suited to the GaaS content pipeline because they're so heavy on high quality cinematics and art assets.
 

Remember_Spinal

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Right. So they aren't making 12 destinys, and a lot of their IP aren't really suited to the GaaS content pipeline because they're so heavy on high quality cinematics and art assets.

Thats why they have bought new studios to make new IP. If anything Sony putting this type of investment and due diligence into their multiplayer titles is what is going to seperate them from all the other flops that release every year.

The problem with a lot of service titles is that they are lower budget, have zero marketing outside of WOM, and don’t typically have the backing of a platform holder.

Sony have all the pieces to do what knockout city, rumbleverse, roller champions, etc. couldn’t. Sony have an opportunity to create high budget multiplayer titles that can rival Activision and EA’s.
 

Nhomnhom

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I mean...they're also increasing investment in single-player titles too. The live-service push sucks but when they're successful they make a ton of money
PS5-investment.jpg

From FY19 to FY25 there will have been a very slight increase in traditional game according to Sony themselves, compared to investment in GaaS drastically increasing. The growth in traditional game investment doesn't even beat inflation if that is not accounted for.
 
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anonpuffs

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Thats why they have bought new studios to make new IP. If anything Sony putting this type of investment and due diligence into their multiplayer titles is what is going to seperate them from all the other flops that release every year.

The problem with a lot of service titles is that they are lower budget, have zero marketing outside of WOM, and don’t typically have the backing of a platform holder.

Sony have all the pieces to do what knockout city, rumbleverse, roller champions, etc. couldn’t. Sony have an opportunity to create high budget multiplayer titles that can rival Activision and EA’s.
The problem is they are severely skimping on their marketing lately too.
 
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Nhomnhom

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The problem is they are severely skimping on their marketing lately too.
With the PS4 Sony turned the hype to 11 early in the gen. This gen they had a much stronger start and yet it seems like they are holding back and not trying to control the narrative.

"Greatness awaits" + "Best Place to Play" sent the right message for their time, "Wait has no limits" doesn't work nearly as well.
 
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Remember_Spinal

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The problem is they are severely skimping on their marketing lately too.

I dont think so, they just aren’t on twitter blabbing nonsense to us everyday. Thats not the same as marketing.

When sony has a product to sell they go all out, look at god of war, FFXVI, the earlier “live from ps5” campaign. I’d say they dropped the ball on VR but they don’t skimp on the PS5 and ts software.
 

Danja

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I dont think so, they just aren’t on twitter blabbing nonsense to us everyday. Thats not the same as marketing.

When sony has a product to sell they go all out, look at god of war, FFXVI, the earlier “live from ps5” campaign. I’d say they dropped the ball on VR but they don’t skimp on the PS5 and ts software.
Nope! Their marketing has been horrible this generation.
 
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Nothing we don't already know. From an analysis standpoint I can't wait for the PS6.

Opportunity cost takes no prisoners.
 

ksdixon

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Get on with it / Get it together.

We've seen 3rd party relationships erode, and others buying struggling 3rd parties altogether.

wtf this company been doing for 4-odd years? Ooo PC and mobile, yaay.
 
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ksdixon

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Thats why they have bought new studios to make new IP. If anything Sony putting this type of investment and due diligence into their multiplayer titles is what is going to seperate them from all the other flops that release every year.

The problem with a lot of service titles is that they are lower budget, have zero marketing outside of WOM, and don’t typically have the backing of a platform holder.

Sony have all the pieces to do what knockout city, rumbleverse, roller champions, etc. couldn’t. Sony have an opportunity to create high budget multiplayer titles that can rival Activision and EA’s.

Yeah but they can't just use the Off Fortnite models and fail out like those games did. I have a feeling that those that like Fortnite don't like off fortnight artistic style... They just carry on playing Fortnite. It's like everyone chasing cod in 360 era, thinking of RE in this example, changing their gameplay styles and presentation. No, cod is already here, they want cod - for some reason - not you foregoing what makes you good, and doing a shoddy impression of cod, a day late and a dollar short.

I think they should ressurect PS All-Stars branding, use mascots, and filter-in different characters, skins, customizable gear for them; but also import different game genre styles in as game modes DLC roadmap. Have a paint shooting game with PS1 logo colors housed inside of PS All-Stars, instead of FoamStars. Have a Frisbee combat mode/game instead of Knockout City...You could look at the overworld of that launch PS5 Astrobot game and imagine jumping into different games as opposed to levels.

Perhaps these days you could use it as purely an Astrobot property and just go hard on customisation pieces, Fall Guys style, but I believe also having the other PS All-Stars around in addition to AstroBot as one of them, allows for more creative possibilities.

Or, you could retrofit the idea into an overworld lobby thing for PS Home 2.0/Metaverse aspirations, if avatars were to come back, if that's supposed to still be happening?
 

Vertigo

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Bungie re-opens into its new HQ today. Yesterday they were giving tours to members of the industry so there’s a bunch of vids starting to trickle out.

The new HQ is more than twice the square footage of the last.



This was the plan before the Sony buyout along with a new office in Amsterdam.
 
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Loy310

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Bungie re-opens into its new HQ today!. Yesterday they were giving tours to members of the industry so there’s a bunch of vids starting to trickle out.

The new HQ is more than twice the square footage of the last.



This was the plan before the Sony buyout along with a new office in Amsterdam.

Hopefully Bungie next game is a massive hit for sie, dont want to see sony having to go to epic and ms for live service shooters, just like their single player that success and reliance should be all inhouse.
 

Papacheeks

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Thats what they did with specific studios they have bought already? And with ones they partnered with?

Why do You think they bought Bungie? Not just for expertise but also they know live service wise and brand wise Bungie is a name that will always have people interested in whatever they are making.

On another note, I love all these threads of doom and gloom it's fucking Hysterical.

"Sony, is becoming Xbox lite", like jesus christ grow up. Sony is doing what they dabbled in earlier in PS4 and failed. They relied heavily in previous gens almost exclusively on third party titles giving them renewable revenue. Hell Nintendo did and still does with Pokemon/Monster Hunter. But they made smart in-roads with titles like Mario Kart.
Sony has always relied on the GTA'S, CODS, MADDEN of the industry. Well now that Gaming is not just a console, and is available in a browser, on a phone, there's more competition for that dollar.

They are not going to just tomorrow stop making what they know internally they are great at making. But they need to find a self reliant way to fund those types of titles, and maybe come up with new ways to make something for a fraction of that budget.
Which is why they are casting such a wide net to multiple avenues in VR, GAAS, through internal and external means.

Take it easy everyone, the sun will come up tomorrow. 2023 has been a banger year, people should be happy playing street fighter 6, Diablo 4, FF16, Spiderman 2 among tons of other great titles.

Everyone Chill,

I Have Spoken GIF by IMDb
 

lupumSolitarius

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Successful live service games turn mid-size publishers into big-boy publishers. It's the difference between EA/ABK and Ubisoft/Square Enix. I thought the console manufacturers would remain immune to the allure of live-service games, especially Sony but it does not seem to be the case.
 
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