Knottian remembers…
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Here’s the thing: if you actually look at the past 20 years, there are plenty of mistakes and miscalculations by Sony (they’re certainly not perfect like some imply) but because they’ve had the media so far up their asses, the damage hasn’t been nearly as damaging as it has been to groups that don’t have media teflon.
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They all want to be saints and now posting good news to make them look credible.
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Honestly, this is Xbox’s fault. Not all of it, but part of it. I can see why PS wanted to kill Xbox this gen but failed. Starfield would have helped a lot in market share if it was on PS. Anyone remember when ABK acquisition was announced and the stock market plummeted hard for Sony? Because if CoD was exclusive, all that money will be gone. That’s far too severe to lose.
The timing is against Sony because of couple of things. One is that games are costing so much to make. I remember two gens ago, I used to see anime games for any anime every year. Naruto used to come out annually. Same for DBZ. Why stop now? Because it cost a lot to make. It was the simpler time. Fast forward to present, things are getting harder for PS. I can see why Jim Ryan wanted to pursue GaaS and PC ports. The problem is Xbox.
Xbox One was a separate world because of lack of support from many developers. There was “no one” to share with, so PS takes it all in. Today, Xbox is not only in console but so as PC. To make matter worse, they have Game Pass in which when one game comes to it on day one, the question will be, should I spend full price or get the service? It’s stealing customer away.
PS actually didn’t release first-party exclusive in every quarter back in last gen. It had support from third-party like From Software, Atlus, Sega with its Yakuza, and so forth. Xbox was just trying to make it up, so PS had nothing to worry. Now comes 2023.
Next year has plenty of third-party developers working for first-party IP this year and one timed exclusive from Square. But where is Sucker Punch? Where is Naughty Dog multiplayer? Where is Bluepoint? Where is everything? Xbox didn’t leave them same audience count despite PS5 selling more than 4. Remember, Japan is doing well on console but software is rough in compare to last gen.
That’s why Xbox is a problem and now, they have to face a real challenge.
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They’ve also completely screwed up with smaller/AA titles
Grounded is made by a very small team in comparison to the other AAA beasts but has been a massive success and been getting updates for years now and it’s biggest one coming 3(i think) years after launch?
Even SoD2 which seemingly nobody seems to talk about is still getting updates 5 years after launch, I don’t know why they don’t try with some smaller scale titles with continued support even if it’s used as learning for when they finally do bigger GaaS games
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With the way Sony yanks servers for games youd have to be really stupid to invest time and money into one of Sonys upcoming GAAS entries.
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I feel like grounded symbolizes the gaas success of xbox. They don’t need the end all be all gaas (even though they just kinda bought it with abk). Several smaller gaas can be very profitable as well. Grounded, FH, SoT, Halo etc. None of them are the live service king but they all generate long term revenue.
That’s what Sony should aim for. Fill a niche and be happy with it. Dethroning the kings is a sisyphian task.
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To further add to your point, back during the 360/PS3 generation, Sony faceplanted out of the gate. What saved them was their investment in first party studios, and they carried that into the PS4 generation.
In contrast, Microsoft’s biggest blunder was not investing in first party studios while they remained on top with the 360. Instead, Microsoft relied on third party deals to draw people to the platform (sound familiar 
).
Sony exploited this brilliantly during the PS4 by locking off/partnering with key third party titles (Destiny, COD, Final Fantasy, Street Fighter, etc.), and that third party support for Xbox dried up. Unlike Sony, Microsoft just didn’t have the first party studios to make up ground.
The problem for Sony is they will never have that opportunity again.
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I’m seeing a lot of chatter in certain places about how “GaaS is a bubble” and Sony’s supposed push into GaaS was spearheaded by Ryan and now that he’s leaving it means they’re pivoting away from it.
It reads a lot like wishful thinking and confirmation bias from people who don’t like GaaS to me, but I don’t have any figures to back that supposition up. Can anybody here tell me if I’m off base?
I was one of these people. I didn’t understand the appeal of Minecraft (and still don’t) and thought it was an enormous amount of money to spend on a game that everybody had already bought.
Embarrassingly, I also still felt jilted by the Xbox One and was in full “bitch eating crackers” mode.
(for the uninitiated)
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That’s because it is. Jim Ryan wasn’t fired for pivoting toward GAAS, he was fired for failing to deliver it.
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Imagine the speech if Bungie had accepted MS’s proposal and Marathon was exclusive to the Xbox ecosystem.
That would mean Bungie was in a good state and not where they’re at now.
TL;DR
- didn’t mention layoffs
- didn’t mention Marathon
- lost trust blablabla regain trust blablabla and stay tuned for updates.
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Like a magnet, there are two sides to unforgettable. Bungie is hoping to be on the good side, but they can just as well land on the other side.
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I’ve said for some time SOCOM really should come back. There is nothing like it on the market and I also would enjoy a new Warhawk too. It easily could have been Sony’s Fortnight.
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Is it bad that I don’t remember Warhawk at all? It looks awesome. Between this and SOCOM they are definitely sitting on some fantastic IP which they could revive (but probably won’t).
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https://x.com/paultassi/status/1720452252274471038?s=46&t=O_AGT9SEnlptKOF_2SxtqQ
Sony overpaid them.
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Also a crock of shit that Sony somehow gets to escape blame, horse crap, the buck stops with Sony, they own them and could intervene
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