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Forums - Sony - Do you think Sony will shut down some first party studios?

Phrancheyez on 29 December 2008
Groucho said:
With GT5P selling over 2.5M in a year, I would not at all be surprised to see GT5 at 5 mil within the first year, and 7-8 mil lifetime. The only reason GT5 won't be the best selling racing game of all time is due to the PS3s low marketshare.

 

That's true, but it has a year (At least) still, and another (Assumed) $100 price cut, and a (rumored) PS3 slim..if everything happens right, that could change.  Only time will tell though.  I still see it doing a bit better than 7-8 million lifetime..I just can't see it selling lower than GT2.



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headshot91 on 29 December 2008

most 1st paty studios ie naughty dog are their most profitable studios.



makingmusic476 on 29 December 2008

Probably not. SCEWWS is one of the more profitable parts of SCE. Even titles like Heavenly Sword manage to break a million, excelling well into the profitable territory.

The only sections that might under perform are SOE (which was actually a part of Sony Pictures until just a few months ago), Sony Bend, and Sony San Diego. Even those are doing alright, with SOE surviving on EverQuest expansions even if their new projects are duds (hopefully now that they're under the direction of SCE, that will change), Sony Bend having become the forefront of Sony's PSP development (the Syphon Filters for PSP were the first good ones in awhile, and now they're working on Resistance Retribution), and Sony San Diego (formerly 989 Studios) having the MLB The Show series, the best of the baseball sims on the market. San Diego's NBA series is pretty weak, and at worst only that franchise (and those people that work solely on it) will get the axe.



Aj_habfan on 29 December 2008

Maybe Sony Online, but that is about it.

The result may be something like that "Eyepet" controversy, but I can't see them shutting down the studios.



Tbone on 29 December 2008
RPG said:
Yes we shall see, which studios do you think will get the boot from Sony then?

For me Evolution and Team ICO

 

 Why do u think Sony will close Evolution studios i think they have been quite succesful with Motorstorm, the first one has sold nearly 4 million and it will likely hit 4 million and Pacific rift will be a million seller 2.



 

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Kantor on 29 December 2008
RPG said:
Kantor said:
RPG said:
Kantor said:
SpartanFX said:
the next transaction is sony buying media molecule.you'll see ;)

If and when LBP crosses 3 million LTD, absolutely.

And it's got a 90% chance of doing that.

Meanwhile, they should ensure Insomniac don't get any ideas about developing on other platforms.

 

I agree with this, they should buy Insomniac as they are a tried and tested success and same for Media Molecule howver the latter seems a given, Sony see how a game does before they think about purchasing.

Buying Insomniac would cost far too much. It has over 200 employees. Sony owns the IPs of Ratchet and Clank and Resistance, and I'm sure Insomniac would like to stay independent, so Insomniac makes only PlayStation games, and remains independent.

However, a second party contract would be nice. Insomniac are great developers, and they're fast.

2006: Resistance: Fall of Man

2007: Ratchet and Clank Future: Tools of Destruction

2008: Ratchet and Clank Future: Quest for Booty and Resistance 2

2009: Ratchet and Clank Future 3.

I think they'll be able to pump out one R&C a year, and one Resistance every two years.

Guerrilla has 1059 employees, NG 85 and Sony London Studios 250, I think they could purchase Insomniac no problem.

 

Guerilla has 130 employees, Naughty Dog has 85, and Sony London is apparently Sony's largest studio. Waste, really. They take all those employees and make them work on Home, SingStar and EyePet? Give them Jak and Daxter to do, I don't think ND can handle it.

And like I said, buying Insomniac is unnecessary. They make PS3 games only, of their own free will, because they want to remain independent.



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Kantor on 29 December 2008
RAZurrection said:
They've already started marginalising their IPs from last gen.

WipeOut HD is an upscaled PSP games and Socom has done away with the singleplayer, The Getaway 3 was canned and isn't likely to surface ever again, they did away with the F1 license. god of war 3 is the last one and Jaks/Sly Coopers' are dead franchises and Insomniac keep hinting they may go multiplatform.

At the end of the day with IP's that aren't really sticking to the markets wants and needs, they need to get some better ones or cut back on staff.

Jak and Sly Cooper aren't "dying franchises", Naughty Dog is just busy with Uncharted and Sucker Punch is doing inFamous. Sony still has the IPs, they'll give it to somebody else to make. And when have Insomniac hinted that they are going to go multiplat?

God of War is still there, Ratchet and Clank, ICO, Gran Turismo, Killzone, and  Jak is definitely scheduled. Oh, and let's not forget MGS.

 



(Former) Lead Moderator and (Eternal) VGC Detective

Kantor on 29 December 2008
RPG said:
Yes we shall see, which studios do you think will get the boot from Sony then?

For me Evolution and Team ICO

WHAT? You think Sony would close Team ICO?

*Dies laughing*

Team ICO would be one of the last to go!

Evolution, on the other hand, I would be happy to see go. In my opinion, MotorStorm is a blight on the racing genre (which I hate). Sony Bend aren't really going anywhere, they're making Resistance Retribution. But it would be nice if somebody made a Syphon Filter on PS3, preferably Sony Bend, but I'm sure somebody else could do it if they needed to.



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Millennium on 29 December 2008
Tremble said:
Well they all have a high value, so I hope not!

Do they? How many of them have actually made any profit for Sony on thier games recently? How many will turn a profit for Sony in the foreseeable future? A few, perhaps, but not all, and probably not even half. And from Sony's perspective, no profit means no value. Especially not when Sony's still losing money on the hardware; software is how they were supposed to make up for that.



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makingmusic476 on 29 December 2008
Millennium said:
Tremble said:
Well they all have a high value, so I hope not!

Do they? How many of them have actually made any profit for Sony on thier games recently? How many will turn a profit for Sony in the foreseeable future? A few, perhaps, but not all, and probably not even half. And from Sony's perspective, no profit means no value. Especially not when Sony's still losing money on the hardware; software is how they were supposed to make up for that.

 

Name a studio that likely hasn't made a profit?

Naughty Dog's Uncharted broke 2 million.  Polyphony Digital's GT5 Prologue broke 2 million.  MotorStorm 2 is well on it's way to a million, and will probably break 2 million. Sony San Diego's MLB The Show is the best (and best selling on the ps3) baseball series out there.  Sony London's SingStar is selling well enough, and Home is starting to bring in cash from microtransactions.  Clap Hanz's Hot Shots Golf series sells well enough (it's particularly popular in Japan, where Sony needs popular franchises the most), Sony Bend seems to be Sony's primary PSP developer, Sony Santa Monica is behind the God of War cash cow, Incognito's Warhawk sold 600k not including downloads, and it wasn't even a full budget title. Guerrilla Games is about to release Killzone 2, and it'll probably break 2 million easy, given the popularity of FPSes.

I could go on, but you get my point.  Sony's studios are probably one of the mores profitable parts of SCE.