Looking back at gen 7 it can be said that Sonys japanese branch lost a lot of importance in those years, SCE Japan almost amounted to more of a huge lump of baggage than a real valuable asset to Sony in that time (hyperbolically speaking). I think that this is going to change this generation and that via collaborations and their own output we will get some of the best Sony first party games on PS4 out of SCE Japan these next couple years. The development in that direction has already started with the collaboration work of Bloodborne and, to some people the GOTG, Knack. And the future's looking pretty good already as well with TLG, Gravity Rush 2, Hotshots Golf, the Tomorrow Children and unannounced/rumoured projects like the other 2 From Software collaborations and the number of internally and in collaboration developed JRPGs.
Now I'm not saying we're looking at the next Naughty Dog here, but I can definitely see SCE Japan being much more part of the first party conversation this gen than they were last gen with producing more higher rated and better selling games.
What do you think? Do you agree with my thoughts? Disagree? What do you think are other studios to watch? I'd say GG and Bend are candidates as well. But while I think/hope Horizon will do great, it has to also be said that GG has been one of the Sonys most important studios already anyway (even if it's not often acknowledged like that), so the rise wouldn't come as much of a surprise to me. Bend's a possibility but we honestly have such a limited idea of what they are working on that I hesitate to make a call on that one, they might produce a multimillion seller or a complete flop, I have no idea.
