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[Draugoth]

• Newly leaked PlayStation data has revealed that PS5 users spent more time playing single-player offline titles than others.
• The multiplayer online and F2P titles appeared to be leagues behind in the charts as of January 2023.
• The charts reveal a slew of other notable details. PS5 users had a lower initial engagement ramp up rate than PS4 users.

One particular slide breaks down the total gameplay hours by the collective PS5 userbase month-by-month, and as per that slide, every month since the console launched, its user base has spent the majority of its time player single player games, generally accounting for more than 50% of the playtime for the month- and often much more than that, like in December 2022, when out of a total of 1.6 billion gameplay hours, 59% were spent in single player games, 20% in free-to-play multiplayer titles, and 21% in multiplayer titles for which a PlayStation Plus subscription is required.

 

[VitoNotVito]

But Jimmy wanted to push GAAS? Why?

 

[HeisenbergFX4]

I mean its mainly what I want from PS, the big boy blockbuster AAA single player experiences

But the shift towards GAAS makes me wonder where the next major single player game is at

 

[King Dazzar]

Hey does everyone remember ages ago when that EA git said single player games were dead... Great to see loads of people continuing enjoying the single player stuff.

 

[Dazraell]

 

[The Sum of Zero]

Sounds about right. Most of my single player games I play on PS5, most of my multiplayer stuff I play on Xbox.

 

[GHG]

But Jimmy wanted to push GAAS? Why?

 

[T4keD0wN]

 

[King Dazzar]

 

[thicc_girls_are_teh_best]

This data is from January 2023 AFAIK.

But Jimmy wanted to push GAAS? Why?

Even tho more time is spent playing single-player games, people can still spend more money on GaaS content as a whole, on a per-title basis, while spending less time playing it than a single-player game.

Because most GaaS titles allow for quick gaming sessions; meanwhile when you're settling in for a single-player experience you're probably spending at least 2-3 hours each session playing. So from that perspective, I can understand to some degree the GaaS push from SIE/Jim Ryan.

That said, they were definitely too bullish on it too quickly, and could've done things better with a balance of 1P traditional AAA, traditional AA, 1P GaaS and 3P traditional/GaaS exclusives. And prioritizing IP like MLB The Show for mobile earlier (probably with a F2P model).

The overtly bullish GaaS push and PC porting strategy are probably the biggest shortcomings of the Jim Ryan era, in retrospect. The ideas themselves weren't bad (he didn't even start the PC ports for example, that was under Shawn Layden), but SIE should've been more measured and less contentious (in terms of any conflicts with the main audience on console) on both fronts.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

The key thing is which types of games make more money.

Maybe SP gamers do play a lot more. But if they arent spending much money aside from the initial purchase, the game studios will freak at limited revenue. While casual gamers messing with COD and Fortnite and FIFA might be buying mtx every week.

 

[Bernardougf]

I mean its mainly what I want from PS, the big boy blockbuster AAA single player experiences

But the shift towards GAAS makes me wonder where the next major single player game is at

Not in 2024 it seems ... I still think this "retirement" of Jimbo was not the whole story... but who knows

 

[thicc_girls_are_teh_best]

The key thing is which types of games make more money.

Maybe SP gamers do play a lot more. But if they arent spending much money aside from the initial purchase, the game studios will freak at limited revenue. While casual gamers messing with COD and Fortnite and FIFA might be buying mtx every week.

Yep, that's basically why Sony (among others) were pursuing GaaS so fervently. It's about the revenue, not player engagement, in this case. Someone can buy a game like Horizon on sale for $30 - $40 and play it for many dozens of hours...they can also buy $150 worth of MTX in Fortnite and play a total of maybe 5 hours in the same span of time they spend playing Horizon.

Guess which one would have generated more revenue ARPU-wise, tho? Not Horizon. That's why companies like Sony have been looking at expanding into GaaS...though I think in Sony's case the original plans were too aggressive and needed culling & adjustments (which seems like they've been made, or are in the process of being made).

 

[Salmon]

 

[ReBurn]

But Jimmy wanted to push GAAS? Why?

Probably because people spend more money on online multiplayer games.

 

[Bartski]

 

[NeonDelta]

Good. Can’t stand multiplayer games

 

[Barakov]

Jimmy followed the smell of those greenbacks all the way to retirement.

 

[Klosshufvud]

Sad to see Sony mindlessly chase trends instead of playing to their strengths and setting the trends.

 

[Fake]

Shocking.

 

[AV]

The platform that prides itself on massive Hollywood single player experiences?

 

[DaciaJC]

Yeah, locking online functionality behind a bullshit paywall will have that effect.

 

[ShadyAcshuns]

Hasn't that mostly been the case through the gens for PlayStation? The whole franchise was built on solid sp titles.

 

[Men_in_Boxes]

Extremely skeptical of this data.

 

[Danjin44]

SP games are the only type of games I play......my best moments in gaming is in SP games.

 

[Skifi28]

Faith in gaming restored.

 

[Danjin44]

Extremely skeptical of this data.

 

[Loomy]

But Jimmy wanted to push GAAS? Why?

So he could afford to keep making those single player games.

 

[mckmas8808]

The key thing is which types of games make more money.

Maybe SP gamers do play a lot more. But if they arent spending much money aside from the initial purchase, the game studios will freak at limited revenue. While casual gamers messing with COD and Fortnite and FIFA might be buying mtx every week.

But how many of those games can coexist?

 

[Shin-Ra]

 

[Thick Thighs Save Lives]

Extremely skeptical of this data.

The data is from this leaked presentation I've posted here: https://www.neogaf.com/threads/inso...th-—-february-2023-full-presentation.1665772/

 

[Loomy]

But how many of those games can coexist?

As many as there are good ones.

Rocket League, Fortnite, Genshin, Honkai, LoL, WoW, FF14, ESO, Sea of Thieves, NMS, Apex, Destiny, Finals, Warzone, R6S, GTA Online, etc.

There's a ton right now that are doing moderately well to very well. They don't all need to be Fortnite level successful. They just need to be good enough and engaging enough to keep people playing.

 

[mckmas8808]

Probably because people spend more money on online multiplayer games.

Extremely skeptical of this data.

Denial?

 

[nial]

I remember when Jim said that their big AAA blockbuster games will continue to carry their platform, and Twitter was in full rage mode.

 

[Thick Thighs Save Lives]

For easier read lol.

 

[Guilty_AI]

Extremely skeptical of this data.

 

[FIREKNIGHT2029]

Sounds right. I spend most of my time on SP games on my PS5 and most people on my friends list do the same as well. Yea, we still hop on multiplayer games but not as much as we spend in our SP games. Multiplayer games individually may be the most popular but overall I have no doubt single player is the most popular by a large margin. Sony built their fanbase on single player games so it’s only right SP is popular on the platform.

 

[Saber]

If true thats good news in my book.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

Its also important for console makers to drive online gaming. Not just for the endless mtx that can can come from it, right off the bat there's the monthly or annual sub fee they get from online gamers.

 

[Men_in_Boxes]

The data is from this leaked presentation I've posted here: https://www.neogaf.com/threads/insomniac-leaks-business-update-ps4-ps5-platform-health-—-february-2023-full-presentation.1665772/

It still seems fishy considering how the top played PlayStation games every month are GAAS titles.

 

[mrcroket]

But Jimmy wanted to push GAAS? Why?

Possibly because a successful GAAS game generates much more money.

 

[Duchess]

I've never been able to get into multiplayer online gaming.

I tried it a few times, but never got past a couple of matches before deciding I've seen it all, and returning to single player games.

Maybe I'm too old school? First game I ever finished was Fire Ant, back on the Plus 4, so it wasn't really until 2007 that I first tried online gaming.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

I've never been able to get into multiplayer online gaming.

I tried it a few times, but never got past a couple of matches before deciding I've seen it all, and returning to single player games.

Maybe I'm too old school? First game I ever finished was Fire Ant, back on the Plus 4, so it wasn't really until 2007 that I first tried online gaming.

For me, online gaming is something you got to put in time at whichever game you play.

I guess some people dont care and they just randomly join matches at any time and dont care if they are a noob or not. They probably hope matchmaking puts them in a lobby that fits them. For me, always jump into COD during launch because it's important to learn maps and level up fast. But for the COD games I didn't give a shit about (Ghosts, AW and Infinite) I never bothered playing those games aside from a handful of matches because I didnt feel like grinding it out 4 months after launch when shit loads of people are already good at it.

 

[Killjoy-NL]

But Jimmy wanted to push GAAS? Why?

To increase revenue because development costs are increasing.

How many major titles did Sony release the past 5 years each year?

 

[Gamer_By_Proxy]

I hardly touch MP at all and when I do it's usually a VR game. I might not renew PS+ at all once my Premium stacking expires.

 

[The artful mincer]

It still seems fishy considering how the top played PlayStation games every month are GAAS titles.

Like I said to you in the other thread tip of the iceberg.

The Top 10 games on steam only account for 10% of the total player base.

 

[The artful mincer]

Denial?

It is definitely true that add on content is generating more revenue than game purchases.

BUT the question is who is getting that revenue.... Let's be real it's Fortnite!

 

[Three]

It still seems fishy considering how the top played PlayStation games every month are GAAS titles.

You can spend 1000 hours playing 5 single player games and 210hrs playing a single multiplayer game. In fact this would be pretty normal. People gravitate towards a very small handful of popular multiplayer games but play a lot of shorter singleplayer games.

 

[Jigsaah]

I played mostly all single player games on my PS4. This checks out. Multiplayer was Xbox...now it's PC for both.

 

[Ozriel]

But Jimmy wanted to push GAAS? Why?

Because these charts aren’t about revenue.