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Sony can respond to The Empire building the Death Star using...Moneyball

Hobbygaming

has been asked to post in 'Grounded' mode.
Blockbuster said this.
Kodak said this.
Oldsmobile said this.

The videogame market is changing at a blistering rate. Not reacting to it would be a fools errand.
Where is this irrational thinking coming from? Do people not realize how much weight the PlayStation brand holds

PS5 is already at 6 million units FFS
 

StreetsofBeige

Gold Member
Add that to their annual revenue, it sounds at least a -$8B loss last year. This is business, if MS is as powerful as you guys talking about they won't axe Mixer and close all of their stores. Not long enough until Satya revisits Bill Gate's idea few years back in 2014 If investors aren't happy with Xbox business models.

Xbox has probably been MS' worst division since it was created 20 years ago. They are more aggressive then ever with acquisitions, new systems and GP.

Your dream of MS shutting down Xbox isn't happening anytime soon. They are expanding, not contracting.

Sony multiplat games have even come to PC and Xbox before any Xbox shut down.
 
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harmny

Banned
I can tell you how sony can make a lot of money without spending nearly as much but you are not going to like it. It's called freemium mobile games with gacha mechanics and microtransactions
 

Men_in_Boxes

Snake Oil Salesman
Have they shared? No, they only posted the annual revenue, without breaking it down and without adding the $7.5B of Bethesda indeed which will put a massive minus to their division losses.

So we have no idea how much Microsoft spends on XBox yearly? Especially after the Bethesda aquisition?
 

Bo_Hazem

Banned
Xbox has probably been MS' worst division since it was created 20 years ago. They are more aggressive then ever with acquisitions, new systems and GP.

Your dream of MS shutting down Xbox isn't happening anytime soon. They are expanding, not contracting.

Sony multiplat games have even come to PC and Xbox before any Xbox shut down.

This is Xbox's last breath, really. It'll be an interesting generation to watch, assuming it'll last until the end of it. Sony has been and still aggressive in making real games with their money, losing lots of money making more PS5's (around 7.4M mark and pushing for 14.8M for this fiscal year) and making impressive deals on PS Plus which are permanently there as long as you have an active sub, unlike PS Now/GamePass that games last for few months then disappear.

So we have no idea how much Microsoft spends on XBox yearly? Especially after the Bethesda aquisition?

Yes, they're not transparent.

Microsoft has more cash on hand than Sony though.

Of course, that didn't stop them from closing Mixer and their official stores worldwide. Also it has a bigger debt.
 
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VAVA Mk2

Member
👇



It's hilarious, really. PlayStation alone spent $22.7B in one fiscal year, that's more than twice what Xbox Division annual revenue is in one year.:lollipop_tears_of_joy: Add the Bethesda deal to it and it's still pretty short.
Microsoft has more cash on hand than Sony though.
 

StreetsofBeige

Gold Member
This is Xbox's last breath, really. It'll be an interesting generation to watch, assuming it'll last until the end of it. Sony has been and still aggressive in making real games with their money, losing lots of money making more PS5's (around 7.4M mark and pushing for 14.8M for this fiscal year) and making impressive deals on PS Plus which are permanently there as long as you have an active sub, unlike PS Now/GamePass that games last for few months then disappear.
I remember hearing Xbox will be MS's last console since the 360 days. Then I heard it during the Xbox One days. Now, despite all the aggressive stuff they done lately, you think this gen is their last?

lol

Not surprisingly, Sony has gone multiplat. Which is what I always thought would happen first before Xbox shut down.
 

mhirano

Member
"I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve." - Jim Ryan, yesterday, probably.

We've all had to hear XBox fans talk about Microsoft's fearsome war chest since 2003. "Just you wait. They can buy anyone they want. Then we'll see who's laughing". Well, it seems like the war chest is finally in play.

But what can Sony do?

The answer is Moneyball. There's a bunch of great YouTube videos explaining it but I'll give you Hollywoods description, as it can be pretty dry.

Context: MLB baseball doesn't have a salary cap, which means wealthy teams can construct rosters by paying the best players. In the clip, Billy Beane (Brad Pitt) is the GM of the lowly Oakland A's. His owner hires a non baseball mathematician (Jonah Hill) who assesses a players talent using non traditional means.




Sony can't outspend Microsoft. They don't have the stomach for it, and frankly they don't have the ability.

In order for Sony to compete over the next 10+ years, they must identify what the market overvalues, what it undervalues, and spend accordingly.

The question I pose to NeoGAF is "What does the industry currently overvalue, and what does the industry currently undervalue?"


Overvalue:

Big budget graphics - The market would rather play Minecraft and Fortnite than The Last of Us II or Resident Evil 2 Remake. Gamers don't value graphics like we did back in the day.

Quirky Japanese games (KojiPro) - There's a reason Japan has fallen off a cliff over the last 20 years. Kojima, we love him, isn't commercially relavent anymore.

20 hr single player games w/no replay value. These games come and go so quickly out of the zeitgeist that it's not worth pursuing if you're spending crazy time and resources on them.

High skill floor games - Games that can't be picked up by a wide variety of gamers are putting a ceiling on their success. The Bloodborne/DarkSouls type games are never going to be big sellers.



Undervalue:

Multiplayer - SteamCharts and XBox Live most Played Games List shows that people are overwhelmingly playing multiplayer games today.

Western Indie - Valheim is closing in on 7 million sold. That's approaching The Last of Us II numbers.

GAAS - In 10 years, the amount of people playing their "one game", is going to increase. Sony needs to be leading that charge.

Sandbox - Stardew Valley sold 10+ million, Animal Crossing sold 40+ million, Terraria sold 25+ million. These games appeal to a bigger audience and they traditionally have longer legs.

You think as a game industry executive who hasn't played even Super Marios Bros.
I dislike you.
GAAS, multiplayer only games?
This is where many studios thought the industry was headed and failed miserably.
 

Trogdor1123

Member
You guys really don't understand what PlayStation is doing, it's at least spending 2x more than Xbox. You think that $25B is pure, 1 year net profit? If true that will be insane but no.

TcUcaTK.png


PlayStation has made only $3.3B profit out of $25B, which means they've spent around $22.7B on PlayStation brand in one year.

Sony is making vastly more consoles, making and publishing a gigantic amount of games vs Xbox, developing extensively in games and services.

That war chest is a fucking meme, and the Bethesda deal that people are melting over is pocket change to what PlayStation Division is spending on. Difference is Xbox is more than likely is operating on a loss and MS isn't transparent enough with it hiding behind PR. PlayStation is spending much stronger than Xbox and making much more consoles! They've shipped more than 7 million consoles (over $3.5B + logistics) and planning to ship 14.8 million PS5's by next year, so that's alone is investing more than $7.4B in one year.

MS should stop talking and start showing.
I'd bet the vast majority of that is BOM though.
 

VAVA Mk2

Member
This is Xbox's last breath, really. It'll be an interesting generation to watch, assuming it'll last until the end of it. Sony has been and still aggressive in making real games with their money, losing lots of money making more PS5's (around 7.4M mark and pushing for 14.8M for this fiscal year) and making impressive deals on PS Plus which are permanently there as long as you have an active sub, unlike PS Now/GamePass that games last for few months then disappear.



Yes, they're not transparent.



Of course, that didn't stop them from closing Mixer and their official stores worldwide. Also it has a bigger debt.
Right...anyways everyone needs to chill the fuck out. Microsoft will be more competitive this gen, but Sony will still do well. Competition only benefits us consumers as it pushes companies to not get complacent. Everyone needs to stop freaking out.
 

Bo_Hazem

Banned
I remember hearing Xbox will be MS's last console since the 360 days. Then I heard it during the Xbox One days. Now, despite all the aggressive stuff they done lately, you think this gen is their last?

lol

Not surprisingly, Sony has gone multiplat. Which is what I always thought would happen first before Xbox shut down.

With nVidia holding ARM, most likely bullying the aging x86 architecture, Microsoft's golden cow.


That's why:


Microsoft has much bigger problems to worry about going forward with ARM being already a well established area for Apple and Google as OS makers.
 
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StreetsofBeige

Gold Member
With nVidia holding ARM, most likely bullying the aging x86 architecture, Microsoft's golden cow.


That's why:


Microsoft has much bigger problems to worry about going forward with ARM being already well established area for Apple and Google as OS makers.
Who knew a thread about PS could change focus to Nvidia and ARM, but great work Bo.
 

Hobbygaming

has been asked to post in 'Grounded' mode.
Kodak, Blockbuster, and Oldsmobile all held a lot of weight at one time.

Then competitors showed up. They were unable to reposition in the market and all 3 went belly up.
There's no sign of anything similar happening here. And Sony could easily change course if they needed to
 

Bo_Hazem

Banned
Right...anyways everyone needs to chill the fuck out. Microsoft will be more competitive this gen, but Sony will still do well. Competition only benefits us consumers as it pushes companies to not get complacent. Everyone needs to stop freaking out.

Well, I'm really expecting both companies are sweating from the potential ARM take-over that will introduce Android and iOS in much bigger shoes, and nVidia will push hard enough to accelerate that.

Who knew a thread about PS could change focus to Nvidia and ARM, but great work Bo.

Isn't it enlightening and drawing a bigger picture of what's really happening around us though? That will massively affect the so-called warchest of Microsoft when there are new players and Windows isn't enjoying a monopoly.
 

VAVA Mk2

Member
Well, I'm really expecting both companies are sweating from the potential ARM take-over that will introduce Android and iOS in much bigger shoes, and nVidia will push hard enough to accelerate that.



Isn't it enlightening and drawing a bigger picture of what's really happening around us though? That will massively affect the so-called warchest of Microsoft when there are new players and Windows isn't enjoying a monopoly.
Microsoft is actually rumored to be developing its own ARM-based CPUs for future Surface devices. Real loser is going to be Intel.
 

Ghazgulsmash

Neo Member
You guys really don't understand what PlayStation is doing, it's at least spending 2x more than Xbox. You think that $25B is pure, 1 year net profit? If true that will be insane but no.

TcUcaTK.png


PlayStation has made only $3.3B profit out of $25B, which means they've spent around $22.7B on PlayStation brand in one year.

Sony is making vastly more consoles, making and publishing a gigantic amount of games vs Xbox, developing extensively in games and services.

That war chest is a fucking meme, and the Bethesda deal that people are melting over is pocket change to what PlayStation Division is spending on. Difference is Xbox is more than likely is operating on a loss and MS isn't transparent enough with it hiding behind PR. PlayStation is spending much stronger than Xbox and making much more consoles! They've shipped more than 7 million consoles (over $3.5B + logistics) and planning to ship 14.8 million PS5's by next year, so that's alone is investing more than $7.4B in one year.

MS should stop talking and start showing.
25,000,000,000.00 in JPY = 228,725,000.00 USD its not the same as 7,000,000,000.00 USD = 765,037,000,000.00 JPY what MS paid for Bethesda
 

SilentUser

Member
NeoGaf is really hard to watch these days. I miss the threads about news and exciting stuff.

Enjoy your plastic box and stop this bullshit.
Same. Getting really tired about all these useless topics flooding the forum.

And what the op described is precisely what I DO NOT WANT for gaming. There will always be a market wanting single player story driven games, which was made pretty clear last gen. Also, comparing
sales of Valheim with TLoU? Is he aware Valheim is dirty cheap? Nothing wrong with the game, of course, but he is simply basing the whole thread in false premises.
 

Smoke6

Member
Considering theres been more exclusives for PS5 I dont know what you mean.

Ive been playing Disco Elysium and Abe’s Soulstorm this week. One was free on PS+ and the other was discounted at launch for some reason.
Ive got Returnal, RE 8, Ratchet and Clank, FF7 and more coming this year.
What are you playing daily on the XBox SX?
Nothing but last gen titles that can be played on the PS5! For some reason people love to brag about playing a console that actually has no games for it than the console that does and can also play last gen games as well!

shit makes no sense when I see post like that, how the fuck you enjoy playing last gen game on one box but bragged about the other box having the best exclusive but won’t play the newer box that can play those games!

this thread is dumb!
 

Dabaus

Banned
👇



It's hilarious, really. PlayStation alone spent $22.7B in one fiscal year, that's more than twice what Xbox Division annual revenue is in one year.:lollipop_tears_of_joy: Add the Bethesda deal to it and it's still pretty short.
I don’t think they spent 22 billion in one year, heck in all of playstations history. That’s probably total revenue for a year but that’s not profit.
 

Bo_Hazem

Banned
Microsoft is actually rumored to be developing its own ARM-based CPUs for future Surface devices. Real loser is going to be Intel.

Microsoft will survive but they'll share the pie with Android, Apple instead of fully enjoying a monopoly right now on desktops. The direct competitor will be Google as Apple will still be stubborn like with their laptops and desktops, so a gaming rig using Android OS might not sound funny in a few years. Huawei already launching their Harmony OS as well, so they could have a share of that as well and we might expect more companies to jump in.

25,000,000,000.00 in JPY = 228,725,000.00 USD its not the same as 7,000,000,000.00 USD = 765,037,000,000.00 JPY what MS paid for Bethesda

Go back and pay attention to all the figures in the graph. :lollipop_tears_of_joy:

I don’t think they spent 22 billion in one year, heck in all of playstations history. That’s probably total revenue for a year but that’s not profit.

They've made $25.5B revenue, out of that is only $3.3B net profit. The rest is investment/operating costs/logistics etc. That's Playstation in a single year, spending more than Xbox and Nintendo whole annual revenue combined.
 
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Smoke6

Member
Xbox has probably been MS' worst division since it was created 20 years ago. They are more aggressive then ever with acquisitions, new systems and GP.

Your dream of MS shutting down Xbox isn't happening anytime soon. They are expanding, not contracting.

Sony multiplat games have even come to PC and Xbox before any Xbox shut down.
Yeah I think you’re wrong about that as Xbox shit done the OG Xbox prematurely and rushed the 360 out to get a leg up!

If all else fails they’ll at least be publishers for there gamepass service!
 

Men_in_Boxes

Snake Oil Salesman
There's no sign of anything similar happening here. And Sony could easily change course if they needed to

No similarities to the camera industry, the automobile industry, or the movie industry?

Nothing comparable to the gaming industry today?

You're aware of how American car companies dominated the market before Japan jumped in right?
 

Dabaus

Banned
Something people don’t really understand is that gaming has razor thin profit margins and is a very difficult industry to be successful in.
Consider Sony’s last quarter:
- Record software sales, a lot of which was first party so more pure profit.
-Record high subscription numbers from ps plus
-Ps5 controller #1 gaming accessory sold.
-62 percent games digitally downloaded which adds to revenue
-Large active installed base selling software, majority of third party games sold on PS4.

With all THAT Sony “only” made 750 million that quarter. That’s ALOT in their favor and that’s “all” they have to show for it.

I’m not criticizing Sony here, what I’m saying is with all of that in their favor, Xbox has NONE of that going for it at the moment besides Minecraft. Unless gamespass really is raking it I don’t see how they’re not losing billions per quarter or year.

Edit: IF Sony felt ps now subscriptions were the future because it’s so lucrative they would be pushing it way harder. This isn’t rocket science. Money hat a big popular game like fifa, cod, and/ or gta. Run a dollar promotion for a few months, play slick commercial during sporting events. Profit. Believe me, it’s really that easy. The thing is they don’t see it as very lucrative and I trust Nintendo and Sony know how to run a games business.
 
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Bo_Hazem

Banned
The question in the OP: What does the industry overvalue, and undervalue?

The question people are answering: Is Sony going to be OK?

Of course more than OK, they're leading by a massive margin compared to the competition. They're still competing with themselves.

game-console-unit-sales3.png
 

Bo_Hazem

Banned
Something people don’t really understand is that gaming has razor thin profit margins and is a very difficult industry to be successful in.
Consider Sony’s last quarter:
- Record software sales, a lot of which was first party so more pure profit.
-Record high subscription numbers from ps plus
-Ps5 controller #1 gaming accessory sold.
-62 percent games digitally downloaded which adds to revenue
-Large active installed base selling software, majority of third party games sold on PS4.

With all THAT Sony “only” made 750 million that quarter. That’s ALOT in their favor and that’s “all” they have to show for it.

I’m not criticizing Sony here, what I’m saying is with all of that in their favor, Xbox has NONE of that going for it at the moment besides Minecraft. Unless gamespass really is raking it I don’t see how they’re not losing billions per quarter or year.

They've made $3.3B net profit last fiscal year, ending at 31st of March 2021. With Xbox and MS being very vague and hiding details we can't calculate how much they've lost last year combined with the Bethesda deal. Minecraft continues to be Microsoft's best IP and investment, and actually being mostly selling on PS4. But one IP won't cut it, and it's aging pretty quickly with the rise of F2P games that are much better and newer like Genshin.

This thread is about the next 10 years, not the last 30 years.

You build upon your previous success and you start much healthier when coming from a very successful generation like PS4 vs a very bad generation like Xbox One.
 
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Dabaus

Banned
They've made $3.3B net profit last fiscal year, ending at 31st of March 2021. With Xbox and MS being very vague and hiding details we can't calculate how much they've lost last year combined with the Bethesda deal. Minecraft continues to be Microsoft's best IP and investment, and actually being mostly selling on PS4. But one IP won't cut it, and it's aging pretty quickly with the rise of F2P games that are much better and newer like Genshin.



You build on your previous success and you start much healthier when coming from a very successful generation like PS4 vs a very bad generation like Xbox One.
750 million was for the quarter, 3.3 was for the year. The point I’m making is with all of that in Sony’s favor and dominance they “only” made 3.3 for the whole year. Meanwhile MS has NONE of that so by that logic they have to be losing billions. In my opinion
 

Bo_Hazem

Banned
Kodak, Blockbuster, and Oldsmobile all held a lot of weight at one time.

Then competitors showed up. They were unable to reposition in the market and all 3 went belly up.

Speaking of Kodak, Sony is leading the new era of mirrorless cameras which Canon and Nikon laughed at and now many rumors suggest that Nikon might actually close their business, even though they've been using Sony image sensors since the 1980's.

Mirrorless-Market-Share-2019.jpg


But still overall Canon is still leading on top with DSLR's that are a dying market full of old people that still stick with what's fimiliar.

share-Kopie.jpg


Blockbusters are probably famous in the US in any case, Oldsmobile as well. Speaking of automobiles, both Sony and now Apple are serious about it.






Oil-based car makers if they keep being sluggish they might lose a lot of potential market share.
 

Men_in_Boxes

Snake Oil Salesman
You build on your previous success and you start much healthier when coming from a very successful generation like PS4 vs a very bad generation like Xbox One.

If Jim Ryan ever sees this post of yours, PlayStation is guaranteed massive success over the next 20 years.

How do we get it to him?
 

Bo_Hazem

Banned
If Jim Ryan ever sees this post of yours, PlayStation is guaranteed massive success over the next 20 years.

How do we get it to him?

I think many gaffers are underestimating Jim Ryan's business intelligence. He's been in Playstation since 1994, and helped expand the PS brand in Europe massively before becoming the CEO. Also both companies have eyes and ears around the social media, so the higher ups already know about everything going around.

Jim Ryan:

jimryanbio.png


 
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Dabaus

Banned
I kind of a agree that this super hard push for game pass is Xbox’s “last gasp” but I also think it may work for them because it seems that the Xbox division has been given the blank check to do whatever they want from daddy MS. Deadlines, budgets, quality products, sales milestones. None of that matters because it doesn’t have to. “Here’s your bottomless pit of money, spend it until you win.” Maybe I’m wrong and I hope I am.
“Inevitably” and “invincibility” seem to be Xbox’s pitch to gamers this gen, maybe Sony’s and Nintendo’s long term plan should be to just call their bluff and keep doing what their doing? If ms wants to go all in on games as a service rental model good for them, not my cup of tea.
 

Bo_Hazem

Banned
That's Bo whipping out opinion hits as Sony has been getting slaughtered in news and PR lately. You'll notice he's been really quiet on the board lately.

PR is just PR, hot farts that don't shake the solid ground of 25 years of pure dominance. Games will make gamers decide, as always.

I kind of a agree that this super hard push for game pass is Xbox’s “last gasp” but I also think it may work for them because it seems that the Xbox division has been given the blank check to do whatever they want from daddy MS. Deadlines, budgets, quality products, sales milestones. None of that matters because it doesn’t have to. “Here’s your bottomless pit of money, spend it until you win.” Maybe I’m wrong and I hope I am.
“Inevitably” and “invincibility” seem to be Xbox’s pitch to gamers this gen, maybe Sony’s and Nintendo’s long term plan should be to just call their bluff and keep doing what their doing? If ms wants to go all in on games as a service rental model good for them, not my cup of tea.

There are no such things as "no deadlines, bottomless pit of money, etc". If they don't generate meaningful profit soon they'll get bullied by the investors:

 
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Or they can sue XCloud.

Because they hold a treasure chest of patents on gaming streaming. Gaikai, Onlive, etc. If a Game streaming patent was taking its first steps, Sony went and bought them.
 

ToadMan

Member
Wrong analogy.

The A’s were a losing team trying to win.

Sony is the market leader in gaming and makes record revenues and an actual profit.

Yes MS is attempting to outspend their way to victory. They did the same in the 360 era which sowed the seed for the xbone flop.

They also spent big on other non gaming stuff only to pull back when it didn’t make bank quickly enough.

Sony is the leader right now - it’s MS looking for ways to try and succeed.
 

kungfuian

Member
From a content standpoint I would argue Sony doesn't need to do anything but stay the course. Keep nurturing talent and making kick ass AAA games people want to play.

That said Sony's recent PR issues, at least on these enthusiast boards, do show what is IMO their biggest weakness. As a platform holder you are never going to satisfy everyone, and things like the closure of the PS3/Vita store, MLB day one gamepass, etc. come and go. But Sony's PR team(s) just suck at dealing with this type of negative PR. There has to be a better way to manage the fall out of these types of things to protect the brand.

Also from a PR standpoint, I would argue for a return to a bit longer marketing lead up for their exclusives. Sometime around the middle of last gen Sony was getting a lot of flack for announcing games too early (like 3-4 years out), and they seemed to have responded by shifting to an extremely short news cycle for their exclusives. This new approach sucks IMO because as a gamer they are doing a much worse job of selling me on the future of their platform. To contrast, Microsoft haven't released shit as far as next gen exclusives go, but yet they continue to establish positive mindshare due to the PROMISE of things to come. It's weird because I used to consider this one of Playstation's biggest strengths. Wish they would land somewhere more in the middle.
 

Dabaus

Banned
From a content standpoint I would argue Sony doesn't need to do anything but stay the course. Keep nurturing talent and making kick ass AAA games people want to play.

That said Sony's recent PR issues, at least on these enthusiast boards, do show what is IMO their biggest weakness. As a platform holder you are never going to satisfy everyone, and things like the closure of the PS3/Vita store, MLB day one gamepass, etc. come and go. But Sony's PR team(s) just suck at dealing with this type of negative PR. There has to be a better way to manage the fall out of these types of things to protect the brand.

Also from a PR standpoint, I would argue for a return to a bit longer marketing lead up for their exclusives. Sometime around the middle of last gen Sony was getting a lot of flack for announcing games too early (like 3-4 years out), and they seemed to have responded by shifting to an extremely short news cycle for their exclusives. This new approach sucks IMO because as a gamer they are doing a much worse job of selling me on the future of their platform. To contrast, Microsoft haven't released shit as far as next gen exclusives go, but yet they continue to establish positive mindshare due to the PROMISE of things to come. It's weird because I used to consider this one of Playstation's biggest strengths. Wish they would land somewhere more in the middle.
I agree that Sony’s current PR is awful. It’s not that I want them making mountains out molehills everyday like team green does, but reassuring us that they hear us on backwards compatibility through a blog post could go along way.

Sony does have the cash on hand, revenue streams, and yes can take loans out to match Microsoft tit for tat at this point anyways, but currently they don’t HAVE to. I think if gamespass actually does take off and starts to damage the bottom line they’ll react. The question is, will it be too late by then or is all of this gamespass hype one of the most elaborate online marketing paid for astroturfed money sinks of the modern era? Time will tell.
 
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Ten_Fold

Member
Sony fans are wild as fuck. Let Xbox have their time. The ps5 will still outsell the Xbox series s and x, it just will probably be a much closer race. Competition is good.
 

Dabaus

Banned
Sony fans are wild as fuck. Let Xbox have their time. The ps5 will still outsell the Xbox series s and x, it just will probably be a much closer race. Competition is good.
Competition is Sony and Nintendo. Pepsi and Coca Cola. Miami heat and the San Antonio Spurs. Microsoft is bottomless pit of money trying to transform the gaming industry into a “you’ll never own your game rental service, and you’ll like it” brute force monopolizing entity. This isn’t competition, in my opinion.
 

TheAssist

Member
So you are telling me they should invest in some of the most competitive markets there are because they are "undervalued". Its a bit weird because you already list of several games in a genre that sold like hotcakes, which is the exact opposite of being unvervalued.

Single Player AAA 20 hour games with no DLC, MTX, or GAAS mechanics are being undervalued because Sony is one of the only devs out there providing these kind of games. They are expansive to make and run on comparatively low margins (compared to GAAS and others listed).
The reality is that "anyone" could make a valhalla, or star dew valley because they are relatively low budget. But these already exist without Sony. So Sonys goal is to bring players to play these games on THEIR ecosystem to make money and in order to bring players into their eco system they try to provide something that no other platform has in that abundance. And that is big AAA single player 20 hour games.

Yes there is rockstar and very few other devs that provide these games every blood moon but only on a Sony system do you get these at a steady pace. Last year was GoT, TLoU2 and FF7R (timed, but good enough for most people). There are no games like these on ANY other platform. There aint no GoW on XBox and there is no Horizon on switch (which is serving another undervalued part of the gaming market btw.).

So Sony is already doing what you are saying and they have done so since the PS1. They've grown these studios for decades now and they made good profit with them, not just by selling games, but by selling an idea of what their console stands for. Big budget blockbuster experiences (love them or hate them, doesnt matter) that you cant get anywhere else.

We'll see if MS can catch up this gen, they sure will try and I hope both platforms will become stronger as a result.
 
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