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Sony's focus on multiplayer is dissapointing

For the last decade, all we've heard is that Sony has no multiplayer games. So now we're going to complain about them working on multiplayer games? Ehhh.

Also, The Last of Us had really great multiplayer and the GoT multiplayer content is pretty good too. I see no problem here, as long as they still make solid single player games as well.
 

kingpotato

Ask me about my Stream Deck
They haven't really shown much in the way of multiplayer only games at any of their big shows this year, so I'm interpreting this post as FUD for 3+ years into the future right?

Many games with multiplayer also have stellar single player experiences with them.
 

GymWolf

Member
Yep, i'm not really happy with this situation.

I don't care if they are small projects (and they are probably not), even 20% of devs working on something else is still 20% less devs\manpower on single player projects and i didn't bought a sony console for a 50\50 single\multy games ratio...

Do people really need MORE multyplayer stuff to play on sony console? The myriad of third parties are not enough?!

Am i being unreasonable and selfish?! Who gives a fuck? I'm not a sony shareholder i only care for my own enjoyment.

Hopefully they are not gonna do big numbers and sony is gonna return full on single player games.

P.s. obviously i understand why they are doing this, multy is a big piece of market and going crossgen wasn't greedy enough for this gen, i get it.
 
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ZywyPL

Banned
Well I'm personally disappointed with Sony's output since PS4 which completely lacks any variety at all, so I welcome with open arms anything that tries to break up with that stagnant approach. They have a lot of shooter IPs up their sleeve, and always can come up with something totally fresh, and those games can always have a SP campaign mind you, so no one would be missing out anything. And MP doesn't even always have to be a typical competitive PvP, it can be an online co-op, like horde mode or something, or still sort of a SP experience but with added online leaderboards. Really, there's a ton of room to add an online component to their games that won't sacrifice anything from the SP campaign at all, while greatly extend the product's life. GoT Legends is a great example of such added MP part into otherwise strictly SP-only title.
 

GymWolf

Member
They are games. For gamers. Who play games. A lot of times together. Are you seriously complaining that Sony is making additional investments to increase the variety of genres available on their platform? I really don't understand the anti social mindset of seemingly so many Sony fans that want to sit alone in the dark 24/7 playing only single player games talking to themselves and pretending other people don't exist. Very strange behavior. Ive suffered from severe social anxiety pretty much my entire life but I can still appreciate other people having fun with things.
Wow this is an absolutely laughable shit take.

Kudos my good sir.

Oh and before you ask, yes i play multyplayer games to feel more close to my fellow gamers or wtf you were talking about, overwatch and mhw are probably the games where i have more hours in the entire last gen.
 
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Hobbygaming

has been asked to post in 'Grounded' mode.
I suspect Sony views GamePass as a real threat. The fact that Sony is winning before Microsoft's 24 developers start cooking doesn't mean a whole lot. The premise was basically created to counter Sonys strength of providing 1 or 2 buzzworthy titles a year. GamePass provides a perpetual buzz throughout the year now that Microsoft can start feeding it games all the time.

2,000+ hour, social, multiplayer games counters the GamePass strategy nicely.
I think you're overestimating Gamepass. PS5 is one of the fastest selling consoles ever, Gamepass subs won't likely get anywhere close to how many units the PS5 will sell this generation
 

Hobbygaming

has been asked to post in 'Grounded' mode.
I don't care for MP titles either and Sony isn't stupid they know their core audience wants SP flagship games

They're just casting a wider net to get even more gamers on PS

We'll have plenty of SP games
 
They are games. For gamers. Who play games. A lot of times together. Are you seriously complaining that Sony is making additional investments to increase the variety of genres available on their platform? I really don't understand the anti social mindset of seemingly so many Sony fans that want to sit alone in the dark 24/7 playing only single player games talking to themselves and pretending other people don't exist. Very strange behavior. Ive suffered from severe social anxiety pretty much my entire life but I can still appreciate other people having fun with things.
His post can be summed up like this.

BG3RJ8M.jpg
 

Concern

Member
This is all mostly rumors but im all for it. Its not like they lack the resources to make a huge mp experience.
 

lh032

I cry about Xbox and hate PlayStation.
lol come on some of you people here, this is Sony we are talking about.

They are obviously hiding some Single player big guns for 2022 /2023 onwards.
 
It seems the future of PlayStation we have a ton of multiplayer investment. For someone who hates most multiplayer games and didn't get I to Starhawk, Resistance, Killzone and etc this is quite dissapointing.

We have the following based on official announcements, leaks and rumours
Deviation FPS game - Devs of Black Ops
FireWalk FPS game - Devs of Titanfall
Horizon multiplayer game
Guerilla Games 2nd project to be multiplayer - could be the same Horizon multiplayer game or something else
FireSprite Multiplayer game - Based on job positions
Factions - became its own thing and more ambitious so more resources put into this
Arrowhead next game - Sony published their previous game so likely to invest in this
Twisted Metal F2P - rumoured to be in development by Lucid
London Studio multiplayer game - they are hiring for a online game
inSomniac multiplayer game - they are hiring for a online game

That's a ton of investment for online games and I would have oreffered the resources to be double down on AAA singleplayer games. We already had Destruction Allstars which flopped. Sony has had issues previously creating a big online presence in a game where servers are shut or community is dead, just look at Starhawk, Twisted Metal, Resistance 3, Killzone 3 and etc. We are at a time where only a few online games succeed as the competition is strong and people don't have time to focus on a few online games at a time which leaves many online games being abandoned. There are some positives I'm glad Gran Turismo 7 is bringing back a decent singplelayer campaign. Ragnarok, Wolverine and etc all will be great singleplayer games. But with VR and multiplayer games which are 2 things I'm not interested in it seems the big singplelayer AAA games will be few and far between from eachother. And Sony could have upped the investment in more singplelayer games instead of multiplayer games which history has shown usually flop and get abandoned.

Some of you guys are so neurotic.

Get a grip. You're drawing sweeping conclusions about a whole publisher's focus based on nothing but rumours.

PS has always dabbled in MP games or games with a MP component since the very beginning. But they know very well their strength in FP development is SP experiences and overall library diversity of content.

They aren't moving away from that. You need to relax and have a little faith. The sky isn't falling because you've heard some Sony devs are working on MP games FFS.
 
I think you're overestimating Gamepass. PS5 is one of the fastest selling consoles ever, Gamepass subs won't likely get anywhere close to how many units the PS5 will sell this generation
The total unit sales of PS5 is important to Sony, but Game Pass is definitely having a major effect on the mindset of many customers. "Wait until it's on Game Pass" is being heard all the time now, and it's definitely going to affect Sony's software sales. Recent example is Deathloop, where a lot of people are content to wait until next year to play on Game Pass. While it's impossible to quantify lost sales, it certainly is going to cut into Sony's total sale figures. There's no way it couldn't.
 

OmegaSupreme

advanced basic bitch
The total unit sales of PS5 is important to Sony, but Game Pass is definitely having a major effect on the mindset of many customers. "Wait until it's on Game Pass" is being heard all the time now, and it's definitely going to affect Sony's software sales. Recent example is Deathloop, where a lot of people are content to wait until next year to play on Game Pass. While it's impossible to quantify lost sales, it certainly is going to cut into Sony's total sale figures. There's no way it couldn't.
On Gaf maybe. Anywhere else? Gamepass is not new. It's been around for years at this point. They still can't keep pace. Nintendo is outselling them both for god's sake.
 
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Codes 208

Member
more like catching some balance between SP and MP output.
This is what they need. Halo 3 to this day is my favorite game of all time because it had a mix of everything, sony realy needs to catch that lightning in a bottle but theyve been too content with single player only experiences while marketing heavily in MP centric third parties titles (like cod and destiny) to fill in that gap but they dont have their own answer to, say, gears or halo in terms of SP, co-op and multiplayer
 

splattered

Member
Wow this is an absolutely laughable shit take.

Kudos my good sir.

Oh and before you ask, yes i play multyplayer games to feel more close to my fellow gamers or wtf you were talking about, overwatch and mhw are probably the games where i have more hours in the entire last gen.

His post can be summed up like this.

BG3RJ8M.jpg

You do realize that what i basically said is... other people like multiplayer games, and they like sony developed games, so why not let sony make multiplayer games to add their own spin on the genre providing more variety on their platform. Shit take? Because i said it seems to strange to demand that Sony caters to YOUR tastes only? Don't plink what i don't like? But i like both SP and MP games. I'm saying stop plinking what others DO like. You two just proved my point exactly. Wow.
 
Looking at that OP sounds like rumors after rumors.
Insomniac is working on 2 single player games. Maybe one of them could have multiplayer component.
Naughty Dog is working on Factions... alongside TLOU Remake and probably TLOU2 Director's Cut.
Firesprite are working in 2 games. One multiplayer and the other one single player supposedly. That's a 50/50 investment in multiplayer.

Most of their multiplayer investment is actually the 3 collaborators they are doing with the 3 recently created studios. The rest is mostly rumors. Just because they are hiring for multiplayer positions doesn't mean they are working on multiplayer games. Could be just one mode or it could even be like Death Stranding online components. Who knows. Too early to tell.
 

Auto_aim1

MeisaMcCaffrey
I miss the Uncharted 2 multiplayer and Killzone 2's multiplayer as well. Sucks these games came out at a time where the PS3 was going through shit.
 

Men_in_Boxes

Snake Oil Salesman
They aren't moving away from that. You need to relax and have a little faith. The sky isn't falling because you've heard some Sony devs are working on MP games FFS.

It would be wise to pay attention to Factions II success. If that game hits for Sony+Naughty Dog it has the potential to change the trajectory of the company.

DayZ, Rust, and Ark are still massive games in 2021. All three look and play like ****.

If Naughty Dog takes that formula and gives it proper attention, they could have the next big thing on their hands. A sudden influx of profits makes everyone change focus.
 

Azurro

Banned
I can understand being disappointed by the direction. I was disappointed in Sonys single player focus during the PS4 generation.

That being said, you don't compete with GamePass by releasing single player games. Multiplayer is taking over and Sony knows it needs to be leading that charge. I thought the built in mic on the DualSense was a sign that Sonys focus was going in the right direction for PS5.

High risk high reward strategy is fun to watch.

Compete with GamePass? In what, in how fast you can tank your game sales and how fast you can put your division in the red? I don't know what universe people live in that think that GamePass is a success and something to be competed against.

Sony is right to compete in the multiplayer space, as there is a huge multiplayer market out there. As long as they don't abandon their single player output then I'm fine with that.
 
I suspect Sony views GamePass as a real threat. The fact that Sony is winning before Microsoft's 24 developers start cooking doesn't mean a whole lot. The premise was basically created to counter Sonys strength of providing 1 or 2 buzzworthy titles a year. GamePass provides a perpetual buzz throughout the year now that Microsoft can start feeding it games all the time.

2,000+ hour, social, multiplayer games counters the GamePass strategy nicely.
Can we stop talking about the number of studios each one of them has as its the most important thing? MS has newly studios that don't have enough personnel to create one single game. Sony has single studios working in multiple AAA games. Most of them are actually doing 2 at the same time like Naughty Dog, Insomniac, Sony Santa Monica, Guerrilla, Firesprite, etc.

It's not about the number of studios. It's about the number of teams that can work in different games that each studio has.

Sony's last 2 acquisitions are working in 2 games each... let's not forget that.
 
On Gaf maybe. Anywhere else? Gamepass is not new. It's been around for years at this point. They still can't keep pace. Nintendo is outselling them both for god's sake.
Don't know where you get the idea that only people on Gaf are saying that they're going to wait until a game shows up on Game Pass before playing it. It's becoming more prevalent by the day, and the sentiment can be found anywhere that games are being discussed.

Also, Nintendo is largely irrelevant to this topic, as they have far fewer crossover titles that would be affected by Game Pass. We're talking about software, not hardware. Obviously the system with the most sales is going to sell more games, but we are no longer able to directly compare sales, with the existence of Game Pass.
 

Men_in_Boxes

Snake Oil Salesman
Compete with GamePass? In what, in how fast you can tank your game sales and how fast you can put your division in the red? I don't know what universe people live in that think that GamePass is a success and something to be competed against.

The universe in which one of the richest companies in the world, hires a team of experts to look at a 10+ year trajectory of GamePass, has a good estimation of how much money will be lost...and says "Yeah, let's sign up for that."

GamePass is a hyper aggressive tool used to increase mindshare and marketshare with gamers.

In boxing, they're the fighter who's down on points, but comes out the next round throwing punches in bunches. Sony has to weather the storm best they can and hope their opponent gets tired out quickly without making up ground on the scorecards.

Multiplayer GAAS is this for Sony...

floyd_mayweather_01.gif
 
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Shubh_C63

Member
Cover all the genres and playstyles.
They will keep making blockbuster AAA SPs as well as few MPs they can milk for years. win win
 

Men_in_Boxes

Snake Oil Salesman
Can we stop talking about the number of studios each one of them has as its the most important thing?

"General Patton, can we please stop talking about our enemies tank count, its infantry numbers, defensive positions, and supply lines?"

Patton-Montgomery-1200x0-c-default.jpg



Microsoft dug itself into a hole when it operated with 5 internal studios. PlayStation didn't need tactics or strategy to beat 2015 era XBox. Now they do.

Sit back and enjoy the show, my good man.
 
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wvnative

Member
Sony isn't abandoning what has made them successful but it would foolish if they didn't try to branch out a bit.
 

Dr. Claus

Vincit qui se vincit
It seems the future of PlayStation we have a ton of multiplayer investment. For someone who hates most multiplayer games and didn't get I to Starhawk, Resistance, Killzone and etc this is quite dissapointing.

We have the following based on official announcements, leaks and rumours
Deviation FPS game - Devs of Black Ops
FireWalk FPS game - Devs of Titanfall
Horizon multiplayer game
Guerilla Games 2nd project to be multiplayer - could be the same Horizon multiplayer game or something else
FireSprite Multiplayer game - Based on job positions
Factions - became its own thing and more ambitious so more resources put into this
Arrowhead next game - Sony published their previous game so likely to invest in this
Twisted Metal F2P - rumoured to be in development by Lucid
London Studio multiplayer game - they are hiring for a online game
inSomniac multiplayer game - they are hiring for a online game

That's a ton of investment for online games and I would have oreffered the resources to be double down on AAA singleplayer games. We already had Destruction Allstars which flopped. Sony has had issues previously creating a big online presence in a game where servers are shut or community is dead, just look at Starhawk, Twisted Metal, Resistance 3, Killzone 3 and etc. We are at a time where only a few online games succeed as the competition is strong and people don't have time to focus on a few online games at a time which leaves many online games being abandoned. There are some positives I'm glad Gran Turismo 7 is bringing back a decent singplelayer campaign. Ragnarok, Wolverine and etc all will be great singleplayer games. But with VR and multiplayer games which are 2 things I'm not interested in it seems the big singplelayer AAA games will be few and far between from eachother. And Sony could have upped the investment in more singplelayer games instead of multiplayer games which history has shown usually flop and get abandoned.

Eh, I can't disagree with you, but I also would argue that Sony's focus on western "cinematic" titles and graphics over substance is a bigger problem for me personally. The reason I love PlayStation was the mix of western and japanese games that ran the gamut of genres, styles, and gameplay experiences. Sadly it seems that Sony is more focused, ever since they had moved their HQs to California back in 2016, to repeat the same style of title and cut the charm and diversity of its lineup (either by forcing draconian levels of censorship or pissing off japanese game devs).

Its become a bit of a meme for Sony at this point too. When you look at their first party line up, you can be assured that the title will be primarily a third person action-adventure title, narratively focused, with high graphical fidelity and... not much else. Even Ratchet and Clank Rift Apart seemed to have sadly fallen into this rut. A series normally full of charm with witty humor and memorable characters has become this generic, trope filled story with locales that blended together. Technically it is a great game. Controls are fantastic, music... functions, and the cast does what it needs to do - but it doesn't go above and beyond.

I miss the days where we could see games like Fat Princess, Puppeteer, and Rain. alongside Uncharted, God of War, and Twisted Metal. Xbox and Nintendo had similar issues for years where you pretty much only saw the same 3 to 4 ips with very little variety in art direction or presentation.

But hey, some people may like this line up and I am glad that they have these kinds of games to look forward to. For me, it has just been disappointing to see.

As for Multiplayer, I just don't care. MP has been dead outside of MMOs and Fighting Games for me for a long while. They are filled with MTX battle passes, mindless broken progression systems, and unbalanced gameplay. I would rather have a fun, complete experience like I had back with Quake 3 Arena, Unreal Tournament, or Halo 3. Not... whatever the hell MP has become because of mindless whales.
 

Hobbygaming

has been asked to post in 'Grounded' mode.
The total unit sales of PS5 is important to Sony, but Game Pass is definitely having a major effect on the mindset of many customers. "Wait until it's on Game Pass" is being heard all the time now, and it's definitely going to affect Sony's software sales. Recent example is Deathloop, where a lot of people are content to wait until next year to play on Game Pass. While it's impossible to quantify lost sales, it certainly is going to cut into Sony's total sale figures. There's no way it couldn't.
I don't see this as being true for the majority of gamers on PS. Gamepass is affecting sales on Xbox but I don't think it has a significant effect on other consoles
 

GymWolf

Member
You do realize that what i basically said is... other people like multiplayer games, and they like sony developed games, so why not let sony make multiplayer games to add their own spin on the genre providing more variety on their platform. Shit take? Because i said it seems to strange to demand that Sony caters to YOUR tastes only? Don't plink what i don't like? But i like both SP and MP games. I'm saying stop plinking what others DO like. You two just proved my point exactly. Wow.
Shit take was the whole "lonely player who fear external contact" bullshit, i have nothing against people who love multyplayer, i love some multy from time to time myself.
 
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You do realize that what i basically said is... other people like multiplayer games, and they like sony developed games, so why not let sony make multiplayer games to add their own spin on the genre providing more variety on their platform. Shit take? Because i said it seems to strange to demand that Sony caters to YOUR tastes only? Don't plink what i don't like? But i like both SP and MP games. I'm saying stop plinking what others DO like. You two just proved my point exactly. Wow.
Are you quoting me or the other guy? I was agreeing with you that the OP is overreacting and must be fun at parties.
 

Men_in_Boxes

Snake Oil Salesman
What would that be? The yet to materialize future of Microsoft having 3 to 4 bomb ass exclusives per year thanks to all the studio acquisitions? Hasn't happened yet. I'll judge that when I see it. Until then... Are you sure?

No one who even remotely follows this industry expected Microsofts investments to start producing in 2021. If you did (not saying you personally), you're probably confused a lot.

This was always a 2023 onward game for XBox. It was never about 2021 due to the nature of how reality works.

No one's sure of anything. Microsoft isn't sure. Sony isn't sure. Everything's a gamble when it. comes to the future. I have no idea what GamePass does for XBox in 2025. I suspect it's the antidote for a 2016 problem and I suspect if Sony operates like it's still 2016, they'll be in trouble. Everything I'm seeing out of Jim Ryan and Herman Hulst suggests that they know it's not 2016 anymore.
 
I don't see this as being true for the majority of gamers on PS. Gamepass is affecting sales on Xbox but I don't think it has a significant effect on other consoles
Of course it's not, because the majority of players don't own more than one console. This will only affect the more dedicated people who own both systems, or a PC & PS. (Who btw are far more likely to be investing time discussing these things on a gaming forum).
As I said, it's impossible to quantify lost sales, but I don't see how anyone thinks that Game Pass is having zero effect on sales on PS. Of course it is. There's no way it isn't. The level of significance is up to debate, but denying its existence seems kind of silly. Even if Sony is only losing a few percentage points off of their projected sales, say 5%-10%, that's still something that any corporation is going to worry about.
I guess if you just want to laugh at the supposed sales discrepancy between Xbox and PS, then that's fine, but I assure you that Sony thinks about these things.
 

kungfuian

Member
I'm also completely disinterested in multiplayer games. Hopefully some of what they are making include solid co-op experiences.
 

Lognor

Banned
If it's true I think it's a good thing. Currently Sony has 0 compelling multiplayer games. If they can be successful here it will draw in a whole new group. People love competitive multiplayer games. And Sony has been relying too heavily on third party developers for that.
 

Hobbygaming

has been asked to post in 'Grounded' mode.
Of course it's not, because the majority of players don't own more than one console. This will only affect the more dedicated people who own both systems, or a PC & PS. (Who btw are far more likely to be investing time discussing these things on a gaming forum).
As I said, it's impossible to quantify lost sales, but I don't see how anyone thinks that Game Pass is having zero effect on sales on PS. Of course it is. There's no way it isn't. The level of significance is up to debate, but denying its existence seems kind of silly. Even if Sony is only losing a few percentage points off of their projected sales, say 5%-10%, that's still something that any corporation is going to worry about.
I guess if you just want to laugh at the supposed sales discrepancy between Xbox and PS, then that's fine, but I assure you that Sony thinks about these things.
Idk. From many of the recent sales charts we see that 3rd party games are selling more on PS, sometimes as high as 80% compared to 20% on Xbox

That's more revenue for Sony and it might result in some more favorable deals with 3rd party games on PS
 
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splattered

Member
Shit take was the whole "lonely player who fear external contact" bullshit, i have nothing against people who love multyplayer, i love some multy from time to time myself.

So you don't see all the people complaining about ONLY wanting single player games and how they won't touch multiplayer games? Because that is definitely a real thing. I see it pretty much non stop on twitter and very often on this forum. I have a friend in real life who only leaves his home when he has to or "fears external contact" as you put it that HATES any sort of multiplayer games and he literally recently said to me that Sony have lost their way and are going down the shitter because they might start making multiplayer/co-op type games. I don't understand how so many people DEMAND that a company cater to their personal tastes.

*Sorry and to add to this, how often do you see this argument going in the opposite direction? People DEMANDING that Sony or MS ONLY make MP games? Very rarely? If ever? So it definitely feels like a severe anti social issue. And the demands for SP only usually come from the Sony camp. Not console warring here, it's just an observation.

Are you quoting me or the other guy? I was agreeing with you that the OP is overreacting and must be fun at parties.

Sorry i thought you were saying that about me lmao, i agree with you.
 
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