From what I understand, focus on AAA means focus on just 3-4 studios over at Sony. ND, SSM, SP and Insomaniac. Apparently, Days Gone and Death Stranding arent considered AAA by them, and they dont feel like they need to invest in them. and thats what I have an issue with.
Sony seems to have turned into a third party publisher twiddling their thumbs wasting years while they reject pitches and make AAA studios do support work. sony bend's next game should have been greenlit BEFORE they shipped Days Gone. good execs should know if a game is good and deserves a sequel or not. thats what they used to do back in the day. uncharted sold 111k copies in its first month and yet by january they had already announced ND was working on U2. ratchet sold 79k and insomniac had a sequel out in 2 years.
but the new sony is like no lets wait to see profits. thats not the point of first party studios and first party games. and thats what I got from Jason's article.