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Deviation & Hermen Hulst discuss PlayStation Studios partnership in new interview

Who gives a rats ass about what Moriarty says? Every time I see sacred symbols he’s just being a negative jaded smartass.

If Sony owns the IP, if Sony is publishing, then it’s a Sony game.

Yup.

Colin is just trying to play up the contrarian with Sony's strategy....when the truth is they are the only one absolutely killing it right now content wise. They clearly know what the fuck they are doing. His messaging is just complete FUD.

Like I care if some of the 25 games are from these new studios?
 

EDMIX

Member
It’s really interesting because on the one hand we hear Sony are very hands off with development process. But on the other hand, unless the game reaches a certain metacritic level, the franchise is killed.

Well....that is logical. Just cause Sony support teams who are creative and are generally hands off, doesn't mean they will continue to support something that fails or is failing etc.

The way I see it is, stop looking for absolutes. As if Sony NEEDS to be SOOOOOOO hands off, the game can be the worst game in history and Sony must keep pumping money into it or something, its just not true and makes not sense to assume so (not to say that you are either). So with something like this, it simply means that Sony is open to support lots of odd, far out, crazy shit, but it is after all A CHANCE they are giving a team, they are not charity, they are a business and I think its awesome anyone gives such teams chances on new IP, but its still up to that team to deliver if they wish to continue that support.

Look at Ready At Dawn, they got lots of work from Sony and Sony trusted them with a new IP and it just didn't work out. It happens, but a chance was given regardless and I feel that is a fair shake to give a team on any new IP.

Sony has always demanded to own the IP, which in the past has made some studios (including Insomniac) go with other options. I wonder if that remains the rule.
Likely will. I think it makes lots of sense as they have no ode to fund someone elses IP, this is still a business.
From what I've gathered through the years is that Sony will throw resources and money at a dev to the point where they can actually drown themselves in it, and give a dev as much creative control as possible.... But if they don't deliver then the partnership isn't going to last very long.
Yup. I think its fair they give em a shot and if it doesn't work it, it wasn't meant to be.
i think they might be working on a killzone game
To my understanding, its a new IP, its not an established IP
I agree. Otherwise, the worst-case scenario is that the IP you helped build and funded gets to someone else if the studio gets acquired by another company. For example, Sunset Overdrive is now owned by Sony, not Microsoft.

Don't even get me started. MS had a chance to buy Bioware's parent company and didn't do shit. They literally told them they were making a trilogy, MS was deadass out here publishing a team they don't own, on a IP they don't own....of the AAA variety and then act surprised when EA scoops that shit up like "thanks for building that AAA series for us and putting in dat work cuh" lol Went and did the same fucking thing with Sunset Overdrive and now Sony owns it.....


So.......I'm happy they are doing things different at MS now lol The shit they where doing made no fucking sense and its like they were only interested in timed shit with loose deals etc and that type of business might sell you some 360's, but that consumer base will remember WHY they got a 360 for and WHY they will not get the next XB for the same reasons..... How many are really buying a XB TODAY for Splinter Cell or Mass Effect or any of that timed shit from generations ago? They should have bit the bullet and competed directly with Sony. They could have had Bioware and so many more if they just did exactly that too.
 
Hell yeah gotta believe these guys, after hearing all Todd Howard's lies About Starfield.
It's great to listen to Devs that have real experience and results on the board. I would've paid at least 7.6 billion for them.
 

Thirty7ven

Banned
Yup.

Colin is just trying to play up the contrarian with Sony's strategy....when the truth is they are the only one absolutely killing it right now content wise. They clearly know what the fuck they are doing. His messaging is just complete FUD.

Like I care if some of the 25 games are from these new studios?

Exactly. Not expecting Colin to be a cheerleader like say Greg from Kinda Funny, but there's only so much negativity a person can take, specially when your podcast is 3 hours long. Tough love is a thing, but it's feeling like they buy into the narrative a bit too much.

The horizon forbidden west gameplay reaction was the worst for me, the three of them were acting so limp about it, and then the discussion only got interesting to them when they started debating whether or not it would release this year. "Sony hiddin the release date, uh oh"
 

SlimySnake

Flashless at the Golden Globes
Sounds like another great expansion to fund new studios by Sony

Looks like this could be the killer FPS they need. Maybe using Decima or UE5. Could look incredible. Either way, glad Sony is making a big push back into FPS games that they neglected all gen

SlimySnake SlimySnake
Yeah, big fan of Black Ops 2 and 3, so really looking forward to what these guys cna do.

But I am way more excited about what the ex-Destiny devs are upto. I think partnering with new studios is the way to go. Acquisitions are far more expensive. However, I think this is way too late to be making these moves. These games wont be ready for the next 4-5 years. I am more interested in what they have lined up for next year besides cross gen games like Horizon, GOW and GT7. Dont see which first party game will be ready to compete with next gen games from Bethesda so it has to be a third party exclusive. I wonder if they will just release FF16 as an answer to Starfield and call it a day. but sadly, FF16 looks cross gen too.
 
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Yeah, big fan of Black Ops 2 and 3, so really looking forward to what these guys cna do.

But I am way more excited about what the ex-Destiny devs are upto. I think partnering with new studios is the way to go. Acquisitions are far more expensive. However, I think this is way too late to be making these moves. These games wont be ready for the next 4-5 years. I am more interested in what they have lined up for next year besides cross gen games like Horizon, GOW and GT7. Dont see which first party game will be ready to compete with next gen games from Bethesda so it has to be a third party exclusive. I wonder if they will just release FF16 as an answer to Starfield and call it a day. but sadly, FF16 looks cross gen too.

bethesda has never been good with graphics, so god of war will look better despite being cross gen
 

reksveks

Member
bethesda has never been good with graphics, so god of war will look better despite being cross gen
it's also comparing apples and oranges, bethesda games are usually alot larger in terms of world size combined that with the fact it will run on more sku's, it will be tougher to make it look better than GoW.
 

Bryank75

Banned
Yeah, big fan of Black Ops 2 and 3, so really looking forward to what these guys cna do.

But I am way more excited about what the ex-Destiny devs are upto. I think partnering with new studios is the way to go. Acquisitions are far more expensive. However, I think this is way too late to be making these moves. These games wont be ready for the next 4-5 years. I am more interested in what they have lined up for next year besides cross gen games like Horizon, GOW and GT7. Dont see which first party game will be ready to compete with next gen games from Bethesda so it has to be a third party exclusive. I wonder if they will just release FF16 as an answer to Starfield and call it a day. but sadly, FF16 looks cross gen too.

They should still make an acquisition... for several reasons.

1. To bolster their popularity in Japan and reaffirm their commitment to the region.

2. To cut games from Gamepass and competing platforms and make the GamePass lineup less diverse....in particular cutting well known franchise titles.

3. To bolster the full exclusive lineup of PlayStation and focus that once 3rd party publisher on output for a single platform.

4. To replace Japan studio and signal to investors that they have faith in consoles for incredible growth through aggressive strategy.

Sega and Kadokawa or Square Enix and MihoYo are my favorite combinations.
 
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Dodkrake

Banned
Seems there some shenanigans with the 20+ games according to Colin Moriarty.

Sony is rebranding 2nd party as a PlayStation Studio. No distinction made between the naughty dogs, Insomniacs, etc vs unproven studios or partnerships. Risk is the Sony seal of quality is likely to get diluted.

Again, short term gain in attempting to gain sales through brand recognition vs long term ramifications.

But they are Playstation Studio games. I understand the concern, but I'm sure that with the help and support they get from 1st party developers (feedback, technical know-how, etc), Sony wouldn't greelight a game (or present) if it wasn't up to their spec.

Edit - and then you have to think that for you to get to ~220M people, it will take a decade or longer. That means you've spent close to a decade investing Billions only to have a little bit of profit. It will take a loooong time to recoup the investment (it it happens before the service is shut).
 
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SlimySnake

Flashless at the Golden Globes
They should still make an acquisition... for several reasons.

1. To bolster their popularity in Japan and reaffirm their commitment to the region.

2. To cut games from Gamepass and competing platforms and make the GamePass lineup less diverse....in particular cutting well known franchise titles.

3. To bolster the full exclusive lineup of PlayStation and focus that once 3rd party publisher on output for a single platform.

4. To replace Japan studio and signal to investors that they have faith in consoles for incredible growth through aggressive strategy.

Sega and Kadokawa or Square Enix and MihoYo are my favorite combinations.
All good reasons. I think KojiPro and Bluepoint shouldve been locked up years ago.

Square Enix is going to be very expensive and they will get into a bidding war with MS on it. Not worth it.
 

SlimySnake

Flashless at the Golden Globes
Seems there some shenanigans with the 20+ games according to Colin Moriarty.

Sony is rebranding 2nd party as a PlayStation Studio. No distinction made between the naughty dogs, Insomniacs, etc vs unproven studios or partnerships. Risk is the Sony seal of quality is likely to get diluted.

Again, short term gain in attempting to gain sales through brand recognition vs long term ramifications.
This is a good point. There is definitely a risk, but this is something Sony has been doing since the PS3 era. Heavenly Sword, Lair, Twisted Metal PS3 by Jaffe's new studio, PS All Stars, Until Dawn, The Order, Bloodborne, Detroit, Death Stranding and all the Quantic Dream games are Sony owned IPs made by third party developers. (So 2nd party) Some were successes. Others werent. I think thats just the risk you have to take.

It's not like Sony studios dont mess up. KZ SF, DriveClub, Days Gone all have a 70 metacritic. Only The Order has a worse metacritic out of all the games I mentioned above. I think as long as they invest in good talent then they will see success. yes, the studios are unproven but the talent is not. Kojima built a new studio from scratch and delivered a game that won more GOTY awards than any other game, even RE2 and Sekiro.
 

mckmas8808

Mckmaster uses MasterCard to buy Slave drives
Exactly. Not expecting Colin to be a cheerleader like say Greg from Kinda Funny, but there's only so much negativity a person can take, specially when your podcast is 3 hours long. Tough love is a thing, but it's feeling like they buy into the narrative a bit too much.

The horizon forbidden west gameplay reaction was the worst for me, the three of them were acting so limp about it, and then the discussion only got interesting to them when they started debating whether or not it would release this year. "Sony hiddin the release date, uh oh"

Why is this so much a thing these days? Is it because podcasters in America are just bored with Sony doing great? Is it more entertaining to them if Sony slips up and MS "beats" them out with this new generation? I'm noticing it on almost every podcast I listen to about video games.
 

Bryank75

Banned
All good reasons. I think KojiPro and Bluepoint shouldve been locked up years ago.

Square Enix is going to be very expensive and they will get into a bidding war with MS on it. Not worth it.

Square won't sell to a foreign company, there would be no bidding war. The founder still owns a huge amount of stock.....he would have a massive say in it.... and the government of course.

No way they sell out to an American company.
 

Shmunter

Member
But they are Playstation Studio games. I understand the concern, but I'm sure that with the help and support they get from 1st party developers (feedback, technical know-how, etc), Sony wouldn't greelight a game (or present) if it wasn't up to their spec.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m totally on board with Sony and I very much hope for the scenario you present. But when you change the landscape like this wholesale it deserves some scrutiny.

I have little time for plebs that don’t have the depth to scrutinise decisions directly impacting their hobby. Aligning oneself with corpspeak and proclaiming a preferred company can do now wrong is absurd to me.

I’m sure over time many think I’m anti Xbox, when the reality is I’m simply anti stupid; and have no qualms to point and laugh. That includes my preferred entertainment company.

Rooting for Sony, but I’m not going to bury my head in light of recent events.
 

reksveks

Member
Square won't sell to a foreign company, there would be no bidding war. The founder still owns a huge amount of stock.....he would have a massive say in it.... and the government of course.

No way they sell out to an American company.
Has anyone got an example of an acquisition of a Japanese company being blocked because we think the acquiring company was American?
 
This is a good point. There is definitely a risk, but this is something Sony has been doing since the PS3 era. Heavenly Sword, Lair, Twisted Metal PS3 by Jaffe's new studio, PS All Stars, Until Dawn, The Order, Bloodborne, Detroit, Death Stranding and all the Quantic Dream games are Sony owned IPs made by third party developers. (So 2nd party) Some were successes. Others werent. I think thats just the risk you have to take.

It's not like Sony studios dont mess up. KZ SF, DriveClub, Days Gone all have a 70 metacritic. Only The Order has a worse metacritic out of all the games I mentioned above. I think as long as they invest in good talent then they will see success. yes, the studios are unproven but the talent is not. Kojima built a new studio from scratch and delivered a game that won more GOTY awards than any other game, even RE2 and Sekiro.

Deviation could be the next Respawn, sounds like there was a similar defection in Treyarch

being the next Respawn would be huge
 

Bryank75

Banned
Has anyone got an example of an acquisition of a Japanese company being blocked because we think the acquiring company was American?

It wouldn't have to be framed that way....the company might just 'not be for sale' until it gets an offer from another Japanese company.

Many companies in Japan are owned by foreign entities but not nearly to the level in other countries. Much of the sales in the last decade or more were due to the long lasting recession that recently came to an end.
 

SlimySnake

Flashless at the Golden Globes
Why is this so much a thing these days? Is it because podcasters in America are just bored with Sony doing great? Is it more entertaining to them if Sony slips up and MS "beats" them out with this new generation? I'm noticing it on almost every podcast I listen to about video games.
from what I understand, Colin had a personal stake in this. He was developing a Vita game when Sony shutdown the Vita store just a few months after selling him a vita devkit. So he was pretty bummed about that.

I think a lot of this comes down to communication. Sony is acting all aloof and detached. They communicate through blogposts run by themselves. They dont appear on podcasts or give out interviews. Cerny has been MIA since Road to PS5. Their poor communication was apparent way back in 2019 when it took them SIX months to clarify if the PS5 had hardware accelerated ray tracing. For six months between the first wired article in April and second in October, they let the narrative take hold that the PS5 had audio only RT. It's amateur hour over there. A simple correction or clarification in the article wouldve been so easy to do. Especially since the writer of the article complained about being relentlessly asked about it.

Even now. E3 has passed and they have not even talked about doing their own conference. Why do we have to resort to era insiders to get some hint of an upcoming conference? MS announced their summer conference like three months in advance last year after a poorly received May show. Just setting expectations sometimes goes a long way.

Last year, I was told to wait and see. This year, we are told we have 25 games in development. But we only know of three. Horizon, GoW and GT7. All cross gen. Surely, it's time to see some more of those 25 games in development. Are they also cross gen? Are they like Destruction All Stars or like Ratchet? E3 is the time where we all sit down and wait for answers to these questions we have had for the last 1 year. E3 has come and gone, and no Sony event in sight. Even the U.S government is more open about fucking UFOs than Sony is about their first and 2nd party games.
 

reksveks

Member
It wouldn't have to be framed that way....the company might just 'not be for sale' until it gets an offer from another Japanese company.

Many companies in Japan are owned by foreign entities but not nearly to the level in other countries. Much of the sales in the last decade or more were due to the long lasting recession that recently came to an end.
I am just trying to figure out if the Japanese law is similar in nature to what CFIUS does, in which case I can't see Microsoft buying a Japanese video game company causing issues. Tencent maybe.
 

AmuroChan

Member
For example, if Sony had acquired an established multiplatform developer or publisher, e.g., SquareEnix or Platinum Games or Crytek, PlayStation gamers wouldn't necessarily have benefited from that. They'd be getting a game they would have gotten anyway. With partnerships like these with new studios that don't have funding, PlayStation gamers will get entirely new games that wouldn't have been made otherwise.

The counter to that is that PlayStation gamers would be getting the games anyway so long as those publishers/devs remain 3rd party. If those studios get acquired by MS or Nintendo instead, then PlayStation gamers won't be getting those games anymore (ie. Bethesda). So there is a benefit to acquiring 3rd party devs because it ensures the games will release on that platform indefinitely.
 
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Bryank75

Banned
I am just trying to figure out if the Japanese law is similar in nature to what CFIUS does, in which case I can't see Microsoft buying a Japanese video game company causing issues. Tencent maybe.

Tencent has less cash than Sony....like 10 billion less and they have a fair bit of debt too. They are more aggressive though.

Basically the government in Japan can stop any acquisition they like, for any reason. That's what I have read anyway. Any investment over 1% has to be approved now...
 

Unknown?

Member
from what I understand, Colin had a personal stake in this. He was developing a Vita game when Sony shutdown the Vita store just a few months after selling him a vita devkit. So he was pretty bummed about that.

I think a lot of this comes down to communication. Sony is acting all aloof and detached. They communicate through blogposts run by themselves. They dont appear on podcasts or give out interviews. Cerny has been MIA since Road to PS5. Their poor communication was apparent way back in 2019 when it took them SIX months to clarify if the PS5 had hardware accelerated ray tracing. For six months between the first wired article in April and second in October, they let the narrative take hold that the PS5 had audio only RT. It's amateur hour over there. A simple correction or clarification in the article wouldve been so easy to do. Especially since the writer of the article complained about being relentlessly asked about it.

Even now. E3 has passed and they have not even talked about doing their own conference. Why do we have to resort to era insiders to get some hint of an upcoming conference? MS announced their summer conference like three months in advance last year after a poorly received May show. Just setting expectations sometimes goes a long way.

Last year, I was told to wait and see. This year, we are told we have 25 games in development. But we only know of three. Horizon, GoW and GT7. All cross gen. Surely, it's time to see some more of those 25 games in development. Are they also cross gen? Are they like Destruction All Stars or like Ratchet? E3 is the time where we all sit down and wait for answers to these questions we have had for the last 1 year. E3 has come and gone, and no Sony event in sight. Even the U.S government is more open about fucking UFOs than Sony is about their first and 2nd party games.
So what? They should respond to Xbox fanboy nonsense at all times? Only idiots believed those narratives. Only fools believed all the crap they were trying to frame Jim Ryan with.

ALL of that turned out to be untrue. I can see them responding to real accusations but not fanboy drivel. RDNA 1.5/9TF! That stuff was the making of clowns.
 

reksveks

Member
Tencent has less cash than Sony....like 10 billion less and they have a fair bit of debt too. They are more aggressive though.

Basically the government in Japan can stop any acquisition they like, for any reason. That's what I have read anyway. Any investment over 1% has to be approved now...
I wasn't suggesting that Tencent would buy any of the Japanese companies but I think the geopolitics would mean that blocking a Chinese company from acquiring a chunk of a US or Japanese company would be alot more justifiable or understandable then an American one. I don't know if push came to shove, whether Japan would block someone like Activsion/Microsoft from buying a Japanese game developer. I personally don't think Microsoft wants to take on the extra baggage around all the major Japanese game dev's.
 

SlimySnake

Flashless at the Golden Globes
So what? They should respond to Xbox fanboy nonsense at all times? Only idiots believed those narratives. Only fools believed all the crap they were trying to frame Jim Ryan with.

ALL of that turned out to be untrue. I can see them responding to real accusations but not fanboy drivel. RDNA 1.5/9TF! That stuff was the making of clowns.
There is difference between commenting on 9 tflops nonsense and clarifying the most asked question about your article revealing the PS5.

And communication is more than just commenting on bad press. There has to be a steady stream of news and some expectations set. That's why games are announced with release windows years in advance instead of weeks in advance. People like to know this stuff. MS announced their E3 conference way back in January. Xbox fans knew MS were going to be there. It's far more easier to be patient when you know for certain your favorite company is going to have a show.

Sony on the other hand cancelled their E3 presence and STILL hasnt bothered announcing a conference. And even if they announce it later today, it doesnt make their communication any better.
 

Unknown?

Member
There is difference between commenting on 9 tflops nonsense and clarifying the most asked question about your article revealing the PS5.

And communication is more than just commenting on bad press. There has to be a steady stream of news and some expectations set. That's why games are announced with release windows years in advance instead of weeks in advance. People like to know this stuff. MS announced their E3 conference way back in January. Xbox fans knew MS were going to be there. It's far more easier to be patient when you know for certain your favorite company is going to have a show.

Sony on the other hand cancelled their E3 presence and STILL hasnt bothered announcing a conference. And even if they announce it later today, it doesnt make their communication any better.
That part I can agree with, they should have at least announced a conference. But all the other stuff is nonsense, we did not need them to clarify narratives that were baseless as they'd be disproven as soon as it was announced.

Anyway a LOT of people during PS4 complained about them announcing things way too early. Now we have people complaining games aren't being announced. Notice how most of MS games were CGI trailers? It's because they aren't releasing anytime soon.
 

Heisenberg007

Gold Journalism
There is difference between commenting on 9 tflops nonsense and clarifying the most asked question about your article revealing the PS5.

And communication is more than just commenting on bad press. There has to be a steady stream of news and some expectations set. That's why games are announced with release windows years in advance instead of weeks in advance. People like to know this stuff. MS announced their E3 conference way back in January. Xbox fans knew MS were going to be there. It's far more easier to be patient when you know for certain your favorite company is going to have a show.

Sony on the other hand cancelled their E3 presence and STILL hasnt bothered announcing a conference. And even if they announce it later today, it doesnt make their communication any better.
Doesn't that defeat the entire purpose of Sony holding their own show?

If they announce it months before the event, then they have to be had at that event and prepare for it even if they aren't ready to do so. If they announce what are some of the games they will show months before the event date, then they have to show them even if they shouldn't or weren't prepared to do a proper, exciting reveal.

Sony bypasses E3 and holds their own event to allow them freedom and only have events when they have everything in perfect order. And that also makes sense.
 

Dodkrake

Banned
I think a lot of this comes down to communication. Sony is acting all aloof and detached. They communicate through blogposts run by themselves. They dont appear on podcasts or give out interviews. Cerny has been MIA since Road to PS5. Their poor communication was apparent way back in 2019 when it took them SIX months to clarify if the PS5 had hardware accelerated ray tracing. For six months between the first wired article in April and second in October, they let the narrative take hold that the PS5 had audio only RT. It's amateur hour over there. A simple correction or clarification in the article wouldve been so easy to do. Especially since the writer of the article complained about being relentlessly asked about it.

Do you see apple clarifying if the rumors about the new iPhone are accurate? No. They present stuff and people either buy it or not.

You're acting like you're entitled to clarification on every thing because little twitter astroturfers like to speculate.

Even now. E3 has passed and they have not even talked about doing their own conference. Why do we have to resort to era insiders to get some hint of an upcoming conference? MS announced their summer conference like three months in advance last year after a poorly received May show. Just setting expectations sometimes goes a long way.

Microsoft can do whatever they want, it doesn't mean others should follow.

Last year, I was told to wait and see. This year, we are told we have 25 games in development. But we only know of three. Horizon, GoW and GT7. All cross gen. Surely, it's time to see some more of those 25 games in development. Are they also cross gen? Are they like Destruction All Stars or like Ratchet? E3 is the time where we all sit down and wait for answers to these questions we have had for the last 1 year. E3 has come and gone, and no Sony event in sight. Even the U.S government is more open about fucking UFOs than Sony is about their first and 2nd party games.

Corey Balrog confirmed that Santa Monica is working on a second project. We jus had confirmation that these devs are working in a new game. That makes the total count 5. When Sony wants to show, they will. Their strategy is pretty clear - They'll do a couple of shows a year showing the next few games (or teasing them). They will then focus on the next one while feeding us some info on the one releasing after that. Now that R&C is released, we'll see much more of HFW, and then once that releases, you'll see more of the next game.
 

SlimySnake

Flashless at the Golden Globes
Anyway a LOT of people during PS4 complained about them announcing things way too early. Now we have people complaining games aren't being announced. Notice how most of MS games were CGI trailers? It's because they aren't releasing anytime soon.
I always thought those people were idiots and a very vocal minority. E3 2015 and 2016 are revered. They have gone down in history as two of the best conferences ever. Sony shouldve looked at that reception instead of two people who were upset that FF7 took five years to come out.

Doesn't that defeat the entire purpose of Sony holding their own show?

If they announce it months before the event, then they have to be had at that event and prepare for it even if they aren't ready to do so. If they announce what are some of the games they will show months before the event date, then they have to show them even if they shouldn't or weren't prepared to do a proper, exciting reveal.

Sony bypasses E3 and holds their own event to allow them freedom and only have events when they have everything in perfect order. And that also makes sense.
Not really. If they are planning on holding a show then they have internal deadlines they are beholden to anyway. I am not saying announce a day and date right away but something simple like Summer 2021 should be good enough.

If they hadnt cancelled E3, we wouldnt need to have any clarification or announcement from them. But they did and now we do. It's their own mess and their communication team is MIA.
 

Interfectum

Member
It’s really interesting because on the one hand we hear Sony are very hands off with development process. But on the other hand, unless the game reaches a certain metacritic level, the franchise is killed.
It makes sense. Sony gives you enough rope to hang yourself. You have all the freedom in the world to make your dream game. If your dream game sucks then bye-bye.
 

Thirty7ven

Banned
Why is this so much a thing these days? Is it because podcasters in America are just bored with Sony doing great? Is it more entertaining to them if Sony slips up and MS "beats" them out with this new generation? I'm noticing it on almost every podcast I listen to about video games.

News cycle is a beast that needs to be fed, it's a monster, and almost everyone covering the industry relies on very active engagement with the community so it snowballs. Everyone has one or two or three podcasts, and they all want their homework done for them. Colin and the others went straight into bitching mode with the Deviation games announcement, "why don't they talk about this, why don't they talk about that".

Makes you wanna ask what the hell do they do exactly? How about they go and find out? Isn't that part of your whole thing? It's like their level of contribution to the discussion is the same one you would find from a random forum poster. Give me an analysis, go deep into who the people on the team are, speculate on the type of game it is according what people might've heard, hell something. Their last show was 5 hours.
 

Bryank75

Banned
I wasn't suggesting that Tencent would buy any of the Japanese companies but I think the geopolitics would mean that blocking a Chinese company from acquiring a chunk of a US or Japanese company would be alot more justifiable or understandable then an American one. I don't know if push came to shove, whether Japan would block someone like Activsion/Microsoft from buying a Japanese game developer. I personally don't think Microsoft wants to take on the extra baggage around all the major Japanese game dev's.

Oh for sure, many of the extra measures were put in place to stop Chinese investments and influence. Particularly in communications and defense.
 

mckmas8808

Mckmaster uses MasterCard to buy Slave drives
from what I understand, Colin had a personal stake in this. He was developing a Vita game when Sony shutdown the Vita store just a few months after selling him a vita devkit. So he was pretty bummed about that.

I think a lot of this comes down to communication. Sony is acting all aloof and detached. They communicate through blogposts run by themselves. They dont appear on podcasts or give out interviews. Cerny has been MIA since Road to PS5. Their poor communication was apparent way back in 2019 when it took them SIX months to clarify if the PS5 had hardware accelerated ray tracing. For six months between the first wired article in April and second in October, they let the narrative take hold that the PS5 had audio only RT. It's amateur hour over there. A simple correction or clarification in the article wouldve been so easy to do. Especially since the writer of the article complained about being relentlessly asked about it.

Even now. E3 has passed and they have not even talked about doing their own conference. Why do we have to resort to era insiders to get some hint of an upcoming conference? MS announced their summer conference like three months in advance last year after a poorly received May show. Just setting expectations sometimes goes a long way.

Last year, I was told to wait and see. This year, we are told we have 25 games in development. But we only know of three. Horizon, GoW and GT7. All cross gen. Surely, it's time to see some more of those 25 games in development. Are they also cross gen? Are they like Destruction All Stars or like Ratchet? E3 is the time where we all sit down and wait for answers to these questions we have had for the last 1 year. E3 has come and gone, and no Sony event in sight. Even the U.S government is more open about fucking UFOs than Sony is about their first and 2nd party games.

GOTCHA! Everything from him now makes perfect sense. Do you think their communication is poor due to them being on "amateur hour" or do you think it's possible that this is all by design (like I do). I think it's obvious that Sony is taking the talk less, show only approach. It's clear to me and most people that it actually generates more hype than talking about what you will be doing every other week like Microsoft.

Honestly, Nintendo kinda does it too. But for some reason most don't mind that Nintendo keeps their cards close to their chest.
 
Oh no, most of them were singing the praise of MS early last gen as well. They only revised their stance once the majority of gamers declared preferring the other option. The amount of damage control was delicious at first.
 

Zeroing

Banned
GOTCHA! Everything from him now makes perfect sense. Do you think their communication is poor due to them being on "amateur hour" or do you think it's possible that this is all by design (like I do). I think it's obvious that Sony is taking the talk less, show only approach. It's clear to me and most people that it actually generates more hype than talking about what you will be doing every other week like Microsoft.

Honestly, Nintendo kinda does it too. But for some reason most don't mind that Nintendo keeps their cards close to their chest.
Sony is definitely into silent mode.
The restructure of PlayStation messed up a lot of things.

also doesn’t help how gamers don’t like Jim that much and when he open his mouth, chaos erupts.

But! I still think that when Sony is quiet it’s because it’s preparing something big… at least looking back it has always been the case.
 

yurinka

Member
By the way, this game by Deviation Games could be sci-fi, set up on Mars.

If you go to their website, scroll down, and hit that yellow planet icon, a video will play that teases "First Games on Mars".
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Could just be a fancy marketing promo, or could be an actual game tease. Considering how well they hid it, it is more likely to be an easter egg and a hint of the game they are making.
Seems they removed it from the website. Couldn't find the yellow planet or the related link.
 
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DeepEnigma

Gold Member
I remembered when Cerny talked about Naughty Dog and Insomniac studios, they were actually founded by Cerny 1st, then Sony snatched both of them to work at SCIE, then Cerny followed them to become a consultant. During that time there's only 2 to 3 people for each studios, less than 10, both combined. Now they have gotten big and having hundreds and thousands of employees.
Sony helped curate ND from Way of the Warrior, to the talented powerhouse they are today.

Housing their ICE tech team to boot.
 

yurinka

Member
Seems there some shenanigans with the 20+ games according to Colin Moriarty.

Sony is rebranding 2nd party as a PlayStation Studio. No distinction made between the naughty dogs, Insomniacs, etc vs unproven studios or partnerships. Risk is the Sony seal of quality is likely to get diluted.

Again, short term gain in attempting to gain sales through brand recognition vs long term ramifications.
2nd party are also 1st party games. So yes, when Hermen says he has over 25 games under development he means 1st and 2nd party games. All 2nd party games are now included under the PlayStation Studios games, exactly in the same way they did before starting the PlayStation Studios name. The games published by Sony, their IP belong to Sony even if developed partially and totally by an external dev. So they are Sony games.

And unproven my ass, 2nd party teams like Bluepoint, Housemarque, From Software, Sumo Digital and so on more than proven themselves, in the same goes with the new studios headed by key people from Metal Gear, Destiny, CoD BO series, AC etc. In addition to the few known key people heading their teams we also know they have several additional very experienced devs in many other top AAA games beyond the listed ones. So they are a safe, proven bet.

There's nothing wrong to fund games with these guys giving them enough money and creative freedom. Both Sony 2nd party team and these people have a proven track of games with great sales and reviews. It's specially a good idea when they are some of the best people in the world making the types of games they do, game types where Sony doesn't focus (FPS, MP, etc) so will help them to get new IPs there and also learn from their knowledge.
 
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