100°

Sony game unit pegs profit hope on PS3, handhelds weak

Sony Corp is relying more heavily on its PlayStation 3 game consoles to make money for its game unit in the year to March, as weak sales of handhelds threaten to undermine a business the company's CEO is banking on to help return his company to profit.

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uk.reuters.com
morkendo234232d ago

SONY is killing its self with FPS GAMES AND MULTIPLAYER only games.
make games EVERYONE will enjoy again, bring back ol school gaming.

TongkatAli4232d ago

He hit the nail on the head. Make more rated E games and keep God Of War then profit.

Xwow20084232d ago

Sony Makes games for everyone...whats wrong with u?

Knight_Crawler4232d ago

Have to agree...Sony needs to go back to there roots while keeping the FPS junkies happy.

I miss the PS1 and PS2 era where I felt like a kid in the candy store when ever I bought a Sony game. Dont get me wrong Sont still pumps out exclusives but they focus on less genres and make sequals or trilogies for games that could have waited till next gen.

There is a reason why PSN and XBLA games are doing so well this late into this gen becuase people want something diffrent and small or indie developers deliver that becuase they take more risk.

r214232d ago

i dont know but i think he's stealth insulting microsoft. alas we'll never know as he has only one bubble :C

TheFirstClassic4232d ago

We got sly cooper, lbp karting, and ps all stars on the way.

TongkatAli4231d ago (Edited 4231d ago )

Which are going to be amazing.

+ Show (2) more repliesLast reply 4231d ago
Agent_hitman4232d ago (Edited 4232d ago )

I guess the Game division is the only profitable for Sony Corp right now.. The rest is lackluster..

They should continue the momentum of it's PS until next gen and don't give up.. goodluck sony!

TongkatAli4232d ago

PS3 has plenty of life still, over 75 million install base is very attractive.

r1sh124232d ago

Thats exactly it.
Sony have mad bad decisions in every department (including the gaming division, only for a small amount of time).
Its not all Sony's fault though, blu ray is a great invention and I dont think anyone could have seen on demand and IPTV/ streaming services would so dramatically increase which is one major reason as to why physical disc (both DVD and blu ray sales are so bad). That was out of Sony's control, but royalties from blu ray are going to be very limited, even if MS have to pay some in the next gen.

The game division is currently being held up by the PS3, but the Vita is bringing it down at the same time. Handheld gaming devices are declining due to the smartphone, its just that simple. Most smart phone games are so low priced in comparison.

Gaming has changed from the 'good old/ golden days' to the point where many gamers are soo very different. You still get the core gamers but they are outweighed by the voice of the casuals. That is one reason why these 'angry bid' type games are soo popular, and you can even see why developers want to go there, its easy money on a small budget.

I think sony need to separate the gaming division from Sony altogether, so they dont lose the PS3/ gaming division. This way they can ringfence it from any fallout over the rest of the business and potentially rebuild from the bottom up and come back stronger.

Anon19744232d ago (Edited 4232d ago )

Certainly Sony has had their fair share of missteps, but that's not the real problem here. The real problem is the business they're in. They're a Japanese electronics maker that sells products to western markets. Western markets aren't spending and due to the shape they're in, currency is weak compared to the yen. At one point it was estimated that Japanese electronics makers were suddenly losing 25% of their revenue simply from the yen's price relative to the US dollar and the Euro. Not to mention lost productivity and cash from natural disasters both in both Japan and Thailand (where a lot of their electronics are manufactured). It's not as if Sony is the only electronics maker struggling these past 4 years.

S&P's forecast is looking up though with foreign exchange markets stabilizing. They expect Sony to return to profitability overall this year, with earnings per share increasing 2067% by FY14, even thought they anticipate consumer spending to remain sluggish.

r1sh124232d ago (Edited 4232d ago )

I do agree that there are some factors which sony could not have even foreseen or stopped,
and to an extent about western markets not spending.
Many brands are in the limelight and are selling much better.
Just looking at TV's samsung, LG and even Toshiba seem to be doing better, in audio electronics no one can catch apple and the Ipod.
Tablets - Apple again, followed by Samsung and Asus.
Mobile/Cellular phones - Apple, samsung and nokia are doing better.
The list goes on.

I know Sony are not the only electronics company struggling, but they are the worst affected.
Sony simply need to start selling products again across the board.
Hopefully they become competitive again, because the only sony product I will currently buy is the PS3

joeorc4231d ago (Edited 4231d ago )

"The game division is currently being held up by the PS3, but the Vita is bringing it down at the same time. Handheld gaming devices are declining due to the smartphone, its just that simple. Most smart phone games are so low priced in comparison."

And Sony's way ahead of you on this very fact, why do you think Sony made the Playstation Mobile platform for?

i'll tell you why:

Overall, Sony Mobile sold 7.4 million Xperia smartphones over the three-month period, this compares to 3.5m Xperia shipments in the same period last year.

This led Sony to upgrade the FY13 (year to March 2013) forecast of smartphones shipped from 33.3 to 34 million units.

http://www.xperiablog.net/2...

that's 7.4 million / sales quarter...

now add in

HTC
Asus
Fujitsu
Sharp
Nvidia

and Samsung is being courted also

Sony Computer Entertainment To Launch PlayStation®Store For PlayStation®Mobile On October 3

"PlayStation Mobile games will be available in nine different countries at launch, including the US, UK, Japan, Canada, and France. Around 30 different titles will be present to start with, from both Sony and third-party developers. According to Sony, the titles will be priced between 50 to 850 yen (approximately $0.64 to $10.80)."

there will be 30 games set for launch!

http://www.prnewswire.com/n...

All of which will also Run on the PSVita!

r1sh124230d ago

@joeorc.
Its great that they are bringing Sony the playstation store to android, but thats only half the battle and uptake of it is still not clear. Lets not forget the number of Iphones that are out there too.

Experia phones sold 7+Mil in 3 months, Samsung sold over 20 million in that time.
I actually love the way Sony are keeping open source such a priority, but I just dont want to buy one of their phones because they cant compete with the competition, they are all under powered in comparison.

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 4230d ago
IQUITN4G4232d ago

yup the game has changed and it's the minority that's most vocal about this, voiced on places like this in fact

Derpy4232d ago

It amuses me the dream world that a lot of gamers live in in I see them saying thing like DVDs and Blurays selling poorly. Do you honestly think big businesses like Walmart would devote so much store space to them if they sold poorly? Just because you're only streaming movies now, doesn't mean everyone is. A lot of people don't even have a decent enough connection to stream HD. Others will watch a movie or show they really like and run out and buy the DVD or Bluray afterwards. Though I stream a lot of stuff on my Bluray/Internet Tv unit, I still prefer owning physical copies of stuff I really like, and so does everybody I personally know.

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
ChasterMies19d 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_looken19d ago

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

Cacabunga19d ago

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

just_looken19d 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-6419d 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_Long19d 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.

Einhander197219d 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.

FinalFantasyFanatic19d 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 19d ago
DivineHand12519d 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.

Joe91319d 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_Observer19d 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.

S2Killinit19d ago (Edited 19d 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.

Joe91318d 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.

S2Killinit18d 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 18d ago
Christopher19d 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.

CrimsonWing6918d ago (Edited 18d 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.

S2Killinit18d 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_Mal19d ago (Edited 19d 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.

Christopher19d 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_looken19d 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

Einhander197219d ago (Edited 19d 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.

FinalFantasyFanatic19d 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.

romulus2319d ago

Correction, they have no issue playing good live service games

shinoff218319d 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.

S2Killinit18d ago (Edited 18d 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.

mastershredder19d 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.

crazyCoconuts19d ago

Headline truncated:
"... off a cliff"

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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.

blackblades25d ago

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

just_looken25d 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.

blackblades25d 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_looken25d ago (Edited 25d 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.

Kaii25d 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
S2Killinit27d ago

Big victory for Sony. And a long time coming.

DarXyde27d ago (Edited 27d ago )

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

Make it Bloodborne 2, please and thank you.

27d ago
Profchaos27d 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

Pyrofire9527d ago

Patents suck. Most of them are complete garbage.

Knightofelemia27d 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.

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