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PlayStation's Focus on Too Big to Fail Games Is Concerning

Alright

Banned
console sales dont matter to microsoft, yet a majority of subscribers to gamepass are subscribed through an xbox console! if you take away xbox ones 50m consoles sold. how many gamepass subscribers would there be? if xbox one sold 150m consoles, how many gamepass subscriber would there be? think people! its pretty simple basic understanding! microsoft absolutely want to sell as many systems as possible! i get why hardcore xbox fans say the opposite but it just isnt true.
It's all PR to move people away from one narrative and towards another.

Either Microsoft is about to drop bad/not great news (bathesda games coming to PlayStation?) or Sony's 'counter punch to gamepass' is going to be a knock out blow.

I like gamepass and I hope Sony don't copy it, but we'll see what happens
 

Bryank75

Banned
The only thing they are doing wrong is not expanding through acquisition of IP and talent.

Exactly.... if I could make two corrections to their strategy it would be.... no AAA games go to PC but price hike remains.

and I would acquire either a publisher or several hand picked studios to bolster the 1st party.
Some of these games from the expansion would go to PC but not all.... if there were strategy games for instance or a multiplayer only game that needed a big playerbase.

They really need to reinforce their Japanese gaming scene and add diversity to their lineup.
 

Bryank75

Banned
"Grow your platform by any means necessary
Get 30% commissions on every transaction on your platform
Sell monthly subscriptions to your various services
Sell exclusive games and hopefully make more money than you spent on the games"

They do all those though ? ... And pc expansion will come it's too much money to leave on the table
They only made 25 million from Death Stranding on PC.... and that took resources away from updates for the PS5 version.

I think it is a waste porting the big AAA singleplayer games. They should just port MLB and games with multiplayer incorporating many mtx..... like the new factions game (TLOU).
That would bolster the community size and make good money.
 

Three

Member
I always liked Sony for investing into less mainstream games like:
ICO, SotC, Tha Last Guardian, Gravity Rush, Nier, Motorstorm etc.

Thanks to that we are got whole Souls genre - Demon's Souls is what it started. Beside huge AAA games they were always trying something niche and some of those games were trully brilliant. I really don't like focus only on BLOCKBUSTERS. I like Uncharted but is pretty medicore to me - fun shooting with good graphic. Bloodborne and Shadow of The Colossus on the other hand are masterpieces that I absoluetly love.

The problem is the game-developing cost are too high right now and it's better (from financial perspective) to do safe bet. But without those risks the PlayStation brand would not be where it is now.

The moment Sony stop making interesting new titles is the momen when they will start going downhill. You can see what happened to Microsoft when they tried to continue they brands like Gow and Forza for years withoout anything new... If all Sony has to offer is MORE Uncharted, GOW, Horizon, GoT - i think some players will burn out.
And they are still doing that with games like Returnal, Ratchet and Clank, Astrobot, Demons souls and Sackboy.

I think I'm starting to understand the whole plan/vision Ryan has for Playstation brand, where it heading, and it makes so much sense - unlike Spencer, who wants Xbox to become the Netflix of gaming, Ryan wants to turn Playstation into Marvel of gaming, with huge, absolutely massive IPs, recognizable across the world and widely available, with each IP being basically a huge brand itself.

The consoles don't bring any profit, the games/services do, THAT's the product, hence Sony wanting to sell them as much as possible, a.k.a. expanding to PC and mobile markets.


Exactly, what people don't realise is that Jim was actually promoted in a restructure to move towards services by moving Kodera there.

So why is Sony making a change? Sony chief executive officer Kenichiro Yoshida says he wants someone to focus on growing PlayStation as an overarching platform.

“Our Game & Network Services business has grown into the Sony Group’s largest business in terms of both sales and operating income,” Yoshida said in a statement. “Furthermore, our business in this domain holds significant importance as our growth driver going forward. At the same time, this industry is relentlessly fast-moving, and to remain the market leader, we must constantly evolve ourselves with a sense of urgency.”

Yoshida said he decided to mix up the leadership team after talking with Kodera. Kenichiro said that while he wants to keep Kodera in charge of expanding network services, Ryan has the experience to ensure stability within PlayStation.

There are now a bunch of people though throwing tantrums about games going to PC or other platforms. The wierd thing is that a lot of known xbox fans are trying to stoke the flames of 'concern' and people are talking about switching when the actual end game plan is exactly where xbox is now because their hardware sales declined the fastest. What are they concerned about? That games are coming to PC? That Sony will make yearly AAA games with their studios?

Xbox has little to no first party games at the moment to promote the Series X. It is not focused on generations or hardware. It is focused on its services and third party most of the time. Sony with the PS5 tried to maintain the old hardware generations model but it is shifting to services with an accelerated PS5 base because everyone can't stop talking about services and GaaS is taking over. They will shift to services too just like they shifted to paid online and PS+ if game sales and hardware sales continue to decline. They need to be prepared. People don't give him credit but Jim knows what he is doing for the business. He doesn't have MS's tax writeoff dollars but he is doing a good job and has been for 5 generations of hardware.
 
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It's all PR to move people away from one narrative and towards another.

Either Microsoft is about to drop bad/not great news (bathesda games coming to PlayStation?) or Sony's 'counter punch to gamepass' is going to be a knock out blow.

I like gamepass and I hope Sony don't copy it, but we'll see what happens

it is just clever PR. nobody is blaming microsoft for it. you have to paint your brand in the best way possible. microsoft aint going to be talking about consoles sales when they're competitor has over double the units sold. microsoft aint going to be talking about software sold when they're competitor has much higher selling games. thats why they're moving to "player" numbers. its good PR because tons of people will be downloading games just to try on gamepass and those will translate to player numbers even though majority of them only played just to give it a try. this give a massively inflated figure thats not anywhere close to how many people are actually playing it. sony may have sold 15m copies of a game but microsoft can say " we have over 20m players of sea of thieves". it makes them look good.
 

Alright

Banned
it is just clever PR. nobody is blaming microsoft for it. you have to paint your brand in the best way possible. microsoft aint going to be talking about consoles sales when they're competitor has over double the units sold. microsoft aint going to be talking about software sold when they're competitor has much higher selling games. thats why they're moving to "player" numbers. its good PR because tons of people will be downloading games just to try on gamepass and those will translate to player numbers even though majority of them only played just to give it a try. this give a massively inflated figure thats not anywhere close to how many people are actually playing it. sony may have sold 15m copies of a game but microsoft can say " we have over 20m players of sea of thieves". it makes them look good.
The funny thing is, Microsoft released a statement a while back saying that there were 3 billion gamers. The only way for that to be true is if Microsoft are lumping console, pc and mobile gamers in the same bracket.

When will they learn? They smashed it out of the park when they focused solely on games and online play. As soon as they deviated to Kinect, TV, All in one entertainment etc, they lost track and have never got back on it since. They just seem to be scrambling around.

I'll give Spencer the benefit of the doubt and see what happens at E3 and holidays this year, I just hope it's dedicated to games and not some 'other' thing that no gamer wants.
 
They only made 25 million from Death Stranding on PC.... and that took resources away from updates for the PS5 version.

I think it is a waste porting the big AAA singleplayer games. They should just port MLB and games with multiplayer incorporating many mtx..... like the new factions game (TLOU).
That would bolster the community size and make good money.
Quick question How much did death stranding cost to port to pc ? And then how much as a whole has that game made on both pc and ps combined did they make money ? .

Those games you mentioned would probably do well yes but I'd like to see all games release on ps and pc simultaneously with Sony I really think it will play a crucial part this gen but I know you don't agree and that's fine .
 

SSfox

Member
Wanna hear a joke? ...













Remaking TLOU1 why cancelling DG2
1466366197-risitas10.png
 

ToadMan

Member
So we are going to pretend in this thread that Destruction Allstars and Sackboy don’t exist?

Nor the 3rd party exclusives like Bugsnax or upcomers like Kena, Jett, Stray and others?

Sony has many big games yes - of course they do and that’s why they’re leading the market. You have to be the size of Sony to make those games. But they have a stable of other smaller stuff whether exclusive or timed exclusive.

Meanwhile MS are bankrolling what is rumoured to be the most expensive game to date - Craig Infinite - and have just bought zenimax together with a brunch of other stuff none of which have produced a product yet.

But Sony are the ones carrying all the risk and only focusing on the big stuff? 🤪

Another day, another misanalysis by mainstream journalists who apparently can’t manage to do a game review according to GAF - yet this thread is concern central because they’re definitely right this time.

I wish there were some MS released games - you guys would have something else to do at least.
 
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Bryank75

Banned
Quick question How much did death stranding cost to port to pc ? And then how much as a whole has that game made on both pc and ps combined did they make money ? .

Those games you mentioned would probably do well yes but I'd like to see all games release on ps and pc simultaneously with Sony I really think it will play a crucial part this gen but I know you don't agree and that's fine .

It apparently made back it's money on console anyway, after that I don't know the exact figures.
The problem is.... it pissed off a lot of people to see games like Horizon and Days Gone go to PC. Those exclusives are supposed to be reasons to buy a PlayStation console. To have a PS4/5 beside your PC.... now they are undermining that especially with the AAA exclusive story games.

It also angers a good portion of PlayStation fans. I am not buying Returnal or any game at launch now except for R&C and that's cause I have a kid who I introduced to gaming through the 2016 R&C..... so I have a soft spot. I'll probably get attacked for saying that.... but I don't care, that's how I feel and I will act on it.

It's up to the people running PlayStation after that to figure out if it's worth it. But I will give them a 'slap in the face' every time I can.
 

Leyasu

Banned
Even though !I mostly agree with your statement, I do remember that it is exactly what has been said befaore the gen lauched.
And people started to get worried or even concerned but in the end between both Sony was way more ready than MS, I mean look at the games and their upcoming slate of games.

And what makes me cautious is how agressive MS is with marketing and PR, look at the controller latency for example MS went overboard to talk about how it has the lowest latency than any Xbox controller and sony didn't say a thing and tests showed that the dualsense had lower latency.

It repeats again and again but the dog barking the loudest is more often than not the dog that won't fight, or as I would like to say do you want a girlfriend that talk about sex all the time but barely does it or the one that doesn't talk about it but is always ready to go.

Maybe when MS will have something more to show than Halo and CGI then I will be interested in some of their games but as of now there's nothing out for me on the horizon.
I thought that my post was clear! I merely implied that all the recent discussion surrounding Sony was because of their apparent silence.

Microsoft are making visible moves with heavy investment. Compared to Sony openly doing nothing. Hence the discussion in the gaming media and the hardcore fanboys calling for Jim to be hung, drawn and quartered.
 
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Three

Member
The only thing they are doing wrong is not expanding through acquisition of IP and talent.
Because there are bidding wars which they are less likely to win hence why they need to concentrate on 'organic growth' which essentially means hiring devs for your own studios to work on multiple projects. Bend Studio expanded massively during the end of the PS4 gen.
In the end Sony perform much better with game output than the rest but bidding wars for existing studios is not in their favour when you have the likes of Amazon, Google, and MS trying to get a foothold.
 
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It apparently made back it's money on console anyway, after that I don't know the exact figures.
The problem is.... it pissed off a lot of people to see games like Horizon and Days Gone go to PC. Those exclusives are supposed to be reasons to buy a PlayStation console. To have a PS4/5 beside your PC.... now they are undermining that especially with the AAA exclusive story games.

It also angers a good portion of PlayStation fans. I am not buying Returnal or any game at launch now except for R&C and that's cause I have a kid who I introduced to gaming through the 2016 R&C..... so I have a soft spot. I'll probably get attacked for saying that.... but I don't care, that's how I feel and I will act on it.

It's up to the people running PlayStation after that to figure out if it's worth it. But I will give them a 'slap in the face' every time I can.
I guess they made a profit from porting it then .... those games are still reasons to buy a ps5 especially if you can't afford a pc good enough and you aren't pc literate those are reasons enough to get a ps5 , I'm glad your voting with your wallet but understand your in the minority on this the majority of ps players dont care and will continue to play FIFA /cod/Fortnite sprinkled with in-house made games imho
 

Ten_Fold

Member
Yeah pretty much won’t see hardly any AA games from them this gen. Just big AAA games that they can make a movie or tv show from now. Seems they wanna share assets between them. Generations to Jim doesn’t really matter.
 

SLB1904

Banned
It's only spot on if you believe the nonsense that Gamepass is $1 for life. And you yourself said profits don't matter, you need to grow the business. Which one is it :messenger_beaming:
No I dont believe in $1 for life. I never said profits doesn't matter.Profits matter but not as you think it does. My spot on comment was related to the investment ms is making. I dont think anyone with the right head thinks they are going to be profitable straight, it's a long game
 

Three

Member
I thought that my post was clear! I merely implied that all the recent discussion surrounding Sony was because of their apparent silence.

Microsoft are making visible moves with heavy investment. Compared to Sony openly doing nothing. Hence the discussion in the gaming media and the hardcore fanboys calling for Jim to be hung, drawn and quartered.
People complained about their silence when there was all this concern about RDNA1.5, No VRS, variable clocks and no PS5s out in the wild and look how that turned out. Speak with action not with words. As long as they continue to make amazing games, which they are doing and they continue to make nice hardware I'm happy. I don't need them to whisper sweet nothings into my ear.
 

Lokaum D+

Member
Nintendo has survived all these years with a weak (somehow expensive) console, NO gamepass, NO online and only with Mario, Zelda and Pokémon, and Sony is somehow doomed because they focus too much on good games, this is really an interesting point of view
 
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azertydu91

Hard to Kill
I thought that my post was clear! I merely implied that all the recent discussion surrounding Sony was because of their apparent silence.

Microsoft are making visible moves with heavy investment. Compared to Sony openly doing nothing. Hence the discussion in the gaming media and the hardcore fanboys calling for Jim to be hung, drawn and quartered.
Oh .... sorry if you felt that I was criticizing you, I was agreeing with you.
But I wanted to emphasize that silence is not lack of actions, I feel like it is how they comunicate now, silence until there's something heavy to show.
And that leaves people frustrated which is understandable.
 

Leyasu

Banned
People complained about their silence when there was all this concern about RDNA1.5, No VRS, variable clocks and no PS5s out in the wild and look how that turned out. Speak with action not with words. As long as they continue to make amazing games, which they are doing and they continue to make nice hardware I'm happy. I don't need them to whisper sweet nothings into my ear.
Indeed. I am not saying that I agree with the recent articles or videos.
 

Leyasu

Banned
Oh .... sorry if you felt that I was criticizing you, I was agreeing with you.
But I wanted to emphasize that silence is not lack of actions, I feel like it is how they comunicate now, silence until there's something heavy to show.
And that leaves people frustrated which is understandable.
No need to apologise.

People are just jumping to conclusions and the gaming media are getting easy hits. Nothing to see or worry about for the next few years IMO. This is all to premature
 

Edokataki

Banned
Tell that to the switch, no gamepass alternative and 60$ Ports of decades old games yet sales go BRRRRRRR
You don't know that switch does not matter? This is between Sony and Microsoft, Nintendo does not compete directly with them...or something along those lines. Get a gamepass now for the low low 1€ for one month with the code "bombard the forums with negative Sony threads so people don't ask us why we don't have any new game with a new console"
 

Bryank75

Banned
Well just look at days gone, it underperformed and now it sounds like the sequel was canned.

It didn't under-perform, they cancelled it mostly because of the critical reception but it also had a messy development. It actually made a good profit I believe.

But PS can easily take a hit for a flop now and then.

There is this notion going around that they are skint for money but look at their accounts and it is a very different story. There is no excuse for limiting the types of games or number of releases or some riskier projects especially when they should be trying to attract more people.
 

SLB1904

Banned
Is there even such a thing too big to fail?
How is avengers doing? Or the order 1886 for that matter? How many AAA are dead?
Ghost of tsushima end up being amazing but let's pretend it was all sunshine and rainbows before the game was out. How about days gone? How that turn out?

Why none one else is making to big to fail games if they are sure hits.
 

turtlepowa

Banned
Nintendo has survived all these years with a weak (somehow expensive) console, NO gamepass, NO online and only with Mario, Zelda and Pokémon, and Sony is somehow doomed because they focus too much on good games, this is really an interesting point of view
People buy the Switch for the great concept in the first place If the Switch was stationary only Nintendo would be f***'
 
S

Shodan09

Unconfirmed Member
It didn't under-perform, they cancelled it mostly because of the critical reception but it also had a messy development. It actually made a good profit I believe.

But PS can easily take a hit for a flop now and then.

There is this notion going around that they are skint for money but look at their accounts and it is a very different story. There is no excuse for limiting the types of games or number of releases or some riskier projects especially when they should be trying to attract more people.
So... It ... underperformed critically?
 

DrAspirino

Banned
The future of a company that sells products is to not sell those products?

Christian Bale What GIF
Maybe for you its difficult to understand, but since 15 years ago (approx.) just "selling products" doesn't work. Companies have been selling "solutions", which comprise not only the product, but service as well. That scheme allows companies to have a constant stream of revenue, while maintaining "brand loyalty". IBM and Dell were the first ones, and soon other software and tech companies followed (seeing how much more money they made that way).

Heck, just look at Adobe: they don't even sell you their star product (Adobe Photoshop), but rather sell you a subscription to their products and to Adobe Cloud.

Software subscriptions are the way to go, even if gamers dislike it. The entire software industry is already there and games are the last ones getting there.
 
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Alright

Banned
Maybe for you its difficult to understand, but since 15 years ago (approx.) just "selling products" doesn't work. Companies have been selling "solutions", which comprise not only the product, but service as well.
What happens when you assume?

Nintendo have been successful for 160 years without selling solutions. Which, might be difficult for you to understand, but is an industry accepted buzzword. If you think companies were selling just products without after care support, for the last 200+ years then... Well, I'll be speechless

So🤷‍♂️
 
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SSfox

Member
Yosp, Andrew, and Shawn gave us Bloodborne, GOW, Horizon, GOT, Day's Gone, Death Stranding to name just those. All new IPs that ended being super great, and GOW was stunning revival by SSM.

Jimbo and Hermen now closing Japan Studio that made some of most cool games on PS like Gravity Rush, then throwing money to 3rd party time exclusive like Deathloop and Ghostwire, who gives the fuck about that?? , this is like Phil Spencer and other MS guys with Xbox One shit by paying time exclusive Tomb Raider 2 or GTA4 DLC over again, now Sony ain't much better in that area no more, i've been defending Sony since ever but what is happening right is pure dogshit, the 2 clowns are killing the spirit of the brand.
 
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Three

Member
Why would they have 'had it'?
He means if a big high budget AAA game fails the losses are bigger than if some low budget game fails.

Yosp, Andrew, and Shawn gave us Bloodborne, GOW, Horizon, GOT, Day's Gone, Death Stranding to name just those. All new IPs that ended being super great, and GOW was stunning revival by SSM.

Jimbo and Hermen now closing Japan Studio that made some of most cool games on PS like Gravity Rush, then throwing money to 3rd party time exclusive like Deathloop and Ghostwire, who gives the fuck about that?? , this is like Phil Spencer and other MS guys with Xbox One shit by paying time exclusive Tomb Raider 2 or GTA4 DLC over again, now Sony ain't much better in that area no more, i've been defending Sony since ever but what is happening right is pure dogshit, the 2 clowns are killing the spirit of the brand.
God damn it Japan Studio isn't closed. It's still open and concentrating on Astrobot. A darling child of Yosp who is still there.
 
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DrAspirino

Banned
What happens when you assume?

Nintendo have been successful for 160 years without selling solutions.
Which is exactly my point. The "services" trend started just a few years ago and it's gained a lot of momentum. So much that it's changing the entire way software and hardware companies work.

Mark my words on this one (and you can quote me for posterity) : sooner or later, Nintendo WILL follow suit and will offer a software subscription service. I know not of the specifics of how it will do it, but it will be subscription based.
 

SSfox

Member
Oh and i also forgot the silliest part, say no to Hideo Kojima, and say yes to Jade Raymond

He means if a big high budget AAA game fails the losses are bigger than if some low budget game fails.


God damn it Japan Studio isn't closed. It's still open and concentrating on Astrobot. A darling child of Yosp who is still there.
Just Astrobot and now the focus will only be on this franchise for this studio, and a lot of talented creative there left.

Sony is becoming similar on why i hated MS for years, they have specific studios that focus exclusively on said franchise that are guaranteed sales. (343i for Halo, coalition for Gears, Turn10 Forza ect)
 
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SLB1904

Banned
Which is exactly my point. The "services" trend started just a few years ago and it's gained a lot of momentum. So much that it's changing the entire way software and hardware companies work.

Mark my words on this one (and you can quote me for posterity) : sooner or later, Nintendo WILL follow suit and will offer a software subscription service. I know not of the specifics of how it will do it, but it will be subscription based.
Not when they release a game that sells 30 million copies never going to happen
 
Why are people so concerned?

PS4 was pretty great and has some excellent exclusives. Everything points towards PS5 offering the same but the launch has been very slow. They are predicting a strong year though, right?

As the cost of developing games rises I would say that projects like Fallout 76, Anthem etc are a massive risk. Eventually one of these will flop badly. Cyberpunk 2077 is close but its a smaller developer and publisher so the budget was not as high as, say, a Rockstar game. I think it's better for Sony to be focused on God of War, Horizon etc and give people solid games.

Its kind of the same with Nintendo. Anyone who likes Mario or Zelda or even Pokemon knows that a game with than name is going to be great for them. So it's understandable that Sony wants the same for The Last of Us and Ghost of Tsushima and so on.
 

Bryank75

Banned
He means if a big high budget AAA game fails the losses are bigger than if some low budget game fails.

Yeah but they're not gonna make zero sales ever.... I mean, they could lose ten or twenty million. Maybe even 30 if it was really bad.

Risks have to be taken in art. There will be zero progress in game design and systems without that element of risk.

It's an investment in the future and the devs that work on these risky projects are gaining experience and have a job they are grateful for..... instead of firing a load of talent (Like in Japan) or forcing people to resign and possibly hold contempt for the company (Days Gone directors and VASG).
Making the game is positive overall for the industry and company even if it loses some money in the short term.
 

SLB1904

Banned
Oh and i also forgot the silliest part, say no to Hideo Kojima, and say yes to Jade Raymond


Just Astrobot and now the focus will only be on this franchise, and a lot of talented creative there left.

Sony is becoming similar on why i hated MS for years, they have specific studios that focus exclusively on said franchise that are guaranteed sales. (343i for Halo, coalition for Gears, Turn10 Forza ect)
Creative left?. Ueda was at sony since 1997 and only release 3 games.
The silent hill creator still known as silent hill creator. Japan studios has being release bomba after bomba.
 

DrAspirino

Banned
Yeah but they're not gonna make zero sales ever.... I mean, they could lose ten or twenty million. Maybe even 30 if it was really bad.

Risks have to be taken in art. There will be zero progress in game design and systems without that element of risk.

It's an investment in the future and the devs that work on these risky projects are gaining experience and have a job they are grateful for..... instead of firing a load of talent (Like in Japan) or forcing people to resign and possibly hold contempt for the company (Days Gone directors and VASG).
Making the game is positive overall for the industry and company even if it loses some money in the short term.
My thoughts exactly. Shadow of The Colosus and ICO being the prime examples of that.
 

Bryank75

Banned
My thoughts exactly. Shadow of The Colosus and ICO being the prime examples of that.

I was also wondering why SOTC didn't have a spiritual successor.... where the story is different but it built on the idea of massive beasts to climb and slay and added more mechanics.
I know there is an indie coming out with that idea soon but PS should have been on that...
 

SSfox

Member
Creative left?. Ueda was at sony since 1997 and only release 3 games.
The silent hill creator still known as silent hill creator. Japan studios has being release bomba after bomba.
Who cares if it's just 3 games, those defined not just paystation as a brand, but the entire videogame as brand.
 
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