Will Sony become third party publisher?
- Thread starter Spyxos
- Start date
Cakeboxer
Member
Porting to pc is not 3rd party. They just don't have exclusive games anymore.
DaciaJC
Gold Member
They don't need to be when the porting costs are a drop in the bucket: the data leaks from Insomniac showed the ROI for practically every listed port to be in the high hundreds, sometimes exceeding 1000 percent. You'd be laughed out of the shareholder's meeting for suggesting that Sony cut off that revenue stream out of some delusion that millions of PC gamers would suddenly feel compelled to drop $500+ on a secondary system for a handful of exclusives.
ProtoByte
Weeb Underling
At what cost? We know what the cost is as far as Xbox is concerned.
You mean precisely as all consoles functioned 10 years ago including Xbox?? Yeah, I'd be laughed out of the meeting.
Last edited:
FoxMcChief
Gold Member
But the "Sony too" vibes are real!
![L*][*N*K](/data/avatars/m/842/842515.jpg?1750247637){kind=avatar}
Black_Stride
do not tempt fate do not contrain Wonder Woman's thighs do not do not
As long as they keep releasing on PC I dont really care.
Im probably never buying a Sony console again.
Im probably never buying a Sony console again.
HerjansEagleFeeder
Member
What is the demographic structure of Nintendos global user base like?
Edit: According to this source, there's a whole generation coming after Z that didn't have any meaningful exposure to Nintendo IP: https://www.shacknews.com/article/1...es-switch-age-demographic-data-for-first-time
Last edited:
Mattyp
Not the YouTuber
They already are third party, they already release their games on a Microsoft based platform.
If it was said Sony would port their games to PC several years ago you would have been laughed at, now it doesn't count as third party. It's exactly third party, they loose a percentage of the share to sell on a third party store front on a platform they don't release or control of course its third party.
Will they release on Xbox? They need to release same games on PS5 first then we'll worry about that.
If it was said Sony would port their games to PC several years ago you would have been laughed at, now it doesn't count as third party. It's exactly third party, they loose a percentage of the share to sell on a third party store front on a platform they don't release or control of course its third party.
Will they release on Xbox? They need to release same games on PS5 first then we'll worry about that.
twilo99
Member
They are.
Puscifer
Member
Hey I enjoy their ports and whatnot but this would be suicide, we saw what happened to xbox
ChorizoPicozo
Member
about, after.
parents buy the Switch because is the cheapest and safer option.
Pokémon cartoons, the Mario movie made 1B at the box office/ Universal's super Nintendo world
I don't know how, but Nintendo is kind of like Disney: parents will indoctrinate their children to follow the Nintendo cult
DaciaJC
Gold Member
Do we now? Please, then, by all means: present the data delineating exactly how much of Xbox's fall in marketshare can be attributed to its multiplatform approach vs. its focus on Gamepass vs. the dearth of compelling, high-quality games vs. its bland hardware offerings. I'm very curious to see the source for your numbers.
Indeed you would, since you - in contrast to most everyone else - fail to recognize that Sony's motivation for pursuing PC ports in the first place was, to use Shawn Layden's words, "We need to go to where they are... Because they've decided not to come to my house, so I've got to go their house now."
Ultra Donny
Member
But hardware is the thing they do good and make profit of. It's more relevant to ask if they will keep funding games since Microsoft is third party. I would say it's a good alternative to pc for people how don't want to invest to get the best possible performance. People compare Sony to Apple I would compare I PlayStation to sonos instead. Not the most affordable alternative but easy to use for the casual audience with relative good performance.
Bernardougf
Member
HBO is taking good care of this.
Fess
Member
Why? Because Gamepass is on Xbox and PC and eating on their software sales. And because PlayStation is a 80 million platform and Switch a 150 million platform, without Gamepass.
There is no mystery to solve there. People go with the service version for the same reason most people watch movies and TV shows through a streaming service, if available, instead of buying on iTunes or Bluray movies.
Going forward, if Switch 2 becomes a success like Switch 1 and get ports of their AAA games they'll have huge boost in sales over the next couple years.
The multi strategy may seem risky but I think it's going to work great, zero doubt about this tbh. They're about to grow into a huge third party publisher.
Over to Sony as that's what the thread is about. Sony obviously won't have quite as big uplift in sales by going multi everywhere day 1, since they're already on one of the biggest platforms.
But they could probably double their sales at least since they don't have PS+ Premium on PC and Switch and no day 1 releases on that service. There is no real cannibalism going on there for software sales, they would just increase their userbase for their games = more games sold.
If they would go back to only true PlayStation exclusivity they would've already kinda hit the ceiling. They might have another 10 million seller this console generation, maybe even two. But is that enough? Maybe. But then why are they spreading out?
Their best selling game this generation so far is Helldivers 2, which was day 1 on PC. I don't know the platform split there but I assume it has sold at least a couple millions on PC. They want more of that.
Last edited:
Felessan
Member
But not at expense of their hardware sales
So any move that affects hardware sales are unlikely, like day1 on PC. Exclusives sell hardware, so it's only reasonable to put game on PC when game sales and impact on hardware sales are negligible
But Sony sells hardware
They earns ten times amount of money on their close ecosystem than their first party games can do. Even if they double revenue from the latter, that is unlikely, it's still will be drop in a bucket compared to strength of their ecosystem.
PixelatedBeast
Member
Sony, going 3rd party.....you're joking, right? After they've crushed their biggest compeititor in home consoles?
If by 3rd party, if you mean releasing flagship games on Xbox and Nintendo, then no; unless its a smaller title like Legos Horizon or old PSP games for the Switch, but if they're planning to release their own handheld, then I dont think we can expect that to last. They've said in advance the plan is to release live sevices games day 1 on Pc and singleplayer games 2-3 years later. The only game that was made by Sony studios that released less than 2 years on another platform was Spiderman 2 for Pc, and lets face it, the game was already on PC after Insomniac got hacked.
If by 3rd party, if you mean releasing flagship games on Xbox and Nintendo, then no; unless its a smaller title like Legos Horizon or old PSP games for the Switch, but if they're planning to release their own handheld, then I dont think we can expect that to last. They've said in advance the plan is to release live sevices games day 1 on Pc and singleplayer games 2-3 years later. The only game that was made by Sony studios that released less than 2 years on another platform was Spiderman 2 for Pc, and lets face it, the game was already on PC after Insomniac got hacked.
Last edited:
Don't care if they do.
If sony games are on switch 2:
Fuck buying them there when I can play on ALOT better quality on playstation. I want and will get a switch 2 but won't ever play it in portable.
Xbox: Same basically as Nintendo just not near as shit. Have a series X that I use to try games on gamepass I'm not sure I'd like on playstaion.
PC: Won't be day 1 as long as consoles exist and if they are they are gaas shit I have zero fucks for. So no way im waiting a year to play a PC port. I wont even get started on shit ports. I use a PC for strategy games that I'm a massive fan of, and the ones I like are not on consoles. Only civilization I feel I need to play on PC rather than playstaion due to lack of mods that the game actually needs, most games for me don't need mods.
If sony games are on switch 2:
Fuck buying them there when I can play on ALOT better quality on playstation. I want and will get a switch 2 but won't ever play it in portable.
Xbox: Same basically as Nintendo just not near as shit. Have a series X that I use to try games on gamepass I'm not sure I'd like on playstaion.
PC: Won't be day 1 as long as consoles exist and if they are they are gaas shit I have zero fucks for. So no way im waiting a year to play a PC port. I wont even get started on shit ports. I use a PC for strategy games that I'm a massive fan of, and the ones I like are not on consoles. Only civilization I feel I need to play on PC rather than playstaion due to lack of mods that the game actually needs, most games for me don't need mods.
Last edited:
Who was calling MS third party in 2015 when they fully went day one PC? The people moving goalposts are those who are now calling that going third party. This "going third party" question is a result of xbox collapsing in the console space recently and relying on PS sales otherwise there wouldn't be silly questions like this in the OP:
"Does it still make sense for Sony to produce consoles at all?"
Last edited:
ProtoByte
Weeb Underling
You're making it out like these things are disconnected when they are absolutely not. Particularly game quality. There is a reason why first party games are the way they are as opposed to third party multiplats.
You'll be hard pressed to have any hard data on Xbox at all, and you know that. But the chain of events is clear.
- Xbox attempts to be an internet crossroads entertainment machine instead of a dedicated games console
- Sells less than PS4 at launch, but the gap starts to widen in the next 2 years as exclusives launch to mediocre reception
- Oh no, games aren't selling! Let's go to PC
- Games continue to get even worse and are not saved by PC - in fact their games (by all reasonable estimates are selling even worse)
- Well, Gamepass time! Also buy out half the AAA segment while we're at it.
- Okay, next gen, clean slate. Let's throw in a low end system to compromise our pipeline too!
- That didn't work. Let's try going on our competitors consoles
I get the motivation, but then I also understood Sony's motives for chasing live services. It is still short sighted and a bad idea. You don't get to dictate the rules in other people's houses, and if you continue to cede control, you will wind up like Xbox, with no house at all. Other than that, the PC house is just not conducive with what makes PlayStation what it is; they don't buy premium games at nearly the same rate, and the growth in revenue is actually BEHIND consoles. If there's any case where two different ecosystems don't have to and probably shouldn't intersect, it's in gaming. All these ports, what have they gained Sony? They're more than 1 million behind the PS4 despite practically no competition from Microsoft even compared to the XBO.
But hey, just like with Xbox, and just like with Sony's chase of live services, I guess we're probably going to run this gambit until it all comes crashing down.
TheGodfather07
Member
Exclusives are necessary. That's why death stranding 2 and ghost of tsushima 2 will launch only on PS5 and only get ported to PC later. Sony are not interested in putting everything day 1 on PC. They would be doing it already if they were wouldn't they?
Fake
Member
The series changed most of the stupid parts.
meech
Member
The live action series already showed how bad it is.
yurinka
Member
Sony didn't bet everything on GaaS at all.
As an example, they won the GOTY last year with a non-GaaS title. This year they release the sequel of the 2019 GOTY.
By GOTY I mean the game released that year that won more GOTY awards.
It's something they always did. In the PS1 generation they published games on Nintendo 64 and Saturn as an example with Psygnosis. And in recent generations also published in Xbox or Nintendo with Aniplex etc.
Plus started to make computer games in 1983 with the MSX, and later PC both since the early 90s with Psygnosis, later SOE, and more recently SIE, Aniplex or Sony Pictures Virtual Reality.
Yep.
1st party revenue is a very small portion of their revenue, but thanks to their PC & GaaS push they approximatedly doubled it in the last 5 years.
And doing so without any negative effect on their console business, which kept growing. Their PC instead of shrinking their console business seems it's helping to grow it a bit by bringing new fans.
Sony always has been 3rd party, meaning they always published games in platforms that they didn't own since the '80s.
But they are 1st party too, meaning they publish games for their own platform. A PS platform that obviously won't shut down because it's more successful than ever in most metrics, has a multi year growth pattern in most of them, kicked out Nintendo last gen away from the home console business and this generation kicked out MS.
So in theory the next gen Sony will have the monopoly in the home console market, in the same way Nintendo had it for the portable consoles with Switch 1. So pretty likely in the next generation will be even more successful.
Last edited:
HeisenbergFX4
Member
There will always be a massive group of people buying PS consoles for a number of reasons like built up libraries, cost vs a PC and ease of use to name a few
Xbox was in decline before the day one on PC happened
While I do think day one on PC would hurt PS console sales I think it would be far from suicide and very likely would massively increase profit for Sony 1st party studios
yurinka
Member
No, they aren't outdated:
- A first party publisher is one owned by the platform holder.
- A 3rd party publisher is one not owned by the platform holder.
- A first party game is one published by a publisher owned by the platform holder.
- A 3rd party game is one published by a publisher not owned by the platform holder.
SIE/PS Studios/Bungie/Aniplex/etc are first party publishers in PlayStation/PSN.
And 3rd party publishers in PC/Steam/Epic Game Store, Switch, Xbox, mobile etc.
Last edited:
Yes just like Nintendo who release games on iPhone and android. Actually they were the first to go third party.
Guardian Monkey
Member
They already are.
The_Mike
I cry about SonyGaf from my chair in Redmond, WA
I'd say that is still up for debate.
I mean, I get your point, but these are garbage phone games.
If it were mainline nintendo games, then I would agree, but they are garbage spin offs.
But, if we go by that logic, then Sony was still the first one to go third party.
The first Sony mobile games were 2012, the first Nintendo mobile game were 2016.
In the long run the release windows will get shorter between pc and console. We seen it with spider-man 2. In order to reap the benefits of PC the release windows need to be shorter im not saying day and date but not a year after console. Also releasing on PC is the best way to penetrate the China/Korea market which is a huge market in gaming for PC. They are trying to have console presence there but it seems to be slow. Stellar blade bout to sell crazy especially with Denuvo on it to prevent pirating.
Sony makes a ton of money on hardware and their hardware is really popular among gamers. It's the only realistic option to have access to all the AAA and not have to deal with PC gaming and all of its issues.
Even if Sony's first party output goes away, I think Sony continues to keep going with their insanely profitable hardware business.
Even if Sony's first party output goes away, I think Sony continues to keep going with their insanely profitable hardware business.
ResilientBanana
Member
I don't think publishing is a good idea considering they've bet on quite a few bad horses. They're also trying to put too many GaaS games out, which means a lot of these games will be competing for their own spotlight. Hypothetically, if they keep their current trajectory, when one GaaS game fails to meet the numbers they want for a quarter, they might shut it down even though they released another GaaS game within that window. Players only have so much time, but also, I feel like all these Greed as a Service games are turning people away from gaming.
GHG
Member
But at the same time, according to you, Xbox aren't despite them having released games day one on PC for 8 years at the time that you posted this:
Please help me make sense of all this.
Last edited:
playbignbox
Member
I would agree with you if Sony had its own store on PC, but it is publishing games on third party stores that Sony has no control over, like Steam and Epic Games.
GigaBowser
The bear of bad news
ms annnnnd sony third parties
nintendos first parties sony and ms make switch game
nintendos first parties sony and ms make switch game
Cakeboxer
Member
Fair point, but to me 3rd party means making money with the games itself and not indirectly with hardware. Publishing games on any platform is typical for a 3rd party publisher, but they don't release on 2 platforms at all.
Fess
Member
They won't stop selling hardware, as it is Sony owns the AAA console market and they have no real threat to their business. They can stay satisfied with that and close it up more and hit a ceiling at 100m or whatever, OR they could reach out to get more people playing their games on more platforms and add money on top of the money they already rake in. Wider reach for their games, more talk around each release, more YouTube videos, more streaming, more guides, more hype, and also less negativity coming from people who can't play their games.
Fess
Member
Nobody because they went fully day 1 on PC on their own store and launcher.
They weren't third party then. Neither would Sony be if they had a PC store and launcher.
But when you sell your own games on someone else's store you are third party on that store.
And today Microsoft is third party on Steam, PlayStation, Switch. But they're still first party on Xbox and Microsoft Store.
And today Sony is third party on Steam. But they're still first party on PlayStation.
Felessan
Member
They already have a strategy for that - timed release.
It maximize effect for their ecosystem and allow to grab some cash/visibility from other platform.
Day1 actually hurt it a bit as there is no incentive to go to playstation instead of PC (switch/Xbox if things go MS route) and it's a big loss. PS lose day1 and fomo sales to other platforms, game no longer associated to be a PS exclusive (even temporary), damaging the brand.
12-15 months delay on other hand allow to grab most sales (both software and hardware) on own platform, associate particular franchise with playstation, deliver PC crowd a clear message "this is a playstation game you get with delay" (some people are sensitive to have to wait to play), get a second-wind talk when game is released on PC with little to no marketing. It's overall more preferable strategy if focus is to maximize platform first, profits second and not the vice versa
Last edited:
Fess
Member
Timed exclusivity? Hasn't that been proven over and over that it's not a good strategy?
It always increase negativity around the first release and then there is no hype left when the late release happens and the sales numbers go down.
Felessan
Member
Proven by whom? Negative forum crowd?
It's for sure works for Sony, and it's proven by results that it's working:
- no impact on sales of hardware
- significant revenue from PC (with no marketing)
- increased visibility of playstation on low covered, pc-centric territories (China, Brazil etc)
They earns half a billion on penny ports and all those cries and hate of late releases only help games sales
Like Capcom report shows 75% are catalog sales - i.e. sales of old games. And most of it on PC. So putting old port doesn't really affect your platform, but bring that catalog sales revenue (as per report - PC gamers play old and f2p, console prefer current slate of releases).
Last edited:
Fess
Member
Results? Like a gigantic game like The Last of Us Part 2 with record breaking amount of GOTY awards peaking at 30k ccu on Steam?
That's only 10k more than bomba Avowed eaten by Gamepass.
10 times lower than Starfield, also on Gamepass.
I wonder why… Is the game actually bad and overhyped? Or maybe it's just an old game releasing when there is no hype left?
Tbh, you just can't keep the hype maxed out that long, not even half a year. It'll always end as a muted release of an old game priced too high with little marketing and no real hype. And the negativity among those who can't play the game initially will be there as exaggerations for every little thing you can possibly complain about.
Felessan
Member
Who cares about CCU. Catalog sales are not about peak ccu, it's about slow grind of sales. And this slow means a lot of money over time.
It's because there is no goal of "selling a lot on launch day" - it's console launch territory, with all those marketing money and hype train. And this train expected to sell ~consoles~ and game on this console. It's a maximum profit for Sony.
And when this train dried up, Sony opt to monetize same game in other ways - put some discounts, port on pc, put them on subscription etc.
And when game launched on PC - it does it in a budget launch, no marketing, cheap port etc. Goal clearly not to launch under hype, but put it on a sales list and receive steady cashflow from hardcore pc, double-dippers, collectors, non-console territories etc.
Why should be there hype on PC release. PC release is for PC crowd to remind them were Sony game should be played (on playstation). And their negativity should be channeled into obvious answer - buy playstation and don't wait.
Why Sony should pacify whiners when they are themselves to blame as they opt to wait late pc port instead of playing on playstation?
Last edited:
Similar threads
- Locked