I did correct myself backing up on popularity but recognizability and popularity are not the same thing, I think series like crash, spyro, sonic, tomb raider ect. are perfect examples of this. They are really recognizable but aren’t insanely popular if the numbers are to be believed…also wasn’t street fighter 2 the best selling fighting game for ages before smash ultimate dethroned it
I have literally never touched SF in my life, its just my opinion that more people would recognize street fighter over mortal kombat
alright maybe bigger wasn’t the best word since the context is needed, I meant more widely known, but I just realised sun said popular originally (which I didn’t originally notice) if we discount smash…fair…I am not sure what they meant by main stream though
I think its just a coinincidence tbh, a lot of companies have exclusive stuff with PS so a lot can make this argument e.g. capcom with the VR content, SEGA with persona and Yakuza until it was ported, T2 has a lot of deals with PS granted its more on the marketing end, namco has some tales of games exclusive ect.
I think it is just the case of Sony doing smart things. They are very proficient with getting more with less. The amount of deals they have is crazy - and they have the deals with all the big well known IPs. FIFA, FF, Genshin Impact, GTA, NBA, COD, Hogwarts, Avatar…While Microsoft cannot even make Minecraft be associated with Xbox Microsoft is just going after big IPs and it happens that Sony is sniffing around them all the time.
Sony cannot offer more to the publishers aside such deals - they are not in that cash position. I still consider Square Enix FF exclusivity to PS only is a brain dead move, but Sony cannot offer more to Square Enix. I don’t believe they will acquire them.
Square Enix do have a big IP with high engagement numbers which is FF14. Console adapted biggest MMO out there - it coming to cloud and Azure could be huge. But other that…Other SE IPs’ are just nowhere near Bethesda or ABK level.
SF is big in FGC community, but FGC is niche by itself. MK and Smash just exist on a different plane of existence. Maybe SF6 will bring more mainstream popularity to SF due to its cool stylish look.
I would rank popularity Smash >= MK > Tekken >> SF. SF5 heavily decimated the growth of SF. Also Capcom crippled SF4 with their various editions of the game, but SF5 basically buried the brand with exclusivity and lack of the content. Playstation exclusivity for the established franchises is the brain dead move - for the new franchises it is fine - but the established ones simply cannot grow bigger on Playstation anymore.
Can we leave the hyperbolic BS out of here please? Sony’s had just as many deals that turned out to be duds that’s always conveniently ignored. Microsoft also had marketing rights for several of the IPs you mentioned. There are a lot of factors that are also ignored when this console-warring list war is always brought up, especially the questionable tactics used by Sony whilst leveraging their position in the market (see any of the Apple v. Epic docs we are privy to), but that’s a longer discussion for another thread where it’s not considered off-topic.
I believe most of those deals ended somewhere in the middle of Xbox One gen. And other marketing deals Microsoft had was Cyberpunk 2077, Anthem, BF2042…But Microsoft right now does not have a marketing deal for any big IP I can think of out of my head…
I bring those tactics all the time but anything Sony related just don’t gain the traction in the media at all.
Microsoft doesn’t have the best marketing deals, or “It DoEsNt HaVe An IdEnTiTy”, but surely is selling so well that is even racing close to PS in japan in these last few weeks. People want to spend money where’s worth more, just like they switched from Sony TVs to LG and Samsungs, or when they flip from Fords to Toyotas and Hyundais, who cares about a “cool kids club” if said club is just cringefest and insuferrableness 24/7 with zero benefits?
I think thats common everywhere with PS and Xbox. Neither really sell because of their exclusives with a few exceptions like spiderman and potentially elder scrolls 6, nintendo is the only one of the 3 platform holders that can sell a ton of units just from their 1st party games while both xbox and PS are multiplat mechines
This is also why they should continue to grow their hub there. TT Games, Hello Games and Sega (afding those would give them a total of 17 offices in the UK) would give them by far the biggest developer presence there and also some of the most played games in the UK.
That’s what I’m saying. They have everything they need to dominate LATAM (even more so with ABK) but they need to buff their marketing presence here.
Would you believe when I say that I only started seeing Halo:Infinite adds and posters like one month later the game released? But I’m not worried since I’m pretty confident they will address this in the short term.
If the game output and hardware supply are in place and they still don’t improve their global presence/marketing/localization then I’ll start to question things. These things should start beefing up sometime next year.
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Microsoft is just going after big IPs and it happens that Sony is sniffing around them all the time.