410°

'Nobody gains from console exclusivity,' says Sony's dev relations boss

Sony Computer Entertainment America's Adam Boyes.

In a candid keynote address at IndieCade's professional conference today, Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA) VP of publisher and developer relations Adam Boyes acknowledged that though console exclusivity might drive console sales, it wasn't fundamentally productive to either console makers or developers.

"Right now exclusives are just a way for [console makers] to brag louder," said Boyes. "Nobody gains from exclusivity in perpetuity."

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gamasutra.com
-Foxtrot3855d ago (Edited 3855d ago )

Except for you guys as a company...I mean having exclusives for your platform are great because it will make potential buyers want your system. If your a die hard Halo fan then you'll might get an Xbox One when Halo finally comes out and if you like Uncharted or anything ND related then you'll want a PS4.

To be honest exclusives for me is what sets the consoles apart.

Ezz20133855d ago (Edited 3855d ago )

he's talking about indie games though
not retail exclusives from 1st/2nd party studios

also i'm getting ps4 because all sony's 1st/2nd party studios not just ND

that's how awesome sony really is

kevnb3855d ago

every platform has great exclusives, well except xbox. Nothing exclusive to xbox is very exciting now that halo and gears are played out.

HammadTheBeast3855d ago

Well that's not too fair. Halo's still Halo, and it looks like they're taking a few risks with XBO.

GameNameFame3855d ago

Halo Isnt Halo anymore.

Bungie used to make it.

now 343 makes it. The ratings took tumbles on metascore from mid 90s to mid 80s.

BISHOP-BRASIL3855d ago

@kevnb

I'm a PS guy too, but even if MS games are not my cup of tea this days, that doesn't mean MS exclusives always sucks, not at all, I had the original Xbox along with my PS2 and it was awesome!

The way I see it, it's been the second half of this generation that mostly harmed MS's image and get eveyrone saying MS have no exclusives worthwhile. And rightfully so, Kinect crap and dull repetition was their downfall.

But if we look at the original Xbox and Xbox 360 first 2 years they had many good exclusives (or "console exclusives") that made it worth having a MS console. Kameo, Project Dark, Fable, Halo, Forza, PGR, Jade Empire, KOTOR, Ninja Gaiden, Lost Odyssey, etc.

Now some were first party, some not and went multiplat, some became successful franchises, others simply disappeared... Maybe they weren't plenty, maybe MS didn't invested enough on keeping some of those relevant, but sure it's not like MS never had exciting exclusives...

Probably this is deciding moment for MS: can they go back to make/secure awesome exclusives and keep doing that or will they go and chase some crap beyond gaming cummunity again and left everyone hanging...

Right now, I'm not betting on MS either, those last years and the whole take on Xbox One launch had leave me even less interested, but I really hope they can go back to their best days and give Sony a nice competition, because when they do so they can be awesome and I would have no problems having an Xbox One sitting right beside my PS4. The more great games the better I say.

Death3854d ago

Of all Sony's exclusives, which are not "played out"? Killzone has been around for years and has been average at best. The PS4 outing looks to be the most appealing to date. If franchise like Gears or Halo can have the same upgrades as Killzone, why would they not be welcomed with gamers?

As for the article, Adam feels indies should not be exclusive to either console. Makes sense since indies will not push consoles sales. At the same time I don't see any indie games that Sony or Microsoft invest in going to the competitions consoles either. A true "indie" that is self published shouldn't be exclusive. What would the point be in limiting your potential customer base?

Hitman07693854d ago

@GameNameFame "now 343 makes it. The ratings took tumbles on metascore from mid 90s to mid 80s."

Hahaaha

Somebody get this guy a calculator. "tumbles". Cute ;)

My most anticipated next-gen: Indies, Knack, Killzone, The Order, Dead Rising 3. Reserving judgement but cautiously building hope slowly for Destiny and Titanfall.... just no point in getting hopes sky high. rather be over-satisifed and under-hyped than vice versa.

trouble_bubble3854d ago (Edited 3854d ago )

@Death
Which Sony exclusives aren't played out? U serious? Where ya been all year?

NiNoKuni, The Last of Us, Dragons Crown, Puppeteer, Beyond: Two Souls etc are all new IPs on Playstation this year. First new Sly Cooper game in 8 years. How much fresher can ya get on the eve of a new gen'?!

You bring up Killzone, but there were only TWO PS3 Killzone games this gen --one with a 91% meta avg to counter your "average at best" diss-- vs SIX xbox Halo games, FOUR Gears of War games and FIVE Fable games counting the upcoming Fable Anniversary.

+ Show (4) more repliesLast reply 3854d ago
Goku7813855d ago

I agree graphics aren't everything for me, but knowing the brand I bought will be able to deliver on all fronts with a dependable product.

Eonjay3855d ago (Edited 3855d ago )

For you this may be the case but it should be noted that he is a absolutely correct. For example, as far as preorders go for the Xbox One, the multiplatform titles such as COD and Battlefield 4 are selling way more units than Forza, Ryse, or DR3. Same goes for PS4. Besides Killzone, all of the top preordered games are multiplatform titles.

Multiplatform titles like GTA and COD ship more consoles than any exclusive title can. Maybe its just the culture of the industry, but most people play the same games.

christocolus3855d ago

@foxtrot
dude im totally with you on this ..but he may be talking about third party exclusives with more emphasis on the smaller third party devs cos these are the guys who dont usually have the resources to develop their games for multiple consoles and they usually end up needing the help of the big publishers with funding or outsourcing development work on a second port of the game to another dev but even at that going exclusive is still up to the game developer..i.e if a console dev proposes a deal that doesnt seem good enough,the game dev has the right to opt out and go look for other partners but with both consoles this time around being almost similar hardware and feature wise it will definitly come down to inhouse content and who can get better exclusive deals from third party devs and maybe extra hardware features and services.....

Kuse3855d ago

Hey Highspeed, there's many great titles coming out for Xbox One other than Halo...all of our Launch titles are looking great and many more down the pipe in the next coming year.

starchild3855d ago

I agree with him. I have been saying this for years. Developers, gamers, publishers...nobody wins with exclusivity.

The only people who care about exclusivity are fanboys and the console makers. Fanboys care because they need exclusives as ammo in their imaginary "war" and the console makers care about exclusives because they need to force people to buy their console and not some other gaming device.

Real gamers should only care whether they get to play a game, they shouldn't be happy if someone else CAN'T play it.

Ezz20133855d ago (Edited 3855d ago )

if consoles don't have it own exclusives that define it
what the point of buying any of them then ...why not just stay with pc and be done with it

you think that every one should play every game
that's cool and all
but for MS and Sony and nintendo that would never work
ask any one why he's buying X console or Y console
he's answer will always be about the exclusives that each console have

Death3854d ago

PC's have exclusives too. Exclusives are what define a console. They are also a way for console manufacturers to recoup some of their costs. Sony and Microsoft make much more on first party developed and published games. Without them they would have to count on royalties from third parties to make their profit. That would take much longer and be much harder. I believe you would lose much innovation too.

3-4-53855d ago

I've never been concerned with exclusives until recently when I realize just how many RPG's I'd missed out on over the years by Never owning a Playstation of any kind.

Had a Genesis, missed out on certain SNES games ( even though I played one a lot)

Had a N64, missed out on like 70 RPG's

Had a Gamecube & Xbox, Missed out on PS2 RPG's and other games.

Have a 360, now realizing I've missed out on a lot of really good PS3 games.

I love the 360 controller, but I'm probably getting a PS4 this time.

I can't miss out on where all the RPG's will potentially be again.

Although I do own a 3DS & psp just incase.

Tultras3854d ago

And if Halo was on both platforms?

+ Show (5) more repliesLast reply 3854d ago
Sitdown3855d ago

Imagine if The Last of Us was not console exclusive.....now tell me again that nobody gains from it.

abc12333855d ago

Didn't realise TLOU was an indie title.

Minato-Namikaze3855d ago

Read more than the title please.

ILive3855d ago

Yeah, he is talking about indie games, not triple A titles. It would not make sense if he were to be talking about triple A titles because why would Sony launch their new console with couple exclusives then? Even Microsoft for that fact?

spicelicka3855d ago

First of all this is mostly about indie games.

Second of all, TLOU is just one game, of course its not gonna make a difference. But it being added to NDs lineup of other games like uncharted gives sony fans something brag about and increases loyalty in the long run. And no matter if we're fanboys or not, we all have a certain amount of pride in the products we buy, and that's the best thing for the companies.

I'm not saying i agree with it, but imagine if all games always came out on both systems. We would find another reason to buy one console over the other, features or price etc. If there are no differences, then there would be no point in competition among the companies, and that's actually not healthy for the industry. It's not like Coke and pepsi where you can't do much to differentiate them with taste.

majiebeast3855d ago (Edited 3855d ago )

I think he means indie games.

What he is doing is pretty smart. He is talking to indie developers who really dont like to go exclusive for one platform and saying yeah with us you dont have to sign any of those deals. We just want your game on our systems and help you become succesful.

Its all messaging ofcourse they care about exclusives thats what sells hardware thats why they still make games like Tlou and Beyond.

gaelic_laoch3855d ago

The is no Good without Evil!

The M$ restores balance to the universe! YING & YANG......PS4 & xboNe

CEOSteveBallmer3855d ago

LOL I guess i know who the evil or yin is on your comment. XD

MasterCornholio3855d ago

Wasn't the balance restored with Darth Vader's death?

Nexus 7 2013

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140°

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.

Profchaos21h ago(Edited 21h 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.

exputers17h ago

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

Profchaos2h ago(Edited 2h 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_looken4h 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.

z2g13h ago

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

phoenixwing13h ago

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

H913h ago

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

jambola9h 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

SegaSaturn66912h ago

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

Popsicle12h 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 5h 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 5h ago

Souls games will be like that players struggling make it harder

PassNextquestion1d 4h ago (Edited 1d 4h ago )

I think if used correctly it could work well

jambola1d 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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