At Sony, the head of the Gaming Studios, Shawn Layden, hints at a change in philosophy. The aim is to develop more online games in the future that will also be available on other platforms like PC. This could mean that there will be fewer PS5-exclusive titles compared to PS4 times, when God of War and Horizon Zero Dawn shone. This change is seen as a reaction to Fortnite .
Who is speaking? It is Shawn Layden speaking. He is the head of Sony’s worldwide Game Studios. These studios have primarily been responsible in the past for supplying the PlayStation 4 with exclusive titles.
Sony has 14 of these studios worldwide, including companies like
- Naughty Dog – known for Uncharted and The Last of Us
- Guerilla Games – the creators of Horizon Zero Dawn
- And the Santa Monica Studio – the minds behind God of War
Exclusive Titles often Singleplayer Hits
What were the major exclusive titles for PS4? Players on PC or Xbox One could only look on enviously at the PS4 when many hits from Sony’s in-house studios were released, which they missed out on.
Memorable games in the current generation include God of War or Horizon Zero Dawn. These were AAA blockbuster titles designed to push the PlayStation 4.
These games are viewed by Sony as fostering the sales of the console itself and are thus cross-financed. Therefore, these games do not need to generate revenue through games-as-a-service practices; apparently, pure retail sales suffice here.
The major exclusive titles for PS4 were singleplayer titles.
PlayStation will be supported, but Multiplayer Titles are coming
This is the announcement: In a conversation with bloomberg , Layden says:
„We need to support the PlayStation platform – that is non-negotiable. Now that this is said: You will see titles coming from us in the future that may require a larger install base.”
Times are changing – also for Sony
This might be behind it: Bloomberg adds that this is likely a reaction to the success of Fortnite and the industry’s shift to Free2Play titles, which Sony must also respond to. Therefore, some games, especially multiplayer titles, will be developed in a way that they can also be played on PCs.
This strategy will apparently mainly apply to the PlayStation 5. It is expected to be released at the end of 2020.
Sony is currently undergoing a transformation, as tech giants like Google are entering the gaming space. A few weeks ago, Sony formed a partnership with Microsoft.
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