General Next Generation Rumors and Discussions [Post GDC 2020]

[Deleted member 11852]

If I'm sony I'm not going to be buying more big studios. Maybe some small/indie ones to just gain talent.

Buying studios for 'talent' (i.e. people) is folly. People can leave and you can't force them to stay through contractual obligations. The most you can do is incentivise them leaving later through shinier golden parachutes. If you're doing this, you must be a shit place to work in the first place.

 

[London Geezer]

Buying studios for 'talent' (i.e. people) is folly. People can leave and you can't force them to stay through contractual obligations. The most you can do is incentivise them leaving later through shinier golden parachutes. If you're doing this, you must be a shit place to work in the first place.

Or you make sure they don’t leave by, I don’t know, making sure the working environment is worth staying in? [emoji2]

 

[dobwal]

If I'm sony I'm not going to be buying more big studios. Maybe some small/indie ones to just gain talent. What I would be investing in is my existing studios and try to figure out a way to get a blockbuster out of every internal studio every 2 years. Hire right people, grow organically and invest into whatever would make development teams more productive. Have 2 parallel teams in every studio and try to get into 4 year development cycle. Perhaps also invest into prototyping so new game ideas in existing studios can be explored outside that 4 year development window. This could also make employees happier as it's not only one type of game each studio is making/exploring to make.

You don't buy studios for the talent. You buy studios for the IP. Halo is the reason buying Bungie was a far better investment than buying Rare or Lionhead.

 

[manux]

Sony has been pretty good at buying studios. First do long co-operation and if things turn out great like with guerrilla or insomniac then push the purchase button. Assuming of course both sides see that as a win.

What I was referring to was that if I was sony I would look for small/indie studios that want to work with sony, then do a title together and if both sides want deeper co-operation start talking about acquisition. Just because MS bought bethesda doesn't mean sony should go out and buy something randomly.

My gut feeling is something like housemarque could be good candidate for deeper sony co-operation assuming returnal turns out good and both companies still like working with each other. I still don't understand why MS didn't buy remedy, or perhaps remedy saw IPO as better way forwards versus selling to microsoft.

 

[Xbat]

There will always be one manufacture with more studios than the other but it's in nobody's interest that this escalates into some weird developer arms race. I feel like Microsoft bought Zenimax to redress the lack of internal studios focussing on solid single-player games. Job done, Microsoft responded to this ongoing criticism. Sony don't need to buy more studios. I'm sure they will, when it makes sense (like Insomniac). But buying for buying's sake? Stoopid.

One of the reasons Sony first party makes cinematic single player games is because there's a gap in the market that's not being filled by third party.
If all of a sudden there's a drought of western RPG on Playstation because a big portion is exclusive to Xbox surely it would behoove Sony to fill that gap.

 

[Nesh]

One of the reasons Sony first party makes cinematic single player games is because there's a gap in the market that's not being filled by third party.
If all of a sudden there's a drought of western RPG on Playstation because a big portion is exclusive to Xbox surely it would behoove Sony to fill that gap.

The reason why Sony invests in cinematic games it is because they are the type of games that showcase and exploit the capabilities of the platform for which the console is marketed for. It fits the image of the platform.
It is not exactly a gap. Almost all AAA games invest on cinematic elements and epic stories and Sony expands it with it's own exclusive games to differentiate it.
Sony invested in experimental, cinematic and family oriented games too. But those that take the highlight are those with bombastic visuals. Sony has lost money from a lot of titles too.
But by purchasing multiplatform AAA studios, and making those successful multiplatform IPs your own you are actually removing titles from another platform that people loved playing on. So thats when Sony will be experiencing a gap. Their games wont be the differentiating products, they will be the necessary fillers plus they will have to spend even more resources on unproven IPs to satisfy the appetites of gamers that enjoyed proven titles that are no longer available on Playstation.
It is one thing to acquire as your own decades long multiplatform titles/franchises that have been tested and proven in pretty much every platform available (gained popularity in a huge market) and another to create titles from scratch on a single platform and make them successful. There is no quarantee that the gap will be filled

 

[Deleted member 11852]

One of the reasons Sony first party makes cinematic single player games is because there's a gap in the market that's not being filled by third party. If all of a sudden there's a drought of western RPG on Playstation because a big portion is exclusive to Xbox surely it would behoove Sony to fill that gap.

Don't forget that Rockstar and Ubisoft make some of the biggest cinematic single player games, this is the market for Assassin's Creed, GTA, Red Dead Redemption and Watch Dogs. Sony have not dived deep into full-on AA/AAA RPGs although many of their first party games employ RPG-lite mechanics in terms of giving the player choice in how to develop their character and abilities, e.g. Infamous, Days Gone, God of War, Spider-Man, Horizon Zero Dawn and The Last of Us 2. If you want genuine choice and to impact the story, Infamous gives you two paths, otherwise you do need to look elsewhere although third-party Until Dawn did this fantastically, and terrifyingly, without being a RPG, as did third-party Detroit: Become Human.

 

[zed]

You don't buy studios for the talent. You buy studios for the IP. Halo is the reason buying Bungie was a far better investment than buying Rare or Lionhead.

halo wasnt even one of the 10 best selling games on the xbox one so whilst important to the Xbox as its exclusive its not a huge seller.
These are the 8 shooters that sold more than halo 5 according to NPD, Call of Duty: WW2, Call of Duty: Black Ops 3, Call of Duty: Black Ops 4, Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare, Battlefield 1, Star Wars Battlefront, Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, Destiny 2

IP's (and should) be created otherwise we are stuck with mario games forever

new IPs in xbox one era

ryse : son of rome
ori and the blind forest
sea of theives
battletoads (sort of)
Quantum Break
sunset overdrive (now owned by sony)

new IPs in ps4 era

infamous second son
driveclub
bloodborne
the order
until dawn
detroit // was heavy rain
horizon zero dawn
knack
dreams
spiderman (sort of)
days gone
ghost of tsushima
sunset overdrive (now owned by sony)

Sure not all new IP's are gonna go on the spawn multiple sequels

 

[Deleted member 7537]

halo wasnt even one of the 10 best selling games on the xbox one so whilst important to the Xbox as its exclusive its not a huge seller.
These are the 8 shooters that sold more than halo 5 according to NPD, Call of Duty: WW2, Call of Duty: Black Ops 3, Call of Duty: Black Ops 4, Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare, Battlefield 1, Star Wars Battlefront, Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, Destiny 2

IP's (and should) be created otherwise we are stuck with mario games forever

new IPs in xbox one era

ryse : son of rome
ori and the blind forest
sea of theives
battletoads (sort of)

new IPs in ps4 era

infamous second son
driveclub
bloodborne
the order
until dawn
heavy rain
horizon zero dawn
knack
spiderman (sort of)
days gone
ghost of tsushima

Sure not all new IP's are gonna go on the spawn multiple sequels

No Dreams on that list tho. And Heavy Rain is PS3, I think you meant Detroit. Anyway it is clear that Sony is more comfortable creating new IPs and MS is more comfortable buying them.

 

[Xbat]

Don't forget that Rockstar and Ubisoft make some of the biggest cinematic single player games, this is the market for Assassin's Creed, GTA, Red Dead Redemption and Watch Dogs.

Yes but Rockstar released 1 game this gen and yes Ubisoft releases a lot of single player content but not really linear type games. It's only kind of recently that Sony has started releasing open world games other than Sucker Punch.

 

[Nesh]

but not really linear type games. It's only kind of recently that Sony has started releasing open world games other than Sucker Punch.

Doesnt really matter. They are still cinematic. Resident Evil, Deep Space, Star Wars Fallen Order, Devil May Cry, Sekiro, Titan Fall, Tomb Raider, Batman, Doom, Wolfestein, Control, Hell Blade, Hitman are just some. And these without counting the more open world cinematic games.

 

[Xbat]

Doesnt really matter. They are still cinematic. Resident Evil, Deep Space, Star Wars Fallen Order, Devil May Cry, Sekiro, Titan Fall, Tomb Raider, Batman, Doom, Wolfestein, Control, Hell Blade, Hitman are just some. And these without counting the more open world cinematic games.

You have named quite a few but over what timespan did those games come out? One a year maybe two, also might have been lots one year and then almost nothing the next.

I didn't mean there were no big AAA single player games but there were bigger gaps when to release them but I digress back to my original point of if Microsoft are releasing 3 + western RPGs and Sony aren't getting any it would be a good place to invest.

 

[Nesh]

....t I digress back to my original point of if Microsoft are releasing 3 + western RPGs and Sony aren't getting any it would be a good place to invest.

It is not a matter of being a good place to invest. Its a place where they are forced to spend extra risk.
Because it is no longer a matter of Microsoft releasing new games. It is a matter of less AAA games being available on Sony's platform.
A good place to invest for MS is a buy out of important multiplatform IPs and significant multiplatform studios. Not creating new IPs, whereas Sony, a company with much less liquidity has to spread even more money across more projects including new IPs. A smaller company with less resources is forced to go through more risk to compensate for the newly created hole.

PS: And believe me most of the money Sony makes dont come from first party studios. Sony in terms of their own games, invests in money makers and money losers in a very highly risky industry with increasing costs, where a game must sell millions to break even. Sony makes most money from their services and from games sold for their console in general.

The players lost for the absence of Elder Scroll's, Fallout, Doom etc arent easily going to accept a substitute from Sony.
Killzone didnt become the new Halo, Destiny, Division, COD, Quake or Doom.
DriveClub didnt become the new Gran Turismo or Need for Speed.
Tearaway didnt become the new Paper Mario.
Infamous didnt become the new Batman Arkham or Spiderman game.
Little Big Planet didnt become the new Mario or Mario Maker.
The Legend of Dragoon never became the new Final Fantasy.
Dark Cloud never became the new Zelda.

If Sony loses The Witcher or GTA it will be almost impossible to create something equally successful and as profitable. They cant just poop masterpieces out of nowhere as if they are the Chuck Norris gaming studio

 

[Xbat]

The players lost for the absence of Elder Scroll's, Fallout, Doom etc arent easily going to accept a substitute from Sony.
Killzone didnt become the new Halo, Destiny, Division, COD, Quake or Doom.
DriveClub didnt become the new Gran Turismo or Need for Speed.
Tearaway didnt become the new Paper Mario.
Infamous didnt become the new Batman Arkham or Spiderman game.
Little Big Planet didnt become the new Mario or Mario Maker.
The Legend of Dragoon never became the new Final Fantasy.

I might just be tired or particularly dense today but I'm not to sure what point you making.

I just feel that it could go along way to keep people who want to still play lots of Sony's first party games if they knew they were still going to get some western RPGs also.

 

[Deleted member 11852]

Yes but Rockstar released 1 game this gen and yes Ubisoft releases a lot of single player content but not really linear type games. It's only kind of recently that Sony has started releasing open world games other than Sucker Punch.

You didn't specify linear previously, if that is what you are after then Sony may not cater for toy in the figure either. Even if it's just what Naughty Dog coined as "wide linear" like sections of God of War and The Last of Us Part II, where it feels open but you're still kind fo limited what you can do and when - much like Mass Effect which pulls the same trick.

 

[Xbat]

You didn't specify linear previously, if that is what you are after then Sony may not cater for toy in the figure either. Even if it's just what Naughty Dog coined as "wide linear" like sections of God of War and The Last of Us Part II, where it feels open but you're still kind fo limited what you can do and when - much like Mass Effect which pulls the same trick.

We getting sidetracked here with semantics. Other than Ubisoft that pumps out big AAA single player games there aren't that many that do. Rockstar released one current gen game, Rocksteady I think also released one.

 

[Deleted member 11852]

We getting sidetracked here with semantics. Other than Ubisoft that pumps out big AAA single player games there aren't that many that do. Rockstar released one current gen game, Rocksteady I think also released one.

You moved the goalposts, then we were playing netball! I agree though; many in the industry have commented on increasing cost of AAA game development. There was Bioware but EA kind of shanked that team.

 

[Xbat]

You moved the goalposts, then we were playing netball! I agree though; many in the industry have commented on increasing cost of AAA game development. There was Bioware but EA kind of shanked that team.

Only the fairer sex plays netball. The ball is to big and the basket is way to small and you can't run with the ball makes no sense other than watching tall birds run around in short skirts.

 

[chris1515]

https://www.vgc.news/news/turn-10-could-be-assisting-with-the-development-of-fable/

It seems Turn 10 is helping on Fable development.

 

[AlNom]

Horse drag racing? Gotta fine tune those shoes and feed. All Leg Riding