290°

Jim Ryan: Sony Becoming the First Thing a Publisher Thinks About When Considering Partnerships

Along with the Street Fighter V console-exclusivity deal and Final Fantasy VII timed-exclusivity deal, Sony announced at E3 2015 that they struck a deal with Activision to become the new partner for Call of Duty, meaning content for the game will appear first on PlayStation going forward.

PlayStation Europe boss Jim Ryan explained to GameSpot why Sony is managing to get these partnerships, when it seemed to be so difficult in the previous generation.

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playstationlifestyle.net
DarkOcelet3233d ago

"but if you have 75 to 80 percent of the market, it makes the system easier to sell."

Woah! They have almost 80% of the market in the UK? Thats impressive. Congrats Sony.

TheGreatGamer3233d ago

Not in UK. Some countries in EU like spain for example. In UK I'd say it's near equal (with sony edging ahead slightly probably)

DarkOcelet3233d ago

Oh silly me, i read it wrong.

Still though, 80% in any country is really huge.

Rimeskeem3233d ago

@ Dark

as far as i know, PS4 holds 90-95% of the markets in some coutnries

MightyNoX3233d ago

@Rime: Indeed.

I've said this ages ago in one of my blog posts. More varied library brings more gamers.

With more gamers, Sony can leverage more deals.

So happy to be proven right. :')

Ezz20133233d ago

80-90% of any market is incredible to say the least.

No wonder Sony is the first Thing a publisher thinks about when considering partnerships...and of course because Sony let develpopers do whatever they want with their games.

Nirvana315913233d ago

I live in Canada and work at an electronic store. Right after E3 we have seen a 200% increase in PS4 sales and almost no increase in Xbox One sales. The only place Xbox one seems to be selling is USA even then getting dominated by PS4 in most regions

Army_of_Darkness3233d ago

I don't think partnering with Activision for COD was a great idea considering the slow decline of interest in that franchise now.
They should have invested that money elsewhere, like fallout 4 for example cause I was never interested in that series but, man on man, the E3 demoing was F!@Kin awesome!

http://www.statisticbrain.c...

http://www.gamespot.com/art...

trenso13233d ago

I'm sorry when was the UK not apart of Europe? That is like saying xbox is selling better than ps4 in Huston Texas but losing overall in America. It doesn't matter when looking at the big picture.

UltraNova3233d ago

@Trenso

Even the Brits dont think they're part of EU, I mean they never agreed (nor will they ever)to take on the EURO, their policies have always been more aligned with the USA rather than the EU and Cameron insists they should vote on leaving EU entirely, while polls indicated that more and more Brits agree with that idea.

So separating UK from EU when we talk politics, demographics, sale trends etc is actually more factual and accurate than including them.

On topic:

I like this guy, he was really honest as he dint go "Hey we re the best, have the most powerful console and the best games, who in the right minds wouldn't want to partner with us?" blah blah blah like some other douches do from time to time.
He was, look people are into our exclusives, we sell a lot of units more than the competition, so it makes it easier for devs to decide where to land their deal but some times it depends on how much cash you or the competition throws at them.

Straight up truth, no filler.

+ Show (5) more repliesLast reply 3233d ago
Thatguy-3103233d ago

It's common sense. That's why a lot of publishers seemed out Microsoft at the beginning of last generation as well. Having a huge chuck of the marketshare comes with perks. Marketing deals are easier and heck even securing third party exclusives become more common.

kneon3233d ago

If the XB1 doesn't stop losing ground to the PS4 then there we may get to the point where the PS4 market share is so overwhelming that some developers just won't bother developing for any console but the PS4.

RocketScienceLvlStuf3233d ago (Edited 3233d ago )

Awesome. We knew this. Sales matter. Glad I have heard this from Sony.

All games should be PS4 exclusive. Hopefully this will happen more and more as time goes on.

@elit3nick.

Umm because PS4 is the best console

Elit3Nick3233d ago

Woah there really? Why should all games be PS exclusive?

Gameseeker_Frampt3233d ago

"All games should be PS4 exclusive"

Hopefully not. Competition is what makes things better. Every company that has dominated the market has invariably grown arrogant and stumbled with a console (N64, PS3, Xbox One). Thankfully there were alternatives that allowed gamers to speak with their wallets and not purchase a console since they could get games somewhere else.

Letthewookiewin3233d ago

Apparently if you have an X1 sales don't matter ("I play games not sales numbers") lol, well.... It's finally catching up to these people and they'll see real fast why sales matter. Its already begun.

Elit3Nick3233d ago

A subjective and very fanboyish comment

tinynuggins3233d ago

I agree. I love MS in second place. It makes them hungry and they do their best against the ropes. Love how they focusing more on their first party now. It's a win/win.

xKugo3233d ago

All games? Jeez..you want Xbox to die completely?

Bathyj3233d ago

This person does not speak for all Playstation Gamers.

bigpiece3233d ago Show
nunley333233d ago (Edited 3233d ago )

I like PlayStation but i don't want all games on PS4,that's just too much. This is how it was with the PS2. XBOX got many 3rd party games and so did gamecube but neither had many 3rd party exclusives.

+ Show (8) more repliesLast reply 3233d ago
claudionmc3233d ago

As said, not in UK, but yes in the rest of Europe...

In LATAM the situation is even more impressive... Here in Chile it's like 90%-93% of the market.

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 3233d ago
SpaceRanger3233d ago (Edited 3233d ago )

THIS is why sales matter! Plain and simple, there's really no denying it.

We saw it last gen and we're definitely seeing it this gen with such a huge percentage of the console market taken by Sony.
More consoles sold = more support from third party devs = more games on that specific console + more exclusive content/ games.

S2Killinit3233d ago

I think its more than just sales. Sony has been good to developers.

DragonDDark3233d ago

Indeed. The last guardian is a great example

Persistantthug3233d ago

@dragonddark,
Just out of curiosity,
What does being good to developers have to do with THE LAST GUARDIAN?

Majin-vegeta3233d ago

Horizon is also another good example.

Bathyj3233d ago (Edited 3233d ago )

@Persistantthug

I think he means any other publisher would have cancelled it by now and Sony puts faith in developers to come through.

Sunny_D3232d ago

@Persistantthug

He probably means that the developers for TLG have a vision for the game they weren't able to achieve with the PS3'S hardware and came across underperformance. Sony allowed them to shift their development to the much more powerful PS4 and achieve it. Like BathyJ said, other publishers would have cancelled it by now.

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 3232d ago
bradleejones3233d ago

@ persistantthug. If I remember correctly Sony sent Japan studio or Santa montica in to help them fix / finish the game. Would have never happened otherwise I think I had read at some point. I think that is what he was referring to. Also Sony making the shenmue kick starter in the news, probably funding it. Then how they treat indies with support. Just a few examples. Not sure if the last guardian bit is accurate but I am sire that is part of what he's talking about.

FallenAngel19843233d ago

Some ignorant people to this day still think sales don't matter

BlackTar1873233d ago (Edited 3233d ago )

. Both parties and both fanboys at times think they don't matter and that's just because they were or are losing.

I think everyone who has any common sense at all knows sales matter for this.

Edit*
What's to disagree with? CommonSense says Sales mean more investment from First to third Parties for any business. This is just how it works.

averagejoe263233d ago

You must understand by now that disagrees are not a logical thing on this site.

An xbot fanboy sees something positive about Sony or negative about Microsoft... Doesn't matter if it's the truest thing in the world... They're going to instantly click that disagree button

PSN_ZeroOnyx3233d ago

Both? Name a single generation xbox outsold PlayStation? Even last gen PS3 outsold 360 year after year which is why 360 found itself in 3rd place in the end.

BlackTar1873233d ago

@PSN

I understand that at the finish line ps3 sold more but up until the final stretch Xbox had a decent lead 80% of the last generation and they had the rights to a lot of stuff because of the initial 1 yr of no competition release they had.

tinynuggins3233d ago

They matter to an extent. Not really for Xbox and Sony though since they are both doing so well. It's when you get to that dangerous Wii u status that you begin to lose support.

XanderZane3233d ago

It matters in the beginning, but once both consoles hit that 25-30 million mark, it's not going to matter as much. Publishers will know that any popular "AAA" game will easily sell a few million copies on either platform. The only platform that will probably still be hurt by this is Nintendo's Wii U.

wegetsignalx3233d ago

By the time Xbox hits 25 million, PS4 will be 45-50 million.

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90°

Sony Patents To Prevent You From In-Game Harassment By Reading Your Emotions

A new patent recently published by Sony wants to gather biometric data of gamers to track whether one is being harassed using AI tools.

Profchaos8h ago(Edited 8h ago)

I hope this is one of those patents that never comes to fruition.

I already dislike the fact you can pay a significant amount for a online service buy associated games and content on said service and get banned from that service over potentially a misunderstanding the bans are already handed out for flimsy reasons

I'd rather see money invested in a ban that simply removes the offensive players ability to communicate with unknown players allow them to continue party chats with friends but not with Joe blow on cod.

exputers4h ago

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

z2g1h ago

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

phoenixwing37m ago

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

H91h ago

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

130°

Sony Could Increase Your Game's Difficulty If It Sees You Complain About It

Sony has recently published a new patent that wants to dynamically handle the games' difficulty and gameplay based on the player's emotions.

jznrpg16h ago

This is something I might use. Sometimes I play some good games but they don’t have difficulty option and are a little too easy.

Profchaos16h ago

Souls games will be like that players struggling make it harder

PassNextquestion15h ago(Edited 15h ago)

I think if used correctly it could work well

jambola11h ago

cool idea
cool idea for horror games especially
the way it's explained here sounds like it could never be forced hopefully, so that's ok with me

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280°

Sony Taps Bungie's Head of Revenue to Lead Live-Service Games

Sony has recruited Bungie's head of revenue Jaremy Rich to head up its live-service gaming division, Rich has announced on social media.

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techraptor.net
ChasterMies21d ago

Please do not put Destiny’s monetization into Sony’s first party games. The monetization is what’s driving players away from Destiny.

just_looken20d ago

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

Cacabunga20d ago

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

just_looken20d 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-6420d 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_Long20d 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.

Einhander197220d 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.

FinalFantasyFanatic20d 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 20d ago
DivineHand12520d 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.

Joe91320d 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_Observer20d 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.

S2Killinit20d ago (Edited 20d ago )

Are we forgetting that Destiny is also a highly successful franchise? I feel like that definitely deserves mention here.

Besides, there is no reason why a person cant learn from past experiences.

Joe91320d ago

I agree, people act as if Destiny flopped when it came out lol it took 9 to 10 years for the numbers to fall yet people are still playing it add the success of Helldivers 2 no wonder Sony is going forward down this path.

S2Killinit20d ago

Personally, I see no problem with Sony also having service games as long as they make good ones, and more importantly they deliver the AAA story driven games that they are known for. So yeah, I agree 100% with you.

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Christopher20d ago

I mean, this person made some pretty bad decisions at Bungie. I hope they've learned from them because I definitely don't see those type of ideas as good for PlaySation in general.

CrimsonWing6920d ago (Edited 20d ago )

Honestly, what’s to learn from? How to make people happily continuously dump money into a single game over its life-time? Buy season passes continuously for several years with a smile on our faces?

GaaS is a design decision that is everything wrong with this industry. The fact that Helldivers 2 did so well and people defend the monetization because it was $40 and is a fun game, scares the sh*t out of me to see that the door is open and all shift will probably be to replicate that in future games. We already know the ROI for traditional game dev cost isn’t doing it for them.

I thought with Jimbo leaving we’d see a change for the better… I’m not so sure now.

S2Killinit20d ago

Service games are being offered by everyone. Sony cannot afford to only create single player AAA games. No one can. They already said they will be doing both.

Abnor_Mal20d ago (Edited 20d 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.

Christopher20d 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_looken20d 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

Einhander197220d ago (Edited 20d 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.

FinalFantasyFanatic20d 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.

romulus2320d ago

Correction, they have no issue playing good live service games

shinoff218320d ago

Lol it's not even a quarter of the ps5s sold. Helldivers may have been a hit but let's not say most are enjoying it because truth is most(the real most ) don't care about it.

S2Killinit20d ago (Edited 20d ago )

I play what is fun. If a live service game is good I’ll play it as long as its not a money scheme which Helldivers is not.

And Im a single player gamer.

mastershredder20d 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.

crazyCoconuts20d ago

Headline truncated:
"... off a cliff"

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