Sony has less First Party Studios than Microsoft. 21 vs 15

[S.T.A.G.E.]

JayWood2010 said:

bananaking21 said:
can somebody explain to me the difference between first party and second party?

 

First Party - Completely owned by the platform holder 

Second Party - Usually a third party studio who has been contracted by the platform holder to work on a license owned by the platform holder 

Third Party - A game developed by an outside company based on their own original intellectual property 

 

The IP doesn't have to be owned by the platform holder to be a second party, the IP can be owned by the third party but contractually made solely for one console manufacturer. If they just hired a third party it would still be first party (The last Metroid for instance in tandem with Retro). Other than that you're spot on. ;)