We're all insanely disappointed with the Wipeout mobile title, but I have a feeling we're going to be seeing many more mobile titles from Sony's IPs. Sony's first-party titles are going to continue to be amazing primarily single-player experiences for years and years to come. But ultimately, that's where the problem is going to lie in the long term, and it may be why Sony is changing their business model starting now.

Wipeout has never been a franchise that sold gangbusters, which made the franchise a perfect test opportunity to put it on mobile to bring in revenue. The developers could've at least made it a traditional racing game, though! But if it does manage to bring in some good, consistent revenue, Sony may start to view mobile as a goldmine as so many other studios do, albeit while still making quality console games.

But as time goes on, those big blockbuster, single-player, action-adventure games are costing a LOT to make. God of War 2018 is estimated to have cost at least $100 million to produce. I can't imagine what the cost of Spider-Man 2, Wolverine, Forbidden West, and GoW: Ragnarok are costing to make. Which raising the the base game to being $70 may alleviate some of the rising cost to make these huge gaming experiences, but is it sustainable? I'm betting not as much as Sony would like. 

Sony has currently positioned themselves to where they can't really afford their first-party titles to flop. At least some-what consistently, because a single game flopping is by no means the end of the world, especially for a company as big as Sony. But Days Gone is a good example of this. It turned a modest profit, but because it wasn't as big selling, Sony passed on the opportunity for a sequel. At least for now. Which is a damn shame because I did enjoy it.

Now, Sony has begun porting their first-party titles to PC, and even purchased a PC porting game studio in Nixxes to quicken the pace of PC ports. And Sony isn't taking the Xbox approach where their games launch on console and PC on day 1. They're porting games that are no longer selling anywhere near as well. So what's a way to make more money on a single-player game that doesn't bring in an infinite amount of revenue once the well has been dried on console? After 2-3 years, port the game to PC, and suddenly you're making a ton more money on the exact same game that released years ago with little work needing to be done, and they've more than recouped the cost of the game in the process, thus being able to invest heavily in future games. Some may view it as greed to get as much money as possible, but I think Sony is doing it because they have to.

Look at Bethesda. Bethesda was known for single-player experiences for years throughout their studios, but their games, other than Elder Scrolls and Fallout, were never known to be the best selling. Then seemingly out of nowhere they began releasing micro-transaction filled games in Wolfenstein: Youngblood and Fallout 76, added monetization on their single-player games with Creation Club in Skyrim and Fallout 4, then really went into mobile gaming for their best selling franchises with Fallout Shelter and Elder Scrolls Blades and Legends. It's like they were starting to become desperate for revenue, and tried adapting to the modern gaming landscape. But their IPs weren't best designed for that type of monetization, then eventually sold to Microsoft.

Not that Sony will ever become that desperate with the remaining company behind them and they're still profiting from console sales, but the more it costs to make the games, the more areas Sony will look to for more revenue, and mobile gaming is very lucrative in terms of revenue. And with how many amazing IPs Sony owns......Wipeout may just be the beginning for PlayStation in the mobile market for better or worse. And as far as first impressions go, it's for worse.

I hope I'm wrong! But if I'm not, I'm hoping at least it means we'll continue to get more high quality console experiences from Sony for years and years to come, despite the butchering of PlayStation's franchises that'll happen in the process on mobile.

Thoughts?

I get why everyone chases mobile.
Its low effort high rewards.....

But man it just sucks, seeing companies do this (nintendo did it, Xbox did it... now sony is joing in).

Rather see them do 4-5 times the budget and make a console game instead.
I know, in terms of profits, its probably not as attractive, but theres more to makeing games, than just makeing a quick buck.

or do like nintendo does.

Artstyle and cutsy characters, forget about insane photo realism, texture work, storytelling, voice acting ect.
NIntendo probably makes games that cost like 1/5th of what Xbox or Playstation does, on its big AAA titles.
They re smart, they figoured out how to maximise profits, by game direction.

I rather see xbox or playstation try for a more nintendo like, approach, than have to resort to mobile games.

If even Nintendo is making mobile titles, I cannot see either Sony or Microsoft staying out of the market. Whether it's for direct profits or brand advertisement, it's too big of a medium to ignore.

Yeah, and whats crazy is nintendo already has the formula for game design = profits figoured very well out.

They dont spend a ton on games (no voice acting, little to no storytelling, no motion cap, no photo realism, endless texture work ect).
and they sell like crazy anyways.

If even nintendo resorts to makeing a quick buck this way.... yeah Sony and Xbox will likely also attempt it.
It just makes me mad though, like just focus on your consoles.

To be fair, Nintendo isn't putting that much effort into the mobile market, just enough to get people to know their brands. The one IP that's really pushing mobile is Pokémon, and that's just because The Pokémon Co. became insatiable after seeing Pokémon Go's profits.

There's already PlayStation mobile games though. Sony's just giving the space another swing. If it fails, no doubt they'll try again. The market for mobile is just too huge to ignore.

Games like wipeout and such aren't big budget. I can't see why sony wouldn't release AA budgets on ps5. I'm sure small games will continue. When you think about it, there are too many games on the market. Before it used to be nintendo and playstation. Then xbox came, mobile market, indie titles, ps plus game discounts and deals, free titles. It feels like there are more games available than before.

Sony has and will continue to take some risks this gen, but in this market and time, I can't blame them to be more cautious.

Yes, they've said as much themselves.

I don't see how this impacts SIE adversely if their outsourcing IP's to mobile developers.

I had no idea this was a thing lol.

I'm just sad Wipeout hasn't been given a full fledged console release since the ps2. How long will the wait continue.