| GymratAmarillo said: I think the Spider Man topic is making unnecessary noise in this conversation lol so ok I take it from the list, it was just a pitch that didn't have any bigger consequences. About Firesprite I'm not going to change my position because at least from the sources that I trust it was established the project started with Lucid Games, it didn't work, Sony assigned the project to Firesprite and then it was cancelled after one wave of cancellations/lay offs. So at least in my book that project was more than a conversation in a room, people actually worked on it and it wasn't their decision to cancel it. Now, I think there a 2 reasons why you feel the argument of wasted time is disingenious: 1.- You are comparing the current situation with other times and/or companies but the current PS situation is different. 2.- You are thinking about games that were cancelled thanks to developer decision but there is only evidence that Naughty Dog cancelled their own game. Sony cancelled the rest. Tbh I haven't read everything Yoshida has said in interviews but I know he talked about a cancelled Freedom Wars sequel. For today's standards FW is a cheap game that takes little time and money to make and a middle size studio can make multiple of them at the same time so sure if a big company has to cancel a FW it won't have a big impact but we are talking about big games that take a lot of money and years to make. You talked a little about this with Bend but out of 18 PS Studios 11 are working in just one big game (hopefully they are working in side small projects, also I didn't count nixxes nor valkyrie). That's why the current PS situation is different, their studios with multiple teams have a chance even if one of their games is cancelled but if one of the other 11 gets their game cancelled is basically over, we won't know about them for the next 3, 4 or 5 years. As of today 3 studios are already out of the generation and Sony doesn't have multiple small projects to make up the number of their output like they did in the past or like other companies have. Obviously I don't think everything you said is wrong actually you have an excellent point, Naughty Dog having the vision to realize their service wasn't worth it and cancel it was a fantastic decision, one that maybe saved the whole studio but for a Bend developer that had to make a service instead of DG2, to then watch their project being cancelled by their bosses and also had to watch 1/3 of their friends go. Don't you think they see this whole situation as a huge waste of time? Even if said cancellation allows them to do something new and cool. Sony basically wasted their time for nothing because the service push was a mistake, they didn't get the chance to make the game they actually wanted to make and now they need years to release something. |
This is fair, and I understand your views a bit more. At the end of the day, I think we all want Sony's studios to be releasing more games because we enjoy playing them.
Obviously it's impossible to speak to every situation because we don't really have the info on hand to understand why these cancellations/ cuts are taking place. Is Sony just losing interest in live service and cutting projects? Are the studios just not hitting their milestones?
Bend's situation particularly sucks, especially since I recently played and thoroughly enjoyed Days Gone. But Sony aren't the ones who didn't let them make Days Gone 2. It's clear that Sony has been allowing SP titles to be made. SuckerPunch and Insomniac have both gone on to make SP sequels. Naughty Dog and Santa Monica, too.
My hope is that their work can be salvaged into whatever they make next, so that the time used on this cancelled game is not all lost.
| xl-klaudkil said: Large chunk are also on ps4,soo there not truly ps5 era games. Large chunk are not made by sony Demon souls is a ps3 game, also not a ps5 era game. |
I'll be honest, I don't see why it matters that a game released on PS4 alongside it's PS5 release. It's like you're invalidating the entire release of a game because it didn't release solely on a single console.
If it released on PS5 on or after the day it launched, then it's software that was made with the PS5 in mind (just not entirely). GoW Ragnarok is no less a PS5 game just because it has a PS4 version.
| Kyuu said: SquareEnix is actually much worse. But I appreciate that they're still making low budget games. And FF7 Rebirth is sublime. Sony needs to double down on Chinese and Korean projects, and maybe look into focusing on A/AA stuff like Helldivers 2 (even though it's GaaS) and AstroBot. |
I think we all know why Sony took focus off the AA space: because these games weren't selling. And when you consider how big that space has become with indie, they focussed on creating content that helped differentiate them. I think them focussing on what works for them was a big help in establishing their brand as a game developer, but it has obviously come at a cost.
I think Sony also needs to get back into the AA space, but I think that should be a necessity to growing costs and development issues we're seeing. I really did think that the whole UC4> LL, SM > MM, GOT > DLC was going to be the trend their teams took forward: make a big game then release a smaller game reusing a bunch of the assets + alongside some new stuff before moving back into their next big games.
I really think that would've helped, especially if they diversified IP wise while doing it. e.g.: Days Gone > smaller Syphon Filter OR TloU2 > smaller military game or something even more wildly different.
But, at least Sony agrees with you on the push for Chinese/ Korean content. That is going to help them. I also hope they look at studios like Studio Gobo (Lego Horizon) and work out a publishing deal to get them to make titles akin to AstroBot using existing Sony IP. I think they could do well taking over the Hot Shots or even Ape Escape IP.
