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Analyzing PlayStation's Exclusive Software Output

kretos

Banned
5-6 average games going against Starfield and Halo Infinite isn't enough for 2021.

They need God of War too if they wanna compete, along with Horizon.

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VFXVeteran

Banned
There isn't much doubt about Sony's quality of exclusive games, but there seems to be a general consensus that Sony needs more exclusives. This notion has gained more traction ever since Xbox grew its first-party studios to 23 over the last couple of years.

Matt Booty, Head of Xbox Game Studios, once told IGN that the plan for Xbox is to release one AAA exclusive game every 3 months [to keep Gamepass users engaged]. All the studio acquisition by Xbox was a part of this plan.

So how does Sony's exclusive software output compare with this plan of their biggest direct competitor?

To answer that question, I analyzed PlayStation's last two years and rounded up some of the more notable exclusive games (full, console, and timed) they have released that aren't available on Xbox as of this writing. There are, of course, plenty of other smaller and Japanese titles that I haven't included because of time constraints. Here is a quick rundown.

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PlayStation Console Exclusives (2020)

Bigger Games in 2020:
  • Nioh 2 (March 13, 2020)
  • Final Fantasy VII Remake (April 10, 2020)
  • Marvel’s Iron Man VR (May 15, 2020)
  • The Last of Us Part II (June 17, 2020)
  • Ghost of Tsushima (July 18, 2020)
  • Sackboy (Nov 12, 2020)
  • Spider-Man Miles Morales (Nov 12, 2020)
  • Demon’s Souls (Nov 12, 2020)
  • Godfall (Nov 12, 2020)
Mid-tier and Smaller Games in 2020:
  • Dreams (February 14, 2020)
  • Predator: Hunting Grounds (April 24, 2020)
  • Genshin Impact (September 28, 2020)
  • Astrobot (Nov 12, 2020)
  • The Pathless (Nov 12, 2020)
  • 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim (November 2020). Suggested by @PropellerEar

Output in 2020:
  • 15 exclusive games.
  • 9 big exclusive games.
  • One big exclusive game every 1.3 months or every 39 days.


PlayStation Console Exclusives (2021)

The following games are expected to be released in 2021. More games will also likely be announced next month.

Bigger Games in 2021:
  • Hitman 3 PSVR (Jan 20, 2021)
  • Disco Elysium: Final Cut (March 30, 2021)
  • Returnal (April 30, 2021)
  • Ratchet & Clank (June 11, 2021)
  • Guilty Gear Strive (June 11, 2021)
  • Deathloop (September 14, 2021)
  • Final Fantasy VII Remake - Intergrade (June 11, 2021)
  • Fracked PSVR (Summer 2021)
  • Horizon Forbidden West (2021)

Mid-tier and Smaller Games in 2021:
  • Destruction All Stars (Feb 2, 2021)
  • Oddworld: Soulstorm (April 6, 2021)
  • Kena (August 24, 2021)
  • Little Devil Inside (2021)
  • Stray (2021)
  • Solar Ash (2021)
  • Abandoned (2021)
  • Away (2021)
  • Wanderer PSVR (Q3 2021)
Output in 2021:
  • 18 exclusive games.
  • 9 big exclusive games.
  • One big exclusive game every 1.3 months or every 39 days.


PlayStation Console Exclusives (2022)

The following games are expected to be released in 2022. More games will also likely be announced for a 2022 release.
  • Forspoken
  • Final Fantasy XVI
  • Gran Turismo 7
  • God of War: Ragnarok
  • Ghostwire Tokyo
  • Lost Souls Aside
  • Sifu
Expected output in 2022 so far:
  • At least 7 big games announced so far.
  • One big game every 1.7 months or every 51 days.
  • Additional announcements will increase the software output next year.
Notes:
  1. I didn't include games that either haven’t been officially announced yet or have been announced but are likely years away, such as Spider-Man 2, TLOU Remake, Haven Studios game, Santa Monica’s unannounced game, TLOU 2 Factions, etc. Although, personally, I fully expect TLOU 2 Factions and TLOU Remake to be released before 2022 ends.
  2. I am sure I must have missed many games unintentionally. If I have missed any major PlayStation console exclusive games, let me know. I'll include those games in the last and redo the calculation.
  3. There are other exclusive games as well that have been announced but do not have a confirmed or rumored release date, such as:
    1. Firewalk's new IP
    2. WiLD
    3. Project Awakening
    4. Babylon's Fall
    5. Final Fantasy Remake 2

The Future of PlayStation Exclusive Games

While there may be a notion that PlayStation does not have the software output to match what its director competitors are doing, that is not the truth. What Xbox is planning and hoping to do in the future, PlayStation is already doing it. As of now, PlayStation is releasing, on average, more than 1 exclusive game per month and 1 big AAA game every 39 days, instead of 90 days.

And what's next?
  • Hermen Hulst, the Head of PlayStation Studios, recently revealed that PlayStation has more than 25 exclusive games in development (in addition to third-party exclusive deals).
  • Jim Ryan, the Head of SIE, said that PS5 will have more exclusives than ever this generation and they are aggressively making more partnerships.
  • PlayStation has also invested heavily in internal growth (roughly $4.1 billion) in the last two years to produce more first-party exclusives.
  • PlayStation will also increase that amount by $180 million this fiscal year.
Right now, PlayStation offers significantly more exclusive games per year. It is clear that this number will increase even more in the next few years, because of all the steps the SIE management has taken.

The future of PlayStation gaming is looking brighter than ever.

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Good post OP. And yes, I think PS has a bright future indeed. Everybody does to be completely fair.
 

reksveks

Member
Iron Man PSVR is a full PSVR exclusive. Hitman PSVR is also a PlayStation exclusive I believe. Guilty Gear isn't coming on other consoles AFAIK. Godfall's timed exclusivity period is up, but I think the devs are not porting the game to other consoles.
Just in terms of size not about exclusivity. It might be big/notable in the context of PlayStation exclusive games not sure about total games.

I don't think VR has many important games apart from Half Life Alyx in general.
 

Woopah

Member
There are many people who think that XGS will overshadow PlayStation Studios, at least in quantity of games. The idea of releasing one AAA game every 3 months also created a lot of buzz on the internet, and many implied that Sony is now lagging behind. We hear the argument 13 studios vs. 23 studios quite frequently, too.

I just wanted to analyze their output from the recent past and put things into perspective that there are actually better and more exclusive games coming out for PlayStation gamers (before their investments) than what their main direct competitor is hoping to get to in the next few years.
I think Xbox and PS will be more level than they are now but it will take some time for that to happen (especially when a lot of the Bethesda studios are only jut finishing their current games and so won't have any Xbox exclusives out in a while.

Where Sony will get an advantage over Xbox will be third party games from Japan. There will continue to be multiple games which are PlayStation only or PlayStation and Switch but not Xbox. We'll see if there's anything that Microsoft can do to resolve this (I doubt it).
 

Banjo64

cumsessed
No offense, but I think most people would agree that even Ratchet & Clank Rift Apart will be enough for both Starfield and Halo Infinite, assuming they do release in 2021.
I disagree with this. Halo’s sales on Steam prove that the franchise is still a giant, and when Bathesda slap ‘from the creators of TES V Skyrim’ on all of their Starfield promo material, it’s going to sell gangbusters.

I love Ratchet and Clank and Insomniac. I will plat Rift as my first PS5 game. But in terms of appeal to the COD bros and mainstream, it can’t compete with Halo/Starfield.

No need to chuck in third parties like Godfall or Bugsnax when they are pretty bad, just the list of actual stellar PS4 Sony developed games should be enough to convince anyone to buy a PS5; Uncharted 4, Ratchet and Clank, Spider-Man, God of War, Ghost of Tsushima, Horizon Zero Dawn, The Last Guardian (and I’d chuck in From Software’s Bloodborne).
 

VFXVeteran

Banned
Lol they're on PC too so Xsx is obsoleted by it's own eco. Those games will be vastly superior on PC.
PC is not a competitive platform. Just because they are on PC doesn't make them non-exclusive. Just like there are several Sony games on PC that won't appear on Xbox. They should be considered exclusive as well. And yea, the PC versions of those Sony games are superior to PS too.
 

mansoor1980

Member
well starfield will be modded to hell and back and halo has that multiplayer , ratchet is AAA but those 2 are too much for it

and i hope this thread doesent turn into a bloodbath
 
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FritzJ92

Member
I'm not knocking your research or the validity of it, but the accuracy of your comparison is where the fault lies. Comparing MS projected 1P output to Sonys complete exclusive list is disingenuous.

If you want to do a comparison to include 2nd/ 3rd party output and use t as exclusives then essentially you should include all of MS 1P output plus 2nd/3rd and timed.

MS statement was o release AAA 1P titles every 2-3 months with timed exclusives filling in the gaps.
 

Fredrik

Member
Man, same. With haptic feedback, PSVR 2 will offer jaw-dropping experiences. My only hope is that Sony offers more high-profile PlayStation Studios IPs as PSVR versions, e.g., a full-fledged Spider-Man game or something in the TLOU universe.

Leveraging popular IPs will also help with PSVR 2 market adoption.
Yeah I have high hopes for PSVR2 after jumping into Oculus Quest 2. The haptics could be awesome and hopefully they can get their AAA teams interested. Might open the door to finally find a PS5 too if they have bundles!

I hope they can deliver a wireless solution as well so I can move away from the cramped couch area. Dream scenario would be PC connectivity, won’t hold my Breath for that but now that they’re on Steam it doesn’t seem impossible.
 

Heisenberg007

Gold Journalism
I'm not knocking your research or the validity of it, but the accuracy of your comparison is where the fault lies. Comparing MS projected 1P output to Sonys complete exclusive list is disingenuous.

If you want to do a comparison to include 2nd/ 3rd party output and use t as exclusives then essentially you should include all of MS 1P output plus 2nd/3rd and timed.

MS statement was o release AAA 1P titles every 2-3 months with timed exclusives filling in the gaps.
As I mentioned in my earlier comment, this thread is not about Xbox vs. PlayStation. It is a thread about exclusive games on PlayStation.

As for your other point, if it were a comparison thread, I'd have happily included all Xbox second- and third-party deals. The thing is, however, that there aren't many AAA Xbox timed-exclusive games.

And as far as the accuracy of the comparison (again, not a comparison) goes, I think it is very fair because at this stage, Xbox has made all the investments they wanted to make and PlayStation is still making investments. We haven't seen the fruits of their labor at all, and their output will only grow in the future with more internal teams and partnerships. I also didn't include many PlayStation titles here that we know for sure are in development; many of those have been official announced as well.
 

Heisenberg007

Gold Journalism
Yeah I have high hopes for PSVR2 after jumping into Oculus Quest 2. The haptics could be awesome and hopefully they can get their AAA teams interested. Might open the door to finally find a PS5 too if they have bundles!

I hope they can deliver a wireless solution as well so I can move away from the cramped couch area. Dream scenario would be PC connectivity, won’t hold my Breath for that but now that they’re on Steam it doesn’t seem impossible.
Wireless would have been the ideal solution, but bandwidth is the bigger thing that they should focus on getting right. I think it's the right move by Sony: to sacrifice the convenience of wireless in favor of higher bandwidth and fidelity.
 

Warnen

Don't pass gaas, it is your Destiny!
There are AAA games in the PSVR space.

Again if you say so, I have a Quest 2 and nothing I play I would consider AAA save maybe the half life game. With the limitations of psvr tracking I just imagine they are worse there. There are some great games out there but nothing that stands with stuff like God of War or Horizon.
 

Three

Member
R&C while very pretty doesn't have the scope or replayability of Starfield and Halo Infinite. R&C is very limited in scope and you can't just walk anywhere and do anything so I disagree.
If you had said they aren't multiplayer games or somthing then I would have agreed but what does "walk anywhere and do anything" mean?

Are you talking about randomly generated quests and base building or something?
 

Derift

Member
Paying 80$, I wait 6 months and I’ll play it better on day one at mo extra cost.
I love how the price just keeps going up... its $70 dude infact it'll probably be cheaper just like how deathloop is cheaper... again yqll need to stop touting GP as if we are broke we can afford the $70 so don't worry about us
 

Tripolygon

Banned
What good? MS makes money off every copy.

Good lord, lighten up.
Yea thats how publishing works, the publisher makes money from the sale of the game so i still don't get your point. Its funny that Microsoft will make money off an IP they own?
 

Bergoglio

Member
I love how the price just keeps going up... its $70 dude infact it'll probably be cheaper just like how deathloop is cheaper... again yqll need to stop touting GP as if we are broke we can afford the $70 so don't worry about us
I don’t want to buy a new Bethesda IP first on Ps5 when they belong to Xbox now. This sort of contract could be endlike Sunset Overdrive. And this is not good for me, as a Monthly Game Pass subscriber, this is unacceptable
 

Matsuchezz

Member
Enhanced version, possible 120fps mode, res boost, more tech optimization, dlcs included, sequel 100% guaranteed on Xbox but not 100% on PS5, game available on Game Pass on day one after end of exclusivity. These are important reason to prefer a “wait and play it on Xbox” approach than buy it on PS5. My opinion.
There is no such thing as "day one" after exclusivity ends. You will play it 6 months to a year later. but If you close your eyes and you really wish it with all your heart it will become true.
Waiting for day one after exclusivity ends sounds about the right move, that and them tools are just around the corner.
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Zoro7

Banned
Enhanced version, possible 120fps mode, res boost, more tech optimization, dlcs included, sequel 100% guaranteed on Xbox but not 100% on PS5, game available on Game Pass on day one after end of exclusivity. These are important reason to prefer a “wait and play it on Xbox” approach than buy it on PS5. My opinion.
So it’s better because guesswork. Ok mate.
 

Bergoglio

Member
So it’s better because guesswork. Ok mate.
I prefer my position than yours, because i’m sure to play this game and sequel on Xbox. Can’t say the same for a PS only owner. I can wait. Horizon 5 and Starfield are big games, they need attention.
 

Bergoglio

Member
There is no such thing as "day one" after exclusivity ends. You will play it 6 months to a year later. but If you close your eyes and you really wish it with all your heart it will become true.
Waiting for day one after exclusivity ends sounds about the right move, that and them tools are just around the corner.
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Or maybe 3 months. We don’t have the contract on Deathloop.
 

Zoro7

Banned
I prefer my position than yours, because i’m sure to play this game and sequel on Xbox. Can’t say the same for a PS only owner. I can wait. Horizon 5 and Starfield are big games, they need attention.
Dude you literally have no exclusives until Halo / Starfield both of which have no known release date. What position are you talking about here?
 

RoboFu

One of the green rats
So for me there’s

Final fantasy’s .. which will be on pc soon enough.

GT7.. day one

Demon souls.. when I get day one of PS5

That’s about it. 🤷‍♂️
 

Fredrik

Member
Wireless would have been the ideal solution, but bandwidth is the bigger thing that they should focus on getting right. I think it's the right move by Sony: to sacrifice the convenience of wireless in favor of higher bandwidth and fidelity.
Not familiar with the bandwidth requirements but iirc PS5 have wifi6 so I’m thinking they have the perfect setup for it, and it’s good enough on Quest 2 in my house using regular 5ghz wifi. There is definitely a drop in quality but it works incredibly well, feels great tbh. 👌

And remember that Oculus added wireless VR officially just recently, so the door isn’t closed even if it isn’t there for PSVR2 at launch. 👍

Anyway I hope they’ll get there. I don’t have a big living room and can’t easily use a cable without moving a big table to get more space, so for me it would be better if I could just stand/sit wherever I have some space, makes it easier to just jump in whenever I feel like it.
 

Heisenberg007

Gold Journalism
Not familiar with the bandwidth requirements but iirc PS5 have wifi6 so I’m thinking they have the perfect setup for it, and it’s good enough on Quest 2 in my house using regular 5ghz wifi. There is definitely a drop in quality but it works incredibly well, feels great tbh. 👌

And remember that Oculus added wireless VR officially just recently, so the door isn’t closed even if it isn’t there for PSVR2 at launch. 👍

Anyway I hope they’ll get there. I don’t have a big living room and can’t easily use a cable without moving a big table to get more space, so for me it would be better if I could just stand/sit wherever I have some space, makes it easier to just jump in whenever I feel like it.
If they can manage it without sacrificing quality, that really would be the perfect option! More than wireless, I am just hoping for some well-recognized and established PlayStation IPs to have PSVR 2 games. That'd be fantastic.
 
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