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PlayStation Allegedly Scaling Back Live Service Focus After Recent Layoffs

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Draugoth

Gold Member
playstation-studios.jpg

Via: https://tech4gamers.com/sony-reversing-gaas-push/

According to a new report, PlayStation is backtracking on its decision to push for live service games.

ResetEra user Head on the Block has revealed that Sony is teaming up with the likes of Sega and Bandai Namco. The user believes this will allow PlayStation to revive classic IPs as it moves away from live service.

It is important to note that this report is not officially confirmed. PlayStation had planned to become a major part of this market by 2026, so a sudden shift may appear a bit strange.

However, recent live service reveals like Concord and Fairgame$ have received a lukewarm reception. The gaming giant has also seen a number of layoffs at different studios, including Visual Arts, Naughty Dog, and Media Molecule.
 

cireza

Member
Their studios work with Microsoft
This is just as much a waste of time, but these are Western studio so who cares.

However wasting internal Japanese resources that could work on the next Skies of Arcadia, Crazy Taxi or Jet Set Radio to instead work on Wipeout ? This would be a complete waste.
 

SlimySnake

Flashless at the Golden Globes
If this is true, looks like the execs taking over from Jim Ryan are calling the shots and going in a new direction even if he's still there till 2024.

I dont see how Jimbo is suddenly doing a 180 on his own strategy six months before he leaves.
Looks like Jimbo was fired/forced to resign after multiple failed GaaS games. Factions wasnt the only one. he invested in that ex-treyarch studio that ended up laying off 50% of its studio without ever showing the game sony paid for 3 years ago. That game is likely just as dead as Factions.

Then you have GG doing horizon online which we havent seen despite them hiring mp directors from Rainbow six some 4 years ago. Insomniac was doing some marvel trash online gaas game that was probably canned after the poor reception of suicide squad at a Playstaiton State of Play that all but killed the game even if it gets released some day. My guess is that the tide started turning then. The vitroil for the gaas elements of that game were so intense that everyone probably looked at that and said we are next if we show our gaas game.
 

Fake

Member
Wasting so much money into GaaS and not worthy remake/remaster after losing all those precious CoD easy money maybe have this effect.

Let the Playstation brand back to what used to be.
 
Wasting so much money into GaaS and not worthy remake/remaster after losing all those precious CoD easy money maybe have this effect.

Let the Playstation brand back to what used to be.

It won't survive without consistent new revenue streams. That's reality.
 

Saber

Member
Probably people inside with common sense noted that they were forcing too much of players hand with GaaS garbage(might even explain Ryan leaving). Thats good news in my book if true. Even more so if this means cancelation of that soycuck game.
 
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MoreJRPG

Suffers from extreme PDS
So anyone can just post a random rumor on the internet and someone writes an article about it? I guess when your url is "tech4gamers" you do anything for a click.
 
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Nintendo must be dead so.

Call me when Nintendo spend $200 million on a single title. Call me when Nintendo run a cloud gaming network. Call me when Nintendo release games with high production values.

Great games, but cheaper. The PlayStation userbase wouldn't countenance their main games looking like Nintendo games.

Think before you post.

Profit margins are thinner for PlayStation. They have a ton of revenue but most is spent on operating costs.
 
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Fake

Member
Call me when Nintendo spend $200 million on a single title.

Thats the point lmao. No one is asking for Sony to make every game being so much expensive to make.

Was a middle ground in between when big IPs take all those time, little projects got release to soft all this time wainting for them to come.

In other words, making cheap games while their big is in production. Remember that time? Sony is gonna back there unless they want those photorealistic games to keep existing.
 
Thats the point lmao. No one is asking for Sony to make every game being so much expensive to make.

Was a middle ground in between when big IPs take all those time, little projects got release to soft all this time wainting for them to come.

In other words, making cheap games while their big is in production. Remember that time? Sony is gonna back there unless they want those photorealistic games to keep existing.

Those little games didn't make money. All they did was divert resources and money from the games that did make money.

So your plan for Sony's need to grow financially is to make more bombs or waste time? Gotcha.

Puppeteer and Tokyo Jungle for all!
 

Fake

Member
Those little games didn't make money. All they did was divert resources and money from the games that did make money.

So your plan for Sony's need to grow financially is to make more bombs or waste time? Gotcha.

Puppeteer and Tokyo Jungle for all!

You guys are so out of line. Most of them wasn't to make 'money', but to push people into buying their system mind you.

Bloodborne is not even a great seller, but made me buy PS4 in the first place.


All you guys care is money, jez. There are games with low cost that can still be good to push the brand.
 

Sanepar

Member
PS have no leadership now and doesn't know where they are going. If they didn't bring any fp next year from their studios and left 2 years with only Spiderman 2. Their situation will get worse.
 
They should have just stuck to their single player blockbuster formula. From the beginning it looked to me like they wanted a piece of the GaaS pie, just like they wanted a piece of the subscription service and PC releases pie. Or maybe they just thought interest in single player games would be dead by now, which we've seen is not happening any time soon.

They already have a GaaS in Gran Turismo, they could have made a new Killzone and make it a GaaS and it would have fit that model pretty well. Same with SOCOM (make it a Rainbow Six Siege style game and you're set) while letting the rest of your studios do whatever they wanted to do. Remember what happened the last time they let Naughty Dog, Insomniac, Sucker Punch and Guerilla make the game they wanted to make? they created new successful and acclaimed franchises that made people want to buy a PlayStation.
 

dotnotbot

Member
Maybe they saw how Starfield turned out, how Diablo 4 lost majority of players after release, how Microsoft was forced to throw 10 year deals left and right and decided there's nothing to worry about anymore
 
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Man, Japan Sony needs to step in and remind Sony execs of the policy of ABAP.

I mean, I'm assuming Sony Japan didn't run with the GAAS stuff and it was Western group-think that led to it.

Either way, Sony needs to wake the F up because what they're doing now definitely ain't ballin'.
 

gerth666

Member
If true, fantastic news. I can understand them trying create new revenue streams by creating a successful gaas, but it feels like they are doing it to the detriment of their core single player games, and as a offline single game player it pissed me off. They have a lot of teams with large numbers of personnel, a good idea I think would be to create smaller AA games in-between working on their AAA blockbusters. Something you can dedicate a small team to. This way you generate new cash in-between the big games
 

StreetsofBeige

Gold Member
Looks like Jimbo was fired/forced to resign after multiple failed GaaS games. Factions wasnt the only one. he invested in that ex-treyarch studio that ended up laying off 50% of its studio without ever showing the game sony paid for 3 years ago. That game is likely just as dead as Factions.

Then you have GG doing horizon online which we havent seen despite them hiring mp directors from Rainbow six some 4 years ago. Insomniac was doing some marvel trash online gaas game that was probably canned after the poor reception of suicide squad at a Playstaiton State of Play that all but killed the game even if it gets released some day. My guess is that the tide started turning then. The vitroil for the gaas elements of that game were so intense that everyone probably looked at that and said we are next if we show our gaas game.
Given Sony's track record with big budget SP games and the fact they make $2 billion profit per year from their gaming division ($3 billion per year during covid), they got shit loads of money to make more high quality SP games. Even the ones that dont sell great (according to their standards like DG and Ghosts still sell like 8-10M copies).

If a AAA SP game takes 5 years to make and $200M costs, that's only $40M per year. They make $2B profit per year from gaming alone.

Then when the game launches, rake in the sales. The industry is skewing a bit more and more to digital too every year so that means they rake it all in. SP games are front loaded too, so a lot of sales will be full price. Unless Sony makes a real clunker, it'll for sure be profitable.

Problem with many big corporations is they often gun for big sales. They dont want to dick around with smaller sales because they think it's a waste of time or looks bad image wise. Who cares. As long youve got some people to make it and its a good product that makes some profit, do it.

Every major car ompany makes their share of bottom, mid, top tier cars. And likely also make SUVs or pick ups too. Its a wide net. But out of all those vehicles only some models will be the big sales. Many will sell meh, but as long as you make some profit, it's worth it.

I dont know how many product my company sells, but add it up globally there's got to be 1,000s. it's not like we say hey lets all funnel R&D to certain brands. Weve got so many brands and products to cater to everyone, including the hassle of shipping, manufacturing, refunds, broken pallets etc.... if our kinds of companies can figure it out tech companies should too. Not every product line has to be a billion dollar brand.
 
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Kataploom

Gold Member
Is it really "layoffs" or an actual mass exodus? If the report is true, then Jim Ryan hyper focus on GaaS put PS in a difficult situation, and it probably has been so for a couple of years at least since we're seeing the results of it now.
 

Killjoy-NL

Member
And thus, many Gaffers can go to bed safely, knowing nothing was lost.

Sony will still need GaaS. And I wonder if this means less focus on GaaS, or less GamePass-like developments.

Because lukewarm reception of GaaS wouldn't make sense whatsoever.
 

lh032

I cry about Xbox and hate PlayStation.
Thats the point lmao. No one is asking for Sony to make every game being so much expensive to make.

Was a middle ground in between when big IPs take all those time, little projects got release to soft all this time wainting for them to come.

In other words, making cheap games while their big is in production. Remember that time? Sony is gonna back there unless they want those photorealistic games to keep existing.
problem is consumer who buys a playstation console expect high fidelity games while have different expectation when they buy a switch.

Different segment of consumers here.
 

SlimySnake

Flashless at the Golden Globes
Given Sony's track record with big budget SP games and the fact they make $2 billion profit per year from their gaming division ($3 billion per year during covid), they got shit loads of money to make more high quality SP games. Even the ones that dont sell great (according to their standards like DG and Ghosts still sell like 8-10M copies).

If a AAA SP game takes 5 years to make and $200M costs, that's only $40M per year. They make $2B profit per year from gaming alone.

Then when the game launches, rake in the sales. The industry is skewing a bit more and more to digital too every year so that means they rake it all in. SP games are front loaded too, so a lot of sales will be full price. Unless Sony makes a real clunker, it'll for sure be profitable.

Problem with many big corporations is they often gun for big sales. They dont want to dick around with smaller sales because they think it's a waste of time or looks bad image wise. Who cares. As long youve got some people to make it and its a good product that makes some profit, do it.

Every major car ompany makes their share of bottom, mid, top tier cars. And likely also make SUVs or pick ups too. Its a wide net. But out of all those vehicles only some models will be the big sales. Many will sell meh, but as long as you make some profit, it's worth it.

I dont know how many product my company sells, but add it up globally there's got to be 1,000s. it's not like we say hey lets all funnel R&D to certain brands. Weve got so many brands and products to cater to everyone, including the hassle of shipping, manufacturing, refunds, broken pallets etc.... if our kinds of companies can figure it out tech companies should too. Not every product line has to be a billion dollar brand.
I don’t know where i read this. Maybe it was you who told me but porsche’s best selling and most profitable car is their suv when they released it for a different market than millionaires and billionaires who could afford the 911 Carreras. So yeah, putting all their eggs in one basket is dumb. I wanted them to make multiplayer games but 12 in 3 years and at the expense of single player games? Fuck no.

I think they need to focus on getting games out faster. Not everything needs to be 50 hours long. Make more games like Spider-Man 2. They will sell regardless of how long they are. That way even their aaa games can come out faster at b game budgets.
 
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