Why is the media ignoring the Elephant in the room? Sony 1st party Game drought

It is bewildering to see these bald attempts to take down a game that hasn’t come out yet. Especially from a reputable site like Eurogamer.

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Gotta make them now because if Starfield is a massive hit they wont be able to make them later and have any real engagement

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/end thread

Nah, only good game they have is was Lemmings.

It will get juicy.

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We need to see if they do another showcase later this year after SM2 drops. If there’s no showcase that’s when you drop the doom and gloom articles to maximize clicks. Doing it now when SM2 is coming is a waste.

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Why did IGN and GameSpot leave out the Xbox logo for multi-platform games? Because they all favor Sony and no matter what they do, in their eyes, they can do no wrong which is why I always say that all I want is for Microsoft, Nadella and Spencer to do what’s best for their own brand, platform, eco-system and fan base and that’s it.

Since launch, it’s actually pretty even between both platforms.

For PlayStation 5, Sony has published 11 new first party games for an overall rating of 82.3 via Open Critic. Including Marvel’s Spider Man 2 which releases in October, the drought/gap overall is 26 months since November 2020. The 26 months represents months in which Sony didn’t publish and release a new first party title for PlayStation 5. The current gap between new first party releases will be 6 months - MLB The Show (March 2023) to Spider Man 2 (October 2023). The longest gap this generation is 7 months between Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart in June 2021 and Horizon Forbidden West in February 2022. The current 6 month gap will be tied with the 6 month gap Sony had in 2022 between MLB The Show 22 in April 2022 and God of War Ragnarok in November 2022.

For Microsoft, they have published 13 new first party games for an overall rating of 82.3 via Open Critic. Through this October with Forza Motorsport, the drought/gap overall is 22 months since November 2020. The 22 months represents months in which Microsoft didn’t publish and release a new first party title for Xbox Series X/S. The current gap is 2 months between Redfall this past May and Age of Empires IV which just released for Xbox Series X/S this month. The longest gap this generation is 7 months between Gears Tactics in November 2020 and Flight Simulator in July 2021. Their second longest gap is 6 months between Halo Infinite in December 2021 and As Dusk Falls in July 2022.

Sony’s biggest gaps were 7 months, 6 months and 6 months. They also had a 3 month gap, a 2 month gap and two 1 month gaps. Total 26 months. Sony had 5 months with 0 gaps. This includes Spider Man 2 and the month of October 2023.

Microsoft’s biggest gaps were 7 months and 6 months. They also had three 2 month gaps and three 1 month gaps. Total 22 months. Microsoft also had 5 months with 0 gaps. This will however increase to 7 months with 0 gaps once Starfield (September) and Forza Motorsport (October) releases.

So overall rating is tied. Total monthly gap is in favor of Microsoft and they will have had more months without a gap than Sony. The main few differences is that first and foremost, while games like As Dusk Falls and Pentiment counts, media seemingly ignore them. Second, Sony has paid or not timed exclusive games that fill out their gaps more times than not which media also ignores yet praises at the same time. Figure that one out!!! lol

The most first party releases in a calendar year will belong to Microsoft in 2023 with a whopping 7 new first party games. Hi Fi Rush, Ghostwire Tokyo, Minecraft Legends, Redfall, Age of Empires IV, Starfield and Forza Motorsport. If the ABK acquisition closes before COD MW III releases, then this number will increase to 8 games.

Sony released 4 new first party games in 2021 and 2022. 2023 as of now and including Spider Man 2 is 2 new first party games. I’m not expecting Helldivers 2 or Stellar Blade until 2024 but this remains to be seen.

Either way, if Microsoft as an overall company stays consistent in regards to Xbox, they could easily end up averaging 6+ games a year between 2023 and next generation which would be fucking insane.

As an Xbox Series X gamer, fan and who uses it as their primary gaming console, it’s FINALLY all starting to come together for Microsoft and the Xbox brand. As long as Microsoft doesn’t get in their own way or trip over their own feet, I don’t foresee any major issues or droughts for the rest of this generation whatsoever from here on out. :joy: :joy: :joy:

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This. Now Zenimax and Activision have pulled support the PS5 lineup reminds me of the Gamecube.

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Sony always has major gaps between first party releases, but they strategically leverage third party games to fill gap

If you look at PS5 first party output it’s been mainly remasters/remakes .

Non -remasters

Sackboy

Miles morales (expansion)

Returnal

Ratchet

Ragnarok

Horizon FW

Gran turismo 7

Can include demon souls if you want

Anyways, the first party output has been mainly sequels to games that came out recently. However, all of this doesn’t matter much when third party exclusives fills the gap for them

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And thats yet another industry double standard. Sony is allowed and praised for 3rd party timed exclusive deals but the few times Xbox does that for any major title the media grills them and Sony fans have hissy fits all over the net.

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https://twitter.com/TEKKEN/status/1694311060809953782?s=20

only slightly related to this thread, but hilarious. :doge:

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Xbox should retweet this with something like “Play the best Playstation game at launch on Xbox!”

I don’t get those awards.

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Funny, cause if rolls were revsered we’d see articles like, “Xbox first party is so bad Tekken a multiplat game was the best Xbox game at Gamescon”.

But it does point further to Sonys lack fo first party titles coming.

Of course though people will just think its some PS exclusive

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Narratives shape headlines which generate clicks which means money.

Headlines inform narratives that shape public perception and enable fanboyism and console wars.

Console wars generate outrage which is easy to turn into headlines which generate clicks which means money.

As for why this seems to happen to Xbox more, I can think of two reasons:

  1. The install base of Xbox relative to PlayStation means that PS is seen as the default. This means that most people don’t use their PS5s as an exclusives machines, but for third-party stuff as well. This is exacerbated by third-party moneyhats and the general “sloppy seconds” treatment the Xbox platform gets - late ports, muddled marketing, et cetera.

    Essentially, this works out to the perception that there’s always something to play on PS, even if it’s available on both platforms. We also see this in the breakdown of reviews by platforms: clearly a huge proportion of game reviewers/journalists play on PS instead of Xbox and this colors their perception - even unwittingly. This isn’t helped by Xbox-first gamers with martyr complexes who are perpetually suffering from a bad case of “grass is always greener on the other side”

  2. This is more of an impression, not really something I have citations for. Possibly because of their size, Microsoft and thereby Xbox are seen as more acceptable targets. Not punching down, really. Their enormity and the necessity of maintaining good relationships with publications means that you can crap on them all you want and they’ll still keep communications open. So whenever anything bad or even neutral happens, they’re a reliable whipping boy.

    I get the impression that Sony can be a bit more ruthless but again that’s not based on anything in particular. It’s possible I read something that led to this impression but I can’t link to it.


How do we stop this? We can’t. Stop stressing about it because - while it’s undeniably annoying - it doesn’t matter and we can’t affect it. Hopefully Xbox will grow and this will become less pronounced but until then, just don’t click on the clickbaity links or share dumbass hot takes because you’re giving them exactly what they want. If you find yourself getting mad at what a possibly disingenuous stranger is saying online about games, close your browser and go play a game! And drink some water, we’re all chronically dehydrated.

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IGN started listing multiplatform games as Playstation exclusives.

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Beyond that they’ve adapted a strategy where they can make money through early access of games and merchandise like the Wraps, headset, controllers and who knows what other features. Just looking at the merchandising on Starfield, it could literally generate over a billion with everything about it selling out.

Dialed back the games. They know at $70 most gamers are only going to buy 2-3 games a year at full price (and of them is usually Call of Duty) .

Microsoft strategy is the opposite…to make too many games to the point where buying them all vs. The subscription is moronic.

Lets be realistic. Besides God of War, The Last of Us, Horizon and Spiderman… It is 3rd party games like COD, FIFA and Fortnite that keep Playstation gamers going.

It used to be no different with Microsoft either… but now they have went and bought a gazzilion devs and they are starting to throw money at 3rd party exclusives as well. You’re also starting to see traditional PC games come across to Xbox now… Age of Empires, Crusader Kings 3 alongside Mouse and Keyboard support

Microsoft have dozens of games releasing in the next 2 years and they are only at the start of their strategy adfter plowing money into gaming.

I’d expect to see Sony coming under increased pressure the more Xbox continues to get it right.

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When Sony shows up with a 1p game it usually is remarkable in some way. I think it’s from Shawn Layden’s best, better, or first philosophy. That has earned them a lot of goodwill and fanfare over the years.

Xbox could do the same but they have to transform their creative teams to standout in the right ways. No more misfires or missteps.