The official confirmation of the PlayStation 4 from Sony was something that many people had long awaited since rumblings first surfaced on the internet. The event held in New York City by Sony provided some great insight into the direction the company is moving, with a lot of promising ideas at the forefront. Yet one statement that constantly resonated throughout the entire conference was the concept of PlayStation 4 being a saving grace for game developers. And while this is very appealing and something that will lead to some great titles down the line, it is also the seeds of what could possibly be a problem for Sony in the years to come. Shouldn’t the PS4 be a great system for gamers as much as it is for developers? Aren’t those who buy the games in the end supposed to be the first priority for a company like Sony? This is where aspects of the presentation in New York City start to take a very interesting turn.
Mass Damage & Consumer Foundation in the Netherlands has filed a class action against Sony for inflating PlayStation Store prices.
My personal opinion:
Manufacturers and publishers have indeed inflated the industry.
From $700 million development costs for games like Call of Duty, to digital (store) prices for games and DLCs, online multiplayer fees on consoles (why can you play Helldivers 2 online for free on PC but not consoles?) or still preventing sell/lend digitally purchased games.
Sometime in the future, this bubble will collapse.
They should know better, but they just can't help themselves and suck even the last penny out of our wallets.
Because Sony knows people will be forced to pay those prices for single player and multiplayer games, not everyone prefers PC gaming. Sony also has a monopoly on PlayStation digital games. In 2019, they stopped allowing retailers and game key sellers to sell PlayStation digital games, making them available only through the official PlayStation Store
They should be suing the individual publishers increasing the prices to $80 instead of suing the store. There are plenty of publishers still selling game for like $50 with much success (like E33). But this proves that the publishers are the ones setting the prices.... so again nothing changes because they aren't even going after the main offender. How is suing Sony going to make Microsoft not charge $80 for the next COD? Sony being the number one store in the market doesn't mean that publisher have to charge us an arm and a leg. Again the industry is laughing at us because consumers never get real representation. Just these fake platitudes that are meaningless.
"How is suing Sony going to make Microsoft not charge $80 for the next COD"
Because Microsoft doesn't have a monopoly, I can purchase Call of Duty at a huge discount from CDKeys or other gaming retailers. The only way to purchase digital PlayStation games is through the PlayStation Store.
Weird, I swore GoW, Stellar Blade, Horizon Zero Dawn, TLoU, etc. were on the steam store....uh.....
@djI3485
I'm talking about PlayStation games that you can only purchase on PlayStation. I can purchase Steam and Epic games from 3rd party retailers and key stores.
"Sony to stop selling full-game download codes at retailers"
https://www.videogamer.com/...
About time. There is zero fair reason why digitally distributed products that you cannot recoup any value when you want to dispose of them, should be priced higher than that of physical copies that entail all of the costs and the benefits of owning.
Sony CEO Hiroki Totoki and CFO Lin Tao talked about the state of the PlayStation business and the strategy and targets going forward, including how they're responding to the tariffs.
I think they take that into consideration when they announce their projections. Currently, after the xbox price increase, the PRO is cheaper than the series x! That is ridiculous, and it can’t last.
you keep saying that but the price of a PS5 Pro is S699.99 (US) and the price of a Series X is $599.99 (US)
The series x with 2 TB storage space is more expensive than PS5 PRO which also has 2 TB storage space.
Oh so you are pitting a regular Pro with a special edition X... got it. If you are going so far as trying to compare apples to apples... please add in the optical drive and stand to the Pro. Seeing as the X has both of those by default.
I will help you if you are unable to do so.
PS5 Pro 2tb: $699.99, Optical Drive: $79.99, Stand: $29.99 = $809.97
Xbox Series X Galaxy Black Special Edition 2TB: $729.99
The PS5 PRO has 2TB storage. The series X with 2TB storage and much weaker, is… more expensive! So yeah, Im pointing out that fact.
Also, the PRO does not require a stand.
Ps: regular series 2TB is $749 (where did u get 729?)
Its right here on the official XB site: https://www.xbox.com/en-US/...
Okay, so no stand for the Pro, but you might still want the optical drive. So $779.98 vs $729.99. A properly outfitted Pro is still more $$ than a 2tb X.
Do I need to mention that the series x is not nearly as powerful as the PS5 PRO?
And no, the PS5 PRO runs just fine without a drive, and people don’t have to buy the drive right away, assuming they want it.
People are spending less time playing is a typical trigger for this.
The less time spent playing the less likely you are to spend more money on games and services including subs or even the next console.
Increased engagement equals more money.
Same reason Microsoft does it: it looks better to investors and it's a solution when unit sales slow down.
Personally, I'm not a fan of this metric; and by using it, you're kind of signaling that you're moving into the "This is a PlayStation" era.
"I wonder why they are shifting focus to MAU."
Because they´d finally realized that MS wasn´t wrong after all.
Sony announced its financial results for the fiscal year 2024, and things are certainly looking up, despite a decline in PS5 sales.
@neutralgamer1992
Not all of us. I'm a big PlayStation fan, and have been since the PSOne. But I can't begin to defend what's happening currently.
At least Nintendo release a large number of games from their major franchises. Sony is just not banking on their established franchises, and yet are raising prices. Not great.
Im pretty sure we are going to see a price increase for PRO. I mean think about it, its currently cheaper than xbox series x! That cannot last.
I'm absolutely sure we will not see a price increase. I don't think we should 'expect' to see price increase because it just adds validity to what Nintendo and Microsoft have done.
Sorry to pop that bubble but the Pro is not cheaper than a series x... generally speaking (like you are). It is cheaper than one specific version, and doing so by not including the optical drive and stand like the X has by default.
So keep on trying to convince people you are right when everyone knows it's quite the opposite. A stock Pro is $699.99 and a stock X is $599.99. A special edition galactic black 2tb X is $729.99. And if you really want to compare apples to apples... adding the aforementioned optical drive and stand brings that Pro to $809.97 and then they would be on equal footing.
Twisting truths to fit a narrative... I expect better from you S2.
The PS5 PRO has 2TB storage. And the series X with 2TB is more expensive. Which in my opinion is insane conseidering how much more powerful the PRO is. The PS5PRO does not need a stand, it can be used without a stand.
It's still an expensive, niche product ultimately. And they exceeded their sales projections for units sold by half a million.
"18.5 million units have been shipped during the full fiscal year. This is actually ahead of the 18 million units target set by the company."
They beat their yearly estimate. It's not broken down by device, but it's clearly performing well enough. Since it's been released it's consistently been the second best selling SKU on Amazon only after the the Slim with disc.
18 million a year is in the toilet?
I remember when 10 was considered good
Hell Microsoft would take that right now.
Probably pay $100b for it.
If their profits fall next quarter, we'll probably see more price hikes. I can't imagine having to pay £20 a month for PlayStation Plus.
Decline in hardware sales.
Behind on lifetime sales and decline in first party sales.
Third party content and PSN came through to save the day.
Things will improve starting with the next Ghost game.
Hopefully a steady flow of first party content by end of '25
I guess you get downvoted for stating facts from Sony’s own lips. What I’m curious about is what their top games of the year were and how much Xbox games contributed to the increase?
Well, generally 3rd party publisher games contribute the most anyway, so no different to capcom, EA and so on contributing to this figure.
That's because the report is actually really good.
They beat the console sales estimate that they set last year March, they have increased users both due to the record numbers of PS4 users and strong PS5 sales which is leading to great profits in sales and user spend.
This report is about the financial health of the PlayStation brand and as a platform PlayStation is stronger than ever. Heck they even have Microsoft putting their biggest franchises on the platform.
Well, the facts in the article are positive. Nothing wrong with his comment, but in my opinion it doesn't correctly indicate all the facts and nuances that give context to the reality of things. I downvoted for that only.
Make sense?
This is exactly what happened to Xbox year's ago. They had no first party and started seeing decline in 1st party sales, which effected their third party games which eventually effected their console sales. A slow decline across the board.
Calm down PS fans I'm not saying PS is becoming like old Xbox. I'm showing examples of the importance of first party output. Look how Xbox finally has compelling first party and things are on a up swing(despite years going on a downswing). I know thanks to PS releases which helps a ton, (which is why Xbox hardware only dropped 6% instead of 30+% like it usually does) The point still stands despite what Genz Trends may go, first party and compelling games sell hardware and software still. Sony's financial quarter is an example of this, of what lower First party output looks like.
No matter they'll be right back on track in due time any time especially with DS2 (not my type of game but I know many like it) and Yotei. They're not Xbox and let things get bad for so many years on end.
"I'm showing examples of the importance of first party output. "
First party is mostly relevant for the sole purpose of creating EXCLUSIVES that are needed to stay competitive. With Xbox consoles collapsing and no more Xbox exclusives, first party is way less important. PlayStation as a platform now has free reign to profit without the high expense of needing exclusive first party titles.
Sony has been very lazy with 1st party games compared to the PS4 era. And even the PS4 era was nothing compared to the PS3 era in terms of games.
We have Ghost and Intergalactic coming. And then Marathon which is not exclusive to PlayStation. I think Covid and that chip shortage put a speedbump in game development because game manufacturers dont want even more risk that their game will arrive to too little hardware, but the games are starting to show up.
"With Xbox consoles collapsing and no more Xbox exclusives, first party is way less important."
Absolutely not. If that was the case then Nintendo would put Mario on Sega Genesis and Sonic on Super Nintendo. I know things are way different 30+ years later but not much has really changed in terms of exclusives and their impact on hardware. Especially early in the console life cycle.
Sony made all the money this quarter handover fist. Profits isn't a issue for them right now. I was just saying lower hardware sales and lower first party sales will hurt them or any console manufacturer of they don't have the compelling games in the long run. Just like it hurt Xbox. IF Sony keeps up not having lower first part output. Which we know they're not.
Well no big exclusives in the last two years yet PS is doing great. What are people gonna do? Buy an Xbox?
I agree with you. But they have had plenty of exclusives so far. Has it been ideal? Nope. I have a feeling we are seeing a resurgence with the effects of covid and that chip shortage now behind us.
No it's just like 360 where they had no games yet ppl still bought it because they sold ppl on the games early on that gen the fans were locked in and invested. They were riding the good will and was dubbed the shooter, racer box. The games dried up and they never recovered from it which hurt them in the long run. Same here with PS they still make the big bucks because they had games early on and the fans locked in and will continue to lock in for a little while longer despite lacking in first party.
I agree. But the problem with xbox was that for some crazy reason MS thought game development wasnt all that important to a platform holder. They literally did not fund games with their own studios. When they lost marketshare they couldnt justify paying for exclusives with large install bases making it too expensive. That is not the scenario with PlayStation.
Hopefully being a great console "for developers" results in them being able to make better games more easily. If that happens, as it should, then that in turn leads to a better experience for gamers.
I think the general idea is that a better console "for developers" is a prerequisite to a better console "for gamers." That's the IDEA I think...time will tell!
Great article and I especially like how you pointed out how they emphasized PS4 is GREAT for DEVELOPERS. Some will assume that every DEVELOPER is also a GAMER as well but in some cases this isn't always true by default. When I hear the system is made with Developers in mind, I immediately cringe at the thought of this being overpriced but easily accessible for people who want to make games on it. In any event, many are willing to spend 600 dollars on a new console so in that case I'd say to them do what you will...
I was very happy to see Tim Schafer in the ps4 dev video. So they didnt just ask the very big developers for their opinion on the ps4.
Also it will improve the quality of pc ports so that as a playstation+pc gamer makes me very happy.
Now if a developer cant program for ps4 they cant blame the system but only their own skill(Looking at you bugthesda).
Gamers should admire the fact that Sony is focusing on game development. Highlighting lesser-known game developers is also an admiring feature. After all, gamers want something different. Most of us are getting sick of the shitty franchises out there at the moment.
Hope Sony receives better third party support than with the PS3 at launch