Sony FY 2008 Q2 Results – Analysis – SONY BLEEDING – LOOKING BAD

[Squilliam]

NJ5 said:

Squilliam said:

Thats pretty much what I expected. Unfortunately this credit crisis has hit at almost the worst possible time, they have a lot of games set to release next year and every lost sale now will hurt them additionally when they consider the 1/2 possible first party title sales they lose as well.

The number of studios they have now was only really tenable when they had a PS2 sized userbase, currently they are trying to feed a developer population greater than Nintendo on the userbase of a third place console 2 years into the generation. Furthermore, theres some pretty hefty third party competition for games next year as well so its not like a Nintendo Gamecube where they knew they would sell like hotcakes inspite or because of a lack of competition.

 

That's quite an important observation on the unsustainability of having so many 1st party studios for a small userbase. However, what would happen if they were to close down a lot of studios?

How to keep the appeal of the PS2 in the so called "emerging markets"? How to keep the faithful Sony fan on board for the PS4 when a lot of franchises are gone? Unless you think 3rd parties can carry the PS3 by themselves, it doesn't seem like a very good idea to close down a lot of studios.

In my opinion, SCE must either stay more or less as it is or just get scrapped. Middle-ground solutions don't work very well here. It's not analogous to eliminating a few models of TVs or phones that everyone will soon forget about.

 

Their issue is that they only have one Halo sized release in Gran Turismo. They have too many average or "middling" series really. They spent up large, perhaps they didn't spend wisely with the money from the last generation. You could say they were too keen on copying Nintendos strategy. Average games and studios do not generally become console selling material, and if they give you a financial loss as well it doesn't make sense to keep them on.