We also need fresh IP. It forces creative demands that often require new technology. New ambitions.
It's all too tempting to rest on your laurels if you're Naughty Dog and you've made The Last of US and it's been a critical success. Your legacy characters were hand made, crafted from imagination, so there's no incentive really to explore new advancements in face scanning and performance capture. Hand animation has worked for you, so you think you're good. And when the road map involves recycling the same two games over and over again, there's very little room for innovation. Stagnation sets in.
Same with Santa Monica. They got away with rebooting the IP, which offered the vaneer of a new IP, but that gave the cover to ship a late cross-gen game recycled the same characters. Kratos is still Kratos. He doesn't push the visual any further.
New characters are more dense with detail and geometry. They use new materials. That's what a new IP forces creatively.
Meanwhile, hungrier studies seeking success are willing to make bold choices that help them stand out. They'll go all in on Unreal Engine 5 . . . and completely bypass Sony Studios.
I hope Naughty Dog reveals a new IP this summer and makes my post look completely stupid.
I hear Santa Monica is doing another God of War game.
ND, SSM, Bend and Bluepoint are all doing new IPs.
The problem is that mismanagement. Cory rebooted GOW in 4 years. And by rebooted i mean, redesigned the combat system, the level design, the boss battles, the actual setting, new story, new boy. everything planned and completed in 4 years. its been 6 fucking years since he started making his new IP and its still not been revealed. even if they show it at e3, it would still point to severe mismanagement of arguably their most talented director. Instead of investing hundreds of millions if not billions in gaas studios, give this guy a full team of 200 like you did in 2014.
Neil and Bruce made TLOU in 3.5 years. Again, new ip, new combat system, new setting, new genre, new story, and got it all done and released in 3.5 years. Meanwhile, its been close to 4 years since they shipped TLOU2 and we still havent seen what this new IP is. it is likely 2-3 years away. Even though they are 2-3x bigger than they were back in 2013. And why? Because Sony had them maknig factions, making remakes, and sent their studio head, and creative director to canada to make a tv show for HBO for two years. Im sorry but thats poor management.
Bend was somehow even worse. Instead of making Days Gone 2 immediately, they forced out the creative director 2 days after launch. Then forced the game director to pitch the sequel despite the game selling 7.5 million copies. Then rejected the pitch, forced that director out, took on an uncharted spinoff then wasted a year on it before cancelling that after ND kept interfering. And finally starting a new IP 2 years after they shipped Days Gone. Their director who now works at Crystal Dynamics said that he wouldve had the sequel out in 4 years. Yet here we are 5 years later, and all they ahve to show for is a logo.
They will also be at E3 in some form with a new IP, but it wouldnt make you wrong. Sony of the PS3 and PS4 gen is long gone, and not just because key talent left, but also because of dumb management decisions.
GG is remaking Horizon 1. If thats not poor management, i dont know what is.
Out of all these studios, only one i dont blame is Bluepoint. They ported demon souls in just 2 years and 8 months, and have gone radio silent the last 3 years and 6 months. but they are a small studio of 80 devs making a new IP for the first time. These big 400 person studios overextending themselves with remakes, multiplayer games, 50-100 hour snoozefests, and tv shows are the reason why we are seeing such a dry spell from arguably the greatest first party studios of the last 20 years.
