Sony Playstation Marketing: a quiet place in days gone?

[Shifty Geezer]

You were basically asking why Sony is not doing more on PS Now. The answer to that has to lie on hard data like ROI and how well Sony is doing compared to competitors.

If Sony are going to advertise PSVR, which they do, why are they also not advertising PSNow and promoting it to grow it? They have the most successful game streaming platform in the world. They have game streaming on iOS - why not PSNow? Why are they being overtaken by MS in cloud gaming offerings when they've been out front for years? Searching for PS Now on YouTube, Sony officially have one video from a year ago stating 12 essential titles available. Since then they've added loads of games and yet don't talk about it. Why do they have a 'what's coming for PS+ subscribers' announcement every month, but are silent on what they're doing with PSNow?

 

[Nesh]

The question is Sony's marketing. Seems lots of people are completely unaware of things Sony is doing because they aren't communicating it effectively. and Nesh's point about being daft with Xperia still stands - PSNow works on very PC and iOS device and every Android phone except they won't support any but Xperia Android phones. And BC exists but you can't really use it. From fans' POV, it's all a bit ragtag. Even if just coming out and explaining why, such as not being able to guarantee support for millions of different Android devices, and what went wrong with BC, it'll at least be something. The 'say nothing' strategy is never good for PR. Look at No Man's Sky - the lack of feedback from Murray meant loads of vocal outrage. In the end, the product is great and the company has done okay, but that doesn't change the marketing mess of it. PS5 may be awesome, and Sony's services may be the best in the world in reality, and PlayStation may be one of the strongest brands in the world, but their current public relations isn't all that great.

Exactly

 

[Picao84]

If Sony are going to advertise PSVR, which they do, why are they also not advertising PSNow and promoting it to grow it? They have the most successful game streaming platform in the world. They have game streaming on iOS - why not PSNow? Why are they being overtaken by MS in cloud gaming offerings when they've been out front for years? Searching for PS Now on YouTube, Sony officially have one video from a year ago stating 12 essential titles available. Since then they've added loads of games and yet don't talk about it. Why do they have a 'what's coming for PS+ subscribers' announcement every month, but are silent on what they're doing with PSNow?

That's precisely why I asked how relevant PS Now is to their business. Unless you believe that this lack of care is just purely accidental and/or incompetence, there must be a reason. That reason has to be grounded on how valuable they see PS Now being. My theory is that they don't see much value on it and I don't blame them, as in my previous post I have exposed my scepticism about Game Streaming as a viable mass market solution.

Regarding why they are advertising PSVR, well it's a unique selling point they have against XBox and Nintendo, is it not? It's normal for marketing to pick up on USP in order to differentiate their product from the competitors.

 

[Nesh]

Exactly. It was an unique feature, not anymore, hence not a USP anymore. It might be a market where Sony does not see a large value in anymore, as more competitors show up. But then again, you are not interested in discussing the "why's", so I really don't know what else to tell you, I really don't.

It was never pushed enough even when there was no one else. What other console provides game streaming service?
It has the potential to expand beyond PS Platforms and it doesnt have a high entry cost like VR does. It is still a missed opportunity.
Never marketed or opened up enough to take off.
PS Now is not the only feature that had a similar fate.
BC is also a missed opportunity for additional revenue.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

That's precisely why I asked how relevant PS Now is to their business. Unless you believe that this lack of care is just purely accidental and/or incompetence, there must be a reason.

The reason could be lack of care though. A product that isn't backed will fade away, inevitably, and Sony have a bit of history in that regard. If Sony don't see a future in PSNow, why did they just spend considerable amounts to extend its reach across Europe? If Sony are willing to invest in infrastructure, which they are, why aren't they also backing that with strong marketing?

 

[Picao84]

What other console provides game streaming service?

I don't think the initial target users were Console users but rather users without Playstation consoles, like PC users and Smart TV users (I have at least one Sony TV where the service is available), hence, apart from Playstation exclusives, they have competitors outside the Console space.

 

[Nesh]

I don't think the initial target users were Console users but rather users without Playstation consoles, like PC users and Smart TV users (I have at least one Sony TV where the service is available), hence, apart from Playstation exclusives, they have competitors outside the Console space.

VR had competition from the beginning. Should Sony not invest in PS VR?
PS Now targets both Playstation users and non-playstation owners. The two basic platforms are currently Playstation and PC. What other streaming services do we know? If you check other streaming services they are either not like for like or no longer in existence. Sony never pushed it enough even when it was launched.
It is a peculiar decision to launch something that you never believed in. Especially one that has more potential to expand.

 

[Picao84]

The reason could be lack of care though. A product that isn't backed will fade away, inevitably, and Sony have a bit of history in that regard. If Sony don't see a future in PSNow, why did they just spend considerable amounts to extend its reach across Europe? If Sony are willing to invest in infrastructure, which they are, why aren't they also backing that with strong marketing?

That's a good question. They might be happy enough with how it is performing at the moment and fear it might cannibalise Playstation Consoles Sales if they promote it more? After all if the only thing a user might need is a dualshock controller because he already has a Bravia TV, he might not invest in a Console? Or fear that getting the user so used to Game Streaming makes it easier and much less costlier to change to a competitor, than say having to buy an XBox in addition or to replace the PS4. Brand loyalty has been very important in the Console space for years. Game Streaming might just kill that and Marketing is wary of it?

 

[Nesh]

That's a good question. They might be happy enough with how it is performing at the moment and fear it might cannibalise Playstation Consoles Sales if they promote it more? After all if the only thing a user might need is a dualshock controller because he already has a Bravia TV, he might not invest in a Console? Or fear that getting the user so used to Game Streaming makes it easier and much less costlier to change to a competitor, than say having to buy an XBox in addition or to replace the PS4. Brand loyalty has been very important in the Console space for years. Game Streaming might just kill that and Marketing is wary of it?

Then again why can I not stream my own Playstation 4 on a non-Xperia Android?

 

[Picao84]

Then again why can I not stream my own Playstation 4 on a non-Xperia Android?

The same thing that we are discussing here: Marketing. They see doing that on an Xperia Android as unique selling point of their mobile phones. That's the only reason I can see. I don't agree with it, but that's the most likely reason.

 

[Nesh]

The same thing that we are discussing here: Marketing. They see doing that on an Xperia Android as unique selling point of their mobile phones. That's the only reason I can see. I don't agree with it, but that's the most likely reason.

These are exactly the things that concern me.
Lets say what you say is the reason, it doesnt seem like a coordinated well planned effort.
Going to the official XPERIA Youtube channel PS Now and Playstation barely give any results and the most relevant results are 4 year ago.
https://www.youtube.com/user/SonyXperia/search?query=PLAYSTATION
They aren't highlighting PS Now or PS4 Streaming on XPERIA. Everyone can understand the ability to stream their PS4, but it needs to be highlighted as a unique feature on XPERIA phones to someone who already owns a PS4 in order to buy one.
They are basically limiting PS4's Switch-like functionality and the expansion of a service that can bring revenue without compensating for it.
These may be marketing tactics that do more harm than good. If it's those strategies the cause of Sony's silence or lack of effort then it is reason for concern.

 

[Picao84]

These are exactly the things that concern me.
Lets say what you say is the reason, it doesnt seem like a coordinated well planned effort.
Going to the official XPERIA Youtube channel PS Now and Playstation barely give any results and the most relevant results are 4 year ago.
https://www.youtube.com/user/SonyXperia/search?query=PLAYSTATION
They aren't highlighting PS Now or PS4 Streaming on XPERIA. Everyone can understand the ability to stream their PS4, but it needs to be highlighted as a unique feature on XPERIA phones to someone who already owns a PS4 in order to buy one.
They are basically limiting PS4's Switch-like functionality and the expansion of a service that can bring revenue without compensating for it.
These may be marketing tactics that do more harm than good. If it's those strategies the cause of Sony's silence or lack of effort then it is reason for concern.

AFAIK PS Now is not available for mobile devices? Additionally it seems the functionality was removed from Smart TVs as well? It's only available for PS4 and PC now? Ok, the only reason I can see here is that Sony might see PS Now as an extension of the PS4. In other words, they don't see it as a way to bring new gamers to the Playstation Ecosystem, but they expect that it will actually be existing Playstation users who will use the service the most. That might explain the absence of external marketing. They might expect users to find about PS Now through the Playstation Store alone.

Anyway, this is more than a marketing issue, they clearly have no idea where they want PS Now to go. Without a clear objective and strategy for it, it is no wonder there is no Marketing.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

Anyway, this is more than a marketing issue, they clearly have no idea where they want PS Now to go. Without a clear objective and strategy for it, it is no wonder there is no Marketing.

Which is the general impression some get from Sony, a lack of direction. Which you'd expect with short-term leadership changes too. We know streaming works on any device but Sony aren't extending that to PSNow. They created a mobile-specific studio (ForwardWorks) that's doing very little. I think Sony have always struggled with real identity and direction. When they get it right, like the original PlayStation, they hit it out of the park, but in between times they just drift, an idea here, an idea there, rolling stuff out but rarely committing. Like Vita - AAA games on the go...only they stopped after a few titles and left it an indie platform.

 

[iroboto]

AFAIK PS Now is not available for mobile devices? Additionally it seems the functionality was removed from Smart TVs as well? It's only available for PS4 and PC now? Ok, the only reason I can see here is that Sony might see PS Now as an extension of the PS4. In other words, they don't see it as a way to bring new gamers to the Playstation Ecosystem, but they expect that it will actually be existing Playstation users who will use the service the most. That might explain the absence of external marketing. They might expect users to find about PS Now through the Playstation Store alone.

Anyway, this is more than a marketing issue, they clearly have no idea where they want PS Now to go. Without a clear objective and strategy for it, it is no wonder there is no Marketing.

I couldn't keep up with this news either. I almost recall at a time some form of PS Now box (or dongle) being released at one point in time around the time when they announced PS Now being integrated with Samsung? TVs. I think both dropped out very quietly, but it never became a news item (as cloud had not yet become a hot topic).

I mean, not supporting cloud wasn't an issue - until it just recently became an issue with both Google and MS making large strides into that space; If that makes sense.

I mean, one thing to remember in these discussions is that you certainly don't need to be the leader of anything in games to make a healthy profit. I think cloud streaming could be where the market for gaming is expanding lucratively, which is why we're seeing such an investment.

 

[iroboto]

That's precisely why I asked how relevant PS Now is to their business. Unless you believe that this lack of care is just purely accidental and/or incompetence, there must be a reason. That reason has to be grounded on how valuable they see PS Now being. My theory is that they don't see much value on it and I don't blame them, as in my previous post I have exposed my scepticism about Game Streaming as a viable mass market solution.

Regarding why they are advertising PSVR, well it's a unique selling point they have against XBox and Nintendo, is it not? It's normal for marketing to pick up on USP in order to differentiate their product from the competitors.

There was a graph floating around the internet that showed that PSNow generates more than 50% of all subscription game service revenues. I don't know exactly what that means to Sony, but it's sizeable I suspect. The unfortunate part comes down to understanding how much profit they are making off it. It's going to require heavy investment to expand their reach.

Below may not be accurate. Of this group however, only PSNow is a streaming service. The other models are purely licensing models, so lots of profit there since the operating costs are nil. The other services included as per the bottom note can profit from in-game purchases, DLC etc which aren't reflected in this graph.

I'm very clueless on what can be done with PSNow in relation to that.

Supporting images
superdata_sub_slides-2.png
Subscribers spend twice as much on in-game content

superdata_sub_slides-3.png
Price and catalog are the most important features for a person to subscribe

 

[Xbat]

PS Now has launched in the US in 2014 and other territories in 2015. These are tiny steps and too slow.

How can it be to slow when it's the only one you can use now?

 

[iroboto]

How can it be to slow when it's the only one you can use now?

That's like playing a boardgame and only 1 player has points on the board, but not much of a hand because they've been working elsewhere. While the two other players are gathering resources like mofos for the last few turns and when they're ready they're going to drop 50+ pts over the next 2 rounds.

This happens all the time... they certainly aren't ahead of their competition if they aren't innovating new features on PSNow. All they've done is purchased a streaming service and are keeping the lights running.

 

[Xbat]

Just no. You said they going to slow which they not if they the only one on the market and like has been said they have expanded in Europe.

I'm not saying they going to compete with Microsoft and Google, infrastructure wise it will be impossible. The amount of money those two are putting into there cloud infrastructure is insane. But saying they going to slow is just wrong when they are the only game in town at the moment.

Like Picao said it's possible they didn't want to cannibalize there traditional console market or maybe because they can't support a massive amount of people with there infrastructure it would be folly to spend massive on advertising it?

I feel Sony missed or didn't have the finances to get into the big rush to develop data centers or didn't have all the ways to monetize it like Microsoft,Google and Amazon have.
In fact the only way I see them competing is if they have a partnership with AWS.

 

[MrFox]

That's like playing a boardgame and only 1 player has points on the board, but not much of a hand because they've been working elsewhere. While the two other players are gathering resources like mofos for the last few turns and when they're ready they're going to drop 50+ pts over the next 2 rounds.

This happens all the time... they certainly aren't ahead of their competition if they aren't innovating new features on PSNow. All they've done is purchased a streaming service and are keeping the lights running.

That's quite optimistic, there is no doubt sony are way ahead.

Sony did not "just bought a streaming service". They developped rack hardware with 8 ps4 per U, deployed a hybrid edge/datacenter in many countries. Linked everything together as a playstation service.

They are now preparing to deploy the ps5 upgrade. They have years of gathering real world metrics to drive the correct deployment. Which MS and google don't have because they are late in the game.

There's a few interviews with engineers who designed PSNow and there's a lot more to it than putting hardware in racks. There's a massive micro-managing of edge deployment in multiple countries making deals with large ISPs etc... It takes years of ramping up to get the right data to figure out where and how much to install nodes. Because there's no existing model to base this on yet.

MS only decided to do this after Sony's plans was shown to work. Before that they were trying to give cloud processing power to local games, which failed.

Netflix is ahead because they have years of work gathering content and figuring out how to grow. Amazon Video and Youtube Premium are not ahead despite their major advantage owning a cloud infrastructure.

 

[iroboto]

That's quite optimistic, there is no doubt sony are way ahead.

Sony did not "just bought a streaming service". They developped rack hardware with 8 ps4 per U, deployed a hybrid edge/datacenter in many countries. Linked everything together as a playstation service.

They are now preparing to deploy the ps5 upgrade. They have years of gathering real world metrics to drive the correct deployment. Which MS and google don't have because they are late in the game.

There's a few interviews with engineers who designed PSNow and there's a lot more to it than putting hardware in racks. There's a massive micro-managing of edge deployment in multiple countries making deals with large ISPs etc... It takes years of ramping up to get the right data to figure out where and how much to install nodes. Because there's no existing model to base this on yet.

MS only decided to do this after Sony's plans was shown to work. Before that they were trying to give cloud processing power to local games, which failed.

Even if that were true, the writing is on the wall. MS spends 1 Billion USD per month on data centre builds. Playstation's profit as a full company is 6B per year. It's not comparable. Google will be moving at the same pace.

How long do you expect Sony's competitive advantage to last in this space. As soon as it can no longer compete on price and catalogue their service is in jeopardy. It's much cheaper to move their PSNow service to MS or Google who are willing to dedicate the costs to build out the datacenters.

And no, I don't believe that Sony showed MS and Google how to do it. That's just plain ridiculous. I work for a telco, MS and Google, Netflix etc having been building to the edge quite a bit because they're always trying to ram their equipment into our spaces to combat latency to provide access to real time machine learning applications/streaming applications. IE. Supporting tesla and other companies looking to take advantage of it. By regulatory law, we must allow them to put their equipment into our spaces, so we have a whole team that make sure that we aren't supporting their businesses by paying for their operating costs and finding ways to divide the spaces up for cooling etc.

MS has been building edge services for some time now, and has been announced at every single Build since 2015 where their edge technologies have been helping industries change the way they work.

You guys also know that Mixer is a low latency streaming service that allows the audiences to play the game?

https://mixer.com/x_HoDi_x
Plug in your own controller and as long as the streamer enables 'share controller' the audience can take over and play the game.
https://learn.mixer.com/en-ca/mixplay