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God of War generated half billion in revenue for Sony, Horizon Zero Dawn hit 400M

CloudNull

Banned
These are big budget Hollywood blockbuster numbers. Games have come a long way.

how many GAAS succeed? the failure rate is high, many developers and publishers going bankrupt perusing this. while the investors who mandate it parachute out after liquidating all they can.

single player games are more secure finically. a reliable expected fanbase targeted with a realistic budget. games like Persona and Yakuza can be sustainable franchises. if Avengers budget and game design was focused on SP, it could have also made half a billion. and plenty of profit.

Yeah but look at Among Us and Fall Guys. Games developed for very little yet they make tons of money. How many single player games are developed with string shoe budgets and sell gang busters? Very little. The single player games that sell this much are usually the games that have a massive budget.

GAAS can release broken and be redeemed. Look at NMS and Fallout 76. From a business perspective investing in a GAAS is the better bet. Until Microtransactions go away this will always be the case.
 
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ACESHIGH

Banned
I wonder how much of those 400M are from HZD PC. Seems it was profitable for them as they are still fixing the game 4month after release.
 

v_iHuGi

Banned
Yeah but look at Among Us and Fall Guys. Games developed for very little yet they make tons of money. How many single player games are developed with string shoe budgets and sell gang busters? Very little. The single player games that sell this much are usually the games that have a massive budget.

GAAS can release broken and be redeemed. Look at NMS and Fallout 76. From a business perspective investing in a GAAS is the better bet. Until Microtransactions go away this will always be the case.

Any game can be fixed, CP2077 will show that, W3 already did on Consoles.
 

Holammer

Member
"Making new IP's in the video game industry is very risky"..........Sony are like,hold my beer!
Horizon,GOT and Days Gone were all fantastic....hope we get more new IP on PS5!

Days Gone and Horizon? Yes. GoT is based on a longstanding IP.
 

Bragr

Banned
Thank god Sony ain't just praying on microtransactions and casual streaming games to make money. They are taking the high road and making stuff that matters. That said, microtransactions are around for a reason, and it's because people are using billions on it every year. Thank god we have major companies that are focused on making games instead of Among Us, League and Fortnite and exploitative games like that.

EA's Revenue from Ultimate Team game modes:
  • 2015: $587 million
  • 2016: $660 million
  • 2017: $775 million
  • 2018: $1.18 billion
  • 2019: $1.37 billion
  • 2020: $1.49 billion
 

mckmas8808

Banned
Who would have thought that if you make great single-player content, gamers would buy it in droves? Take note EA and MS!!!
 
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Amiga

Member
Yeah but look at Among Us and Fall Guys. Games developed for very little yet they make tons of money. How many single player games are developed with string shoe budgets and sell gang busters? Very little. The single player games that sell this much are usually the games that have a massive budget.

GAAS can release broken and be redeemed. Look at NMS and Fallout 76. From a business perspective investing in a GAAS is the better bet. Until Microtransactions go away this will always be the case.


Among Us and Fall Guys are not things you can dependently plan for. otherwise all publishers would switch to that and forget about SP. these games require high adoption. it's not easy to grab the attention of lots of people an retain it. not saying it should be ignored. just don't sell the farm for GaaS.
 

Holammer

Member
I wonder how much of those 400M are from HZD PC. Seems it was profitable for them as they are still fixing the game 4month after release.

1.5M copies on Steam by a rough estimate and it's for sale on EGS and GOG too, so add another million at least. It would have been more if not for a botched launch which ruined its momentum.
 

Holammer

Member
Ooh, I know this. God of Tar, right?

(if you really mean Ghost of Tsushima, I'd like to know what longstanding IP it is based on)

You got me, you got me good.

tenor.gif
 

Humdinger

Member
Glad to see Horizon pulled in 400 million. That's great. Sounds like the budget was a bit over 45 million. I'm assuming that does not include marketing costs? In any event, that's a fine return on a risky investment.

Great game. I trust that the profitability of the first will help motivate them to do a good job with the sequel.
 

G-Bus

Banned
So horizon cross gen and make GoW ps5 exclusive. Nice Christmas bundle next year.

But yea, great numbers for great games. Like pretty much all of Sonya first party and makes buying into the new generation and easy choice
 
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Kerotan

Member
Only the successful GaaS games do. The majority don't have profits anywhere near those revenues. Anyways these single player IPs are still really profitable for Sony to make. I don't think they will abandon them anytime soon.
Yeah lots of GAAS titles crash and burn.. There's only room for so many to survive especially on consoles but those that thrive make a fortune.

Think COD, GTA, Fortnight, Siege, For Honor, Destiny 2.
 

llien

Member
Horizon was an interesting mixture of jaw dropping visuals and fun game mechanics, with bland dialogs and annoying scent of SJ infection all over the place.

I wonder if anyone at Sony realizes that TLOU2 direction backfired and they should tone down wokeness.

Thats explain why GoW Ragnarok is so hyped. Not more than Elden Ring, butt sill high.

GoW 2018 is such a beast (still freaking playing it in NG+ GMGOW mode) that I'd probably buy PS5 for Ragnarok alone.
 
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IntentionalPun

Ask me about my wife's perfect butthole
I hope some of my fellow Sony fans get used to the idea of them adding micro-transactions in their games or online style GAAS stuff.

(and I don't have a personal problem with it, but I would bet good money it's coming)
 

Unknown?

Member
This just makes their £70 pricing look even worse, greed and nothing more behind that decision, they know they'll sell big figures, they're making huge profits, yet they want more and more, I hope titles like Returnal flop so they rethink their pricing structure as there is no way the masses will accept paying those prices during a mass recession.
Sounds good if you want games to be stuck with no improvement in graphics like the Wii was.
 

DonJorginho

Banned
Sounds good if you want games to be stuck with no improvement in graphics like the Wii was.
Returnal doesn't look better than HZD, GOW, Days Gone, Miles Morales, Spider-Man 2018, TLOU II, Death Stranding, Uncharted 4 and many more first party titles that were priced at £50 and lower.

I'm happy to pay £70 when games show me clear reasons why they're truly next gen visually or gameplay wise, like Demon's Souls Remake that was fucking gorgeous, but games like Returnal and Godfall leave me no reason to see them as a good deal at £70.

What I'm saying is, £70 shouldn't be the blanket charge, it should depend based on title, either way it's a greedy move from Sony when they clearly make enough money off it to not be hurt by selling at £50/60. But I think the price would seem like a better deal if the games looked truly next gen, like Ratchet Rift Apart, that looks like something you absolutely couldn't do on last gen so I see why I'm paying £70, a game like Godfall or Returnal? I struggle to see reasons why it's anything but a daylight robbery.

And a bit weird to compare this to the Wii of all things 😂
 
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Bitmap Frogs

Mr. Community
They're both awesome games.

I liked how gow went semi-open to about becoming another openworld game, that was smart.
 

ToadMan

Member
Yeah lots of GAAS titles crash and burn.. There's only room for so many to survive especially on consoles but those that thrive make a fortune.

Think COD, GTA, Fortnight, Siege, For Honor, Destiny 2.

They’re all multiplats though. I think that’s why Sony don’t really go there - they can’t compete with a multi platform GAAS strategy like that.

Making good single platform games does draw customers to buy the platform though, and Sony then get a slice of all those third party sales beyond the exclusives.

I think Sony deliberately plays it this way to make dollars from all the angles.
 

Kdad

Member
I don’t want to belittle Sony’s SP effort (I personally play only SP games) but GAAS games have profits much larger than that. It’s just a question of what’s the best Return on Investment. For Sony games like that push console adoption, which in turn increases profits from PSS. Non-platform holders do not care about that.
What is SONY's cut of GaaS fees when played on PSN....zero risk profits rolling in. I'm sure SONY would love a hit like Fortnite but they'd need to release on all platforms for it to reach critical mass.
 

j0hnnix

Member

Sony had an incredible sales success with their first-party IPs this generation with games like Ghost of Tsushima, God of War, Uncharted, and more.

1524238391-5519-card.jpg


When it comes to their first-party games, Sony had a couple of misfires early in the generation like The Order 1886 or Killzone Shadowfall, but they quickly stabilized from them and ended up creating some memorable experiences.
God of War is a franchise that was brought back for the PS4 but with a complete overhaul of the core game. It was a risky decision but Sony took this bet and ended up having massive success with it.
The game sold more than 3 million copies with 3 days of its launch becoming the fastest-selling game for Sony Worldwide Studios.
This record was broken a few months later by Marvel’s Spider-Man.


spider-man.jpg


As for how much revenue Sony managed to earn from God of War, a quick glimpse at the Linkedin profile of TJ Consunji, Group Marketing Manager at PlayStation, reveals that the game grossed more than $500 million in revenue as of 2019.
The game sold more than 10 million copies in its launch year and digital sales made up 40% of this figure.
The same person has listed the revenue and sales for Horizon Zero Dawn as well:
As a new IP, it was also massively successful for Sony and managed to sell more than 8 million copies with a 35% sales ratio for digital versus retail. It grossed more than 400 million in revenue for Sony.
Naughty Dog is one of the most profitable studios for Sony. Their two franchises, The Last of Us, and Uncharted, have grossed more than 1 billion in revenue. The same can be said for Ghost of Tsushima, which was a massive success for Sony even outselling Horizon Zero Dawn as the fastest-selling new IP this generation.


09f1d14a34fb183ac165626e.jpg






 

Tschumi

Member
Itm9.gif


Gooooo Sony!

For real, I'm not surprised, you don't need to make comparisons to competitors, just recognize the quality of these games.. I've got them all, they're all total trips, fantastic, high minded, ground breaking efforts. Horizon in particular is in. credible.
 

Shrennin

Didn't get the memo regarding the 14th Amendment
Well deserved. Sony makes some fantastic singleplayer experiences and I am glad that they are helping to show that there's a viable market for these types of games.
 

e&e

Banned
Single player games are my bread and butter and Sony has some good franchises, I just don’t need them to be all this samey, edgy “genre”. I know this opinion (hello hot take etc) might step on the Uber Sony fans toes though...

All in all, it’s a travesty what they did to God of War...😩
 

Men_in_Boxes

Snake Oil Salesman
Among Us and Fall Guys are not things you can dependently plan for. otherwise all publishers would switch to that and forget about SP. these games require high adoption. it's not easy to grab the attention of lots of people an retain it. not saying it should be ignored. just don't sell the farm for GaaS.

Sony should be diverting resources from their underperforming single player projects.

Giving AA size teams 3+ years on Concrete Genie, Detroit Become Human, Gravity Rush 2 etc...no longer makes sense. Sony should absolutely be funding multiplayer projects that have home run potential.
 

Amiga

Member
Sony should be diverting resources from their underperforming single player projects.

Giving AA size teams 3+ years on Concrete Genie, Detroit Become Human, Gravity Rush 2 etc...no longer makes sense. Sony should absolutely be funding multiplayer projects that have home run potential.

Sony production did evolve over the last few years. more resources on AAA games. they will do fewer mid-lower budget games if they can be unique enough like Returnal. this focused production helped studios like Sucker Punch, Insomniac and GG evolve to be some of the best in the industry.
 
It's the point that the game doesn't look anywhere near as good as other top Sony games, yet it's priced more than top titles like GOW, GoT and Bloodborne, it's insane! Returnal should be priced at a similar amount to Deathloop, it is literally getting shafted by Sony, they're setting up Housemarque to suffer by pricing their game at an extremely high level with no reason as to why, it doesn't look groundbreaking, it certainly won't be better than the three titles I mentioned, and we've seen barely any raw gameplay, it comes out in like 3 months!

You know what, you have a point.

Housemarque is no household name, and very much a niche game developer. I don't think their games have ever been past $30.

Returnal looks great to hose into their games, but at $70, you're right - average joes like me likely won't spend that much on it.
 

Hudo

Member
I hope we play as one main character in the next God of War and go a bit back to the more frantic, over-the-top gameplay of the previous games. I really hated the Son-Dad dynamic, also from a gameplay perspective. God of War, for me, was never about quiet and deep cinematic moments, it was always about epic, completely crazy, "'let's fuck shit up for everyone"-kind of moments.

Maybe it's also the setting, I just don't dig Norse mythology.
But congrats anyway, I still can see why so many people like the new God of War....
 

Panajev2001a

GAF's Pleasant Genius
Returnal doesn't look better than HZD, GOW, Days Gone, Miles Morales, Spider-Man 2018, TLOU II, Death Stranding, Uncharted 4 and many more first party titles that were priced at £50 and lower.

I'm happy to pay £70 when games show me clear reasons why they're truly next gen visually or gameplay wise, like Demon's Souls Remake that was fucking gorgeous, but games like Returnal and Godfall leave me no reason to see them as a good deal at £70.

What I'm saying is, £70 shouldn't be the blanket charge, it should depend based on title, either way it's a greedy move from Sony when they clearly make enough money off it to not be hurt by selling at £50/60. But I think the price would seem like a better deal if the games looked truly next gen, like Ratchet Rift Apart, that looks like something you absolutely couldn't do on last gen so I see why I'm paying £70, a game like Godfall or Returnal? I struggle to see reasons why it's anything but a daylight robbery.

And a bit weird to compare this to the Wii of all things 😂

Small third party developer (game published but not fully funded by Sony?) with a niche audience (but clear technical chops, see Resogun and Super Stardust HD) that expands and takes a big risk with their first big third person action/adventure title deserves more reward than a massive IP easy to marked by a big name developer with maybe season passes and other additional DLC (let alone titles developed by first party teams which have completely different economics).

I think smaller studios should not be relegated to give away their games at low prices just because...
 
When you make games people want, blockbusters of quality, the money will come, and consumers will reward you. A gamepass model is thus highly ineffective considering the cost to make games of this quality and scope, and the return.

Gamers like big blockbusters of high quality.
 
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I don’t want to belittle Sony’s SP effort (I personally play only SP games) but GAAS games have profits much larger than that. It’s just a question of what’s the best Return on Investment. For Sony games like that push console adoption, which in turn increases profits from PSS. Non-platform holders do not care about that.
Just a quick thought that Cyberpunk had 8 million pre-orders which equals 480 million before the game is even out and it'll be updated and sell for many months and years after.
 

S73v3

Banned
It's a dam shame I'm not really into the games Sony makes.

I've played a few recently and past a honeymoon period they age badly for me.

I know I'm pickey tho, I respect them and the devs behind them. Sony has got it's audience. Good to see.

Clearly talented, even if the games are not my cup of tea.
 
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Unknown?

Member
Returnal doesn't look better than HZD, GOW, Days Gone, Miles Morales, Spider-Man 2018, TLOU II, Death Stranding, Uncharted 4 and many more first party titles that were priced at £50 and lower.

I'm happy to pay £70 when games show me clear reasons why they're truly next gen visually or gameplay wise, like Demon's Souls Remake that was fucking gorgeous, but games like Returnal and Godfall leave me no reason to see them as a good deal at £70.

What I'm saying is, £70 shouldn't be the blanket charge, it should depend based on title, either way it's a greedy move from Sony when they clearly make enough money off it to not be hurt by selling at £50/60. But I think the price would seem like a better deal if the games looked truly next gen, like Ratchet Rift Apart, that looks like something you absolutely couldn't do on last gen so I see why I'm paying £70, a game like Godfall or Returnal? I struggle to see reasons why it's anything but a daylight robbery.

And a bit weird to compare this to the Wii of all things 😂
Weird. I dont see anyone complaining about Ass Creed or COD even though they aren't anything previous consoles could not do. Guess it's just a new IP thing.
 

DonJorginho

Banned
Weird. I dont see anyone complaining about Ass Creed or COD even though they aren't anything previous consoles could not do. Guess it's just a new IP thing.
Very weird that you're bringing up them two games when Assassin's Creed hasn't raised it's price and COD has only raised it's price by £5.

Guess you just haven't got a proper response?
 

Dodkrake

Banned
Yep. games are a huge money maker which is why I am really irked by this price jump to $70. Especially in an age where over 50% of all sales are digital where Sony gets to keep 100% of the revenue. it's just corporate greed at its worst.

And yet games are way cheaper nowadays than they were back in the 90's. 2010 data: https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2010/10/an-inconvenient-truth-game-prices-have-come-down-with-time/

Also interesting, a $50 PS1 game (normal price at the time) would cost almost $90 ($87.80).

So you can be salty all you want, but games are factually cheaper than in the 90's. Also, the increase by Sony was $10, correct?

2013 PS4 games at $69.99 = $78.18 in today's dollars. They are selling them at a $1.78 Premium while investing more and more.

The only argument is that Digital Sales cost the same as Physical Sales, and I wholeheartedly agree digital versions should be $10 to $20 cheaper.

Also, I used USD, but feel free to use your local currency.

Sauce for inflation: https://www.usinflationcalculator.com/
 
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