260°

God of War multiplayer may not "move the needle on sales" says Pachter

God of War: Ascension was officially unveiled last month and one of the surprising additions to the franchise is a new multiplayer mode. It's a pattern we've seen before: single-player games that seemingly have no real need for a multiplayer mode are getting multiplayer modes in what appears to be an effort to boost sales, mitigate the used effect and generally give a title a longer tail.

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gamesindustry.biz
GraveLord4378d ago

It will. It will bring in a whole new fanbase.

Dante1124378d ago (Edited 4378d ago )

Lol, word. Didn't he also say that God of War 3 sell well and that God of War 4 was coming out this year?

Edit- Source: http://www.psxextreme.com/p...

Abash4378d ago

We should wait and see if it increases sales or not, it's not like Pachter hasnt been wrong before

Dante1124378d ago (Edited 4378d ago )

WTH! Did a mod edit my first comment? Now there even a source and even that's off. But yeah, I'd take this with a grain of salt. Patcher is wrong about stuff 90% of the time.

MaxXAttaxX4376d ago (Edited 4376d ago )

GOW3 sold abou 5mil.
Does it need to push the needle? Of course more is always better. But even if it doesn't, it will still make solid numbers. No biggie.

Kingdom Come4378d ago

How so? The gameplay is evidently immensely similar to that of the single-player portion.

Blaze9294378d ago

no one is going who-ra over God of War multiplayer. I think we all know this.

MaxXAttaxX4376d ago

When you say "no one", you mean no one in your XBL friends list? lololol.

Seriously though, I understand that not everyone may be excited, but believe it or not there's actually.... you know what, I'm not going to bother any further. And it's Oorah by the way.

Afterlife4378d ago (Edited 4378d ago )

The fact that this game is a prequel to Chains of Olympus, in other words the beginning of Kratos. Which means you can play this game without playing any of the God of War games. So I think it will.

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 4376d ago
MultiConsoleGamer4378d ago

Mikey says a lot of things.

I don't even think this was made to win new fans, it was made to please long time fans of the series. Sort of a reward. I'm really looking forward to it.

Xof4378d ago

I'm not a big fan of God of War (that awful, awful writing) so I haven't been following this GoW4 stuff at all, but in THEORY, multiplayer could be huge and draw in a far bigger fanbase than the single-player only offerings ever could.

Of course, it would probably take a lot of work to get a good GoW multiplayer game built, and likely require lots of engine work. But I think it'd be worth it to play online as Zeus or Hades, or Heracles or a Titan. The whole Greek fantasy setting has a LOT of potential that, thus far, the GoW franchise really hasn't taken advantage of.

Imagine a GoW fighting game (think 3D arena combat ala the Gundam VS titles) with greek gods, heros and titans--and terrain deformation. In theory, such a game would be more deserving of the term, "epic," than any other in the medium's short history.

Abash4378d ago (Edited 4378d ago )

You lost me when you said God of War has "awful, awful writing" and I even thought you were accidentally talking about Gears of War at first.

TheGameFoxJTV4378d ago

They're both pretty bad when it comes to story.

Simon_Brezhnev4378d ago

Of course somebody that likes LoGH would say this. Most LoGH fans act like its the greatest story telling anime of all time.

Xof4378d ago

...What an immature response.

Canary4378d ago

Utterly irrelevant (and inaccurate). GoW's writing is not good... by any metric. I get that you like God of War. That's fine, so do I, but when someone criticizes a game you like the one thing you DO NOT DO is attack that person for liking someone else.

Obviously, you must be a big fan of Game of Thrones--those ******s all say crap like this.

Simon_Brezhnev4377d ago

@Canary

LOL, who said i never liked LoGH. I just said just about everybody crazy about LoGH think everything else is shit. You coming at me like you got some authority or something. LOL

VsAssassin4378d ago

Ha? GoW has the best narrative in an action game. Maybe you are referring to Bayonetta? The original GoW told a story so crisp, I felt the whole world was one cohesive plane; like every area is connected even though they are chopped up into segments. The story development was also full of cohesion. Yeah, you might be talking about Bayonetta.

Canary4377d ago

I believe we're talking about God of War as a franchise, not the first game in it.

And narrative quality is NOT dependent on medium.

Outside_ofthe_Box4377d ago

I'm not big a fan of GOW either. I'm just not a big fan of hack n slash, but the multiplayer does interest me though. So I have my eye on it for now.

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Lulz_Boat4378d ago

DOES IT NEED to move?
lol, we are talking about GOD OF WAR.

KwietStorm_BLM4378d ago

Really though, I don't think they would lose sleep if it didn't "move the needle" on 3 million sales. I don't know why Pachter articles keep getting posted.

Abash4378d ago

Im pretty sure God of War III sold about 5 million copies

TekoIie4377d ago

@Abash

That seems very good considering its genre. Most the time i expect everything thats not a shooter to struggle to hit the 2mil mark. Forgetting how popular things really are.

HungPHATx4378d ago

It moved my needle and that all that counts in my book....

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150°

Sony Patents To Prevent You From In-Game Harassment By Reading Your Emotions

A new patent recently published by Sony wants to gather biometric data of gamers to track whether one is being harassed using AI tools.

Profchaos1d 12h ago (Edited 1d 12h ago )

I hope this is one of those patents that never comes to fruition.

I already dislike the fact you can pay a significant amount for a online service buy associated games and content on said service and get banned from that service over potentially a misunderstanding the bans are already handed out for flimsy reasons

I'd rather see money invested in a ban that simply removes the offensive players ability to communicate with unknown players allow them to continue party chats with friends but not with Joe blow on cod.

exputers1d 9h ago

Agreed. Blizzard recently banned a college Overwatch 2 player who's dependent for saying "shit." Pretty harsh.

Profchaos18h ago(Edited 17h ago)

How rediculas really. You can't say a word that's allowed in most PG films and prime time TV but the game is based around killing the enemy team using guns, explosives etc.

It's just backwards.

just_looken19h ago

What your talking about is called block list

In 2006 a spaceship dropped of the playstation 3/xbox 360 i say that that generation was the last great gen with game functions/tech that has yet to comeback

Anyhow the playstation 3 if you block listed a id they could not talk to you in chatroom with either text or voice. But that was pre mind fucked 2018 when people were more human than sheep.

But hey gta 6 is coming out billion dollar budget without a single player custom character creator and without singeplayer coop off/online something saints row 1-3 had on the xbox 360.

z2g1d 5h ago

Take my social security and bank account numbers too! Here’s a picture of my wife and our address.

phoenixwing1d 4h ago

Cmon where's the pictures of your children. Don't hold out on them.

H91d 5h ago

At this rate I feel Sony will eventually sell a room to play games in it where they can monitor your every breath

jambola1d 1h ago

I genuinely get a bit worried sometimes when a friend says something that could be offensive In a party
Because I have no trouble believing some bans would happen when in a private party for saying something wrong

SegaSaturn6691d 4h ago

I want them to censor erotic content by measuring my groin temperature so i dont get too distracted while playing black ops 2.

Popsicle1d 3h ago

Terrible idea. Not only do I not consent to providing my biometric data, the potential for mishandling biometric data is almost a certainty. Positive stress and negative stress can produce similar changes in biometrics. Interpreting the precise emotion a person is feeling is not only invasive but could be easily misconstrued. I hope this never comes to fruition.

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130°

Sony Could Increase Your Game's Difficulty If It Sees You Complain About It

Sony has recently published a new patent that wants to dynamically handle the games' difficulty and gameplay based on the player's emotions.

jznrpg1d 21h ago

This is something I might use. Sometimes I play some good games but they don’t have difficulty option and are a little too easy.

Profchaos1d 20h ago

Souls games will be like that players struggling make it harder

PassNextquestion1d 19h ago (Edited 1d 19h ago )

I think if used correctly it could work well

jambola1d 15h ago

cool idea
cool idea for horror games especially
the way it's explained here sounds like it could never be forced hopefully, so that's ok with me

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280°

Sony Taps Bungie's Head of Revenue to Lead Live-Service Games

Sony has recruited Bungie's head of revenue Jaremy Rich to head up its live-service gaming division, Rich has announced on social media.

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techraptor.net
ChasterMies22d ago

Please do not put Destiny’s monetization into Sony’s first party games. The monetization is what’s driving players away from Destiny.

just_looken22d ago

The new temp boss is the sony cfo bean counter so i can see this being a thing get every penny.

Cacabunga21d ago

PlayStation officially losing it.. fans will never support gaas games

just_looken21d ago

@car

The new boss did a interview in japan he wants to tap into the mobile market like nintendio so he give 0 fucks about gamers/fans

https://www.pushsquare.com/...

Redemption-6421d ago

@Cacabunga
You only speak for you and those who think like you, but most fans will support what they want. Playstation and PC fans are literally supporting Helldivers 2 and that is a gaas. Maybe you wouldn't, but many more would if they like it.

Huey_My_D_Long21d ago

@Redemption-64
Look, Im not making any judgement calls about this guy, but I will say that Helldivers 2 GaaS model is unique to Helldivers, and legit the only other game I can think of thats similiar was the Avengers game except HD2 pass is still better.
The fact that you can earn in game currency in a way that doesnt make you feel like you have to grind forever, as well you being able work on that pass that you bought...on your own time without a time limit...that right there is fucking huge to me, and I can't name any game other than avengers that avoided trapping players with FOMO logic...I think GaaS on HD2 shouldn't be compared to the rest of the industry...it should be copied.

Einhander197221d ago

Cacabunga

Helldivers 2...

Redemption-64

In Europe it's a 60 40 split favoring PC.
In the US its a 60 40 split favoring PS5.

So PlayStation owners supported the game just fine, it's not getting carried by PC or anything like that.

FinalFantasyFanatic21d ago

@just_looken,
I'm perfectly fine with the way Nintendo entered the mobile market, I never touched their mobile games, meanwhile, the console/handheld stayed the way it is. As for being a bean counter, he's probably going to reel in these massive budgets that Sony's studios have had lately, I haven't played Spiderman 2, but I cannot see how they almost tripled the budget for that game.

@Redemption-64,
That's an exception to the rule, I'm expecting a lot of these GAAS games from Sony to fail, to be fair, they only need a few to succeed, but I would have preferred that they put more of their resources into other types of games.

+ Show (3) more repliesLast reply 21d ago
DivineHand12521d ago

True their monetization is driving players away and at the same time, their decision to chop out content and convoluted systems is keeping new players away from the game.

Joe91321d ago

I don't think that will happen based on how things worked out at Naughty Dog now that we know what we do, seems they had the option to fully commit to live service games or stay making single player experences so they gave up on their live service game. We are not sure how things came about with Bend making a live service game but I hope that was not a forced situation. Sony doesnt seem like they are forcing studios to switch up but we will see, Sony's bread and butter is single player games it is how they dominated the console market.

Obscure_Observer21d ago

Yeah, I though Sony learned something from all their failures in the LS segment under Bungie´s disastrous leadership and supervision which led to games been cancelled, studios closed and all the people laid off.

Looks like Bungie still plays a major role in Sony´s LS initiative and Sony is not backtracking on their GaaS plans.

S2Killinit21d ago (Edited 21d ago )

Are we forgetting that Destiny is also a highly successful franchise? I feel like that definitely deserves mention here.

Besides, there is no reason why a person cant learn from past experiences.

Joe91321d ago

I agree, people act as if Destiny flopped when it came out lol it took 9 to 10 years for the numbers to fall yet people are still playing it add the success of Helldivers 2 no wonder Sony is going forward down this path.

S2Killinit21d ago

Personally, I see no problem with Sony also having service games as long as they make good ones, and more importantly they deliver the AAA story driven games that they are known for. So yeah, I agree 100% with you.

+ Show (2) more repliesLast reply 21d ago
Christopher22d ago

I mean, this person made some pretty bad decisions at Bungie. I hope they've learned from them because I definitely don't see those type of ideas as good for PlaySation in general.

CrimsonWing6921d ago (Edited 21d ago )

Honestly, what’s to learn from? How to make people happily continuously dump money into a single game over its life-time? Buy season passes continuously for several years with a smile on our faces?

GaaS is a design decision that is everything wrong with this industry. The fact that Helldivers 2 did so well and people defend the monetization because it was $40 and is a fun game, scares the sh*t out of me to see that the door is open and all shift will probably be to replicate that in future games. We already know the ROI for traditional game dev cost isn’t doing it for them.

I thought with Jimbo leaving we’d see a change for the better… I’m not so sure now.

S2Killinit21d ago

Service games are being offered by everyone. Sony cannot afford to only create single player AAA games. No one can. They already said they will be doing both.

Abnor_Mal22d ago (Edited 22d ago )

Ps5 gamers in 2023 seemed to play more live service types of games, so regardless to how people feel about them, numbers don’t lie and Sony is going where the money is. I mean look at the excitement around Helldivers2, people are showing that they want live service games.

Christopher22d ago

They play long-time existing live service games like CoD, Fortnite, Apex Legends, Destiny 2, and the like. Mass majority of new live service games are considered failures and aren't moving gamers away from older games.

just_looken21d ago

Yep the huge issue with live service is they need paid players along with a reason to play them.

You forgot mobile market that also taps into that player base as well as the eve online style games there is only a certain amount of krakens/whales blind supporters compared to the amount of live service games we have its not sustainable math wise.

700 restaurants making food for every seat for 1000-3000 eaters just does not work out

Einhander197221d ago (Edited 21d ago )

Christopher

I am not a big live service fan and literally own zero of the games you listed, but that is not true, unless you call games that aren't the top games to be failures.

There are tons of live service games that are profitable.

Games don't have to be the biggest game ever they just need to make more than they cost.

I challenge you to show professionally prepared data that shows that more live service games fail than make enough to keep going.

Because all the data that I have seen shows that live service is less of a gamble than making a big AAA budget game which needs to survive off retail sales.

FinalFantasyFanatic21d ago

I sometimes wonder if we're at saturation point, where it's hard for a new game to join those ranks unless it's particularly exceptional, people only have so much time and money to devote to these types of games.

romulus2321d ago

Correction, they have no issue playing good live service games

shinoff218321d ago

Lol it's not even a quarter of the ps5s sold. Helldivers may have been a hit but let's not say most are enjoying it because truth is most(the real most ) don't care about it.

S2Killinit21d ago (Edited 21d ago )

I play what is fun. If a live service game is good I’ll play it as long as its not a money scheme which Helldivers is not.

And Im a single player gamer.

mastershredder21d ago

How do you kill a franchise that already been killed?
Destiny’s grind, cash-in-on-playbass-cha-Ching, and pop-culture-insertion mainstream-me-too bs totally killed any rep Bungie had. Sony/Bungie, if you are doing this to ward-off players, it’s already working.

crazyCoconuts21d ago

Headline truncated:
"... off a cliff"

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