A Look At Sony's 1st and 2nd Party Studios PS3/PS4

[aLkaLiNE]

pokoko said:
Let's go ahead and talk about this now because it's going to keep coming up otherwise: there is no such thing as "2nd party". It does not actually exist.

When people use the term correctly, it means "exclusive game developed by a third party studio" or it's used in reference to the studio itself. However, typing "2nd party" is a hell of a lot quicker than typing "exclusive game developed by a third party studio" or "third party studio that sometimes develops exclusives for one of the three console manufacturers" all the time. Just consider it short-hand and be glad.

2nd party blurs the line between 1st and 3rd, yet it's still distinguished. So I think there's still a relevent meaning to the term.

1st Party Studio - Owned/Created by Platform Holder (Sony, Nintendo, MS, Valve-->Naughty Dog, Retro, 343)

2nd Party Studio - Not owned by Platform Holder, but makes titles only available on one platform (Quantic Dream, Ready At Dawn, thatgamecompany, Gamefreak)

3rd Party Studio - Makes multiplatform games, but can be contracted to make a new IP for a platform (Gears of War, Deep Down, Metal Gear Solid 4, ZombiU)