I am gonna start with the last bit. Sony generating more revenue means nothing to me as a gamer. I am getting fewer games than ever due to management.
Sony generating more revenue means future Sony games will grow their studios so will give them more resources (headcount and time) so will be better games. Means Sony will have more money to grow their 1st party games and to acquire more studios. Means Sony will have more money to fund and promote more AAA and indie 3rd party exclusives and more 2nd party games. Means they will have more money to invest on improving their services like PS Plus and PS Now, and to research future hardware like PSVR2 and PS6.
It means they will release more and better games and that will help them with future service and hardware improvements. So it means a lot to you as gamer.
As for the rest, Team ICO is no more. Ueda left and took his team with him. Sony Bend wasted a year and a half and lost the creative director of the franchise. They are starting work on a new game now. When do we get it? 5 years from now?
No, Team Ico was one of the Japan Studio teams. In addition to Japan studio other external teams had to help finish it due to the lack of a clear creative direction and difficulties on the tech side, resulting in the game being delayed too much, becoming a money sink and then didn't sell a shit. Ueda and a few members left/were fired and continued working from outside Sony to finish it, while the rest of hundreds of people of the team remained at Sony and outsourcing teams.
Bend didn't wast a year and a half. They released the PS5 patch, PC port, did help ND on a couple of projects (it's normal, all AAA games are made by multiple studios and it's normal in big corporations to help each other specially between big projects), got a pitch rejected and now got another one greenlighted. If the creative director left, they will promote another designer or will hire someone who will make a great job, it isn't a problem for big studios and big corporations. Days Gone game credits include 1679 people, it wasn't a game made by a single guy.
Bend has been growing these years and Sony mentioned they plan to continue growing their studios. Days Gone was developed in 4 years being their first AAA and home console game since ages ago, and also was a new IP which implies many extra work plus also was very ambitious in the tech side with the hordes stuff. They also weren't used to be that big as studio so as usually happens had some issues growing. They won't suffer most of their issues for their next game, now they are experienced as big AAA team creating a new IP for home console, the next one will be easier for them and will release it faster because will be even bigger.
So without counting the new Uncharted and the ND multiplatform game, and the DG PC port and PS5 patch where they did work, I'd bet they will release their own next game in less than 3 years.
The rest of your post just comes across as excuses. This is on Sony fucking up over and over again and producing fewer games than ever before. Do I care if it was Jim Ryan or Herman Hurst? No. I want games that made playstation what it is. From studios that made PS what it is. I wasnt a Sony fan because they sold the most consoles or made the most money. What kind of gamer cares about anything but games?
Bullshit.
They are releasing more games and are working on more games than they ever before did (and they also mentioned plans to continue growing their studios and to make more acquisitions). And also releasing more games than the other console platform holders.
And the games they publish sell better and get more GOTY awards and nominations than ever did (them and the other platform holders), so by the only more or less subjective numbers we have to compare they are better.
On top of that, they also invest now more than before on both 3rd party big AAA games and small, experimental indies. In friendlier contidions for their partners: the external studio gets the IP, gets more revenue from the PS version because selfpublishing it gets a higher revenue share and gets additional revenue because are allowed to released at launch on PC and after some time in other consoles. It's also more consumer friendly because players from more platforms are allowed to play these games sooner or later, and also safer for Sony because it isn't the same to fully invest on publishing 2nd party game than to fund and promote and externally published game that also costs them less because it isn't the same to ask them for timed console exclusivity than to ask them for fully console exclusivity.
Companies aren't NGOs, studios that are profitable grow and the unprofitable ones get downsized or get closed. And the games they think will suck don't get greenlighted or get canned. Sony had way more patience with these studios than many other publishers typically have.
This seems to confirm that they did the same in USA than in Japan Studio: they moved away the 2nd party publishing/localization/etc from their development studios to handle it globally from PlayStation Studios, so to allow game development studios to focus on developing their own internal games.
And to let the smaller, more experimental games to Yoshida's area: the indies part. Because self published timed console indie exclusives are a better deal for both Sony and the indies than a fully exclusive 2nd party game.
James Sawyer Ford this isnt troubling to you?
