PlayStation Acquires Another Studio, But Are Its First-Party Titles Better Than Xbox?

With Sony’s acquisition of Firewalk Studios, the Beyond crew breaks down the long list of AAA-games the 20+ game studios have under its belts. Xbox and PlayStation are neck and neck in regards to the amount of studios each own, and the crew goes over the top 5 studios from each and some of each’s top video game titles. Horizon Forbidden West’s DLC is out now, so the topic is: Is Horizon Forbidden West: Burning Shores too hot to handle? And with a Horizon 3 game somewhere on the horizon, what’re some of the improvements gamers would like to see in the sequel? A retrospective look at the God of War game release, Star Wars Jedi Survivor’s file size is massive, and the crew reminiscences on the classic PlayStation memory card screens. This and more on Beyond! - with Jada Griffin, Akeem Lawanson, and Mark Medina rounding out the episode.

[Jin_Sakai]

PlayStation first party studios are hands down better than Xbox.

[blackblades]

100%

[S2Killinit]

The person asking the question must be new to earth.

Maybe, hopefully, IF the acquisition does not happen, MS can do what they were supposed to have done all these generations and spends that money on developing their OWN studios, and actually ADD something to gaming instead of taking away from gamers! I know, its a wild idea.

[Ninver]

Also the output is far more consistent.

[REDDURT]

It’s the only consideration in software. It’s coming soon but never comes does not work.

[Ninver]

@REDDURT

what? I understood nothing of what you just spouted.

[closed_account]

@Ninver some AI Chatbots work better than others! 🤷😂

[TheProfessional]

Their first party studios are great but the lack of multiplayer isn't, not everyone wants only 20+ hour "narrative" games with tons of walking sequences/exposition.

[hiawa23]

I love the SP story driven games.

[Rockstar]

@ hiawa23

Same

[NotoriousWhiz]

The best multi-player games are 3rd party anyway. (Except for nintendo's)

[tay8701]

Hands down sonys studios are better. Sonys top 5 are unmatched by MS. MS has no answers to sony studios like naughty dog, Sony Santa Monica, guerilla, sucker punch, and insomniac. Yes Sony is limited in the MP dept though. That has changed over the last couple yrs. They now own bungie who is better than Every MP studio that MS owns. With the recent additions of the likes of bungie, firewalk, firesprite, and haven things are certainly looking better, but they have a ways to go. I also anticipate they will be buying deviation games soon too. Plus the number of devs working in several of their studios have swelled so they can now broaden the scope of what kinds/number of games they make. Firesprite who they recently aquired have a 1000 devs, naughty dog is now at 750 and insomniac is now over 500. Not sure exactly.how large bungie is, but they are working on at least 3 projects right now.

[shinoff2183]

There's plenty of online multi-player games out there. Plus they've already stated they are making some. You'll be alright. I personally prefer single player so I'd be cool with no multi-player

[StarkR3ality]

Yeah I sometimes come to the defence of Xbox in some articles that are just being outright cruel, but to even compare Sony's and Xbox's first party output is a bit stupid.

Playstation shits all over Xbox with only the one exception in their Forza series Vs Gran turismo. I prefer Forza but that changes depending on who you ask of course.

[Bathyj]

That's your right. Ain't gonna argue as I haven't played Forza since 360.

I will say VR is a game changer. Literally and no hyperbole. At least try that before you decide.

[blackblades]

If only drive club had a sequel or 2

[REDDURT]

I own a ps4 and Xbox series x . There is no argument for Xbox. I just like the concept of gamepass when they do release ga es i at least get to play them.

[RauLeCreuset]

Microsoft agrees. They kindly paid $3 billion to tell us that.

[Obscure_Observer]

"PlayStation first party studios are hands down better than Xbox."

Obviously not all of them. Specially most of the recently acquired and unproved studios.

Whether Sony will make AAA studios out of it like MS is doing with it´s once indie and smaller studios like Ninja Theory, Undead Labs, Compulsion, Obsidian and InXile, remains to be seen.

We´ll find out soon enough in June´s Playstation Showcase and Xbox/Bethesda Showcase.

[Deathdeliverer]

@ Obscure

PlayStation showcases are updates from everywhere in the PlayStation eco system. Indies, 3rd party like resident evil and street fighter, and so on. Literally updates and did you knows.
Microsoft/Bethesda need you to get excited about SOMETHING. That’s a totally different vibe and show compared to a system where people are already excited. Different goals.

[Outside_ofthe_Box]

Where have you been?

[RauLeCreuset]

@Obscure

You're fighting a fight that not even Microsoft is willing to fight. Xbox has admitted that many of Sony's exclusives are better.

"Sony publishes iconic first-party franchises, such as God of War, The Last of Us, Marvel’s SpiderMan, Uncharted, Ghost of Tsushima, Horizon Zero Dawn, and Days Gone, as well as the recently acquired Destiny 2, and has minority shareholdings in Epic Games, the publisher of Fortnite and From Software, the publisher of Elden Ring. There were over 280 exclusive first- and third-party titles on PlayStation in 2021, nearly five times as many as on Xbox.”

"Both Sony’s and Nintendo’s exclusive first-party games rank among the best-selling in Europe and worldwide. Current Sony exclusive content includes prominent first-party titles such as The Last of Us, Ghosts of Tsushima, God of War, and Spiderman."

"Not only is Sony’s exclusive content more successful than Microsoft’s, it also receives better ratings from industry experts: the average Metacritic score for Sony’s top 20 exclusive games in 2021 was 87/100, against 80/100 for Xbox. Gamers’ appreciation for these titles is reflected in the rankings of the best-selling games on PlayStation. Three of Sony’s exclusive games – Spider Man, Ghost of Tsushima, and Ratchet and Clank – featured in PlayStations’ top 15 games, as measured by consumer spend on PlayStation game purchases in 2021."

"Sony has more exclusive games than Microsoft, many of which are better quality."

https://assets.publishing.s...

What carries more weight? Those admissions from none other than Xbox, or someone coming with the "not all spin" who has made wild predictions that they go ghost to avoid taking accountability for like "this deal will pass thru and Sony will be the only one left begging MS to allow COD to continue on Playstation thanks to their arrogance and dishonesty at the top of an high level of stupidity"?

https://n4g.com/comments/re...

[Obscure_Observer]

@Deathdeliverer

"PlayStation showcases are updates from everywhere in the PlayStation eco system."

Wrong. That´s what State of Play is for.

Playstation Showcase is meant to show what´s NEXT for both PS5 and PSVR2!

There´ll be a few indie and third party games in between but the spotlight will definitely be on Playsatation first party games. If you don´t know that, you don´t know Playstation at all.

"Microsoft/Bethesda need you to get excited about SOMETHING."

We already have PLENTY to excited about, dude. We just need to know more about:

Starfield - Bethesda
TESVI - Bethesda
Avowed - Obsidian
The Outer Worlds 2 - Obsidian
State of Decay 3 - Undead Labs
Gears of War 6 - The Coalition
Indiana Jones - MachineGames/Bethesda
Contraband - Avalanche Studios
Project Dragon - IO Interactive
Project Midnight - Compulsion Games
Project Cobalt - InXile
Kojima´s new game - Kojima Productions
Double Fine´s new IP
Hellblade II - Ninja Theory
Project Mara - Ninja Theory
Fable - Playground Games
Everwild - RARE
Perfect Dark - The Initiative
Forza Motorsport - Turn 10

"That’s a totally different vibe and show compared to a system where people are already excited."

Nobody gets excited about hot air and Playstation hasn´t officially announced a single first party exclusive in 2 years, so yeah, we know about Wolverine, Death Stranding 2 since 2021, so it´s past time for Sony to announce really exciting upcoming games for 2024 and beyond because it´s a blank page right now.

What else is coming? GT8? Yeah, we know that. Horizon 3? Sure.

[Chevalier]

"it´s past time for Sony to announce really exciting upcoming games for 2024 and beyond because it´s a blank page right now."

Lol. The only hot air is Xbox games with their smoke and mirrors. Playstation actually releases games regularly so they don't need to show anything before its ready. They're not failing to launch games like Xbox is.

[Vengeance1138]

@Obscure

That list is REACHING, first off i'd 100% remove Everwild that is known vaporware and never ever coming out, its been dead for many years now.

I would also very much refrain from including games that don't even have titles yet, look at all those with "Project..." as a title, those are MINIMUM 3-4yrs away, so whats coming to Xbox, definitely not those anytime soon.

ALSO jesus, 100% remove Elder Scrolls 6, wow that game is atleast 10yrs away. Enjoy the wait on that!

Good chance Outer World 2 comes to PlayStation with new evidence leaking out from a job listing asking for QA with knowledge of Sony Certification testing.

Almost every title on that list there is near ZERO information about, all anyone has ever seen is a single announce video many years ago then nothing. They are the definition of announcing WAY too early, who can possibly be hyped for something not coming for a very long time.

At that rate PlayStation players can also have a list of games that are coming within the next 10yrs too! GoT 2 and 3... Horizon 3, God of War 6, GT8, Death Stranding 2, Spiderman 2 and 3, FF16, FF17... Santa Monica secret project from Cory Barlog... Deviation Games project, Firesprite project, Firewalk project, new Twisted Metal, Haven project etc

See how easy it is to make a list of games nobody knows anything about?

[shinoff2183]

Obscure

Some ofbthose studios you named have done aaa games though so their not some small little indie studios. Hell obsidian did fallout new Vegas. The best newer fallout out there

Also as far as Sony and what their working on theybtypically don't blow their load when their still making the game unlike announcing games 5 years out.

[Knushwood Butt]

lol that list

I'm going to read through that list before I go to bed tonight to see if it helps me sleep better.

[StarkR3ality]

@obscure

Listen dude, I get it, I loved what Xbox was too. The memories that Halo and gears gave me along with their previous titles I don't think will be matched by any game.

However there's a point where you need to realise you're being treated like shit by the company you're defending. I own all platforms right, guess which never, EVER gets used? The Xbox series X, which is a console I love, from a hardware and software perspective it's actually got things that Sony can take a note or two from. But a console is made to play games, and Xbox ain't got shit at the minute, so therefore I don't use it.

[Obscure_Observer]

@Vengeance1138

"That list is REACHING, first off i'd 100% remove Everwild that is known vaporware and never ever coming out, its been dead for many years now."

You can´t win this argument with lies, dude.

https://www.rare.co.uk/game...

You see, dude... I can´t have a gaming discussion with you if in your first paragraph you´d just lied through your teeth.

@StarkR3ality

"But a console is made to play games, and Xbox ain't got shit at the minute, so therefore I don't use it."

I feel you, bro. I think you´ll do better off without it. Just sell the damn thing and be done with it. All the pain will go away. Peace!

[Knushwood Butt]

Who deployed the disagree bots?

[RauLeCreuset]

@Knushwood

"Who deployed the disagree bots?"

Someone trying to obscure the truth from any unknowing observers who didn't see the tallies before the manipulation. They also manipulated agrees for comments they favor. Regardless, it was a lazy effort. The bulk of the manipulated votes are on comments in this thread. Who does all that but doesn't bother spreading it out more to hide their intended target? "F-" for effort. Why bother doing it if you don't do it right? They're struggling and directionless without their leader.

[ravens52]

Lmao. Definitely bots here. If youve been on this site for a while u know those are not real likes and dislikes lol.

[Notellin]

Reading comprehension is so low on this website.

But you console fanboys need some gas for your endless fire.

[Aloymetal]

Nothing wrong with being a ''fanboy'' as long delusions and blindness don't get in the way. Every human being is a fanboy of something one way or another. Or are you one of those that goes to a football/basketball/Baseball games and root for both teams??

[YourMommySpoils]

Absolutely, with every gen 100% PlayStation.

[FinalFantasyFanatic]

It's not even a competition, and Xbox has more studios, so they have the potential for more games with equal or better quality.

[isarai]

If they weren't, MS wouldn't be spending tens of billions trying to rectify it

[crazyCoconuts]

I'm not sure they're going for quality as much as quantity anymore. Buy up everything people seem to be playing until your control the customers...
Minecraft, Elder Scrolls, Fallout, Doom, COD, Overwatch, etc. Redfall doesn't need to be great. It just needs to be one of many games that you can only play on Xbox with your friends

[Godmars290]

They've only ever gone for quantity. Where the first console maker to copy Steam.

[solideagle]

I don't know why but this title made me laugh so loud. hahaha :D

[roadkillers]

Rectify

[mandf]

Leagues better

[Brazz]

Yeah, Playstation is way ahead of Xbox!

[XiNatsuDragnel]

The gap between Microsoft is like Aizen to Captains of the gotei 13s power just too huge imo.

[TheColbertinator]

I don't think so. I bet you 70 Billion Dollars they don't.

[RauLeCreuset]

All these years later, you are still the most underrated commenter on N4G.

[Outside_ofthe_Box]

They can't detect sarcasm.

[RauLeCreuset]

@Outside_ofthe_Box

The best part is they're going to read your comment and think you're talking about my sarcasm.

[CBaoth]

nah the best poster with this shctick was Jose Phayal. He constantly only had one bubble but he was amazing at saying the exact opposite of the article. He used to piss people off so bad but I thought he was hilarious.

[SullysCigar]

Odd choice in headline, IGN.

Sony's first parties are rarely in question. If you mean the new studio, they have great pedigree, but it's a bit soon for questions like that.

[S2Killinit]

Its IGN, they are a MS mouthpiece. At a time like this, check out the choice of topic to begin with of all the things they could be discussing.

[Aloymetal]

THIS!...IGN know(s) exactly what they're doing and saying, nothing is coincidence. Damage control, PR and Propaganda.

[RauLeCreuset]

IGN is not taking the ABK news well. At all.

[S2Killinit]

@Focus40
That is MS fanboys’ delusional belief because on this site everyone can see that Playstation fans outnumber them, even though all sites have the same proportion of fans.

I hope you see the irony in your comment. MS mouthpiece is paid, but if this site indeed speaks for PlayStation, it is done by fans.

[badz149]

PS exclusive winning GoTY regularly since the PS3 era to this day vs 0 for xbox is not clear enough for IGN

SMH

[Obscure_Observer]

"Sony's first parties are rarely in question. If you mean the new studio, they have great pedigree, but it's a bit soon for questions like that."

This is obviously about the future of ALL first party studios for both Sony and MS.

Currently Sony has 23 first party studios while MS has 24.

At least now MS has studios to compete.

[Chevalier]

Having them is one thing. Managing them is a completely different matter completely.

[ironmonkey]

When?

[MIDGETonSTILTS17]

Objectively better output.

[masterfox]

do you need oxygen to live? the logic answer is yes, for some nonsense reason some will say the opposite. :D

[DOMination-]

Last 20 years of output shows Sony is way ahead to the point that this isn't even worth asking.

In recent times MS have struggled to manage the games in development. On paper they have a bunch of exciting projects in the pipeline but it's hard to trust that they'll release as quality titles, if at all. Whereas we know hardly anything that Sony is doing but they have that record of delivering consistently

[Hofstaderman]

Does a bear shit in the woods?

[EvertonFC]

Who writes this shite oh IGN, Xbox has barely had any AAA 1st party games of any pedigree for about 10 years and the xbox fanbase has been playing the wait till nxt year forever.
Even my 89 year old grandma knows its playstation ffs

[-Foxtrot]

What an odd time to do an article like this

I thought it was Windows Central at first

[jznrpg]

IGN is codenamed Windows Central - San Francisco

[KwietStorm_BLM]

IGN never short of entertainment value.

[RauLeCreuset]

For real.

[darkrider]

The real question is. Does Xbox got any studio that come close to Sony? Was able to create a single blockbuster game in the last 10 years?

[gold_drake]

all of them are better.
hands down

odd timing IGN. trying to stir the pot eh?

[CrimsonWing69]

How is this even a question?

It's a "hell yes" they are.

I guess the real test is seeing what the public votes for which of the exclusives they're more looking forward to this year.

Vote Up if you're more looking forward to:

Final Fantasy 16 and Spider-Man 2

Vote Down if you're looking more forward to:

Redfall and Starfield

I'm curious of the results.

[Hereandthere]

Not even worth the debate, PlayStation 1st party studios are the best in the industry, rockstar is as close as you can come. PlayStation 1st party studios blows away every xbox st 1st party studio out the water.

[Lore]

iGn is becoming more irrelevant by the mpnth

[Unknown_Gamer5794]

Well, Sony’s studios actually make games.

[jznrpg]

That definitely helps right. If they didn’t recently acquire Bethesda/Zenimax they would have nothing this year at all which is crazy.

[BehindTheRows]

Hadn't even considered that!

[jambola]

And considering Bethesda's recent history
Who even knows if that's a good thing yet

[jznrpg]

First party was better without any acquisitions I don’t get the question.

MS has some potential with Bethesda acquisition but so far it’s not looking so great with so many delays and the 60fps thing.

They have to prove that they can direct the studios they have and actually release some good games just to have a chance at this question.

[ChasterMies]

IGN says that likes it hard to best Xbox exclusives. Even EA can make better games than Xbox Studios.

[DVAcme]

When have they not? Sony's first-party games are a huge reason they've been a market leader since the PS1. Not just good games, but many that have beco e franchises outright.

[BlackTar187]

Further proof that ign makes its money from the funding from the corrupt Microsoft PR propaganda media machine.

[Nacho_Z]

Bit of a silly question.

[Crows90]

To this day...i forget Xbox has any first party.

[Scissorman82]

Yes.

[Rdeal]

Sony hasn't got a single mp shooter that comes close to Halo or Gears and GT is a joke compared to Forza, Sony might have the best single player games but MS rule in MP games compared to Sony

[jambola]

Halo which has been disappointing for years?
And gears of war which is pretty much dead
Sure you don't wanna throw left 4 dead in there too?

[ironmonkey]

Ooo tough guy.

[Aloymetal]

''GT is a joke compared to Forza,''
The problem with that is that most console gamers around the planet disagree with your personal opinion.
Majority buy GT instead of Forza. If only the best selling Forza game could come close to the worse selling GT game.
Let that sink in.

[LucidIllusion]

Xbox will never beat PlayStation. Just how it is.

[GhostScholar]

I couldn’t care less who wins the “console war.” That’s for fanboys and trolls to argue about, I just don’t like the walking, breathing hypocrisy that is Jim Ryan. All three main console companies have issues. Xbox with getting first party games to the finish line, PlayStation with its formula of every game being good but also the same over and over I.e. over the shoulder cinematic crying simulators, and Nintendo with its out of touch practices, lack of online functionality, and refusal to make hardware that is comparable graphically.

[GhostScholar]

I love that while Jim Ryan rages against free market capitalism he quietly just keeps acquiring studios.

[QuantumMechanic]

False equivalence.

[Demetrius]

It would be funny if horizon 3 comes out when gta 6 do

[randomvoice]

Lol you need to ask that question? It is like comparing gold to a turd.

[Einhander1971]

Is this really up for discussion lol 😆 😂

[Reaper22_]

It's subjective. It all depends depends on what you like or want to play. If you like single player focused games then Playstation may be better for you. If you prefer open world racing titles like Forza Horizon then Xbox is the one to have. I think people tend to forget how massive the gaming market is. Sony and Microsoft only contribute a small percentage of games for the industry. It's always been the 3rd party games that sustain it.

[darkrider]

Nope it's not subjetive. Are facts. The only type of game where Microsoft had the advantage was halo. And that boat sail long ago. On Sony machines was got all kind of blockbuster type of games. You get new huge ip every single gen.

[lellkay]

It's not even close lol

[BlaqMagiq1]

Obviously. Even MS knows Sony's quality is better.

[goldwyncq]

Yes