490°

Sony distances itself from PS4 assembly worker exploitation claims

Sony said in a statement issued to CVG: "The Sony Group established the Sony Supplier Code of Conduct in June 2005 with the expectation of every supplier agreeing and adhering to the policies of the Sony Group in complying with all applicable laws, work ethics, labour conditions, and respect for human rights, environmental conservation and health & safety. We understand Foxconn fully comprehend and comply with this Sony Supplier Code of Conduct."

Read Full Story >>
computerandvideogames.com
Ezz20133843d ago (Edited 3843d ago )

first there was the un-offical bundles with higher price that "gaming media" tried to link it to sony and act like sony is the one forcing it when sony have nothing to do with it
and now this which also sony have nothing to do with it
what's next ?!
sony force 5 years old kids to work on ps4 and then kill them and drink their blood?!

malokevi3843d ago

Yes, until a bunch of kids get crushed to death in a building collapse.

How about we take this for what it is... and issue. Not some divisive BS. Not something that has anything to do with gaming. CORPORATE SHENANIGANS!

Nobody is out to get you. Just the lamestream media looking for something to yack about.

GmIsOnPt3603843d ago

Yeah basically if this was MS hold your horses the droves of folks would be rioting for EVIL EVIL MS but its Sony so nothing to see here mentality LOL.Just look at all the racist and hateful nonsense on toys r us page that forced them to take down their page with xbox one as top 15 products for this xmas. So many sony bots went on there and spammed with hate and racism they had to shut the page down...its pretty sad really

DragonKnight3843d ago

@GmIsOnPt360: No one is brining up, or brought up, MS but you. Why are you trying to start something?

monkeyDzoro3843d ago (Edited 3843d ago )

Article:"Foxconn using forced stdent labor to build Sony's PS4"
The article is pointing Foxconn, autonomous manufacturing company that has nothing to do with Sony. Now Sony is responsible for Foxconn smudges ?
Sony asked for PS4s to be made. They didnt asked them to FORCE students to make them.
LoL. This is crazy.

So now, if I go to meet a fashion designer, ask him to make 100 shirts for me. To meet the demand and deadlines, that idiot forces some students to make them... I will be the one to blame ???

Bathyj3843d ago

No what's sad is how often the "if this was Microsoft" card gets played around here.

There's a reason people give Sony the benefit of the doubt and always believe the worse about Microsoft. Past experience.

I never thought I'd use this but remember this day as its a first.

#dealwithit.

And don't worry,Sony will get their fair share of flack too. If a delivery truck full of ps4s runs over a puppy you can be sure the whole internet will hear about it.

malokevi3843d ago (Edited 3843d ago )

@Monkey

uhhhhh........

I literally said nothing about Sony's liability. Wow. Sensitive much?

"Corporate shenanigans" as in... this happens every day, and every major corporation hold some responsibility.

Is Sony bereft of all responsibility? No! Why should they be? It's their product being produced in factories that are well known to exploit child labor.

""Foxconn using forced stdent labor to build Sony's PS4"

The article is pointing Foxconn, autonomous manufacturing company that has nothing to do with Sony."

You can quote that, and then go on to tell me that Sony has absolutely nothing to do with it? How self-deluded do you have to be? Why do you go on defending Sony like they are your lord and savior? Give it a rest... nobody is out to get you. I repeat. NOBODY IS OUT TO GET YOU!

The real question here is: Should we be surprised? NO should we care? I sure don't. Does this have anything to do with gaming.... NO! Whether the PS4 is being manufactured by child laborers or Christmas elves, at the end of the day, what's it to you?

Man, you took that so personally. SDF ASSEMBLE! lol. Take a pill. Life isn't so bad.

Pogmathoin3843d ago

Because Dragonknight, it is true. If it said MS instead of Sony, it would be celebration time.

Regardless, I do not see this as an Sony issue, because Foxconn pull this all the time, get caught, play good for a while, then revert to old habits. Its up to all the corporations that use them, and there is a lot of companies using them to end this by finding another means to produce, or stipulate basic human rights as condition of contract... But, money talks, and you know where regular folk count when it comes to money.... expendable! A sad reality..

tiffac0083843d ago

Well I guess we should also prepare for the haters to descend with their own spin on this.

But seriously, Foxconn should really just go to hell. Any global company should move the majority of their production away from Foxconn, if not all of them.

Sometimes its just not worth it.

Xsilver3843d ago (Edited 3843d ago )

@PS4beaver MS don't have to say it http://venturebeat.com/2012... http://www.geek.com/games/f... eveyone knows foxconn does this but you xbox fans sounding redundant with your oh if this was MS crap its stupid at this point.

Pogmathoin3843d ago

Xsilver, be a man... you know on this site, just saying MS guarantees you a tonne of disgrees. If you deny that you are full of crap. If you cannot be honest about that you are nothing. I am not putting down Sony over this, they do not want this happening, I know that, but with the rampant fanboyism here, you guys are just proving to be very good at being two faced....

Joe9133843d ago

@ malokevi Sony don't have nothing to do with it just like Apple do not have anything to do with problems that happen at the foxconn it looks like foxconn only try to do this when there is a high demand for something if you are going to point the finger at Sony for using foxconn then point the finger at all these companies too cause they too use foxconn Acer Inc. (Taiwan)
Amazon.com (United States)
Apple Inc. (United States)
ASRock (Taiwan)
Asus (Taiwan)
Barnes & Noble (United States)
Cisco (United States)
Dell (United States)
EVGA Corporation (United States)
Hewlett-Packard (United States)
Intel (United States)
IBM (United States)
Lenovo (China)
Logitech (Switzerland)
Microsoft (United States)
MSI (Taiwan)
Motorola (United States)
Netgear (United States)
Nintendo (Japan)
Nokia (Finland)
Panasonic (Japan)
Philips (Netherlands)
Samsung (South Korea)
Sharp (Japan)
Sony Ericsson (Japan/Sweden)
Toshiba (Japan)
Vizio (United States)
did you notice MS is on that list too so if they are using children on PS4 they prob doing the same with the xbone

AngelicIceDiamond3843d ago

Does this news suck? Sure. Does it impact anybodies purchase and will it affect your gaming? No.

nightfallfilms3843d ago

@Ezz2013 Sony has nothing to do with who makes their PS4? That makes a lot of since. I guess random suppliers just pop up and start making them without Sony's knowledge. Sony has a choice in this, end of story. Only a blind fan boy would see it otherwise.

SilentNegotiator3843d ago

All of the big companies that use Foxconn and the like *SHOULD* be held partially responsible for work conditions in China. Foxconn and other Chinese factories need a LOT of work towards improving conditions.

That said, this was by far one of the lamer controversies surrounding Foxconn. If you work in IT engineering, understanding how parts are assembled could be important. Not for everyone, but then a lot of degrees require work that might not help you specifically in the long run.

"Yes, until a bunch of kids get crushed to death in a building collapse"

That was a Bangladesh building (which was used for factory work, despite explicit warnings against using it for such activity, and had parts built on to it without permits, AAAAAAAAAAND inspectors told them to close down the building but were ignored).

DragonKnight3843d ago

You see there it is. In a Sony related thread, the very first people to bring up MS weren't the "Sony fanboys" that "pollute" this site. This had nothing to do with MS at all and yet some people are so butt hurt about negative MS press that they have to invent more in order to say "see, Sony fanboys can't lay off MS."

MS has nothing to do with this article. It's off topic to bring them up so what the hell is the actual point unless you're trying to stir the sh*t?

ShinMaster3843d ago

""if this was Microsoft... ""

But Foxconn DOES makes parts for Xbox, as well as PCs and other electronics.

It's just the media singling out the PS4 again and Xbox fans playing victims.

AndrewLB3842d ago

If Sony gives Foxconn a deadline they must meet as part of the contractual agreement, where Sony has representatives overseeing the production line, how would they not be at least partially to blame for this?
We'll see how many Foxconn workers throw themselves off the rooftops like they did during iPhone 5 production. lol.

+ Show (15) more repliesLast reply 3842d ago
LostDjinn3843d ago

LOL at the headline.

Here's the quote from Foxconn contained within:

"In a statement issued to Quartz, the Chinese manufacturer acknowledged that engineering students from Xi'an Institute of Technology were assigned to night shifts and overtime in violation of the company's policies.

"Immediate actions have been taken to bring that campus into full compliance with our code and policies," it said, including "reinforcing the policies of no overtime and no night shifts for student interns, even though such work is voluntary, and reminding all interns of their rights to terminate their participation in the program at any time.""

Turns out Sony didn't know anything about it (as made evident in this quote).

Still, it's not good enough. Sony needs to come down hard on this. Workers (indeed everyone) have rights that need to be respected. It's no good having a code of ethics if you don't enforce it.

Maybe they should introduce a clause that imposes a monetary cost on Foxconn (and others) if they're found in breach of their contract.

pyramidshead3843d ago

This should be top post pretty much lol.

extermin8or3843d ago

Rock and a hard place though-they come down on Foxconn they could end up with less stock than they need for launch and then angry consumers will complain and hate on them about that. Do nothing and people will say they are condoning it by inaction... :/ Ideally manufacturers would stop using foxconn but they wont due to the cost.... I mean most tech companies use them for some sort of manufacturing-Apple etc also still use them I believe.

PsylentKiller3843d ago

Can't find the link but I'm pretty sure I've heard this before. Maybe it was Sony or another company in China but either way it made headlines and Sony should be aware of what is going on in their manufacturing plants. I remember Kathy Lee Gifford got into a lot of trouble because her clothing line was being manufactured by children. Why should big corporations be exempt from this? Like I said, I don't know if Sony knew or not, but this is a serious issue that has needs to be dealt with regardless of which company it is.

IcicleTrepan3843d ago

You're probably thinking of Apple.

AceofStaves3843d ago

Apple has been linked to Foxconn in the past, so maybe that's the company you're thinking of.

black0o3843d ago

since the media cant find anything on sony's PR teams this is the only way to get hits i guess

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 3843d ago
MCTJim3843d ago

Well this doesn’t surprise me at all. Though I don’t condone this, How many products are made like this we will never know. In a sense, the only reason why this is news is because they got busted..and like all companies that get busted doing this, they will address it..remember those whole Ted Turner Jane Fonda fiasco with their products? Remember Nike..Reebok? and as soon as the media isn’t looking, it will be business as usual..which is sad.

cunnilumpkin3843d ago (Edited 3843d ago )

how about this?

if you want to sell your product in a given country, 75% of the production of that product must take place in the country you want to sell it in for the given amount of units you will sell in that country per year

this means, if you want to have 10 million ps4s sitting on shelves in America

you better build 7.5 million of them in America or get the fu@k out of our country with your slave labor made trash

this goes for cars, xbox1's, ps4's, iphones etc....

and b4 everyone cries "then everything will get too expensive"

no, wrong!
the market will only bear, what it can, meaning, if they try to sell x-widget at too high of a price, no one will buy it

jackanderson19853843d ago

and how many business would then suffer huge losses due to the minimum wage rates in those countries not to mention the costs of changing production area, ground rental fees.... sony and microsoft are both selling the console at a loss if the rumors can be believed (i've heard anywhere between 20 and 60 loss per console) and that's using the cheap labour... now factor in more than 8 times the wage cost if you move from Asia to the US... so yes everything would get very expensive

ChrisW3843d ago (Edited 3843d ago )

Unbeknownst to many, the loss is not solely on the physical manufacturing side for consoles. A very large majority of the cost goes to former and ongoing R&D, licenses, patents, royalties, and other legalities.

-Gespenst-3843d ago (Edited 3843d ago )

Sooo, because it costs too much to produce at home, slave labour is justified. Are you serious? How can you think that?

So YOU can afford your precious console and so some corporation can make lots of money, slave labour is justified? The priorities of the privileged people of the western world are so far gone.

jackanderson19853843d ago

@ChrisW i know a large portion is related to R&D but there's numerous ways to have that written off for companies if they have a half decent accountancy team that'll reduce their tax load and what not to nil but yeah there is other costs than labour hitting it but my point was comparing the minimum wage between western countries and asia there's a huge difference and that'd likely drive up the cost.

@gespenst i never once said it was justified i explained the reasons behind it... is it fair hell no, will it change definitely not.. at worse the company will get a fine maybe a slapping then two weeks down the line when the press has died down they'll be straight back at it... and it's not the priorities of western people it's the priority of all mankind, get the cheapest crap possible and don't pay the excess if possible

-Gespenst-3843d ago

It's the priorities of a capitalist society Jackanderson- it's the priorities of a world that has naturalised the idea of money. It has nothing to do with human nature itself, it has everything to do with how human nature functions in relation to a monetary system; how it's forced to behave because of the rules of that system.

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 3843d ago
JimmyLmao3843d ago

i'm sorry but that will not work on so many level's... i do economics at uni =)

extermin8or3843d ago

Well I don't need to be doing economics at uni to see how many levels that's flawed on... (physics actually :P) anyway yeah bit of common sense/basic logic should show how flawed his idea is :S I'm slightly concerned he couldn't see this as/when he wrote the comment...

DragonKnight3843d ago

"you better build 7.5 million of them in America or get the fu@k out of our country with your slave labor made trash"

http://www.youtube.com/watc...

Bathyj3843d ago (Edited 3843d ago )

So every product must have a manufacturing plant in every country they want to sell in? And if the costs are too high your plan is to sell it at a loss anyway otherwise no one will buy it?

I can tell you mean well, but that sounds like the plan of a child written on the back of a matchbook.

Plus why would anyone want to buy a console made in America. Or Australia. Or France. Or any country that doesn't make a lot of electronics. Think about the actual logistics of what you're saying.

IcicleTrepan3843d ago

China is forcing companies to do this if they want to sell within China.

Bathyj3843d ago

And if China jumped off a bridge would you?

rainslacker3843d ago

Why would anyone give their children matches to write such a plan out though? Common sense man...I know you have it.:)

Bathyj3843d ago

I was quoting Harvey Keitel from Copland.

rainslacker3843d ago

Ah. Well then I feel my pithiness fell flat then.:)

+ Show (2) more repliesLast reply 3843d ago
+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 3843d ago
ChrisW3843d ago

IMO, any company that uses Foxconn for manufacturing of their goods knows very well that there WILL be work ethic violations.

PsylentKiller3843d ago (Edited 3843d ago )

In my comment above I couldn't remember where I've heard this type of story before. It was about Foxconn. Thank you. That was going to drive me crazy all day.

nypifisel3843d ago

Most of the major electronic companies actually use Foxconn. They got the right machinery for it.

Show all comments (65)
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.

Read Full Story >>
techraptor.net
ChasterMies14d 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_looken14d ago

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

Cacabunga14d ago

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

just_looken14d 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-6414d 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_Long13d 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.

Einhander197213d 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.

FinalFantasyFanatic13d 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 13d ago
DivineHand12514d 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.

Joe91314d 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_Observer14d 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.

S2Killinit14d ago (Edited 14d 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.

Joe91313d 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.

S2Killinit13d 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 13d ago
Christopher14d 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.

CrimsonWing6913d ago (Edited 13d 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.

S2Killinit13d 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_Mal14d ago (Edited 14d 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.

Christopher14d 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_looken14d 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

Einhander197213d ago (Edited 13d 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.

FinalFantasyFanatic13d 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.

romulus2314d ago

Correction, they have no issue playing good live service games

shinoff218314d 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.

S2Killinit13d ago (Edited 13d 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.

mastershredder14d 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.

crazyCoconuts14d ago

Headline truncated:
"... off a cliff"

Show all comments (43)
80°

Sony May Soon Let You Decide How Much NPCs Talk In Games

Sony has patented to add multiple dialogue modes to let players switch between how many conversations with NPCs they want in the game.

blackblades20d ago

Sony is like the only ones outta the 3 that has atuff like like this pop up changing thing in ways.

just_looken20d ago

Sony in the past has always been first at bat with new ideas/tech but in the end never fully use it or just toss it away.

blackblades20d ago

I think they did use some but yeah most usually never happened but at least they thought about it. Sony seeks things like this and other, Nintendo seek different ways of playing going by there different controler designs and console designs.

just_looken20d ago (Edited 20d ago )

some of the other stuff sony want's/owns never used
https://gamerant.com/sony-p...
https://gamerant.com/sony-p...
https://www.eurogamer.net/s...
https://metro.co.uk/2023/03...
https://decrypt.co/114754/s...

monitor/adjust game difficultly as you play
https://www.techradar.com/g...

Sony nfts
https://www.theblock.co/pos...

Pay ai to play the game for you
https://thebusinessofesport...

Oh all the above last 12 months

I just imagine a evil scientist with test subjects when it comes down to sony recent patent reports.

Kaii20d ago

Will we get dialogue options that won't spoil puzzles in a matter of seconds? :p

280°

Judge rules in PlayStation's favour in $500m patent infringement lawsuit

Genuine Enabling Technology was seeking damages, claiming the tech allowing PlayStation consoles and controllers to communicate infringes its rights.

Read Full Story >>
gamesindustry.biz
S2Killinit21d ago

Big victory for Sony. And a long time coming.

DarXyde21d ago (Edited 21d ago )

Crazy to think the savings from this lawsuit allows them to develop one AAA game.

Make it Bloodborne 2, please and thank you.

21d ago
Profchaos21d ago

Sounds like patent trolling they tried the same thing against Nintendo with the same pattern.

Motion and control input traversing over higher and lower frequencies seperate from each other allowing the controller to do both

Pyrofire9521d ago

Patents suck. Most of them are complete garbage.

Knightofelemia21d ago

So to recoup the money Genuine is going to take on Nintendo or Microsoft next. I hate patent lawyers they are some of the worst bottom feeders out there.

Show all comments (13)