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An in-depth look at 18* unannounced PlayStation 5 exclusives | Including a new FROM SOFTWARE collab

gojira96

Member
Doubt it with Ready at Dawn now being owned by Facebook.
Maybe with another studio?
Granted, I have no idea if the sales numbers would be enough to warrant it a sequel
Or if SIE is even interested in making one, seeing how their portfolio is getting bigger by the year
 
Part of it is that yes, Sony really is that much better at cultivating talent, specifically creative talent. Sony is a major media company with a pedigree in music and film, and it knows how to manage creatives. What is today Worldwide Studios (or PlayStation Studios, I guess?) famously had its origins in Sony's music publishing business back during the PS1 days.

The other part is that Sony needs its games business to be well-managed in a way that Microsoft doesn't. Gaming is the golden goose for Sony, and Sony executives are held to account first and foremost for their stewardship of the games side of the business.

Microsoft's golden goose is Windows and Office and various enterprise software and server stuff. In many of these sectors it's basically a monopoly. Nobody is really entirely sure why Microsoft is in gaming in the first place, and so the primary role of Xbox executives is to sell Microsoft's continued involvement in gaming to their bosses using twelve-dimensional chess, fad-chasing, and corporate nonsense speak.

You can see this dichotomy represented in the design of the PS5 and the XSX, just like with the PS4 and the Xbone. In both cases, Sony zeroed in on the most efficient way to maximize performance and ease of development for the money. Sony's goal is to make the strongest possible console, backed up by the strongest possible bench of first party exclusives, so it can dominate the market and continue to print money.

Microsoft, on the other hand, obviously had other priorities. "We need to make the strongest possible console, backed up by the strongest possible bench of first party exclusives, so we can dominate the market" simply isn't an appealing pitch to Microsoft's top brass. What they want to hear is "we're riding this Kinect fad into control of the living room" or "we're designing a console architecture that will also work in server racks" or "TVTVTV/Gamepass will allow us to compete with Apple and Google and Amazon."

Microsoft cares about the games business only insofar as it's part of a decades-long war of position with the other tech giants. Even when brass can be convinced to shell out major money to help Xbox stay afloat (the RROD repairs, the Bethesda purchase, etc), there's no telling when Microsoft's corporate politics will shift and everyone will lose interest in gaming again. You can't cultivate talent in that kind of environment, which is why everything Microsoft touches in the games space turns to shit.

That's the most thoughtful post regarding the viewpoints of MS and Sony in the gaming arena I've seen... possibly ever.

Well done.
 

Perrott

Gold Member
Regarding Silent Hill and Toyama:
KatharsisT said:
"So, I think I need to clarify things a little bit.

Toyama directed Silent Hill. The game is still on track and is fine. Japan Studio are still developing it. And I think there's no need to attack me because someone is leaving the studio, even if it's the game director doesn't mean the game doesn't exist or Halo Infinite just got cancelled twice. I think a lot of people here need to calm down to every announcement they hear and stop being extremists. Your hearts will thank me.

And don't worry, the game is fine, if Toyama leaves now, it means it's in a healthy situation.

Now, I'm gonna stay away until next week.

See you at The Game Awards."
 

MrSec84

Member
So with everything that's happened with Japan Studio lately, what's happening with Rayspace?
From what I've read the game was in a good state and has been on the verge of getting officially revealed quite a few times, does anyone know if it's been cancelled or has the team remained as a separate entity in Japan, within Worldwide Studios?
 

Heisenberg007

Gold Journalism
So with everything that's happened with Japan Studio lately, what's happening with Rayspace?
From what I've read the game was in a good state and has been on the verge of getting officially revealed quite a few times, does anyone know if it's been cancelled or has the team remained as a separate entity in Japan, within Worldwide Studios?
At this stage, I am assuming that there is no game currently being developed by the Japan Studios team (not Silent Hill, not RaySpace) other than Astrobot by Team Asobi (which, technically, is the only team left).
 

Perrott

Gold Member
So with everything that's happened with Japan Studio lately, what's happening with Rayspace?
From what I've read the game was in a good state and has been on the verge of getting officially revealed quite a few times, does anyone know if it's been cancelled or has the team remained as a separate entity in Japan, within Worldwide Studios?
With the news regarding the closure of Japan Studio, I think it is safe to assume that the game was cancelled some time ago.

It sucks that they weren't able to pull it off, because it was Japan Studio's last shot and was constantly referenced by former studio head Allan Becker and the producers as the project that was going to help turn things around for the studio.
 

yurinka

Member
With the news regarding the closure of Japan Studio, I think it is safe to assume that the game was cancelled some time ago.

It sucks that they weren't able to pull it off, because it was Japan Studio's last shot and was constantly referenced by former studio head Allan Becker and the producers as the project that was going to help turn things around for the studio.
They didn't close Japan Studio.

Its part related to publishing externally developed 2nd party Japanese games (like Bloodborne), localization or managing IPs will continue but now instead being handled from Japan Studio (or from Sony Santa Monica, etc) it will be centralized for all global PlayStation Studios (1st and 2nd party games).

Its part related to internally developed will continue being there in Japan Studio, but now will be smaller and more focused around one of the teams they had: Asobi Team.

The Silent Hill supposedly developed by Japan Studio very likely never existed. For Sony Silent Hill is a series with poor sales compared to their internal IPs, they aren't interested on it. And if it would have been the case, Sony would have purchased the IP or would have been to give it to Kojima but the rumor said it wasn't the case. So it would mean Sony developing a game for another publisher, which doesn't make sense.
 

Perrott

Gold Member
They didn't close Japan Studio.
Yes they did:
  • They let go of most of their development staff, including creative directors Gavin Moore, Keiichiro Toyama, Tsutomu Kouno and several senior producers.
  • Duties such as publishing, localization and IP management are now being handled by PlayStation Studios (worldwide).
  • They have erased the "Japan Studio" branding from their most recent releases and promotional videos as it won't be utilized anymore from now on.
  • The only group that remained after the reestructuring, Asobi Team, has now basically become a studio of it's own - so when the time comes and Astro-Bot 2 for PSVR2 gets announced, we would be talking only about Asobi Team and not Japan Studio.
That's what a closure looks like in my book, especially when Japan Studio won't be able to be acknowledged in the future as a thing that exists.
The Silent Hill supposedly developed by Japan Studio very likely never existed. For Sony Silent Hill is a series with poor sales compared to their internal IPs, they aren't interested on it.
Of course that Silent Hill makes sense for Sony, at least with how initially it was meant to be brought back as a soft-reboot directed by it's creator Keiichiro Toyama and developed alongside senior staff from the former Team Silent, including Masahiro Ito and Akira Yamaoka.

You take all of that, which by itself has hype behind it as we would be talking about the glorious return of one of the most beloved horror franchises in pop culture by it's original creators, and you add the Sony marketing and the fact that most probably we would be in front of a high-quality game with nice production values that also makes an intensive and meaningful use of most PS5 features (raytracing, 3D audio, the DualSense controller) and you have the perfect storm for it to be a successful release early in the PS5's lifecycle - just like how Bloodborne was exactly that for the PS4 in March 2015.
And if it would have been the case, Sony would have purchased the IP or would have been to give it to Kojima but the rumor said it wasn't the case.
No, the canonical Silent Hill rumor - the Dusk Golem/Vullein/Rely on Horror/KatharsisT/snort_cannon one - said that, while the SH soft-reboot was already in development at Japan Studio, in early 2020 Sony was in talks with Kojima Productions to have them develop an episodic revival of Silent Hills for PSVR2, but the deal fell apart due to a number of reasons.
So it would mean Sony developing a game for another publisher, which doesn't make sense.
It makes sense because Silent Hill was not the only IP they were licensing from Konami, as it is sort of an open secret that Bluepoint Games have been given the keys to remake the original MGS trilogy exclusively for PS5, one game at a time during what remains of the PS5 generation. This sort of thing it's called a partnership, you know? And both parties win in the end: Sony gets some system sellers for their hardware and the opportunity to make some real money out of the nostalgia of fans; and Konami gets to cash in due to their 18% sales royalties without having to invest the amounts of money that releasing games like MGSV or Silent Hills instead of trash like MGS Survive or Contra: Rogue Corps would've cost them.
 
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Yes they did:
  • They let go of most of their development staff, including creative directors Gavin Moore, Keiichiro Toyama, Tsutomu Kouno and several senior producers.
  • Duties such as publishing, localization and IP management are now being handled by PlayStation Studios (worldwide).
  • They have erased the "Japan Studio" branding from their most recent releases and promotional videos as it won't be utilized anymore from now on.
  • The only group that remained after the reestructuring, Asobi Team, has now basically become a studio of it's own - so when the time comes and Astro-Bot 2 for PSVR2 gets announced, we would be talking only about Asobi Team and not Japan Studio.
That's what a closure looks like in my book, especially when Japan Studio won't be able to be acknowledged in the future as a thing that exists.

Of course that Silent Hill makes sense for Sony, at least with how initially it was meant to be brought back as a soft-reboot directed by it's creator Keiichiro Toyama and developed alongside senior staff from the former Team Silent, including Masahiro Ito and Akira Yamaoka.

You take all of that, which by itself has hype behind it as we would be talking about the glorious return of one of the most beloved horror franchises in pop culture by it's original creators, and you add the Sony marketing and the fact that most probably we would be talking about a high-quality game with nice production values that also makes an intensive and meaningful use of most PS5 features (raytracing, 3D audio, the DualSense controller) and you have the perfect storm for it to be a successful release early in the PS5's lifecycle - just like how Bloodborne was exactly that for the PS4 in March 2015.

No, the canonical Silent Hill rumor - the Dusk Golem/Vullein/Rely on Horror/KatharsisT/snort_cannon one - said that, while the SH soft-reboot was already in development at Japan Studio, in early 2020 Sony was in talks with Kojima Productions to have them develop an episodic revival of Silent Hills for PSVR2, but the deal fell apart due to a number of reasons.

It makes sense because Silent Hill was not the only IP they were licensing from Konami, as it is sort of an open secret that Bluepoint Games have also been given the keys to remake the original MGS trilogy exclusively for PS5, one game at a time during what remains of the PS5 generation. This sort of thing it's called a partnership, you know? And both parties win in the end: Sony gets some system sellers for their hardware and the opportunity to make some real money out of the nostalgia of fans; and Konami gets to cash in due to their 18% sales royalties without having to invest the amounts of money that releasing games like MGSV or Silent Hills instead of trash like MGS Survive or Contra: Rogue Corps would've cost them.

Any truth to that Sony and castlevania rumor? I read somewhere that they were asking Konami to do something with it.
 

Perrott

Gold Member
Any truth to that Sony and castlevania rumor? I read somewhere that they were asking Konami to do something with it.
There has not been a proper rumor yet regarding Sony and the Castlevania franchise - although some people just assume that Sony is working on that IP too considering how, according to actual rumors, they have managed to get their hands on Metal Gear Sold and Silent Hill.

Some people are even theorizing that the new From Software PS5 exclusive might be a Castlevania game given the timing in which it entered production. But again, nothing solid just yet.
 

bitbydeath

Member
Yes they did:
  • They let go of most of their development staff, including creative directors Gavin Moore, Keiichiro Toyama, Tsutomu Kouno and several senior producers.
  • Duties such as publishing, localization and IP management are now being handled by PlayStation Studios (worldwide).
  • They have erased the "Japan Studio" branding from their most recent releases and promotional videos as it won't be utilized anymore from now on.
  • The only group that remained after the reestructuring, Asobi Team, has now basically become a studio of it's own - so when the time comes and Astro-Bot 2 for PSVR2 gets announced, we would be talking only about Asobi Team and not Japan Studio.
That's what a closure looks like in my book, especially when Japan Studio won't be able to be acknowledged in the future as a thing that exists.

Of course that Silent Hill makes sense for Sony, at least with how initially it was meant to be brought back as a soft-reboot directed by it's creator Keiichiro Toyama and developed alongside senior staff from the former Team Silent, including Masahiro Ito and Akira Yamaoka.

You take all of that, which by itself has hype behind it as we would be talking about the glorious return of one of the most beloved horror franchises in pop culture by it's original creators, and you add the Sony marketing and the fact that most probably we would be in front of a high-quality game with nice production values that also makes an intensive and meaningful use of most PS5 features (raytracing, 3D audio, the DualSense controller) and you have the perfect storm for it to be a successful release early in the PS5's lifecycle - just like how Bloodborne was exactly that for the PS4 in March 2015.

No, the canonical Silent Hill rumor - the Dusk Golem/Vullein/Rely on Horror/KatharsisT/snort_cannon one - said that, while the SH soft-reboot was already in development at Japan Studio, in early 2020 Sony was in talks with Kojima Productions to have them develop an episodic revival of Silent Hills for PSVR2, but the deal fell apart due to a number of reasons.

It makes sense because Silent Hill was not the only IP they were licensing from Konami, as it is sort of an open secret that Bluepoint Games have been given the keys to remake the original MGS trilogy exclusively for PS5, one game at a time during what remains of the PS5 generation. This sort of thing it's called a partnership, you know? And both parties win in the end: Sony gets some system sellers for their hardware and the opportunity to make some real money out of the nostalgia of fans; and Konami gets to cash in due to their 18% sales royalties without having to invest the amounts of money that releasing games like MGSV or Silent Hills instead of trash like MGS Survive or Contra: Rogue Corps would've cost them.
No they didn’t.
Being reorganised is very different to being closed. They will still make games.

 

Perrott

Gold Member
No they didn’t.
Being reorganised is very different to being closed. They will still make games.

It won't be Japan Studio the ones making those games, it will be Asobi Team, because as I said in my previous post, Sony has completely erased the Japan Studio brand and they won't be using it anymore in any future titles.

Japan Studio has completely disappeared from the gaming landscape, and while some part of it managed to live on past the studio's fall out, the end result of the reestructuring is that Japan Studio has ceased to exist - and that equals a studio closure.
 
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There has not been a proper rumor yet regarding Sony and the Castlevania franchise - although some people just assume that Sony is working on that IP too considering how, according to actual rumors, they have managed to get their hands on Metal Gear Sold and Silent Hill.

Some people are even theorizing that the new From Software PS5 exclusive might be a Castlevania game given the timing in which it entered production. But again, nothing solid just yet.

Any real concrete idea or leaks as to what that new from PS5 exclusive is gonna be like theme and genre wise?
 

bitbydeath

Member
It won't be Japan Studio the ones making those games, it will be Asobi Team, because as I said in my previous post, Sony has completely erased the Japan Studio brand and they won't be using it anymore in any future titles.

Japan Studio has completely disappeared from the gaming landscape, and while some part of it managed to live on past the studio's fall out, the end result of the reestructuring is that Japan Studio has ceased to exist - and that equals a studio closure.
The supporting studio will also continue which is where we see a lot of the games come out from. (Everybody’s Golf, Demons Souls etc)
 

Perrott

Gold Member
Any real concrete idea or leaks as to what that new from PS5 exclusive is gonna be like theme and genre wise?
We only know that will be directed by Miyazaki and it is not Bloodborne 2. This comes from Omnipotent, the most solid source for From Software stuff.
The supporting studio will also continue which is where we see a lot of the games come out from. (Everybody’s Golf, Demons Souls etc)
Yeah, but not under the brand of "Japan Studio". Those activities are now being handled by the publishing arm and external development groups over at PlayStation Studios (global).

Again, we should write off Japan Studio from the list of Sony first-parties and just talk about Asobi Team instead.
 
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Orpheum

Member
We only know that will be directed by Miyazaki and it is not Bloodborne 2. This comes from Omnipotent, the most solid source for From Software stuff.

Regarding the rumor of a new From Software Playstation exclusive. Forgive me if i'm wrong here but didn't this rumor stem from a guy named Marsipian or something? And as far as i know this dude has no credibility attached to him (yet) when it comes to stuff like this? I'm just trying to wrap my head around a possible project time managment plan at From Software and with them still being busy with Elden Ring and what seems to be Armored Core (judging from their open Positions) i personally don't see it happening anytime soon.

I only checked Omnis posts a couple of days ago and apparently neither them or Lance McDonald have heard anything about a Bloodborne remaster for PS5 as well so that's a little unfortunate. I was at least hoping for this.
 

bitbydeath

Member
Yeah, but not under the brand of "Japan Studio". Those activities are now being handled by the publishing arm and external development groups over at PlayStation Studios (global).

Again, we should write off Japan Studio from the list of Sony first-parties and just talk about Asobi Team instead.
I wouldn’t say that is confirmed just yet since XDev also operate under this group and currently still state XDev as their company on the games they make. But we should find out on April 1, maybe they’ll announce some big changes then including their new unannounced studio(s)
 

Perrott

Gold Member
Regarding the rumor of a new From Software Playstation exclusive. Forgive me if i'm wrong here but didn't this rumor stem from a guy named Marsipian or something? And as far as i know this dude has no credibility attached to him (yet) when it comes to stuff like this? I'm just trying to wrap my head around a possible project time managment plan at From Software and with them still being busy with Elden Ring and what seems to be Armored Core (judging from their open Positions) i personally don't see it happening anytime soon.
Marsipan's information regarding the Bluepoint acquisition was eventually verified as true by the mods over at ResetEra, although the announcement of it got delayed due to Covid, resulting in Marsipan losing his bet and getting banned. KatharsisT, a verified insider, has also shown her support to all of Marsipan's statements, which consist of both the Bluepoint acquisition and the From Software PS5 exclusive.

Regarding project management at From Software, I imagine that they had planned to finish Elden Ring probably a year earlier than when it will eventually come out. But even with the impact Covid had in their schedule, I don't see how any of that could represent a problem when it comes to believing in the existance of a third game, the PS5 exclusive, that it's in early stages of development and years away even from it's reveal. We all know that From Software is not strange to having three or more titles in various stages of development at the same time.
I only checked Omnis posts a couple of days ago and apparently neither them or Lance McDonald have heard anything about a Bloodborne remaster for PS5 as well so that's a little unfortunate. I was at least hoping for this.
Regarding Bloodborne Remastered, I've heard stuff about it from privately talking to an industry person I really trust and some months later from another person who claims to have playtested the PC version back in December and seems reliable based on some other informations they shared with me. The game was originally planned to release this spring, at least on PS5, but Covid and Sony's shifting calendar might have fucked over that plan.

If anyone has any problem buying into the Bloodborne Remastered thing, I'm sorry I cannot provide you with any sort of proof, but please don't shoot the messenger.
 

Orpheum

Member
Marsipan's information regarding the Bluepoint acquisition was eventually verified as true by the mods over at ResetEra, although the announcement of it got delayed due to Covid, resulting in Marsipan losing his bet and getting banned. KatharsisT, a verified insider, has also shown her support to all of Marsipan's statements, which consist of both the Bluepoint acquisition and the From Software PS5 exclusive.

Regarding project management at From Software, I imagine that they had planned to finish Elden Ring probably a year earlier than when it will eventually come out. But even with the impact Covid had in their schedule, I don't see how any of that could represent a problem when it comes to believing in the existance of a third game, the PS5 exclusive, that it's in early stages of development and years away even from it's reveal. We all know that From Software is not strange to having three or more titles in various stages of development at the same time.

Regarding Bloodborne Remastered, I've heard stuff about it from privately talking to an industry person I really trust and some months later from another person who claims to have playtested the PC version back in December and seems reliable based on some other informations they shared with me. The game was originally planned to release this spring, at least on PS5, but Covid and Sony's shifting calendar might have fucked over that plan.

If anyone has any problem buying into the Bloodborne Remastered thing, I'm sorry I cannot provide you with any sort of proof, but please don't shoot the messenger.

Wow, thank you so much for the insight. A Bloodborne remaster would be a dream come true and a new Sony exclusive is just a cherry on top for me
 

Men_in_Boxes

Snake Oil Salesman
This thread was murdered by "Outdated".

main-qimg-8394f27781c84f23a8eceb8d429fd740
 

yurinka

Member
Yes they did:
  • They let go of most of their development staff, including creative directors Gavin Moore, Keiichiro Toyama, Tsutomu Kouno and several senior producers.
  • Duties such as publishing, localization and IP management are now being handled by PlayStation Studios (worldwide).
  • They have erased the "Japan Studio" branding from their most recent releases and promotional videos as it won't be utilized anymore from now on.
  • The only group that remained after the reestructuring, Asobi Team, has now basically become a studio of it's own - so when the time comes and Astro-Bot 2 for PSVR2 gets announced, we would be talking only about Asobi Team and not Japan Studio.
No, they don't. They reorganized it scaling down their internal development staff part to focus it around the Asobi Team, and moving away their external production, software localization, and IP management part (this means, their production and publishing part related to externally developed games) to be handled globally with the rest of PlayStation Studios (Sony 1st and 2nd party games) projects:

"In an effort to further strengthen business operations, SIE can confirm PlayStation Studios JAPAN Studio will be re-organized into a new organization on April 1. JAPAN Studio will be re-centered to Team ASOBI, the creative team behind Astro's PLAYROOM, allowing the team to focus on a single vision and build on the popularity of Astro’s PLAYROOM.

In addition, the roles of external production, software localization, and IP management of JAPAN Studio titles will be concentrated within the global functions of PlayStation Studios."


Basically means they had enough of decades of losing money with games like Knack, Tokyo Junge or The Last Guardian and now will avoid these kind of project so instead bet harder on the Astro's team because the remaining stuff will be put there and also big harder on big externally developed 2nd party Japanese games like Bloodborne because the PS Studios big boys now will handle them.

It isn't related at all with Japan Studio, but they will continue developing with Polyphony, and also having exclusives from many Japanese studios and publishers as they had in PS5. In fact recently announced a 3 ways deal with Kadokawa (who owns many Japanese publishers and development studios, like From Software) and CyGames.

I wouldn’t say that is confirmed just yet since XDev also operate under this group and currently still state XDev as their company on the games they make. But we should find out on April 1, maybe they’ll announce some big changes then including their new unannounced studio(s)
XDev funds, support and publishes externally developed EMEA 2nd party games. They did work with the Quantic Dream, Housemarque, Evolution, Supermassive, Media Molecule (when they weren't a Sony studio) or Sumo Digital games to name a few of them. In addition to that, from time to time they also support other European internal 1st party SIE teams like Media Molecule or Guerrilla.

In addition to with funding/publishing/marketing/PR, they support all these teams with whatever is needed in terms of development, from production, to game design, community management, general outsourced development etc. They basically do for the EMEA region what Japan Studio did for Japan, but without fully developing internally the games. As their name indicates, XDEV (External Development), they are focused on supporting mostly externally developed games in everything they may need.

Their current projects have been Sackboy, Destruction All Stars and the next one Returnal. Sony just merged the externally developed games part of Japan Studio into the PlayStation Studios global operations, so maybe after Returnal they do the same or something similar with XDEV.

Maybe they move the funding, external production and product development, localization, 2nd party publishing and IP management part out of XDEV to merge it on global PlayStation Studios operations and leave XDEV as basically an outsourcing studio for 1st and 2nd party games.

In terms of marketing PlayStation also stated when they were announcing PS5 that with PS5 they wanted to unify globally their strategy, image and message instead of having a market specific strategy and image as they did in the past. Instead of making country specific campaigns they wanted to be a more global, stronger brand with a more powerful message localized to each place, something more similar to other companies like Nintendo, Microsoft or Apple do. This helps them to optimize marketing & PR costs, becoming more effective because would need less money to reach the same people so with the same cost they currently have they will be able to reach more people.

So it's another clue that made us think that they would move at least part of their marketing, PR, community management part of Europe/XDEV or SIE Europe to global PlayStation Studios operations.

But Sony said they reorganized (different than shutting down) Japan Studio to move that externally developed games part to global operations (maybe more due to shifting to a more global strategy than to being a Japan Studio specific thing) and to refocus their internal development into their most popular team, so probably we see a similar move for XDEV (and in USA Santa Monica since they incubated, supported or published local external games in the past even if they stopped that in the middle of What Remains of Edith Finch development) announced soon.

Regarding logos, in all future 1st and 2nd party games we'll see the PlayStation Studios logo and in the next internally developed games the Japan Studio logo too. If their next 2nd party Japanese games, like let's say Bloodborne 2, the Japan Studio logo wouldn't appear.
 
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