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[Thirty7ven]

Yup. The new temp CEO's backgrund at Sony is decades of finance jobs and a stint leading Sony Mobile. No doubt this guy is all about ROI (he knows first hand at how profitable Grand Order Fate is) so he'll definitely keep or even expand GAAS and mobile games. but it really comes down to if he's permanent or not. I dont think hed do giant strategy shifts in 6 months knowing hed get the boot. But if he's tapped on the shoulder to replace Jim permanently, it'll definitely be more focus on GAAS and mobile and profits.

It'd make no sense if he did a 180 and said he'd focus on more SP games chopping down GAAS/mobile.

Sounds more like hope.

 

[ArtHands]

He made PS5 very successful and releases games on PC so its weird the fans are celebrating.

 

[MacReady13]

He made PS5 very successful and releases games on PC so its weird the fans are celebrating.

Some of us are not happy at all with the push to GAAS. He did plenty right but he wasn’t a gamer and this games as a service push was the wrong thing to do.

 

[ArtHands]

Some of us are not happy at all with the push to GAAS. He did plenty right but he wasn’t a gamer and this games as a service push was the wrong thing to do.

The PS5 is selling well though, if it is the wrong thing to do the sales will be lesser isn’t it?

 

[Perrott]

Some of us are not happy at all with the push to GAAS. He did plenty right but he wasn’t a gamer and this games as a service push was the wrong thing to do.

The GaaS push wasn't even his call. That seed had already been planted before his appointment as SIE's CEO back in 2019.

For example, Helldivers 2 and Concord were greenlit in 2015 and 2018, respectively. Another one that started in 2018 was Horizon Online, back when Guerrilla hired the Rainbow Six Siege lead to helm the project. We know that Factions - in its various incarnations - has been in development for just as long as all of the previously mentioned titles. Hell, even the deals to get Destruction AllStars and Predator: Hunting Grounds made were already in place before the start of the Jim Ryan era.

So the live-service initiative was already a thing by the time Jim and Hermen took on their respective roles in 2019. And while Hermen not only carried on with the development of the aformentioned titles and started new ones - Fairgames, Twisted Metal, Firewall Ultra, Insomniac's MP game, London's MP game or Deviation's game (which was cancelled but still) - he didn't do it at the expense of singleplayer games, as several of these had been greenlit over the past four years of him being the head of first party: Death Stranding 2, Marvel's Wolverine, Ghost of Tsushima sequel, a new Astro game, The Last Of Us Part III, Bluepoint's original game, FromSoftware's new IP, Ballistic Moon's horror game (Bates), Firesprite's horror game (Heartbreak), the leaked sci-fi Sony WRPG from last year...

None of these MP games have come at the expense of any singleplayer game.

 

[ulantan]

The GaaS push wasn't even his call. That seed had already been planted before his appointment as SIE's CEO back in 2019.

For example, Helldivers 2 and Concord were greenlit in 2015 and 2018, respectively. Another one that started in 2018 was Horizon Online, back when Guerrilla hired the Rainbow Six Siege lead to helm the project. We know that Factions - in its various incarnations - has been in development for just as long as all of the previously mentioned titles. Hell, even the deals to get Destruction AllStars and Predator: Hunting Grounds made were already in place before the start of the Jim Ryan era.

So the live-service initiative was already a thing by the time Jim and Hermen took on their respective roles in 2019. And while Hermen not only carried on with the development of the aformentioned titles and started new ones - Fairgames, Twisted Metal, Firewall Ultra, Insomniac's MP game, London's MP game or Deviation's game (which was cancelled but still) - he didn't do it at the expense of singleplayer games, as several of these had been greenlit over the past four years of him being the head of first party: Death Stranding 2, Marvel's Wolverine, Ghost of Tsushima sequel, a new Astro game, The Last Of Us Part III, Bluepoint's original game, FromSoftware's new IP, Ballistic Moon's horror game (Bates), Firesprite's horror game (Heartbreak), the leaked sci-fi Sony WRPG from last year...

None of these MP games have come at the expense of any singleplayer game.

That doesn't fit the narrative I don't want to see it.

 

[mckmas8808]

orly? We know 3 bil on bungee was a lot to drop but that's already and active money maker. I don't know how to decide what is too much altogether. Without being able to figure that out and given the recent track record, I have to assume they probably (but not defintely) know what they are doing.

Nah man. I'm talking about the 2025 percentage of gaming spending. The 55% to 45% spending is CRAZY! There are zero reasons as to why they should be spending most of their gaming money on GAAS in ANY year.

 

[ulantan]

Hiring new teams, R and D. they have neglected multiplayer for a generation its gonna take some money to build that up

 

[twilo99]

His departure feels really abrupt to me.. I’m really surprised they have to deal with an interim CEO at all

 

[proandrad]

Maybe Bungie will be allowed to make a regular game again. Gaas makes me miss when publishers were just nickel and diming us with just regular DLC.

 

[Crayon]

Nah man. I'm talking about the 2025 percentage of gaming spending. The 55% to 45% spending is CRAZY! There are zero reasons as to why they should be spending most of their gaming money on GAAS in ANY year.

I wish they had numbers on that graph. Eyeballing it, it looks like the traditional game spend is back up by 2025 and there is a 10-15% dip in 2023. I dunno what that is for but it's not a downward trend over the 6 years. It's definitely a hint I'm the direction that they have slowed down output, but could also be something else. There's a lot of moving parts behind that graph.

 

[fart town usa]

The whole "baffling" sentiment with the Portal is beyond dumb at this point. How often do journalists simply insert narratives because they don't like the reality of what something is? (All the time, obviously)

The only thing that is baffling about Sony right now is that they released a killer VR headset but can't be bothered to talk about it. It's so dumb .

 

[Kagoshima_Luke]

Let’s not forget the neutering of Sony Japan studio

 

[pepodmc_]

No point blaming JR for the direction PS is heading, the Japanese side have palmed the division off to fucking California of all places. Pretty clear from that alone that they want to be another Westernbox just like Xbox.

I dont know if its your case, but a lot of people that want a more japanese oriented sony then are saying that the last of us 2 is one of the best games on history...

 

[Banjo64]

I dont know if its your case, but a lot of people that want a more japanese oriented sony then are saying that the last of us 2 is one of the best games on history...

Defo not me mate. TLoU2 is a completely redundant game that embodies modern day Sony.

 

[mckmas8808]

I wish they had numbers on that graph. Eyeballing it, it looks like the traditional game spend is back up by 2025 and there is a 10-15% dip in 2023. I dunno what that is for but it's not a downward trend over the 6 years. It's definitely a hint I'm the direction that they have slowed down output, but could also be something else. There's a lot of moving parts behind that graph.

The bolded is what scares me. And Jim won't allow anybody to talk about Playstation's future, like they used to do.

Defo not me mate. TLoU2 is a completely redundant game that embodies modern day Sony.

That's great then, since it was a hit!

 

[Topher]

I dont know if its your case, but a lot of people that want a more japanese oriented sony then are saying that the last of us 2 is one of the best games on history...

So what? TLOU 2 is incredibly divisive. Plenty of people who find themselves on the same side of most arguments will often disagree on TLOU 2. Doesn't mean anything.

 

[mckmas8808]

So what? TLOU 2 is incredibly divisive. Plenty of people who find themselves on the same side of most arguments will often disagree on TLOU 2. Doesn't mean anything.

TLOU2 is NOT divisive at all. Most people tend to agree that it's a high-quality game. Now the story's pacing or itself may be divisive, but the game overall isn't.

 

[Hudo]

Some of us are not happy at all with the push to GAAS. He did plenty right but he wasn’t a gamer and this games as a service push was the wrong thing to do.

"Gamers" usually make shitty CEOs, to be fair.

 

[pepodmc_]

TLOU2 is NOT divisive at all. Most people tend to agree that it's a high-quality game. Now the story's pacing or itself may be divisive, but the game overall isn't.

i would say that its a high quality production, not a high quality game.


We are in an era where gameplay wise, the majority of games are super dull and generic, and a big part of that is thanks to games like tlou or uncharted being a huge sucess.

 

[PanzerCute]

Genuine question, what evidence have we got of it bombing

The only thing we know is that the game sold 560k in around 2 months on PS5.

It's a hardcore hybrid rogue-ish TPS from a very niche studio, I'd say it's not bad if it sells above 1 million (which should definitely be the case).

And it is still the best game of the generation with Elden Ring imo.

 

[Danjin44]

The only thing we know is that the game sold 560k in around 2 months on PS5.

It's a hardcore hybrid rogue-ish TPS from a very niche studio, I'd say it's not bad if it sells above 1 million (which should definitely be the case).

And it is still the best game of the generation with Elden Ring imo.

People need understand just because a games don’t sell stupid high numbers it doesn’t mean it has no value.

Vanillaware make fantastic games but because their games are niche it will never gonna sell high numbers but it doesn’t mean they shouldn’t exist.

If only games that do high sell numbers allowed to be made then entire gaming industry would be boring as fuck.

 

[Clear]

The reason for an interim CEO is so as to ensure coverage and continuity whilst a suitable replacement is found. I think people are reading more into this than there is warranted.

Its a formality as much as anything, and is about calming stock-holder uncertainty following the announcement that a top exec is heading out the door.

 

[PanzerCute]

The only thing that is baffling about Sony right now is that they released a killer VR headset but can't be bothered to talk about it. It's so dumb .

Last time Ryan spoke during an interview he said that they had several project cooking and that they were counting on PSVR2 more on the middle term.

Also add the fact that EVERYTHING was late regarding the headset launch (they signed the deal for the eye tracking technology 4 Months before the release, the devkits were sent less than 6 months before release too etc..) it makes me a bit more confident with Sony's future input on PSVR2.

It really feels like a rushed launch, as if they knew they were not ready but had to release the headset anyway (the fact that it launched 1 month before the end of Sony's fiscal year also points to that)

 

[64bitbros]

Some of us are not happy at all with the push to GAAS. He did plenty right but he wasn’t a gamer and this games as a service push was the wrong thing to do.

Why? There are Single Player games and GaaS games. Sony does very well with the former, but is mostly reliant on 3rd party for the latter.
They want to be less reliant on 3d party so they want to expand the GaaS part in-house. So that shit like the Act/bliz acquisition doesn't effect them as much. Is that so wrong?
They can make both and they will make both. A Sony that does well in both segments is a plus for every Playstation consumer.

 

[mckmas8808]

i would say that its a high quality production, not a high quality game.


We are in an era where gameplay wise, the majority of games are super dull and generic, and a big part of that is thanks to games like tlou or uncharted being a huge sucess.

It's your opinion of course, but I think both TLOU and Uncharted are extremely fun to play for different reasons. And I personally can't understand why a person wouldn't like a game like it. But I understand that we are living in a time where people want gameplay to look and feel like 1995 and can't stand that a game like RDR2's gameplay exists.

Why? There are Single Player games and GaaS games. Sony does very well with the former, but is mostly reliant on 3rd party for the latter.
They want to be less reliant on 3d party so they want to expand the GaaS part in-house. So that shit like the Act/bliz acquisition doesn't effect them as much. Is that so wrong?
They can make both and they will make both. A Sony that does well in both segments is a plus for every Playstation consumer.

It's Jim Ryan's fault. If he allowed the 1st party teams to simply discuss what they are working on, many of us probably would be okay with their GAAS push. But right now, we only know about Wolverine.

 

[Hudo]

I promise that I'll cheer for the departure of Bloomberg.