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Sony is exploring & considering reviving some of their older, unused IPs

yurinka said:
In half a dozen years under Hermen's leadership, their first party games aprox. doubled their yearly revenue vs what they had before. SIE is posting record revenue and profit, they are the opposite of being at high risk or struggling.

Bungie didn't achieve their revenue target, but that doesn't mean their revenue or profitability was awful. It means they didn't reach their forecast, which maybe was too high but doesn't mean it wasn't good enough. In US looking at Circana Marathon on its debut month got top 1 for the month in PC, top 6 of the month for PS and top 4 of the month and top 6 of the year in general. Despite being a very old game, Destiny 2 was one of the top dozen games of Steam that made more revenue of the year in 2022, 2023, and was in the top 25 to 50 range in 2024 and 2025.

That Destiny money plus the big success of Helldivers 2, MLB and Gran Turismo 7 pretty likely generated enough money to pay the budget of all the GaaS of the initiative, including the ones to be released, and the ones cancelled, shut down or not greenlighted.

Their Bungie impairment loss of >$700M doesn't mean they had $700M in loses. Means that internally in their bookings Sony decreased the value of Bungie assets for that value, because they didn't achieve their revenue targets, had delays and reduced their manpower with layoffs + moving people to Team LFG and central SIE & PS Studios teams (they recently moved to a new office so maybe there's part of that too).

Regarding Fortnite, when Jim Ryan publicly announced the GaaS initiative (that Shawn Layden and Yoshida created and started) he mentioned that they weren't trying to make a dozen Fortnites at all (both in genre and performance). That instead they were going to try to expand the multiplayer part of their first party portfolio approaching new genres and platforms with both known and new IPs, with bigger and smaller games, some being mainstream concepts and some niche or experimental ones.

Regarding GaaS initiative performance, he said that the goal of this initiative was to (in addition to growth in their non-GaaS area) double their first party revenue in five years (by March 2026), something that looking at their fiscal reports seems they already achieved a year before schedule.

Regarding the amount of games of the initiative, they're in track to release GaaS of 14 IPs, instead of the dozen originally planned (but some of them later than originally planned). Regarding cancelled or not greenlighted games, that's something always happened in all companies also with non-GaaS games since the 70s: a portion of the game ideas aren't greenlighted, and a portion of the games who start production get cancelled. That's the reason of why they started several projects more than the ones they'll end releasing as part of that initiative.

And GaaS aren't a bubble, they have been growing since the early 2000s, continue growing and nowadays represent the big majority of gaming revenue and userbase, both in gaming and in (a less extent) PlayStation in particular. Regarding Sony's commitment, they'll continue developing the ones they still have in the works (as usual maybe one or two can be cancelled) plus as long as makes financial sense they'll keep supporting the ones already released. Plus they'll continue releasing non-GaaS titles as they also have been doing these recent years.

Once they released the 12/14 planned ones of the push they'll keep the successful ones and considerably reduce the GaaS release output because already will have their needed MP/GaaS portfolio. Going forward very likely will just replace old ones (like Destiny 2) or failed ones with some new ideas.

Regarding their dead IPs, if they are dead was because back then weren't profitable to continue milking them so it didn't make business sense to continue with them. Nowadays to make games is way more expensive and they need to make way more money to be profitable, so it would be even harder to these IPs to become profitable. So that's why they continue buried, unless there's some opportunity like they having some setting/theme/genre that gets trendy, or can crosspromote it with a non-gaming adaptation and fits for some available cheap internal or external team, or something like that.
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I mostly agree. Except that the current Bungie isn't the same one PlayStation bought a few years ago. Some of its best members are now at PlayStation, others have left the company, and they've proven nothing so far. Marathon is a good game, but it's a niche title for a niche audience. Destiny 3 could be their real test.

The dead IPs are not dead because they failed to recover costs, but mostly because during the PS3 era, PlayStation decided to change focus. They wanted to create new AAA, story-driven games (and they succeeded), but they did it at the expense of their older IPs, which never sold as much (except for Gran Turismo). What they didn't get is that those B-tier IPs would have been perfect to fill the gap between two big franchises. It was fine last generation, but now it's impossible not to notice the lack of games between Sony's major releases.

PlayStation didn't just burn money chasing hype with live-service games, they also had very little else in the pipeline. So there were no games to sell, just losses. And a large portion of PS gamers is pretty clear about this generation: they hate it. That's more than mismanagement, it's ideological at this point. Bringing back those IPs could actually make sense, because it might be the only way for Sony to create quickly games with smaller teams, smaller budgets, and still generate interest from their delusional audience (I'm one of those).

But like I said, it's not the first time we've heard this from so called leaks meant to test the waters. Nintendo did something similar with the "Nintendo difference," and then came out a few years laters with the Wii, Wii Sports, Wii Fit, and Wii Music!
 
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nial said:
What a terrible example. Art of Vengeance is a modern take on the classic formula that holds extremely well to its contemporaries and would have not been possible back in the day, you're asking for a PS1 scale 3D game with outdated gameplay using an IP that holds 1/10 of the value of Shinobi. This would never pass to any single publisher.
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I'm not dying on this G-Police hill because for whatever reason you took me bringing it up as a signal it's one of the IP I'd want most to come back. But like I already said, I have no nostalgia for it.

I could easily replace G-Police with another Sony IP (and have) to support my actual point. That point being, a lot of the classic IP could work in a modern context without requiring massive budgets to make them more "palatable" to modern audiences (i.e strip them of what made them appealing in the first place & risk alienating classic fans who'd do free marketing for the game, basically).

nial said:
Bubsy 4D doesn't support your point either, in fact, adding up to my point that evolution is needed for these series to stand out. The evolution required for G-Police to work out is too expensive!
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Bubsy 4D does support my point; how many games out here are willing to have an earnest laugh at their legacy while correcting wrongs of the past (i.e going from a shitty 3D platformer to a new 3D platform that looks kinda fun)?

In fact by being something of a throwback 3D platformer a game like Bubsy 4D already stands out a lot in the modern market, I'd argue.

nial said:
I just addressed it once because it was not a good example. You've been the one too focused on it.

Probably many given how poorly received PaRappa 2 was. A modern PaRappa entry with NO evolution gameplay wise isn't anything other than a $15 PSN title.
And for the 82348943949th time, Sony has NOTHING to do with Tomba.
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A new Parappa doesn't need to completely abandon what made the original & UmJammer Lammy fun games, which are still fun games to play today and more or less hold up (aside from really strict button timings that might be too hard for modern players.

There's a right and wrong way to evolve that gameplay into something that'd be a better fit for today; the former would still clearly keep the energy of the original games present regardless of what it did. The latter would strip that away completely and husk the aesthetic to some Guitar Hero-style ripoff or marry that with a looter shooter or Soulslike.

nial said:
It does in some particular cases where outdated gameplay cannot stand out, like G-Police and PaRappa (not as dramatic, but still).
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Parappa's gameplay isn't outdated. It's simple, but you can do a lot with that to have depth & complexity, especially if you put a great scoring system in there. UmJammer Lammy was the best example of this but it could've been taken further still.

No comment on G-Police; once again, I don't have a lot of nostalgia for it or intimacy playing it in-depth.

nial said:
Sony is releasing 4 single-player games this year (without taking into account whatever could be announced this year), and 3 of them do not fit your mega-epic blockbuster stigma. And as far as GAAS goes, I don't think they're expecting Tokon to be the next Fortnite.
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Talking internally-developed single-player, they only have two coming this year. One already released: Saros. The other, Wolverine, is due Fall 2026 before GTA6.

Given how SIE kind of bungled Helldivers 2 momentum because they were so gung-ho to push out the next GAAS that ended in utter disaster (Concord), I wouldn't be surprised if they stumble on a hit in Marvel Tokon but botch it in some way (for example, maybe cutting back funding new content for Arc System Works) to try pushing 4Loop & Fairgames.

SIE have been very bad at being able to know when to ease off the gas with pumping out GAAS after GAAS, and it's hampered at least one that should've held its prominence longer than it ended up doing.

nial said:
This is what happens when you fail to address the argument and resort to gaming discourse talking points when they have nothing to do with the topic at hand.
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???

nial said:
I did not need to see your point, I already know what I want from them. You just chose a terrible quick example because it undermines what we should ask for and what the market can actually support (answer, not an outdated PS1 era game or a risky mega blockbuster using an unknown IP).
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So you're just going to conveniently ignore all of the other examples I gave of IP I actually care about to some degree, just to focus on the throwaway one? Did you ever stop to think I was baiting you with that?

nial said:
I know, but the author generally seems to be supportive on the idea.
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I'm sure they are. More people know of Crime Crackers from the games than the manga itself. Maybe that has changed in recent years tho, I dunno.

nial said:
It goes against your claim that all he leaks is from the YouTube backend.
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Okay. Most of them.

laynelane said:
I clicked due to the title of this thread and then immediately lost interest when I saw it was yet another "leaker". "There is truth to Sony..." - anyone could say that about anything. It's so vague and non-committal. Agreed about being over this nonsense too. It's a tiresome charade performed for clout by the majority of these people. The only good thing about this particular case is it's been fun to read what IPs people like and wish would come back.
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We've been dealing with rumors of this ilk one way or another for a few years now, but there's been little of nothing to show for them. Like you alluded to, these types of talks are probably happening regularly. But is this rumor just more "talks are happening", or is there some actual movement happening to back up that talk?

How far along are things in that regard if something's happening? At least I could make more sense of these rumors if an official announcement/reveal were a few months away, but the way the wording here is structured, it still sounds like we are years away from any official word at earliest. So, why put these rumors out there so early? Just to get the fanbase to get high off hopium for years and risk having their hopes deflated when/if the rumor gets ghosted?

I know people are desperate for this stuff to be true. Hell, I am too to a degree. But is it really that hard for folks to just wait for anything official before boarding the hype train?
 
CGNoire said:
Soul Reaver
Jet Moto
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Soul Reaver is Crystal Dynamics IIRC, meaning basically Eidos, meaning basically Embracer ('member them?).

A new throwback AA-tier Jet Moto would be cool tho. Even scaling up some areas of production values for obvious reasons, you could reasonably keep the budget well below $30 million, even $25 million. Just be smart with your financing, cut out the "consultancy" agencies, the Hollywood people, don't go overboard with product placement (i.e a whole bunch of separate companies) etc.

yogaflame said:
I hope and pray this is a good sign
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It'd be a better sign if he rejoined in a significant capacity or at least stayed on as a leading consultant.
 
thicc_girls_are_teh_best said:
Soul Reaver is Crystal Dynamics IIRC, meaning basically Eidos, meaning basically Embracer ('member them?).

A new throwback AA-tier Jet Moto would be cool tho. Even scaling up some areas of production values for obvious reasons, you could reasonably keep the budget well below $30 million, even $25 million. Just be smart with your financing, cut out the "consultancy" agencies, the Hollywood people, don't go overboard with product placement (i.e a whole bunch of separate companies) etc.



It'd be a better sign if he rejoined in a significant capacity or at least stayed on as a leading consultant.
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The best for me is put him in charge of Sony japan studio if that label will be revive.
 
Imagine a new stealth game like Syphon Filter in the current days...

Bring back

Syphon Filter (Bend)
The Getaway (RIP London studio)
Sly (Sucker Punch)
Jak & Daxter (ND)
 
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Panajev2001a said:
Given the position they were in, advantageous compared to
The competition, could they have done better? Have they set things up things well for PS6 or coasted on a previously kicked off wave?
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For Sony this generation -which still hasn't finished got their top grossing one, and more profitable than the other ones combined, and increased their market share (when also counting Nintendo, who has been breaking many records too) from 45% to 55% and got the highest active userbase ever for any console brand in gaming history.

Regarding MS they could have done it better, yes. But like many other ones before are moving away from home console maker business because got destroyed by PS.

The previous one doing so, Nintendo, had a great result moving their home console stuff to their portable system, where they have been dominating and setting new records. I don't think Nintendo could have done it better.

Yes, Sony could have done it better, and would have achieved it if they wouldn't have to face so many challenges: covid / bitcoin miners boom / EVs market boom / Russian market getting blocked / AI datacenters boom / US tariffs / US & Israel attacks to Iran causing to block Ormuz, general huge inflation caused reduction of availability and price increase of components, which meant periods of not being able to produce and sell as much units as desired and having to increase prices of the console across the generation instead of being able to reduce its price over time, as happened in previous generations.

In addition to this the industry had a period of big consolidation, with among others their direct rival acquiring Activision Blizzard and Bethesda and giving away AAA games day one dificulting competition. At the same time Nintendo kept breaking records in the portable side, and in PC Steam kept growing.

Despite everything, Sony overcame all this and kept improving all their metrics achieving record numbers and grew not only in PS, but also setting new records highly expanding their performance in accesories, off-PS first party games (mainly PC, helping double first party revenue) or movie/tv show/anime adaptations.

Sure, there are many things that Sony could have done better even in the conditions they had/have to face, like some acquisitions or some games that didn't work (even if it's normal that a portion of developments fail, and not all acquisitions are successful), or their wokism / DEI focus issue that made them lose many fans, talented devs and highly successful IP.

I personally would have prefered to see them doing other things, like avoiding the wokism/DEI think and focus on certain IPs and characters I love (some of which would have performed better than what they did, but other IPs I love are dead because of business reasons), to improve the store helping visibility for indies better curating for each customer what is shown, and to make easier for indies to publish on PS, outside PS I'd have released Sony games only in their own Sony PC store and minimum 2 years after the PS release, I'd have licensed IP usage -particularly those who don't have potential to be profitable with AAA games today- to a few curated top tier external small top quality indies (not the ones who did GOW Sons of Sparta) but if we look at the objective metrics they did a stunning job despite all the huge challenges they faced. In many areas they're post the best numbers ever for any console brand in gaming history.

Regarding PS6, in almost all areas they are in a pretty long multi year growing trend, so the logical forecast is to expect them to continue growing: more hardware revenue, more software revenue particularly from addons but also from a digital full game sales and game sub revenue increase, accesories increase, off-PS first party revenue increase, off-gaming adaptations increase. Physical game sales is one of the handful metrics that kept decreasing (in general, not only in PS) as people moves their purchases from physical to digital, but this is something they can't fight. Same goes with game revenue moving from full game sales to addons (or from non-GaaS to GaaS), it will continue shifting as happened/is happening in all platforms and they can't stop it.

In the first party side they'll have a bigger and more talented selection of teams than they had when they were going to start PS5 or PS4 (IMO Bungie+Housemarque+Firesprite+Nixxes > London+Manchester+Pixel Opus). Many of them having now bigger teams and being working on more games at the same time. They have stunning tech and engines in the works that will take a few years but will blow us away. I'm not talking about PS6 stuff, but things that PS5 allowed but required a lot of work and won't be seen in published games until maybe a year or two.

I think the main challenge for PS6 will be these economics things they couldn't control in the PS5 gen: countries with huge inflation and debt with their economy and currencies about to collapse, the old western economical elite prefering to destroy the world than to allowing BRICS to become the new hegemon causing wars and poorness in the countries they control plus maybe even eventually throwing nukes, price increases of components and shipments caused by things like oil prices skyrocketing due to these people and their wars and piracy to loot key resources, but also to something that I think will be the next big tech stuff after the AI boom: robots becoming mainstream. I think all this may cause a too high increase of components skyrocketing console and PC gaming hardware. I think these will be their main headaches, not PC (Steam, Xbox) or portables (Nintendo).

TheRaidenPT said:
Imagine a new stealth game like Syphon Filter in the current days...

Bring back

Syphon Filter (Bend)
The Getaway (RIP London studio)
Sly (Sucker Punch)
Jak & Daxter (ND)
Click to expand...
Out of these I'd bring back Syphon Filter, but making that Physint is secretly a MGS-esque Syphon Filter reboot, secretly codeveloped by Bend, who would be in charge of sequels once Kojima retires.

I also want (these one would sell a lot):
  • Uncharted 5: Nate as protagonist, not Uncharted Ladies 2
  • Uncharted Nathan Drake Collection remade
  • TLOU 3: flashback focused with Ellie and Tommy telling together estories they had with Joel, who would be the main protagonist
  • Ghost of Tsushima 2 (Jin Sakai as protagonist, direct sequel with the 2nd invasion)
  • Days Gone 2
And I also want (these pretty likely never won't happen because may not sell enough:
  • Wipeout: new game that remakes ALL the circuits, vehicles, game modes and music tracks of ALL the previous games plus adds new ones, made by Firesprite (ex-Liverpool Studio) + Sega
  • Motorstorm: same, made by Firesprite (ex-Evolution) + Sega
  • Killzone Reborn: Killzone 1+2+3+Liberation+Mercenary+Shadowfall remade, each one being a chapter of a single optionally coop FPS (including Liberation) campaign. Codeveloped by Guerrilla, Bungie and People Can Fly
  • New Parappa sequel: give it to some crazy small indie very passionate about the game that nails the vibe
  • New Loco Roco sequel: either made by a small team at Team Asobi, or license it to some small indie, or leave it to some darling (not F2P) mobile gaming studio like Nitrome
  • Gravity Rush 3 by Bokeh + XDEV Japan + all the usual support teams who work for Sony
 
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