This really boogles my mind. Sure this game is not for everyone but to make a statement like that is ridiculous. Like seriously they only made two games last gen both not even reaching 5m and who else is making games like that last gen. Taletells?!!

I loved HR, and wouldnt have liked it as much if they had added supernatural story, it didnt need it.

Beyond, havent been able to get through that yet, too many games since.

Really looking forward to Detroit, love robots and AI stories, I think it says a lot about the human condition, what we might do if robots become intelligent. Day 1 for me.

Keep in mind Sony's first party ventures are supposed to be what is selling the system. The same goes for Nintendo and Microsoft. For comparison, numerous Wii U games sold better than Heavy Rain including Smash, Splatoon, NSMBU and Mario Kart 8. This is on a system that sold 13 million. Despite the PS3 not doing well, it sure as heck did better than the Wii U.

To vivster's question, I think the problem is two-fold. First, Sony doesn't build long-running series that can keep customers coming back. The Wii U still had hits because people love Mario Kart and Smash. But Sony seems to kill a series off every so often. God of War was hot during the PS2 days but then it just kind of disappeared. Remember Jack and Dexter? Twisted Metal? Look at Playstation All-Stars on the PS3. Outside of Nathan, what character is still kicking? Even with Horizon doing well, I expect that series will be in the gutter before too long. Outside of Uncharted, Sony doesn't have a strong IP. Even Microsoft has some notable series like Halo, Gears of War, Fabel and the Rare games. 

The second is Sony games don't seem to be any better than most games on the market. Again, look at Halo. This game made the XBox the home of console shooters because it was a great game. Then take, say, God of War. It didn't make the PS2 an action game enclave. You could also get games like Devil May Cry and Ninja Gaiden that were just as good if not better. Likewise, with Horizon, you can find open world games that are just as good or better. You can just as easily buy Skyrim, Minecraft or Zelda and get the same experience. Sony isn't making better games then the other third party companies, so they don't stand out. 

I guess were just going to have to agree to disagree. The reason I have no worries or concerns about owning a Sony console is that they will make games that may not sell 10's of millions but are unusual and or different to what AAA developers are doing. OK Horizon is very close to a ubisoft title in terms of in game mechanics, but I wouldnt have expected a AA studio to have taken such a chance on the characters/timeframe/story of this game.

Heavy Rain is a perfect example, apparently MS turned this title down. Sony paid them for 3 games (with detroit being the 3rd). I really hope Sony continue to fund David Cages studio as they are doing things that not many companies are doing. God of War's last effort was at the end of the PS3 era, just like GT, Sony continued to support the console even though the PS4 was coming out (unlike others I may add :). The games still sold OK but were never going to do as well as the previous entries just because of timing. Credit to sony to release them on PS3 though, because while that other console gave up a year or two before, sony supported the PS3 up until the end.

Looking at the PS4 games from Sony coming out, there isnt one that I wont get, I really think they have such a good breadth of games. In fact the PS4 is quickly becoming my favourite console in terms of library. What with whats coming out this year and next, I think its definately eclipsing the PS1/2 era. Thats how good Sony have been.

4.5 million people pressed X to Jason.

If you like Sony's titles, that's fine. I'm not saying people don't like them. 4.5 million is good numbers, but for a first party developer, it's not great. If Sony is going to fund titles, it should be able to sell units (as an aside, I talk up Nintendo but they have made their fair share of mistakes in this regard too. Lets not forget Bayonetta 2).

I think the bolded part is the issue with Sony. You say they are doing something different not because the game is different but because the story is different. Story in games is generally fluff. Sure, its nice to have a world and what not, but if the game isn't fun to play then none of that matters. This is why Zelda will go on to be a bigger title despite having a lackluster story. But in terms of game play, Zelda kills it, so it will go on to sell a lot more than Horizon will despite Horizon supposedly having a different story.  

If you like these games, more power to you. I know I like a lot of crappy low sale titles. But I think most people care very little for story. Outside of Naughty Dog's games, I don't think this works well for Sony. 

I guess that logic can be set for the majority of games and their total sales though. I have no doubt it's cheap sales on PSN helped a lot with that last 1.5 million though. But considering they already made 100m in revenue at the 3m mark. Those units sold at a sale are just pure profit

Great news

No shit, the game is like 7 years old.

Even if most units were sold at $20-30, its still an accomplishment for a game of that genre.

Some of them yes. Usually the ones that don't sell much at launch go on sale quicker. First party titles (Sony made) go on sale pretty fast on PSN aswell, especially ports like this game, GoW3 and the last of us.

And yup, they are profit. The games in this case probably broke even with the ps3 versions.