Sony Takes a Beating in May 2015. And How to Fix It

GamerVets looks at Sony's issues this month and recommends ways to fix it.

[TheGreatGamer]

Before anyone reports this for being clickbait etc. Please take the time to read it, logical and backed up points throughout

[hockeyglory]

Thanks man!

Took me a while to write all this up and find the sources to link in there!

Much appreciated.

[TheGreatGamer]

No worries but expect quite a bit of hate, anyone that doesn't worship Sony round here gets it i'm afraid

[Griever]

@TheGreatGamer

Playstation fans do appreciate positive, honest and constructive criticism. You just have be careful with your words when criticizing. The same is true in real life where harsh and nonconstructive criticism always leads to a strong backlash rendering the criticism ineffective.

On topic, in response to the author, I do not think 1 month of NPD victory by Xbox One means a red alert for Sony. If it does then what does several months of NPD and worldwide victories by PS4 means for Xbox One?? Abandon ship? Doom? As for the PS4 price, the price will hold until the sales fall below Sony's desired levels. There is no need to start losing $50 for every unit sold or in other words, $50 million for every 1 million units sold at the moment just to match Xbox One's price.

Finally, as for the exclusive games, Playstation has a history of delivering wide range of high quality exclusives. We all remember how PS3 was accused of the same "PS has no games" and how it turned out by the end of the generation. There may not be any AAA high profile exclusives releasing in later half of 2015 but PS4 still has Persona 5, Disgaea 5, No Mans Sky and Dragon Quest Heroes releasing in 2015. Several future exclusives have already been announced including Star Ocean 5, Street Fighter V and Level 5's new game. We can expect more announcements at E3 which can severely alter the media's perception of PS4 release schedule.

I am surprised at how that one statement by House calling PS4's exclusive lineup “a little sparse this year” has given the "journalists" the chance to write tonnes of "red alert" articles.

[ChronoJoe]

I think the article grossly understates the emphasis on first party exclusives and misinterprets the focus on third party titles.The focus on third party seems to have had a positive influence on the system thus far, yet the article spins this as a bad thing.

Additionally, it seems the article interprets increasing ARRPU (anual revenue rate per user) as deferring away from first party games and services, yet there was no evidence from the investor relations presentation to suggest that was the case. In fact, high-selling first party titles would drastically incriment ARRPU. Probably why 'new development and release of first party titles' was listed as the first point under this heading.

As for the rest of the article, the Vita being dead isn't exactly news. It's still a great system for those that enjoy the type of games it offers, and I imagine it will hold an audience with those style of games for some time to come, but certainly the Vita's demise didn't suddenly occur in May 2015.

Street Fighter is another issue, but at the end of the day, it'll be patched. It's a digital iteration so hopefully when / if they get a physical release out it'll be all sorted. It's still a third party title that's coming exclusively to Sony's platform (of the next gen systems), so while it's a shame it's released in a troublesome state, it's hardly a disaster. I wouldn't say it's a dissimilar affair to the initial problems with the Master Chief Collection.

In the end, you're interpretation is just that. It's easily possible to spin things in the other direction, but ultimately with E3 so close, this type of speculation is relatively purposeless. Both consumers and investors will soon be given a much clearer picture on what the future holds for the Playstation platform.

[Lev1903]

@griever " playstation fans do appreciate postive, honest critisim".

Uhmm are you new here? Yesterday the ceo of sony said they ps4 lacked on 1 st party exclsuives. And i read aloooot of comments which the ps fanbase ridiculed the article and said it eas clickbait. An interview with the ceo of ps4 company was labeled a click bait article!!

So no, ps4 cant withstabd critism or negativity;)

[hockeyglory]

Chronojoe.

As Sony's slides state, increased ARPPU isn't from first party games.

It's coming from PS Plus retention, extra services and apps including TV, music and video, and the final bullet point was partnerships with other companies for other services.

[Griever]

@Lev1903

No, I have been around here for about 10 years. Andrew House's comment was not from an interview. It was a comment lifted out of context from an investor relations meeting. He was just being honest to the investors but the gaming media has used that phrase to generate tonnes of clickbait articles full of spin, lies and misinterpretation. One article even claimed that PS4 was in its THIRD year of lifespan and only had one worthwhile exclusive (Bloodborne), which is a complete lie. Here is the link.

http://www.hardcoregamer.co...

Articles and statements like that are eliciting the strong backlash from Playstation fans. Even this article quotes the same comment by House and uses it as a base.

[ChronoJoe]

In either case, it's the first heading under strategy 1 on the slides. I feel that you just brushed that off in the slides, ignoring the continued focus on first party productions.

[Pogmathoin]

@ Griever,
Playstation fans do appreciate positive, honest and constructive criticism. You just have be careful with your words when criticizing.

Then you relate that to real life? That is having your cake and eating it. You do not have to criticize PS here, simply failing to be at least pleasant about PS gets you slaughtered here.

Article is very good actually, you see history repeating, but regardless, the games will come for Sony, they always do, but also, Xbox is a wounded beast, so they will always be finding a way.... Again, thats good for all gamers, tragedy for fanboys.....

[Army_of_Darkness]

@thegreatgamer "No worries but expect quite a bit of hate, anyone that doesn't worship Sony round here gets it i'm afraid"

Sony lost ONE MONTH too the xbone in terms of sales since launch and all of a sudden, it's the beginning of the end for the ps4 unless... Sony listens to this guys advice?? LMFAO!
Can you not see why this article is considered click-bait??

[Outside_ofthe_Box]

@TheGreatGamer, Lev1903, Pogmathoin, and the like-minded

More like you can't criticize those that "criticize" Sony without people like you guys crying about being "attacked" with "hate."

[Lore]

@lev1903

" So no, ps4 cant withstabd critism or negativity;) "

Is that a wink face or did somebody squirt something in your eye?

By the way you mispelled "withstand."

[Platinum_k]

they got beat 1 month...

ONE...

PS4 doesn't need fixing

[Death]

Keep in mind we are only talking North America, but if you look at the last 6 months of sales Xbox won November, December and April while PlayStation won January, February and March. That is 3 months with two being the biggest of the year.

[dafegamer]

ms barely won the may npd to not sure why writing this article like that

[OB1Biker]

Man Im sorry (not really) if people will call me a Sony fanboy worshiper but I do think this title 'Sony takes a beating in May' is.... well ridiculous and certainly not going to click and read the whole article... might be constructive criticism in the article for all I know but youd have to put a title that makes more sense for me to read it....

@dafegamer
Is May NPD alrwady up???

[OB1Biker]

Also a bit annoying the 'victimization' from many people in the comments. This site is open to every one and millions of people can comment if they wish so. Write clearly negative comments in Xbox or Playtation or Nintendo articles will of course have people write 'negative' comments about the people bashing one or another whether its deserved or not so stop playing the victim and calling others fanboys if they dont agree with your criticisms.
Every one is allowed to express themselves and that the point of this site. People should be very happy to be able to give their opinion and give constructive criticism of the media to try and get better content instead of calling one another names

[Foxhound922]

Taking a beating? They get beat by a few thousand units...in one month...in one country...

The article lacks aggregate perspective

[remixx116]

@thegreatgamer

I'm giving you some hate purely based off that ignorant comment you just made, nothing else.

People like you make me vomit when they post, you try and generalize a fan base on a gaming website and the funny thing is you suffer from a lot of the issues you bash others for....

Also have you seen the lashing someone gets in an Xbox article if they make sweet love to MS in their comments?? Its the exact same response.
The only difference between you and them is you just "worship" a different brand.

Disgusting...

[DOMination-]

Sony have got nothing to worry about. They've got great uardware and a healthy lead. Maybe a bit stupid in terns of release schedule but hey thay can't always be helped. They have good first party support and next year should be great for them. W

MS have done well to recover though after am awful launch, Spencer has turned it around. They'll never catch up but their continued revival is good for competition and great for gamers

[XisThatKid]

this is great SOny is getting the beating and still selling oodles! I wonder why this is though.

[ShadowWolf712]

Well you probably should have taken a bit longer. Your comprehension and attempts to discern what was said there fall kinda short.

For one, saying first party is relatively sparse this year does not equate to the company shifting focus to third party, as you indicate they are in your title here.

http://gamervets.com/2015/0...

It means that they've tried to compensate for this year with third party support.

For another, when there is updated information regarding things present in the presentation you're basing your info on, it's best to include it as well.

http://venturebeat.com/2015...

But I suppose what intrigues me the most is that you took away from this that they're somehow in trouble. They're very much not.

[Dee_91]

@Pogmathoin
I'm not one for defending "fanboys" but when you make comments like ps4 is doomed for being outsold 3 months out of 26, the backlash is warranted, no matter how you try to twist it or "word" it.
You go from extreme to extreme to make a weak point seem strong., be simply pleasant or get slaughtered.I barely talk about PS and msft and I have a ton of bubbles.
You see what you want to see.

[FlameBaitGod]

If this wasn't about bias then where are all your Xbox is doomed articles ? since its been losing to Sony for ever ? Only Sony has problems to fix?

But judging by your articles...

1) Kratos has changed to God of Milk Jobs

2) The Order: 1886’s Short Length And Zero Replay Value Means It’s a Buyers Market

3) The Order: 1886 is $60 for about 3.5 Hours of Gameplay and 2.5 Hours of Cut-Scenes

4) Debacleclub. Evolution Studios or Sony Management to Blame?

5) Will Infamous: Second Son Save PS4’s Game Library?

You don't have to be Einstein to see this guy is bias.

[FlameBaitGod]

*double post*

[GribbleGrunger]

I take it that if the PS4 wins this month by 14k, you'll immediately write an article about the XB1 getting slaughtered and what MS can do about it.

[AngryTypingGuy]

Xbox wins the US monthly sales sometimes, but globally, the PS4 has yet to be beaten.

[pupa]

Look at this article and go rethink your own attempt.

Sad but true.

http://www.vgchartz.com/art...

[Malice-Flare]

well, you're on your way to a 1000 degrees, congrats...

however, an opinion with a clickbait title like that makes any logical jumps in your article and your intentions suspect...

being praised by TheGreatGamer adds to that suspicion...

all "sparse" doesn't mean "none," as some internet commentators seem to imply...

[morganfell]

Just a question, but has this same site put up an article titled, "Microsoft takes a beating since launch and how to fix it." MS would seem by all accounts to be in the more dire circumstances.

[alabtrosMyster]

I see no new argument here, this is yet another USA centered article...

While it's true that the PS4 does not completely outsell the XB1 in the US like it did last year, it's still selling almost twice as many units in total worldwide on a weekly basis... I mean, if this is what "taking a beating means" I wonder what it means for every other consoles on the market?

As for the rest, we still have not seen what will and will be actually ship late in the year and how good these games will really be, how good the third party titles will be, etc.

It would probably have garnered less clicks/controversy if the title was something boring like "How could Sony keep its momentum in the US?" or again "Does MS have the right cards to outsell the PS4 with the XB1 in the US in the long run?" other territories being out of the question...

You did bring a good point, Sony putting more emphasis on the non gaming features may very well hurt them, you may want to write an article focusing on this, why did they close studio Liverpool and stop a project at Santa-Monica Studio and decided to create some TV show for the PS+ members... studio closures may not be directly linked to the latter, but it certainly look like a change of direction, almost as if Sony's management took the MS media centric pill instead of learning a lesson from their success and the competition's failure... it's kind of strange!

[gangsta_red]

"Playstation fans do appreciate positive, honest and constructive criticism."

I love this quote from Griever that gets a Well Said then the rest of comments from the sony fans go on to complain and demand a "Microsoft critical" article from the author. Just goes to show that they do not want to read any type of criticism unless it specifically takes shots at the competition.

[IGiveHugs2NakedWomen]

That wasn't very well written at all.

[TheGreatGamer]

That's the point of an opinion piece, right? He backed up his opinions with logical reasoning, can't fault that myself

To put this comment in context, the user above edited out the part slamming this article for having opinions

[ChronoJoe]

It's not well written, you're right, but I clicked his profile page on the site and he actually self-admits that his articles are not liable to be that well-written.

I don't think it's that bad to write like a high-school student. A lot of people start off that way and it's only through practice that people are able to develop. So while take some issue with the authors content, the structure and overall quality of the writing doesn't really matter. Ultimately, he gets across what he wanted to say in a relatively clear and concise manner; the article is functional.

If you want eloquence read something from Forbes or some-other nonsense. I find they're generally quite out of touch with the industry, in honesty.

[rainslacker]

It wasn't terribly written. His comments were backed up with reasoning, which was actually mostly reasonable, although sometimes misinformed or misinterpreted. Most of his reasoning for why he felt the way he did were not based on hyperbole of "this is what people feel" which rarely reflect reality.

Grammar issues aside, it's better than most opinion pieces I've read, and I never got the sense that the author was trying to bash the PS brand or Sony, but really did want to offer constructive criticism, as misplaced as it may be in some cases.

I do think it took a very narrow view of what Sony had to do to "fix" the problems that the author feels that Sony has to address, as I don't really think that Sony has any real problems to address at the moment.

Most of Sony's problems seem to be more a perception issue within forum comments and opinion articles, and not really anything that exists within their marketing, distribution, or selling of the PS console itself. However, I also believe this perception issue mostly resides within a group of people that don't actually own the PS4, because it's rare to see someone be overly critical of Sony that obviously does own the system...at least not to the point of latent hostility which permeates the internet. Just as an example, many people that own a Vita love it, yet were able to criticize the memory card prices with fervor, but didn't become hell-bent on downplaying the quality of the product.

What I do know is that what people feel is the right thing on forums, and usually opinion articles, is rarely what companies have to do to either become, or remain, successful. If it were that easy to run a company, people wouldn't be going to school for 4-8 years to get business degrees. If any company listened to the internet for it's business decisions on the scale with which it seems to be offered with all sorts of consumer feel-good entitlement, that company probably wouldn't be in business very long. Seriously look at the most successful companies in the world. How many of them do what the internet forums tell them they should do?

[T2X]

It wasn't. But I think that SONY will have nice showing at E3 this year and I really wish we could all see the VR stuff first hand. I'm very curious as to if it will be good or not. And I'll bet next year will be the big one. When all of the previously delayed games come pouring in. People always hype the hate train at the approach of E3! LOL!

[aceitman]

My question is how is it Sony took a beating in may when mays numbers hasn't been released. And 2 x1 won April NPD by 13,000 units and that's not a beating, also a beating is like February and march when ps4 beat x1 on NPD by 150,000 each month. 3 x1 won one month while ps4 won 3 so how's is this a beating again . and yes I read the article nothing really answers how ps4 has taken a beating in may period.

[Death]

If you go from beating someone by 150,000 units to losing by 13,000 units, what is the difference? Sounds like 163,000 doesn't it? Like you said, 1 month for Xbox and 3 for PlayStation. What about the couple months before that?

[aceitman]

@ death what's ur point , what happened to the 9 months before those 2 months.

[badz149]

@Death

dude, that's not how math works. that's not any of this works!

[johndoe11211]

@Death
WTH sort of math is that?????? Is there no limit to the lowness you guys would reach in order to make up and twist facts????

[LeCreuset]

@Death

Xbox beating PS by 13,000 in April after losing by 150,000 in March in no way means Xbox gained ground by 163,000 units. Desperation has beaten the stealth out of you.

@aceitman

Ever notice how the whole picture is abandoned for arbitrary frames that suit an argument? Of course Death only goes back to the couple of months where Xbox won. It doesn't suit his argument to go further. It's like how some people try to pretend only NPD really matters, or how Xbox fans would brag about taking market share from PS, ignoring that PS only had so much market share to lose because of the beating it put on the original Xbox.

[aceitman]

@LeCreuset I agree , if death wants to look at in a whole new way he can see it this way ,almost 23 mill to 12 mill , in the last 16 months ps4 has won 13 NPDS and this is what is called ms's home turf. so whats that saying .
ps4 won
2014
January
February
march
april
may
june
july
august
September
October
2015
January
febuary
march

xbox1 won
2014
November
December
2015
april

so how is it sony needs fixing , there is one thing clear , the one that needs fixing has been making changes since launch and continues to try and fix itself , but how low can the price go to keep up with the other. it seems like the price cut does well for a little while then sales drop again then another price cut to boost sales again its going to hit a wall one day where the price cant go any lower. so death just stop trying to flip it and open ur eyes to the truth . games 2 months a year has shown that its not working with sales , what ms gained in 2 months sony took back and more the rest of the year.

[Death]

Are we looking at recent trends? The last 6 months show a the direction North America is heading. There is no doubt Sony "won" more NPD's since launch. Sony went from winning almost everyone to splitting the last 6 50/50 with Microsoft. November and December being key months for sales.

Call winning by 150,000 to losing by 13,000 anything you want, but either way that is a lot of lost ground.

[BitbyDeath]

Isn't Sony like 1M ahead in the states anyway?
1M - 13K = 987,000.

So 987,000 / 13,000 = 75.9 Months /12 = 6.3 Years.

So in 6.3 years maybe MS will catch back up to Sony in the US providing they can win out each month by 13K.

Good job MS you are finally gaining ground see you in 6 years time.

[badz149]

@Death

coming from winning 150k to losing 13k means, there is another 137k of gap left. not suddenly the losing side gaining 163k LOL

[alvgamin4lif]

@Death
I love maths and plan on pursuing a degree on mathematics in the future. But even then i am baffled by what you've written. Wtf? Wtf*infinity?? Just because xbox1 beat ps4 by around 13k units and ps4 beat xbox the previous month by 150k units automatically means that xbox1 gained 163k above ps4???? Wtf!?

[Genuine-User]

Just the other day you labeled an article click-bait and misinformed for questioning the possibility of Tomb Raider failing as an Xbox exclusive. Today, you're praising an article titled "Sony takes a beating".
Forgive me if I take my advice from someone less transparent.

[T2X]

Correct. BTW, since people are talking about math and numbers. How the hell can people see that some company sold 20 million of something and the other company sold 14 million. And not say one didn't do as well as the other. Morons. Firstly, they're not that far apart from each other in the whole scheme of things. Secondly, Who really gives that much of a shit unless you're a shareholder? LOL!

[joeorc]

@Death

Let's put this in very simple blunt terms, if your console's A) only two systems on the market. Because Microsoft's add in Xbox 360 shipping numbers right along with Xbox one for world wide numbers.

B) but can only take lead in its strongest market by 13,000 in only one month by its newest console. But yet, loose that lead over the next month. How does that show a solid shifting trend?

Your right it shows that any ground Microsoft has had to gain has been lost by months end!

[Spotie]

It fails from the title.

See, we don't know how well ANYTHING has done for May, meaning he can't say Sony took a beating.

An exaggerated title based on speculation makes it clickbait.

[oasdada]

Damn and i thought ps3 fans were worst last year.. but xb1 fans are just dellusional and biased to an extent that is scary. How intimidated are these guys?

[Death]

About as delusional and intimidated as Andrew House.

[badz149]

why and how is Andrew House delusional?

[ShadowWolf712]

Hi Death.

Where did Andrew House indicate they were taking a beating? Where did he indicate any of the author's speculations were true? Where did he signal that they were in trouble and he felt they needed fixing when he was reporting a strong performance and stronger outlook going forward?

Please explain.

I mean heck, even the Vita bit don't really hold up in the light of updated information that's been out for a while now.

http://venturebeat.com/2015...

[Death]

I don't think Andrew House is any more delusional than the author. Andrew House is the one that said first party software is sparse. He also believes the key to profitability is in subscription services like PSVue. If you are good with Sony thinking TV subscriptions are more important than games, by all means keep saying nothing is wrong. You guys are in the drivers seat, I'm just along for the ride.

[showtimefolks]

Ok author of this article

You do know ps4 still outsold the Xbox one world wide righr? So a NPD victory where the difference was 167k and 181 k I think isn't red alert

[Retroman]

ONLY way Sony get out of its problem produce more VARIETY!! less military open world games . community over saturated now .
hell 5-7 year old playing call of duty, battlefield why???? back in my day gaming as a child was mario, zelda,battle toads, castlevania, metroid, contra . not bloodborne, destiny, far cry , last of us, uncharted , demon soul ect..... if indie games a resurrection of FUN simple games so be it.

[johndoe11211]

Go to bed.

[Snakefist30]

Lmao both of u are a JOKE!

[MasterCornholio]

I wish people would do the same with Eurogamer comparisons. Its horrible entering an article and seeing a ton of posters argue over it and the majority didn't even read it.

I'm happy that at least with this article we are having really constructive comments (with a few exceptions) and I only wished that the comment section was this way with almost every article.

Unless the article was is a hate article of course.

[kurruptor]

Okay thanks for tricking me. Read it. It was clickbait.

They lost last NPD by approximately 15k. They still dominated software. They still are dominating worldwide. They are the only system releasing exclusives on a regular basis.

So no, that isn't what I consider taking a beating. The opposite actually.

[Magicite]

PS4 sometimes sells twice as much as X1 and WiiU combined a week...now who's in trouble?

[uth11]

The title is click-bait. MS won the NPD, but it wasn't a blowout. So "takes a beating" is exaggerated.

[MysticStrummer]

"Before anyone reports this for being clickbait etc. Please take the time to read it, logical and backed up points throughout"

I took the time to read it and saw no logic on display. From the title onward it's a fanboy fantasy. I see why you'd think it was great.

[JP1369]

They lost by 13k in North America, while they're still dominating worldwide. If this isn't clickbait, it's certainly uniformed nonsense that doesn't understand that changes won't be made simply because of a (miniscule) defeat in only one market. They'd incur opportunity costs from a price drop, and for what?

[porkChop]

It is clickbait. Regardless of whether or not there is any good content/writing in the article, the headline is pure clickbait/yellow journalism. The author admits that they don't have any actual hard data or numbers. They just know that the Xbox One sold more. It could have sold 1 unit more for all we know. There is no basis to say that Sony took "a beating."

[FlameBaitGod]

lol...

[kenshiro100]

Microsoft barely won one month and Sony's suddenly in trouble?

Do you people even READ or do logical research? This isn't journalism. This is a click bait tragedy.

[jc12]

@thegreatgamer: 100% agree. This site is so heavily biased in favor of Sony products its not even close...

[PudgeyBurrito]

So.. When do the world wide sales factor into this? Cause everyone knows NDP is USA only. Also them stating they are the number one console without state in the USA has been a fudging strategy of theirs for some time now.. It's sad to see.

[johndoe11211]

Is this satire? I'm asking because I refuse to read it. Can anyone remember any article saying "microsoft takes a beating for the first 4 months of this year and how they should fix it"? What does sony need to fix? The fact that they outsold all other competitors 90% of the months over the past year and a half? i'm confused.

[dark-kyon]

I got a good laught from sure.

[MRMagoo123]

It is outselling every other console world wide non stop as well, it has only been outsold a couple times in just the north americas, its nothing sony should worry about, sony should start worrying when its losing in world wide sales not just a couple months in the US imo.

[Death]

Fans should probably worry when a company forecasts profit from subscription services including cable TV instead of games. Instead of looking at what Sony is saying fans fall back on sales statistics. I agree Sony has nothing to worry about. If you bought your console for Sony first party games that is a different story.

[Spotie]

Anybody who thinks this site is run by Sony fanboys only needs to read these stealth trolling remarks from an 8 bubble account like yours, Death.

Sony is an entertainment company, not just electronics. Not even just entertainment. They are content producers. They have a music label. They have movie studios. They bankroll TV series.

They ARE a goddamn bank.

Why should fans worry about Sony forecasting profit from one of their services? Are they doing it in lieu of gaming? Are they taking money away from gaming to pump into cable TV?

Please, explain the correlation between what their other divisions are doing and what PlayStation is doing. Please explain to me how them doing well elsewhere is a threat to PlayStation that we fans should worry about.

[LeCreuset]

@Spotie

You're talking to the same person that used to concern troll PS+ IGC releases trying to get PS gamers to worry that Sony wasn't profiting by releasing games on PS+. Your opening sentence about says it all, except the stealth has been abandoned in favor of desperation as the PS4 has put a beating on Xbox.

[MysticStrummer]

"Fans should probably worry when a company forecasts profit from subscription services including cable TV instead of games."

Don't apply that same logic to MS, whatever you do. Sony's gaming division is one of the strongest parts of the company. MS's gaming division, not so much.

@Spotie - Well said indeed.

[dark-kyon]

Lmao.the guy sound how if psvita killed his dog.

[OmegaShen]

Lame, clickbait. Title says it all, Sony hasn't been beated.

Can someone remove this clickbait?

[GNCFLYER]

It was well written.

However, they don't need saving. MS can have the usa every month and sony is still beating them worldwide by a mile.

[Kane22]

so 1 month of not leading and suddenly it's red alert for sony???

[aceitman]

Ur correct. So what is it called with a 3 month win for ps4.

[Letthewookiewin]

Absolute annihilation...... Lol

It's crap like this and delusional behavior of Xbox fans that make things the way they are around here. They get picked on. They get some DX12 news, bam, all of a sudden PS4 is weak because it turned the X1 into something it's not. Or, X1 won a month or two of NPD by a couple thousand and all of a sudden sales matter and now it's proven to be the best and Sony has no games. Such a joke and a vicious cycle.

[Death]

Oddly Microsoft is pushing first party games while Sony pushes subscription services. Heading into e3 Microsoft is teasing first party announcements while Sony worries about price drops. I'm not sure how a lack of first party games for 2015 is a sign of strength on Sony's part. There is delusion running around here.

The bulk of DX12 comments come from Sony fans claiming it won't change the hardware. Why don't they address the synergy with PC gaming and Windows 10? Sony is winning in console sales but the Xbox user base is about to get a huge boost.

[JetP0619]

@ Death Why would Sony reveal their announcements earlier than E3? Why would they tease it already when it can generate more excitement because of its mystery? If anything their ABSOLUTE SILENCE this year means a storm is coming. And sony worrying about price drops? please dont just state your opinion without valid proof that SONY stated what you just said.

and just for the record here you go.

2015 list for ps4 and x1.
1st Party exclusives
PS4

Killstrain
X1

Halo 5: Guardians
Forza 6

2nd/3rd Party Exclusives
PS4

Alienation
Fat Princess Adventures
The Tomorrow Children
Until Dawn
The Order: 1886
Bloodborne
Brawl
Omega Quintet
Hot Shots Golf
N++
VisionEck
Guns Up!
Deep Down
Trans-Galactic Tounament
Disgaea 5: Alliance of Vengeance

X1

Funk of Titans
Fruit Ninja Kinect 2
Slice Zombies for Kinect
Azito x Tatsunoko Legends
Natsuki Chronicle
Nero (visual novel)
Raiden (need help clarifying this, should this be included on remakes/re-release section)
Shooting Love Triology
Platform Exclusives

PS4

Hell Divers
MLB '15
J-Stars Victory VS
Dragon Quest Heroes
Amplitude
Godzilla: The Game
Kodoku
Pavilion
Persona 5
Super Exploding Zoo
Sword Art Online Re: Hollow Fragment Director's Cut
Sword Art Online: Lost Song
BigFest
Samurai Warriors 4-II

X1

Screamride
Happy Wars
Cuphead
Gigantic
Console Exclusive

PS4

Bombshell
Broforce
One Piece: Pirate Warriors 3
The Vanishing of Ethan Carter
Ironclad Tactics
Apotheon
Q*Bert Rebooted
OlliOlli 2: Welcome to Olliwood
Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number
Axiom Verge
Titan Souls
Broken Age: The Complete Adventure
Nom Nom Galaxy
Toren
Tabletop Simulator
Nobunaga's Ambition: Sphere of Influence
Chasm
Darkest Dungeon
Day of the Tentacle: Special Edition
Distance
Dragon Fin Soup
Drifter
Ether One
Galak-Z: The Dimensional
Guns of Icarus Online
H-Hour: World's Elite
Jamestown+
Killing Floor 2
Not a Hero
Project Phoenix
Relativity
Rocket League
Samurai Gunn
Skulls of the Shogun: Bone-A-Fide Edition
SOMA
The Forest
The Hum: Abudctions
The Talos Principle
Volume
Enter the Gungeon
Dungeon Defenders 2
Orcs Must Die! Unchained
Dragon's Dogma Online
EverQuest Next
Kingdon Under Fire II
PlanetSide 2

X1

Pneuma: Breath of Life
Bedlam
Ori and the Blind Forest (Also on 360)
Timed

PS4

Hellblade
Hallowpoint
Gang Beasts
The Witness
No Man's Sky

X1

IDARB
Neverwinter
Superhot
Rise of the Tomb Raider
Inside
Elite: Dangerous
Magic Duels: Origins

Re-Release & Remakes

PS4

Grim Fandango Remastered
Super Stardust Ultra
Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster
God of War III Remastered
Final Fantasy VII
Journey
Hustle Kings
Tearaway Unfolded

X1

State of Decay: Year One Survival Edition

[KryptoniteTail]

Price drops incoming.

[The93Sting]

Lmao. Like they're in "need" for price drops.

Nothing to do here, buddy. Just a clicky clickbait.

[InTheLab]

Just want to touch on the point of the SF mess. Sony has a long history of farming out games to sub par studios. Resistance and Cod on Vita come to mind.

on the subject of why they lost in the US, price and bundles on the X1 are the only reasons. It's not like MS is pumping out games. So Sony should be worried that they took an L here after dropping Bloodborne which is the only major AAA game they have this year. I'm sure I'll get the usual suspects copying and pasting that list of Dlc and niche titles, or the former Move game everyone has pinned their hopes on.

The real way to fix this is to be the Sony of 2013,2011-2008, 2005-1995.

[johndoe11211]

Did you just call insomniac a sub par studio? Have you ever even played resistance? How long have you been gaming, 2 years? how old are you, 6?

[InTheLab]

Insomniac didn't do resistance on the vita.

Why do I even bother typing to you people? You don't even read the points.

Is it negative to sony? Disagree.
Blind praise? Agree

And to answer your questions...

I own all insomniac games or most with the exception of overstrike or whatever that generic game ended up being.

Gaming since 1986.

I'm 34 and probably too old to continue to try and reason with fanboys.....

[Spotie]

Pretty certain it was Acivision and not Sony that gave Call of Duty to a subpar studio.

If it took a butt load of cuts and bundles to overtake Bloodborne by a measly 10k or so, that's not something to be worried about. ESPECIALLY as this one in one region. Both the game and the consoles, however, are sold all around the world, so it's utterly asinine to make your claim on any single region. Since it's all but a certainty- saying "almost" since I don't have the actual numbers- that the PS4 more than made up for that ten thousand everywhere else, I'm not seeing the concern.

Bloodborne, by the way, isn't the only AAA game out this year. Like it or not- I know you don't- The Order is also AAA. I don't think "everyone has pinned their hopes" on Until Dawn, but I think a lot of fans think it looks interesting. Apparently it's not your thing, but that's something you seem to have forgotten: Sony doesn't cater to any one group. That's also why the "niche titles" you're so quick to dismiss are still selling points for a lot of people.

You're not being reasonable, so what makes you think you can reason with anybody? You've been, according to your own admission, gaming long enough that you should know better than to discount anything that isn't a AAA exclusive, and yet you've been doing just that since The Order. It's like that game personally hurt your feelings and turned you bitter on all things Sony.

Get over it, dude. A lot of people liked The Order. A lot of people are interested in Until Dawn. One Piece, Titan Souls, Apotheon, Soma, The Show, God of War, Tearaway, and plenty of others appeal to a multitude of people. If you want ONLY the AAA exclusives, how about using your head a little: literally EVERY first party dev is at work on something, including many secondary teams.

Don't act like you not getting exactly what you want when you want it is cause for concern for every other gamer out there.

[xKugo]

Only problem I have with the article is the underestimation of the sales gap. Sony was at 20.2 milion consoles SOLD-THRU at the beginning of the year. That is from Sony themselves. Just being logical and ignoring all loyalty that I have to Playstation, it's not hard to imagine that they have sold at least 1 million more consoles by now, especially when you take into consideration their NPD numbers have been really good so far this year and worldwide numbers dwarf those. Last numbers we got from Microsoft were "closing in on 10 million shipped units". That was just in November of last year. Unless the entire gaming community somehow missed the part where Xbox obliterated the competition and sold at least 3 million units to consumers, then your estimate of 13-14 million units sold thru being a stretch is putting it modestly. Other than that though, fair criticism by you.

OT: Even though I love PlayStation and have never touched an Xbox console, I can't say that I've been elated by their performance in the 1st party department, primarily because most of their studios have been silent the entire generation. We could speculate as to what has kept them busy this long for days, but the fact is that most of them haven't even begun to participate in the 8th generation of consoles. Saying all that, I have no doubt that MOST of the games, when they finally are debuted/released will be quality titles and will return some of the glamour that the PlayStation brand enjoyed just last gen. Until then, I am content with playing BB and some of these great 3rd party games on PC.

Xbox fans can keep Gears, Halo, Forza, repeat cycle. No thanks..

[Unarmed_Civilian]

Interesting that we dont get articles how about the X1 wont have a true exclusive for a Full year.

Halo colection october 2014
halo 5 october 2015

And shows MS shortsighted thinking , banking all on 2 monts of the holiday season

Meanwhile this year on PS4 , Order 1886, Bloodbourne, Until Dawn, persona 5 , etc.

[Unarmed_Civilian]

"The guesstimate across the internet is PS4 in the low 20 million units sold, while Xbox One is around 13-14 million. Give or take a million for each. "

How can you take this article serious when its known that ps4 is at 23 milion by now and x1 at 12 milion.

And didnt x1 sold only 10k units more by US NPD.

[reaperofsouls]

True enough as have never seen any figures (official or unofficial) that would suggest the Xb1 has sold more than 12 million units, my guest is ps4 = 24m and xbone = 12.5m at the most.

[rainslacker]

So...if Sony took a beating for one month, does that mean that MS was just being hit in the head with a hammer repeatedly for the past 20 months or so, sans one month in November last year...in the US?

Anyhow, at the behest of some people saying it was a well written article I did decide to peruse it, and I can say overall it's not bad. Lots of assumptions are made, the biggest one being that Sony somehow needs to fix it's current method of operation to compete with MS.

While I would like to see some of the things mentioned by the author, namely more AAA 1st party games, it's a bit presumptuous at the moment to infer that this is a problem for Sony not having said games, as one month(or two) out of 20 or so does not indicate a downward trend that requires fixing.

If MS somehow starts outselling Sony every month from here on out, or even comes very close, then the arguments may have more merit, but for the time being, Sony isn't really in a position where they have to react to anything MS does.

People keep assuming that Sony is resting on it's laurels while the money flows in, yet evidence suggests that they aren't. They are working to bring out a new VR device for the system, and every single one of their studios is working on PS4 games. Just because they aren't going around hyping them up years in advance(something they often get criticized for) doesn't mean that they are being lazy and complacent.

All that being said, what exactly has MS done that is better than Sony in terms of 1st party development? I seriously would like a real answer to this, and not some fan boy tripe, because honestly, MS hasn't exactly been all roses and sunshine here. 1st party so far for MS has been 2 halo games(1 released, 1 coming soon), 3 forza games(2 released, one coming soon), and a Killer Instinct which is being released in the form of a mobile game which people seem to hate so much, and Kinect Sports Rivals. QB has no release date, and scalebound isn't first party, so how is MS ahead of Sony here?

For all intents and purposes, the only thing MS is doing better in terms of 1st party support is making people believe that they are somehow doing better on this front. The one place that Sony is definately doing better than MS in is 3rd party support, and that's not going to change because of the install base, and Sony's connections within Japanese studios. This holiday, more games are releasing on the PS4 than on the X1. If someone can provide a link that states otherwise, in any form that includes all games, not just a few 1st/3rd party exclusives, then please let me see it.

[loopygames]

Sony announced the Batman Arkham PS4 Bundles on 3/31/15. It isn't a surprise that they lost out in April. As for 1st party games, Sony usually starts off slow at the beginning of the generation. They make up for it during the middle and especially final years of the console generation.

[aceitman]

june will be a huge month for ps4 sales another 500,000 to a million that month

[Italiano1234567]

What is this dude talking about. His numbers r off and seems to be lost. Microsoft takes a huge loss on each system sold meanwhile Sony makes a nice profit on every console sold. Idk y I'm even commenting on this... Stupid

[Izzy408]

Sell the PS4 at $350 within the next few months, problem solved. Sure, they probably don't have to, but within 3-4 months the PS4 will be 2 years old. There has to be a price cut.

[kevnb]

The ps4 is doing great even if the Xbox one managed to outsell it in one market for one month. Worldwide it's not even close, at the end of the day you have to look at the big picture. We don't even know what the numbers are for the console sales, just that Xbox one outshipped ps4 for a month. For all we know the ps4 simply had higher stock already in warehouses and stores.

[scientificreasoning]

PS4 dominated WW yet took a beating cause they lost NPD by 13K due to batman bundles and a gamestop trade in deal for x1..herp derp article is moronic.

[aceitman]

exactly and a lot of people don't understand that .

[Wii_nes_007]

Play games for fun not for console wars.

[JWiLL552]

If you click the authors name on the website, you'll see he's quite a fan of the console war and most of it is pro MS albeit in a passive way.

And super clickbaity article titles.

There's so many gaming sites out there though, so how else can they generate traffic?

[neocores]

Xbox out sold sony by 20k in may also xbox was doing a huge trade in at best buy and gamestop so it should have won may. But other then that stop with the jokes

[FITgamer]

It was less than 20k. Also it was April NPD, not May.

[MysticStrummer]

"Xbox out sold sony by 20k in may"

13k... in April.

smh

[SilentNegotiator]

Being outsold by a miniscule amount for one month (in the US) is "taking a beating" now?

The other two brands must be bruised and bloodied beyond recognition from the "beatings" that they received over the course of the last year and a half then.

[SatanicEyeJesus]

Its 2015 and people still believe that USA is the only country that matters.

Xone just outsold ps4 in USA. A month. The rest of the world sony's console keeps growing.

[bmwfanatic]

Another blacklisted site.

[Snakefist30]

LAME MOVE ON People!

[Gwiz]

It would be a good thing when Microsoft and Sony are closer to each other in terms of console sales,remember that 7th gen?when Sony had to do anything to get people to buy a PS3.That's pretty much non existent ATM.

[ballsohard2013]

well thats not the 1st month Xbox One won the sales battle. Didn't they also win a couple months at the end of last year? And they are saying the momentum starting to shift..

http://www.forbes.com/sites...

Either way both ps4/x1 need to get those big games to the shelves. Its starting to happen as they continue to learn the hardware. GTA V, Bloodborne, witcher and project cars is holding me. Even battlefield 4 with all its patches is a solid game now.

One thing ive noticed with these consoles are starting to behave more like PC Gaming... with games not being optimized well til after release so now when i buy games it like letting a fruit get ripe from the grocery store. I gotta let it sit for a few weeks or so. I still havent opened my project cars and witcher 3 on my ps4.... meanwhile i glance over threads saying patch after patch is in the works for those games.

[Denny_Crane]

Xbox has won NPD (USA) 3 months & PS4 has won NPD 15 months + worldwide each month. So how is the momentum starting to shift? The x1 only won in april because of the batman ps4 bundle that they put up for pre order at the end of march that does not count as systems sold until they are ship out. PS4 is going to out sell the x1 in June by more than 100,000 systems in NPD.

[ShadowWolf712]

They claimed that the momentum was shifting after Holiday 2015 too. Then it didn't. People keep putting up articles on how momentum is shifting every time MS has a good month or wins a single NPD, even back when the PS4 was in short supply due to demand.

[cyber_daemonx]

So xbone wins 1 month in its home territory by a small margin and its game over for PS4. I'm sure Sony must be quaking in their boots lol. The fact that PS4 is dominating worldwide counts for nothing I suppose, but of course rotw doesn't exist according to xbox fanboys.

When PS4 wins in the US its 'sales don't matter'. As soon as xbone wins a month, all of a sudden they matter again and its 'Ps4 is doomed'.

Article is a joke.

@rainslacker, well said.

[IamTylerDurden1]

This article is ms fanboy fandom, opinion piece...
He said PS4 is only in the lead by 7 million? It's over 10 million according to a pro ms site in vgchartz http://www.vgchartz.com/

PS4 is hammering xbone in the month of may according to sales. This bs controversy over "1st party games" is just that, bs. 1st and 2nd party games aren't always that much different in that they both generally produce exclusives. House was correct in 1st parties in 2015 being slightly sparse compared to usual, but PS4 IS booming with PS4 exclusives, console exclusives, & Sony exclusives.

Technically The Order & Bloodborne are not "1st party exclusives" but that doesn't change the fact that they will never hit any other device but PS4 (unless remastered on ps5) Quantic Dream is technically a 2nd party studio for sony and when they announce their AAA new ip at e3 it won't be "1st party" technically but it will be exclusive on PS4. Does it matter when an exclusive game comes out if it was 1st or 2nd? 1st party is nice bc u own the studio but Supermassive games is releasing the PS4 AAA exclusive Until Dawn this summer & they are a 2nd party studio, it doesn't mean the game isn't exclusive.

Persona 5, Until Dawn, Tomorrow Children, Uncharted, Wander, God of War, SOMA, Rapture, NO MAN'S SKY, The Forest, Alienation, Fat Princess, Killstrain and many more games coming to PS4 and not xbone. 1st, 2nd , or 3rd all i care about is playing great games.

[JMyers]

MS wins one month outwith the holidays by 10k (I think) and it's a bit of doom and gloom for the PS4. Could it be that people are buying the Arkham bundle which factors into June? Could it that the XB1 is cheaper with a cheaper Halo bundle?

MS is still behind monthly worldwide. Its only the US and UK which they are close. Why aby doom and gloom? Not to mention the no games nonsense. More Indies and more exclusives all year.

[Subaruwrx]

@JMyers - Yes, the author doesn't seem to realize that bundles with 3rd party games also move consoles - see the X1 Assassins Creed Unity bundle for example. While I would prefer to see Sony use its first party ips to move consoles, there can be little doubt that the PS4 Batman Arkham bundles, the custom and standard editions, will move a lot of consoles after their release in late June. I imagine we will also see similarly successful bundle promotions for MGSV. Also, the author states that a $350 PS4 will blow the X1 away. Maybe, but I can almost guarantee you that a $50 price cut for the PS4 will soon be followed by a $50 price cut for the X1 thus negating any strategic sales advantage gained. So why cut the price while your console is still selling at least as well as its main competitor?

[Josuey]

So MLB the show is not a "hot pick"? Its the only MLB licensed baseball game on the market LOL its more like the ONLY pick

Infamous second son was amazing idk why people talk about as if its some mediocre game.

Driveclub,TLOUR,infamous,bloo dborne,little big planet 3,the order 1886 are all great games.

See this article does exactly what every xbox fan does, bash the PS4 library of games and nitpick it to death until they can "justify" it.

Really? PS4 fall lineup is dry?

we have until dawn,no mans sky,tearaway unfolded, and possibly Persona 5.

"Ohh wait tearaway dosent count,yet we are begging for a new banjo game!"

"TLOUR does not matter but MCC and gears remaster does!"

What does xbox have? Ohh yeah nothing in the first 9 months of 2015

And in the fall its got timed raider which like it or not is coming to the PS4,yet another halo game which is almost an annualized serries at this point and another annualized forza game.

See how easy it is to downplay a library and games lineup?

[WizzroSupreme]

I'd hardly say it took a "beating" given it's at least 5-6 million units ahead of X1 worldwide.

[Paleblood]

Sony took a bitting on may...

Oh but let's forget that the xbox has been taking a bitting for months in a row and globally.

[LoveSpuds]

Doesn't matter what the content of thd article might be, the 'author' lost me the second he opted for such a clickbait title.

[Tsubasa-Oozora]

I literally laughed at this troll article. The OP used xbox Logic to the fullest in this one. How about xbox gamers and journalists stop worrying about Sony and worry about Microsof releasing a a super weak system with NO GAMES at all this year. But whatever

[jokerisalive]

Sony is doing fine. Every gen changes and is unique - Sony has been thru a major monetary shift and is adjusting the PS brand as well. Its a business and always changes. They will be fine.

[corroios]

Lol 13k in the US, lol. I think its doomed. If it was like 200k in one months, Sony should close the doors.

[StormLegend]

I hate stupid articles like this

[mastershredder]

Gamervets = pseudo industry wannabe bs.

A month? and you write this drivel?

Just play /talk about games and stop trying to explain to gamers how the industry need fix their or run themselves. It's like the janitor trying explain how the execs are wrong about how to run the company they work for. Get back in the shallow end.

[sovkhan]

"Knack, KZ: SF, 1886, MLB, and Infamous aren’t exactly hot picks. " and the numbers given at the beginning of the article leave no doubt about the goals the article is trying to reach...

Sad, too much efforts with too much of a narrow view.

[SoulWarrior]

Yet another stupid click bait article approved by stupid approvers.

[Macdaddy71]

I own both x1 n ps4 I do love my X1...even the Sony fanboys have to give MS a pat on there backs!!!! For out selling ps4 n being in less countries....that's pretty dang good no matter how u like it.....I think people forgets the lower number of countries x1 is in vs ps4... So if u compare the numbers sold to the countries really x1 is out selling ps4 like 4-1..don't believe me??? Look it up n do the math!!! It will blow ur mine

[HawaiianDreads]

Well North America is the Xbox One biggest market so beating the PS4 by a mere 13k is nothing to cheer about, but I give them props where props are due. Not to sound like a fanboy( really trying not too) but like I stated the Xbox One beat the PS4 in one market not overall and the whole being in less market excuse really don't fly only because the PS4 is selling more then the Xbox One in each market, give a take a few wins MS will pull in the US and UK from time to time.

[nodim]

Much analysis about vita. Well, at least I laughed.

[TrollHard4Life]

NDP is America Only so... Congrats? #PS4life

[Blueraven316]

How about bringing up the worldwide numbers? Ps4 is destroying X1 worldwide lmao.

[OllieBoy]

The real is question is how to fix Xbox.

-The gap between PS4 and XB1 is getting bigger everyday.

-XB1's indie and Japanese support is a joke compared to PS4's.

-XB1's next big exclusive is Halo 5. The last big exclusive it had? The broken Master Chief Collection 7 months ago. Still the Halo box.

-Games with Gold is still a joke compared to PS+. Pool Nation 3 months in a row...enough said.

[MannGamer]

Do the author already have access to May NPD, cause it is saying that Sony took a beating in "May"!!!

[Sheikh Yerbouti]

Really how much X-crack do fanboys smoke before they write an article.

First slide, first bullet point says Sony will focus on the development and release of 1st party games, but author treats Houses statement as if it is a declaration that Sony's strategy is to rely on 3rd party, an assertation he backs by a marginal XBox lead for one single month.

Author says MLB, Order and infamous are not noteworthy when many gamers and game journalists say otherwise. Meanwhile XBox is being carried by a buggy MCC collection until this distant fall, with little promise those upcoming games won't be delayed or be of lower quality themselves other than the author's own bias.

Now I care less about sales, and am actually happy for Xbox success, but May WAS NOT a win for MS despite this article and fanboys' laughable belief that Sony took a beating. You can't cherry pick facts and not be called on BS.