Jason Schreier: Sony’s Obsession with Blockbusters is Stirring Unrest in the PlayStation Empire

Started by Xevross, Apr 09, 2021, 11:28 AM

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BananaKing

In a way, I wouldnt want Sony letting anyone but ND make a TLoU remake. But I am disappointed by the way they handled the small team and sony bend. At least bend now is making a new game, and while I enjoyed days gone, I wouldnt mind a new IP from them. And them exploring a more interesting setting than zombies.

Sony do need a space sci fi game IMO. So hopefully either SSM or Sony bend do that.

Legend

Should have been a Golden Abyss remaster :'(


That game made me become a Bend fan. Haven't played any other game of theirs.

kitler53

In a way, I wouldnt want Sony letting anyone but ND make a TLoU remake. But I am disappointed by the way they handled the small team and sony bend. At least bend now is making a new game, and while I enjoyed days gone, I wouldnt mind a new IP from them. And them exploring a more interesting setting than zombies.

Sony do need a space sci fi game IMO. So hopefully either SSM or Sony bend do that.
i would prefer it.

i haven't played days gone yet,.. i'm waiting for ps5 and the ps collection but i'm soo fudgy tired of zombie games.  even it if is fantastic i would just prefer a different setting.   they can take all the technical stuff over to a new franchise easy enough but i would have soo much more interest in their game if it were,.. well,.. anything else.   zombies always made it feel a bit like a second teir TLoU.

space would be good with me.


Featured Artist: Vanessa Hudgens

BananaKing

i would prefer it.

i haven't played days gone yet,.. i'm waiting for ps5 and the ps collection but i'm soo fudgy tired of zombie games.  even it if is fantastic i would just prefer a different setting.   they can take all the technical stuff over to a new franchise easy enough but i would have soo much more interest in their game if it were,.. well,.. anything else.   zombies always made it feel a bit like a second teir TLoU.

space would be good with me.
The sad thing is, at least this is my humble opinion, from all the zombie movies, games and shows, I felt Bend did the most interesting take on zombies. People hated on them because they are called "freakers" but honestly they did a fantastic job with building them up and their types and so on. And they even had teasers for new types and such if they do a sequel.

But I wouldnt mind a new IP as well, as long as its something the studio wants to work on. Maybe do something more original like GG did.

kitler53

The sad thing is, at least this is my humble opinion, from all the zombie movies, games and shows, I felt Bend did the most interesting take on zombies. People hated on them because they are called "freakers" but honestly they did a fantastic job with building them up and their types and so on. And they even had teasers for new types and such if they do a sequel.

But I wouldnt mind a new IP as well, as long as its something the studio wants to work on. Maybe do something more original like GG did.
i'm not going to lie,.. horizon would have been a good game with any setting but it was the setting that made it fantastic.   robot dinosaurs was just a brilliant idea.


Featured Artist: Vanessa Hudgens

BananaKing

i'm not going to lie,.. horizon would have been a good game with any setting but it was the setting that made it fantastic.   robot dinosaurs was just a brilliant idea.
It was. And I hope we see more robot dinosaurs than robot animals.

It will be interesting to see what happens next.

One thing I know for sure, NDs multiplayer game must have a TLoU battle royal mode. I wouldnt play it, as I dont give a shame about BR. But they need to jump on that bandwagon and tlou as a franchise has the best option to pull in major numbers for its success. Heck, the gameplay lends itself to that type of game

kitler53

It was. And I hope we see more robot dinosaurs than robot animals.

It will be interesting to see what happens next.

One thing I know for sure, NDs multiplayer game must have a TLoU battle royal mode. I wouldnt play it, as I dont give a shame about BR. But they need to jump on that bandwagon and tlou as a franchise has the best option to pull in major numbers for its success. Heck, the gameplay lends itself to that type of game
nor i as i don't like pvp mp.  but i agree,.. it lends itself well to BR.    although i foresee a twist as team based  BR so the map is loaded with say 10 teams of 5 + 1000 infected npcs.  dying doesn't take you out of the game but rather turns you into an infected.  

tbh if it was team based and maybe class based i'd be more likely to play it.  it's the reason KZ was my favorite mp because i could be an engineer or medic and play a more secondary class.  i'm not good enough to win in 1:1 combat,.. i'm just too slow and tbh it's mostly why i have mp shooters.  ...but if i can contribute in other more stratigic ways then i can enjoy the game.


to be truely successful i hope sony realizes it needs to be f2p and it needs to be on PC too.   i could really see "the business" tanking this game by making it a ps5 exclusive with a $70 price tag.  as popular at ND and TLoU is,.. it isn't popular enough to build a community as a $70 ps5 exclusive.


Featured Artist: Vanessa Hudgens

BananaKing

nor i as i don't like pvp mp.  but i agree,.. it lends itself well to BR.    although i foresee a twist as team based  BR so the map is loaded with say 10 teams of 5 + 1000 infected npcs.  dying doesn't take you out of the game but rather turns you into an infected.  

tbh if it was team based and maybe class based i'd be more likely to play it.  it's the reason KZ was my favorite mp because i could be an engineer or medic and play a more secondary class.  i'm not good enough to win in 1:1 combat,.. i'm just too slow and tbh it's mostly why i have mp shooters.  ...but if i can contribute in other more stratigic ways then i can enjoy the game.


to be truely successful i hope sony realizes it needs to be f2p and it needs to be on PC too.   i could really see "the business" tanking this game by making it a ps5 exclusive with a $70 price tag.  as popular at ND and TLoU is,.. it isn't popular enough to build a community as a $70 ps5 exclusive.
Pretty much what I thought about NPCs, except that the map makes you go underground or in building and stuff, and in those darker areas, there are clickers and stuff, but better weapons. So its a risk for a reward thing where you have to fight them.to potentially get better gear and weapons. Also sometimes you'll be in a situation where you have to make the decision if fighting the NPCs first it the another team stuck in the same situation

Honestly I feel TLoU lends its self perfectly for a battle royal mode. Even though I really wouldn't play it.

Youd probably like BF1, since you can play a supporting role without being too good at combat.

kitler53

Pretty much what I thought about NPCs, except that the map makes you go underground or in building and stuff, and in those darker areas, there are clickers and stuff, but better weapons. So its a risk for a reward thing where you have to fight them.to potentially get better gear and weapons. Also sometimes you'll be in a situation where you have to make the decision if fighting the NPCs first it the another team stuck in the same situation

Honestly I feel TLoU lends its self perfectly for a battle royal mode. Even though I really wouldn't play it.

Youd probably like BF1, since you can play a supporting role without being too good at combat.
the settings it's much to my liking.  i had always wanted to play team fortress but i lack a pc.


Featured Artist: Vanessa Hudgens

the-pi-guy

Quote
"I do have an opinion on something that your audience may find of interest, and it might piss some of them off," Garvin replied. "If you love a game, buy it at fudgy full price. I can't tell you how many times I've seen gamers say 'yeah, I got that on sale, I got it through PS Plus, whatever'."

"But how do you know you love a game until you've played it?" Jaffe responded.

"I'm just saying, you don't, but don't complain if a game doesn't get a sequel if it wasn't supported at launch," Garvin replied. "It's like, God of War got whatever number millions of sales at launch and, you know, Days Gone didn't. [I'm] just speaking for me personally as a developer, I don't work for Sony, I don't know what the numbers are.
Quote
"I took it hard, to be honest, because, again...This is just the reality of Sony, Metacritic score is everything. If you're the creative director on a franchise and your game is coming out to a 70, you're not going to be the creative director on that franchise for very long.
https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/days-gone-lead-says-dont-complain-if-theres-no-sequel-if-you-didnt-buy-it-full-price/

https://wccftech.com/days-gone-director-john-garvin-says-metacritic-score-is-everything-to-sony/
Era thread

Legend

I just came to post this here!


He says it harsher than I'd put it but he's right. Games need to be an undeniable success one way or another and money+reviews are the strongest signs.

Xevross

Apr 18, 2021, 09:10 PM Last Edit: Apr 18, 2021, 09:13 PM by Xevross
At the end of the day if you're talking about sequels you need that early success. Sequels will be pitched quite soon after the release of the game you just put out, if initial sales aren't that hot and the meta score isn't that great, which indicates not great legs, then a sequel pitch will be fighting an uphill battle. Days Gone was eventually made better and ended up selling well in the long term, reaching profitability, but at the time a sequel could have been greenlit it was at best a questionable performance.

So yeah, what he says makes sense. If you want to support a sequel being greenlit you've got to buy the game at launch, and that means paying full price. And as a console manufacturer, the prestige and attraction of their games is a huge important factor and straight up revenue from the product itself doesn't matter so much for Sony. Sony's brand and success right now is very much built around their releases that are critically acclaimed huge blockbusters. We've seen from the likes of Ghost that you don't need to be 90+ or even close to that for Sony to be happy, but just stay well clear of that <75 yellow that looks real bad for their brand and hurts the selling power of the playstation.

I'm okay with this approach, its the forcing devs and teams to make something they don't want and taking projects away from the teams who created them that I really didn't like in the original report.

Dr. Pezus


BananaKing

Eh don't blame reviewers and consumers for not making a great game. Obviously a new unoriginal ip isn't going to sell similar numbers to an amazing looking GOW with ungodly hype.
Yeah you can't blame the consumer for the quality.  Days gone is a fun game. Definitely enjoyed my time with it. Going back in time would I pay full price and be happy with it? Hell no. If I payed for price for god of war, would I be happy with it? Hell yes. But I didnt even pay full price for that.

Also, its not like days gone did shame numbers at launch. It did alright. Good enough to warrant a sequel. But it seems sony wasn't impressed with the quality/meta

the-pi-guy

Sorry for the bump, but there's been a bit new information.

Technically I don't think anything in Schreier's article has ended up being wrong. In the sense that he was writing about Sony's developers and their feelings.

But:
1.) developers feelings are not always an accurate assessment of reality.  

2.) The article is missing context, partially Schreier's fault, partially not.

Sony Bend grew quite a bit during the development of Days Gone.

Quote
As Bend grew from their tiny 30 dev team to a AAA studio with 100+ people needed for the development of Days Gone, quite a bit of tension grew between the original members and the new talent coming in.
So it was accurate that Sony Bend had people help on Naughty Dog's games (some were also helping with Ghost of Tsushima).
But the newer guys were missing the context (and thus so did the article) that this was a normal thing for the end of development. (better ending than some studios letting people go instead.)


Second part missing context was that it wasn't Sony leadership that rejected Days Gone 2, but rather that Sony Bend leadership didn't want a follow up.

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