220°

Is Sony's generosity harming its future profitability?

Digitally Downloaded writes: "I do have to wonder whether Sony's merely making a short term play to keep customer numbers up, or it has a plan to introduce margin back into the software side of its business in the long term. I hope it's the latter, because the former doesn't suggest good things about Sony's future."

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digitallydownloaded.net
JoGam4068d ago

Give up the doom and gloom already. Its getting played out. Smh.

MattS4068d ago

It's always easy to tell who has, and hasn't, read an article before commenting.

JoGam4068d ago

Maybe if people take the "Dooom" out of the title i would read. I can speak for half of the people here, we're tired of those reads. Seen one, seen them all.

Silly gameAr4068d ago

Yeah, but it's getting harder to tell the flamebait from the articles that are actually pretty well written.

classic2004068d ago

Doom title is not needed these days.

BitbyDeath4068d ago (Edited 4068d ago )

Doom headlines are meant to attract people to the article but it comes off as attention seeking so i just read the comments.

mandf4067d ago (Edited 4067d ago )

It's called giving back to gamers instead of a $500million marketing campaign. Instead of wasting money on ad campaigns they invest it into their own company and into games. People don't use their heads today. Sony gave gamers respect while some companies exploited gamers. No amount of doom and gloom titles can change that.

miyamoto4067d ago

Let the light shine in the darkness for a positive change, shall we? Not the other way around.

Why not title it ....

" 'Free' is the PlayStation's Magic Word for Gamers"?

That sure will attract attention.

+ Show (3) more repliesLast reply 4067d ago
360ICE4068d ago (Edited 4068d ago )

Don't reduce every article that asks serious questions to a doom and gloom article. There's some discussion in there, you know.

It's not like it's just "Is Sony's generosity harming its future profitability" and then "yup."

Btw, no one here should be tired of reading anything. Nearly all the article on N4G are really short, and even so people really just discuss the title.

3-4-54067d ago

Yea evil dark and gloomy is ignorant and we are beyond that as gamers now.

If they give back to the fans, the fans will give back with their money.

They are setting themselves up for a 20 mile run not a 100 meter sprint.

AngelicIceDiamond4067d ago

Explain how this is Doom And Gloom? Is it possible to debate on something that views Sony on a different perspective?

Sony needs to continue the free trend while at the same time enforce a little more in their products. I think with PS4 Sony will start to reinforce a little with SOE. Charge for Gaikai, PSN+ maybe some of the social features while keeping basic MP free. Sony is currently talking about a silver, gold or platinum memberships. https://www.google.com/url?... It's clear Sony wants to profit off of PS4's SOE next gen. It's just a matter of how they'll do it.

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 4067d ago
lovegames7184067d ago

Has anyone ever thought that maybe ppl dont read the articles or click the sites anymore because the trash that is posted on most of these sites? I don't click articles anymore unless i know the site and know how they get down. So whatever i comment on just like the guy above me is based off the sensationalist titles! The titles shouldn't be so misleading if that is the case and doesn't mirror the article.

Clarence4067d ago (Edited 4067d ago )

Well said. Sony giving away free games make me as a consumer feel my money is well spent for PSN plus. I know that I don't have to pay to play online. I like having that choice to choose.

At e3 M$ gave away free 360 slims to all that attended their conference. I didn't see any articles asking would this harm their profitability. What about the 360s that were giving away for purchasing a PC or laptop?
http://www.pcworld.com/arti...

These negative articles are really getting out of hand. I guess it's cool for M$ to giveaway free consoles.

dcbronco4067d ago

Everyone give stuff away at conferences. That's different. They actually came up with a word for it. Conferences that have absolutely nothing to do with gaming give stuff away.

rainslacker4067d ago

When I participated in the Global Game Jam here a couple years ago, MS gave everyone a free Windows phone, a nice Samsung one at that ($400 MSRP at the time).

Being that everyone there was interested in development, it was pretty nice since now we all had a nice place to work on testing anything that we would make. I even ported a game I was working on to it and may have released it, except I got sidetracked by PS Mobile.

Sometimes giving stuff away for free is better for business in the long term than having a sale, or finding other ways to market. Almost every game given away was to raise interest in the game. Borderlands came out on PS+ a month before Borderlands 2. It was an obvious advertising strategy for BL2, and likely the original BL game wasn't selling enough any more to make much of a difference. The Vita IGC is obviously a way to entice PS+ subscribers to pick up a Vita, as now they have an instant library of games worth about $120, much cheaper than making and marketing a new bundle package.

The free games lately, such as the 4 free PSP games, is a way to build brand loyalty to Sony, and the wording of it was done in such a way to entice PSP owners to purchase a Vita. Pretty cheap way to market, since none of those games cost them anything to give away for free...they just didn't make any money on it. That's the distinction that this website is really ignoring. Was a decent article overall though.

dcbronco4067d ago

Yeah. If you have confidence in your product and it's actually good giving some away is better than just about any other type of advertising. The right people will spread the word. A lot of places give things to TV stations hoping for a mention on the air. It's like Oprah light.

Hicken4067d ago

No, people don't think that. They expect us to read every article on Kotaku before coming to the conclusion that it was complete and utter crap.

first1NFANTRY4067d ago

Down voted and disliked the website.

I'm sure if Sony's generosity was harming them they wouldn't be giving out free games and $10 gift vouchers.

Not every company is greedy like M$.

Sometimes a little generosity proves effect in the long run.

joab7774067d ago

Money is Money. This may be ainy's allocated adverstisement money to shore up the next gen base or to prepare everyone for a subscription fee.

U also have to remember that to get these deals, u have to constantly pay for ps+, a constant revenue stream that theymay need right now. Many of the games may not have been purchased otherwise, so where is the loss? Tjey know what they are doing.

I do agree though that most articles are here to fill thevtime until we get actual info. And sites want to get noticed. Others love video games and live to blog about them regardless of the topic.

EffectO4067d ago

Generosity has nothing to do with this,Sony is giving stuff away because they want to increase customer base.They are taking short term loss in hope for long term gain.
Plenty of others do that...see Amazon,Steam,UK supermarkets,etc

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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 2h ago (Edited 1d 2h 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.

exputers22h ago

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

Profchaos7h ago(Edited 7h 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_looken9h 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.

z2g18h ago

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

phoenixwing18h ago

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

H918h ago

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

jambola14h 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

SegaSaturn66917h ago

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

Popsicle17h 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 10h 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 9h ago

Souls games will be like that players struggling make it harder

PassNextquestion1d 8h ago (Edited 1d 8h ago )

I think if used correctly it could work well

jambola1d 5h 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
ChasterMies21d 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_looken21d 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.

Joe91320d 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.

S2Killinit20d 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 20d ago
Christopher21d 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.

CrimsonWing6920d ago (Edited 20d 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.

S2Killinit20d 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_Mal21d ago (Edited 21d 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.

Christopher21d 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.

S2Killinit20d ago (Edited 20d 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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