Talking Point: Have Sony's Third-Party PS5 Deals Made Up for Its Lack of First-Party Games?

Are there good games coming out? Yes, seemingly in droves. And that should be the only thing that matters, games don't suddenly not count because they don't have a specific logo on the corner of the box.

They have been great but the lack of first party games is worrying. I wonder if the fact that a lot of the studios had to make live service service games that have now been cancelled or put on ice has had a huge impact.

The third party entries have been helping with the extensive dry gap in first-party releases.

Yeah they've certainly been helping but still immensely disappointing that there is practically nothing from the first party studios :/

Atm, I'd say it's working pretty well. As their bigger games take longer to make it's smart of Sony to get a Stellar Blade or Silent Hill to help fill the gap during that time. I've been enjoying what the PS5 has been getting. Plus I'd rather have it this way than have their first party studios just rush games out unfinished. There's WAY too much of that going on as it is.

Not at all. I literally don't care for any of these third party titles except for Hogwarts Legacy. Oh well, I moved on from modern Sony anyway so it's not a big deal for me anyway. Every company dies out at some point, and Sony died for me when they closed down Japan Studios.

Mentioning Jim Ryan feels like a cliche at this point, but the semi-implosion of his live service initiative definitely has not helped things this generation either. There has been so much wasted time, money, and opportunities on things that will never see the light of day.

Most of what I play is third-party, so not the end of the world for me.

"God of War Ragnarok and Horizon Forbidden West are top tier, but their cross-gen status definitely subtracts from their overall prestige. We need to see what the PS5 is really capable of."

I dont actually think the hardware is capable of much more than what we have seen so far - Spiderman games, R&C, GOWR, Horison FW, Demon Souls - are, I think, the pinnacle of what we should expect from the hardware on a technical level (not including PRO of course), and im absolutely fine with that.

Where this gen will fall on its a### and send people to PC World (pun intended) is if developers try to do too much, exceeding either their ability (within their allotted development time), or the hardwares ability, or both, and we get games that are unplayable due to framerates, or have such low resolution they turn into a blurry mess.

Games are games and these are exclusives so it doesn't matter who has developed them as longas they are good quality. Aside from foamstars I haven't seen a lot wrong with what's been released and these have generated excitement and mostly met the excitement.

From my perspective, I don't feel like I have much to look forward to with only Wolverine as the only officially revealed game that interested me. I have no interest in Marathon, Concord or whatever else they have confirmed.

I'm not a Final Fantasy or JRPG fan either, don't enjoy Souls-like games so the majority of 3rd Party Exclusives haven't excited me and certainly won't make up for a lack of games like Uncharted, Infamous, Killzone, Resistance etc games I would want. ND had 4 big games during the PS3 era, yet just 2 during the PS4 era (not counting re-releases on newer hardware) and 'nothing' since LoU2. SuckerPunch too have only released 1 game since Infamous 2nd Son - Ghost of Tsushima. with sequels like GoW:R and H:FW taking over 5yrs, It seems these studio's will release 1 or 2 games a generation.

I'd be more concerned though if the Playstation didn't get much 3rd Party support (whether Exclusive, timed-exclusive or not) as I only care whether I can access the games where I'd prefer to play them and 'exclusivity' takes away that choice. The lack of 'exclusives' doesn't mean the lack of great games to play...

@Kraaatos It is - its not made by a First Party Studio - Returnal too at the time of release wasn't a First Party Studio game either. It also released day/date on PC/Steam too - so also on the Steam Deck, a handheld 'console'. They 'could' become a First Party Studio in the future.

It's definitely a case of I think we all want more from Sony first party because you can't beat the quality they provide and while it feels like we're waiting a long time that's also because we expect a certain level of quality.
That's why it's been really smart to lean on third party but even then games like FF16 and 7 Rebirth are incredible projects along with the gems that are Helldivers 2 and Stellar Blade.
It all means we've always got something to play on PS5 and that's before the great non exclusives like games from Capcom etc.
Part of the problem is with how long games take to make and how much they cost means we're getting a lower variety of experiences than we used to. Thats also where indie games that come out more frequently and with so much imagination and innovation make up for that if you let it.

In this day and age 3rd party deals don't really make much sense when everyone knows they're only temporary and will be ported to other platforms, made all the easier due to the shared similar architecture of all modern platforms. These 3rd parties have no obligation to remain locked to a single platform unless Sony wants to shell out exorbitant amounts of money, which would be better spent on bolstering 1st party studios instead.

I'd vastly prefer if Sony gave up all 3rd party exclusives if it meant all 1st party games remained permanently PlayStation exclusive. The only way I'm going to buy PlayStation consoles again is if Sony brings back the "Only on PlayStation" label and actually mean it this time.

The poll needs the option like "Doesn't move the needle either way. Good games, are good games no matter who is making them"

@BAMozzy you clearly dont understand what third party exclusive means

At this pace, it's gonna be the PS generation, with the least amount of first party exclusives.

And with Sony releasing their games on PC, I see little reason, why I would buy a PS6.
I'll stick with PC and Nintendo console, from now on.

Plus, I'm just not into their exclusive cinematic third-person games anymore.

I'm a big fan of Final Fantasy XVI, FF VII Rebirth and Stellar Blade and Sony does have a history of relying on third party exclusives to help carry PlayStation, but that doesn't excuse the pretty poor first party output this gen.

I never cared about exclusives. If I find myself enjoying a game, I couldn't care less if it's available on other platforms. Having said that, for me Sony first party games (like God of War) are top tier and nothing else comes close. So, I'm looking forward to some new first party games or really any game that is amazing and fun to play.

The problem isn't a matter of third or first party release schrdules in my opinion. It's the nature of the content delivered and It's threefold:

(1) It's a lack of genuine ingenuity and creativity. Thus we get lame walking simulators and repetitive sequel factories alongside the constant double dipping via remasterakes and live service trash. WASTING NEAR DECADES of dev time on this garbage is why Sony is where it is.

(2) An industry wide trend of releasing games unfinished and/or technically unpolished effectively charging gamers to beta test.

(3) Greed. cutting and gatekeeping content in the interest of charging extra for it later.

It really has pushed me to step back from playing games during their release. There is little reason to aside from fomo when you can play them more complete, and technically finished on discount with a little patience. As far as the remakes, Fing STOP.

Sony has turned too far into the direction of greed driven operandi in the vein of EA, Activision, etc. Third parties have always been there and largely operate the same way, and won't solve the problem. Until gamers push back nothing will change. Be prepared for the flood of generic mostly AI created games to come...

Give us more Bloodborne and all will be forgiven!

Kind of. All will be forgotten if Naughty Dog, Santa Monica, Bend et al can really let loose and try something new next time up though.

They have clearly been holding off on letting slip what is in the works, but with the Pro probably due out this year? it can't be long until they say what is coming up for their first party games. It might even feel more like the start of a new generation if it all comes together at the same time, or at the very least really kicking the PS5 into that must-have category with plenty(ish) of new releases that ignore the PS4 completely this time.

Honestly where are Naughty Dog this gen, it is frustrating that their absence has been compounded by mis-management from Jim and Herman. Once they'd bet money on the Last Of Us GAAS, they should've followed it through, rather than allow the self-righteous, spoilt brats at Bungie to get in the way. The calibre differential between the two studios is far and wide imo. With the strong IP Naughty Dog has, this was basically guaranteed to do well. So now I think they're behind, playing catchup, trying to get a game out of the door. Naughty Dog were genre definining in PS3 days and arguably PS4. Can't wait to see what Santa Monica do with their rumoured new Sci-Fi IP, really excited to see Sucker Punch's next game too, and Sony Bend where's their stuff at! The potential of all these studios is palpably exciting, but at this rate, these releases will either be end of this gen or PS6 😑

This reminds me of the PS2 era where almost all exclusives were 3rd party. Nothing wrong with it as long as good games are coming out.

It's not the end of the world, but the PS4 generation was made up of generation-defining exclusive games with Bloodborne, Uncharted 4, Last of Us 2, Spider-Man, and God of War to name a few. These are some of my favourite games, and whilst I'm very happy with the stellar output of third party PS5 exclusives, I am a bit sad that the PS5 doesn't really have any phenomenal first party original games, mostly because I know what Sony can do and it's a shame they're not doing it

This gen has left me so, so cold. The best games I’ve played have either been remasters of last gen games or cross-gen games.

@BeerIsAwesome Durrhurrr so funny.

Guess you're a bit indoctrinated, huh? Well damn.

First party: Demon’s Souls, Astrobot, Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart, Returnal and Spider-Man 2.

Third party exclusive: Final Fanrasy XVI, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, Helldivers 2, Rise of the Ronin and Stellar Blade.

That’s 10 PS5 games. Combine that with not insignificant cross-gen releases such as God of War Ragnarok, Horizon Forbidden West and Sackboy, I see a varied menu of high quality releases only found within the PlayStation ecosystem. I haven’t even touched third party or indie.

PS5 also launched (successfully) in the midst of a world altering pandemic, of which the effects are still being felt in the supply chain, labour force and economic climate. In order to develop games at the fidelity players expect, and without crunch, in a situation where they are more expensive and take longer to make than ever before, I think Sony’s strategy is working out just fine all things considered. It’s fair to say that some mistakes with resource management have been made behind the scenes but it’s precisely this strategy of diversity that has kept these mistakes from becoming critical.

A lot of PS4’s biggest titles, such as Ghost of Tsushima, released far into its lifespan and beloved titles such as Days Gone and The Order 1886 reviewed far lower across the board than the current “ugly duckling”, Rise of the Ronin.

I think Sony has bought the time they need to get their ducks in a row and are going to smash the latter half of this console’s lifespan out of the water.

Thank God I don't play games as much anymore because what made me a gamer is releasing at a snail's pace. To many great series are left for dead or may as well be. To much emphasis on online competitive games. Development times have skyrocketed to the point that what I'm looking forward to will probably be PS6 titles.

PS5 very much feels like the "Greatness Happened Prior to Now System".

It hasn’t helped with devs like naughty dog wasting time on the last of us multiplayer that turned to dust.

I can’t help but feel internally Sony has made some u-turns on live service games etc that have caused havoc with their otherwise well managed release schedule.

On a positive note Sony have done well with the 3rd party releases as they mostly always have.

I think the kicker here is that if you're patient then you have no need for a PlayStation whatsoever. Everything will come to PC, both Sony first-party and third-party. Sony has decided to just not show up this generation. When they do, it's a sequel or a remake. At this rate, there is no chance that I will be picking up a PS6.

I don’t really care if a game is a PS5 exclusive since it’s my go-to console anyway (because of the dualsense controller). All the interesting Xbox exclusives I play on GP and multiplatform games on my PS5.

That being said, it does feel time for a new real banger like Returnal or Death Stranding DC. My backlog for PS5 is big enough, but nothing in there feels like a GOTY.

The real reason for this lack of first party is that the Jimbo's administration forced first part studios to try developing life service games. These studios have no expertise in the matter, lost time, money and we can just imagine the pressure and bad environment for people involved. Now, they failed and have to start from zero with new ideas for existing IPs and maybe new ones.

You can call Rise of The Ronin, Helldivers 2 and Stellar Blade first or second party, but they're certainly not third party titles.

@Jimmer-jammer beloved and days gone seriously? 😂 Nobody likes days gone but me, if it was beloved it would be rated and talked about like god of war and horizon both overrated and both inferior games to days gone

3rd party stuff has been good, but I definitely miss the first party bangers. Started off so strong then just completely dropped off. With Uncharted wrapping up and TLOU well matured, I really thought we'd have heard of a new IP by now. Thought we'd have heard about team Asobi's big game too. Seen and heard more about TV shows, movies, and canceled games than new stuff recently. Is what it is, still plenty to play.

No, the PS5 is easily the most disappointing generation of PlayStation Ive ever experienced.

@Deityjester Well, between you and I, that’s two, and I think we could safely add many zeroes to that number just from folks on this site alone if engagement on past Days Gone articles is anything to go by. The passion is real 😄

Absolutely not. Feels like all there’s been is games from Square Enix and other eastern studios. Which normally would be great but has had a negative effect on my interest in things like Final Fantasy and even Death Stranding 2. I miss the days of getting stuff like Detroit Become Human, Order 1886, and Until Dawn.

No way, there is something about a top end Sony AAA first party that is normally so special and engaging. Only Sony and Nintendo do this.

While it would be nice to get more 1st party from PS Studios alongside 3rd party titles, my feeling is that the major problem is the feeling of "i've seen you before" across different games. AAAs are so expensive to make that deviating from a supposed "formula" is a risky move, so most publishers don't. Gaming doesn't feel as fun anymore - the focus nowadays seems to be in graphics and story instead of gameplay.

That said, I think we've been spoiled on PS4. Games like those cost a lot and take an entire gen to make. Who knows, maybe we'll get a bigger 1st party lineup on PS6.

Four years this November and not sniff from Naughty Dog, so disappointing Sony.
We could have had a new Uncharted by now easily. Especially as they are supposed to have two big teams at that studio.

I miss the ps1/2 days when nobody gave a ***** about Sonys first party output.

The 1st party output has definitely been pretty slow this generation. My favorite 1st party PS5 game thus far would probably be Horizon 2, and while I did enjoy it I wouldn't say it's going to be on my favorites of the generation for sure.

Thankfully the 3rd party games have mostly been really great so it hasn't been a huge problem. There is no doubt though the 1st party stuff has been a bit disappointing this generation.

The 3rd party exclusives have been good. I dont expect GG and Insomniac ect. to release a game every year so this is a fine way to fill the gap.

I believe so yes, and I hope there's a lot more third party deals to look forward to.

I know some people will bash Sony saying it's wrong but at the end of the day Sony don't have the money to buy multiple publishers so that they can have multiple first party releases every year, so instead we have third party exclusives to fill the gaps.

I feel like options 1 and 3 are not mutually exclusive.

@Jimmer-jammer just finished days gone on deck. Such an amazing game. Enjoyed it so much. Sad we won’t get any sequel 🙁

I don't think it's made up for the lack of first party games. You can have as many exclusive third party games as you want, but they're not Naughty Dog, Sucker Punch, etc. games. And I'm not saying those third party games can't be great, it's just wanting some output from certain studios many of us love.

I'm enjoying all the games that I purchase. I don't care if they are 1st,2nd,3rd or 100% indie developed. If its a great game I'll buy it. Sure I'd like more quality 1st party games but I'd rather them be really,really good than rushed out garbage. I still don't think the ps5's true potential has been realised yet and I'm convinced when I see games like Stella blade that there is so much more to come.

@amatmulisha wasn't a sequel announced by the guys working on it? I'm sure pushsquare had an article on it.

It has definitely helped. Without them PS5 would be in a much worse position.

However they haven't totally made up for the loss of variety. Sony's 1st party games used to be quite diverse, now they all seem to follow the same general formula (AAA production values, realistic art design, experience akin to playing a blockbuster movie) and we're missing the wacky or experimental stuff like Flower, Shadow of the Colossus and Parappa the Rapper.

So room for improvement, imo. We need more variety from 1st party offerings, take a few chances and try new things.

I’ve never really thought about the 1st/3rd party argument. Like, if all games are 3rd party and they’re all good does it really matter to me as the gamer? Let the people in the office worry about the other stuff.

It looks like in 2024 Xbox will be dominating the market with a ton of 1st Party titles.

I play more 3rd party games in a year than I play Microsoft + Sony + Nintendo first party games combined.

First part is a nice extra bonus but not what I buy hardware for.

Access to the biggest selection of games. Reason why I buy a PS, same reason I invest in a PC.

@OnlyGaming "Xbox will be dominating the market" 😂

Sony have hardly released any first party games this gen and are dominating the market quite easily, 2024 will be no different hence why Microsoft are bringing their games to playstation.

What has no doubt compounded the problem is that as games get bigger - in terms of budgets, graphics etc - then development cycles get longer. Therefore the gap in releases from every Sony first party studio gets longer and longer.

@themightyant there’s been a shortage of first party exclusives

@OmegaStriver not true at all, you’re just whining ! /s

I think the damage here is that the exclusivity of otherwise multiplat games isn't necessarily working out the way publishers hoped, especially square, because the rules of the game have changed in the market. At the same time Sony is learning the exclusives don't even work for themselves anymore the way they want.

Exclusivity is a weird thing. PS1 and 2 exclusives were mostly exclusive by chance because of the optical disc format. Ps3 and 4 we're built around first party. Now PS5 is as tough Sony or....a certain someone at Sony..... Decided Don Matrick had the winning strategy all along and just copied it. For Sony I think the idea of developing nothing and just buying exclusivity sounds like a dream. Low expense, low risk. But it becomes iffy for the third parties. their fortunes are tied to Sony.

Reality is most console buyers other than Nintendo buyers aren't buying their consoles to play mostly exclusives, if any at all. That's really changes the rules if engagement on how "exclusives" need to be looked at form a budget and priority standpoint.

There is no reason why EmberLab, Arrowhead, Shift Up, and Team Ninja are not first party at this point.

I just want good and great games and Rebirth, Ronin and Stellar Blade have giving me that. Yeah i wish we had more 1st party games but the fact is big AAA games take time a lot of time to make so it is what it is, i mean look MS the only reason they have a fair load of 1st party releases this year is because they bought so many studios at the start of the gen.

@The_Wailing_Doom Maybe they don't want too? That said i feel its only a matter of time with Arrowhead and Shift Up i can see happening at some point.

@KundaliniRising333 Point 2 and 3 are not a thing with firstparty titles. Firstparty titles not polished bull and gatekeeping of what? If you pay for development you can do what you want.

@The_Wailing_Doom Money Sony is not a financial juggernaut like Microsoft. You think MS puts their games on the PlayStation platform for fun?

They kind of made up for it.but sony first party video games are the g.o.a.t. 🐐 👑.word up son

@UltimateOtaku91
Sony ran dry by releasing everything at the begining to the point that you couldn't even notice what they released.

The PS5 as a platform is what makes it a powerhouse and the best generation yet. There are more good games to play on it than any other console in history, and it's an endless amount of quality & fun. I want good first party games, but I do not mind that they're coming slowly. I haven't even had time to get to Final Fantasy Rebirth, 16, Stellar Blade, & Rise of the Ronin, which I've heard amazing things about. Even the PlayStation Plus offerings have been great the past few months and I haven't had time for those either.

I am perfectly happy with the FF games. I buy them.
The only sony thing i buy is god of war. 🤷

PlayStation’s strength is its variety so more first party titles will be very welcome when they release.

As for me, none of PlayStation first party studios has the ability to produce something I would enjoy on the same level I enjoy Rebirth or Stellar Blade, so it’s definitely working!

I just enjoy playing games.

The PS5 is my main gaming machine but since 2022 It's been non-stop releases for games third party, first party sony, timed exclusives or Switch first party.
From catching up with Miles, Integrade, Returnal and Rift Apart to Elden Ring, Forbidden West and Ragnarok, Pentiment.
2023 having Jedi Survivor, FFXVI, Sea of Stars, Humanity, Cocoon, Armored Core, Spidey 2, Alan Wake 2, BG 3, Tchia, CP2077 2.0, Ragnarok Valhalla, Mario, Metroid Prime Remaster, Zelda, Pikmin
2024 still has me slowly going through BG3 while playing through a 80 hour FF7 Rebirth and now Stellar Blade while I haven't had enough time to buy Ronin, P3 Reload or Unicorn Overlord.

These are just the new releases in this time and don't include the fact that there are more classics than ever to catch up on if you missed those games originally.

Seriously there are so many games from AAA and indie devs I genuinely struggle to understand how people have no games to play or can call this gen disappointing. I am too busy juggling all these games to remember ND, Bend and the others exist. I love the first party studios and will buy the games day one if they appeal to me but Single Player gaming on consoles has never been better and most games I mentioned performed well too.
Heck being on Playstation usually means you're getting the best version of the game for a few months until the PC versions are fixed.

@nomither6 I caught your sarcasm.

Now, lets look back to the PS3 generation.
Uncharted 1-3
Resistance 1-3
Motorstorm 1-3
LBP 1-3
TLoU
God of War Ascension and 3
Infamous 1-2 and vampire DLC
Gran Turismo
LBP Karting
Mod Nation Racer
The Puppeteer
Killzone

And more that don’t immediately come to mind and all the fantastic 3rd party titles introduced during that gen.

Spec Ops the Line
Bioshock 1-3
GTA4, Max Payne and GTAV
Demon Souls
Far Cry 3
Assassins Creeds

That was a fantastic gen.

I could easily keep going but decided to cut it short.

Sony has gone with a very bland identity for a while now. They do third person action games with lots of walking and talking. I honestly feel a little sorry for people that were introduced to their games through the PS4 onward. They were reliably weird af for a long time before that. Don't get me wrong their first party games are always great, even if some of them are not for me. I've just played a wholllle lot of third-person action games that think they have a lot to say.

Maybe I'm just getting too old for this hobby - my selection would have been, "None of them have been great for several years." I may end up purchasing Stellar Blade when the price dips because I enjoy the combat in the demo, difficult as it may be. I will reserve judgement for now on whether the whole experience is great.

Rebirth is a train wreck - Final Fantasy died with XIII, and this whole Re-X trilogy for Final Fantasy VII is strengthening my opinion. I am absolutely stunned that so many find the combat mechanics fun or even usable. Final Fantasy XVI was a pretty ok action game with far too many cut scenes, but it has gone so far off the rails of what Final Fantasy was that I wish they would just change the name.

For first party titles, Open World Game: Post Apocalypse Robots, Open World Game: Super Hero, and Open World Game: Samurai had some entertainment value, but there's so much fluff in all of them. You really need to love that kind of game to keep playing them. They just feel like re-skins of one another: go to spot on map, follow/fight something. Pull up map. Go to next spot. Repeat. The experience is edging closer and closer to passive entertainment.

I actually think Xbox could have made up so ground this year if they’d been more patient. They do have a pipeline of first party games (avowed, Indiana jones plus starfield last year) and Sony has been quiet. With them jumping the gun and releasing on PlayStation I had to jump ship tho. Why play on Xbox if you can play those games plus Sonys on PlayStation?

@amatmulisha Yeah it really is, though I’m excited to see what Bend is cooking up next!

Ooh...
My PS5 games library is 99.99 % 3rd party KIDS games with Ratchet & Clank Rift Apart as the only 1st party on PS5 I have.
I only play kids games even on PS5.

@OmegaStriver couldn’t agree more , playstation has had better days & 7th generation was amazing. New IPs and existing franchises at their peak, and there wasn’t an over reliance on third party indies to fill the void for a lack of first party or AAA variety.

still play my ps3 and 360 to this day

@Northern_munkey eh? Days gone 2? I never heard any news regarding bend will make a sequel after all the hate from players. I will try google and find it. Thanks

@TrickyDicky99 it’s pretty funny how forgotten returnal is

These 3rd party games has been great and I look forward for more. Sony's investment with Chinese and Korean devs has been amazing and as a result, we get variety of games.

tbh, much as I enjoy PS exclusives like Gravity Rush, GoT and Bloodborne, a lot of the 1st party exclusives that Sony releases nowadays feel very similar with each other, with their 3rd-person over the shoulder cinematics and the fact that Sony starts leaning more towards to live-service games

I'm hoping to see Sony to do more partnership with 3rd party devs

@amatmulisha I remember reading that bend were working on a new game and it was rumored it was days gone 2 but the lead honcho was being pretty critical. I tried googling it as well but came up with nothing so I could have been mistaken. I am getting older and confused these days.

Well I still haven't seen a single reason to buy a PS5, so it's been godawful as far as I'm concerned.

My country ranks 4th in game sales worldwide. However, most people play games on gaming PCs and mobile devices. There are many comments in the community saying that they bought their first console for Stella Blade. Spider-Man and Horizon are often mentioned, but most people waited for the PC version. Exclusive games are important.

In fairness, the biggest reasons to own Sony's consoles have historically been their third-party exclusives. The problem is those exclusives don't stay exclusive anymore. Not even Sony's own first-party exclusives. As a multi-platform gamer, the PS5 simply doesn't feel like a necessary purchase in the same way previous Playstation consoles were.

Not that Sony's studios are putting out much of anything worth buying anyway at the moment.

@nessisonett We live in a world right now where "PS5 games" run adequately on handhelds. The generational model is on the verge of death, IMO.

I think since developers don't want to work extra hours or "crunch" anymore, this is why games are taking too long to make. So Sony is doing what they have done in all generations and made some deals. Nothing new here except games are taking longer to make

@Reptilio Why play on Xbox if you can play those games plus Sonys on PlayStation?

Those 'Xbox' games were released first on Xbox and can be played 'free' with a Game Pass Subscription. Why buy a Playstation when Sony's games are on PC and Xbox games are too - as well as all the PC 'exclusives', emulation etc?

Assuming MS do release more games on Playstation day/date (which we know they will with Call of Duty and Minecraft) instead of waiting a year or more, on Xbox/PC, you could play those for 'Free' but on PS, it will cost you $70+, there is an 'incentive'. A PC and 'Game Pass' for example could get you ALL the Xbox games and still play Sony's games too...

Xbox won't make up ground in terms of Console sales, but then they don't need to sell Consoles like Sony/Nintendo do. If the whole point was to sell 'consoles', then they would 'never' release their games 'day/date' on PC or Cloud to get people to buy a Console to play Forza, Starfield, Hellblade 2 etc. Instead, they integrated 'Xbox' into Windows and now are more concerned with getting Gamers into their 'ecosystem' and IP's.

With games like Starfield, Indiana Jones, Hellblade 2, Avowed etc, those aren't coming to Playstation, at least not 'day 1', then you have 'exclusives' to entice people in - much like Horizon, Spider-Man, Days Gone or R&C did for Sony, even if these are now on PC. I don't need a PS console, I can play those on a Steam Deck or Win11 handheld PC 'Console'.

At the end of the day, Exclusives are an incentive to get people in to an ecosystem so I expect MS to keep some games 'exclusive' for at least a period of time. But that's not the 'only' incentive to buy Hardware - other incentives include Costs, Services (like Game Pass) and/or preferences. You may prefer to 'buy' the games you want, prefer Sony's ecosystem or controller etc and willing to wait for ANY Xbox game - another may prefer to play on PC and wait for any Sony games to come, another may prefer to buy an Xbox and play whatever Game Pass games (inc 3rd Party) they have access to for a low cost gaming experience.

Who knows what the future looks like, but right now for example, I feel I have far less to look forward to on Playstation - just Wolverine, yet on Xbox, I have Hellblade, Avowed, Fable, Perfect Dark, Clockwork Revolution etc so if I was considering either a Series X or PS5 right now, Series X looks most promising - and even games like CoD, Diablo, Doom, Wolfenstein, Fallout etc are likely to be on Game Pass in the Future...

So far Astrobot, Demon's Souls, Returnal, GT7, FF16 and Helldivers 2 really stood out to me this gen.. really titles not typical of the ''format'' hence why I am looking forward to Concord the first FPS from PS in over a decade. SM2, Ragnarok, Horizon did what I expected as sequels with better performance and features.

Currently going through FF7 Rebirth and Stellar Blade, ain't even got time for Ronin. Too many titles.. Damn what a difference, compared to PS4 with it's first few years which was basically Indiestation 4.

I can’t really complain bc I am new to Sony ecosystem, save the Vita. So, a lot of the previous gen is new content for me. I think I would be a little disappointed if I had a PS4 since 2013 or 2014 and didn’t have other systems to keep me occupied….

I’d love to see more first party titles. I think Sony’s core base wants deep story amazing graphics AAA single players. I think that’s difficult to do in 2024. Not sure why costs have ballooned so much but if it takes 5 years and 200 million to make one of those then we aren’t going to get many of those anymore.

PlayStation dried up ...they rushed in releasing everything at once.

i think once sony starts releasing these games they've been working on for a while i think people will be happy. hopefully they'll at least show off them sooner then later.

The numbers for PS4 3rd party exclusives is about the same as the PS4, but not the 1st party numbers.

And I get there isn’t a parity in graphics, but the Switch has had at least twice as many exclusives in all flavours per year as XBox and Playstation COMBINED.

Not really. The games are great but generally I do not like the concept of third party exclusives, for me it is just genuinely throwing money at a publisher to keep them off competing platforms. Ultimately worse for gamers. Seems like a petty move to me looking to justify their lack of first party content.

Not at all. I haven't bought not one of these third party exclusives.

To an extent but it’s worrying we’re apparently half way through the PS5’s life and the first party output has been so poor in comparison to previous gens.
Especially given the vast IP library Sony has.

It's just frustrating that Sony is legit holding back many third party developers because of their lack of first party exclusives.

SquareEnix and Atlus are perfect examples. So far many SE Games has been locked to PS4/5 and look where that's heading, a loss of over 200 million dollars.

In contrast with Atlus, now that they're free from PlayStation exclusivity and is bringing their games to many platforms as possible, the results speak for itself.

SquareEnix shouldn't be punished for Sony's lackluster generation.

There are more games I want to play than I have time to play, so can't complain

In some regards yes and in others, no. There's definitely plenty I'd play if I got a PS5 but I'd need to see a stronger 1st party lineup before making the jump.

It really depends on what you’re happy with honestly. If you ask me this year has been bad for everyone first party wise. Nintendo is most likely waiting on a new console to put stuff out. Sony openly said in like January that this fiscal year would not feature titles on the level of like horizon or god of war. And Microsoft is Microsoft. So like I think they’re all getting supported by third parties pretty heavily. Now if we’re talking exclusive 3rd parties? Yeah Sony is still pretty strong with Helldivers and Stellar Blade and Rise of the Ronin. All excellent games. The question is tho if we’re not talking just exclusives? Then it’s no question that yeah 3rd parties are making it so we do fine I mean just look at Dragons Dogma 2 or Tekken 8 or Like A Dragon Infinite Wealth. I’ll take them over a Ghost Of Tsushima 2 or Horizon 3 announcement and release any day.

I wouldn't change FFXVI, Rebirth and Stellar Blade for anything that PlayStation Studios are likely to produce. So as far as I'm concerned they more than made up for it.

Games are games, who cares lol

Does it really matter the majority of people that own a PlayStation do so to play the usual fortnites cods Roblox annual sports games etc

@Gaia093 EXACTLY

Don't really care who makes them, just so long as there's games.

Personally I think first party stuff forgets the main reason why most of us play computer games, we just want to have fun. Stellar Blade has reminded me of this. SM2 and GOWR are great games with a high level of polish and I've enjoyed both, but I think studios should be focusing more on playability with a stable frame rate than... I dunno, why does it take them so long to make games nowadays?

The ps4 had a amazing amount of games lots only available on the ps4 or just the ps4 and switch. Unfortunately for the ps5 Sony seems to focus on remastering older titles rather then producing anything new. The thing about 3rd party titles is they are not guaranteed to remain exclusive unless Sony is going to pay an arm and a leg. Final Fantasy XIV finally got a Xbox release and despite minor problems it's likely to help MS get future titles. Nintendo is releasing more games for the switch then Sony is releasing for the ps5.

Yes and no, yes there are a lot of good games that released despite it being 3rd party but Sony studios are my favorite studios in the industry and I'm craving to see what they're working on.

I think they fill in gaps.

This is more so I think some devs are tweaking their engines and that's fair, but even then tweaking them for visuals even pass, give me gameplay ideas I'm intrigued by, gimmicky for the SSD even, some had fair ideas but I think devs are just not using the hardware well and just making PS4 style titles in design (I don't expect enemies with AI to respond to other enemies/your own attacks better even stealing them in a mimic way, better animations, dynamic situations like PS3 era had where did those go for more scripted moments) because they have to tweak their engines or their ideas are just that weak and that's just sad the industry is that formulaic now.

Not saying old school design is better but some have made me more interested of their old school modern design then most modern games with too much talking/basic human mechanics or less minigame style missions in open worlds for the most typical RPG quest design.

Not to mention old retro games with still fresh ideas and they are niche gems with ideas that spin off others so much better than the progression system garbage we get in many games formulaic design today that's for sure. Especially racing games or so many annoying skill trees in other games so many mechanics I've seen that is just licensed cars and boring modes. Or boring RPG quest design. Sigh I'll take mechanics over basic modes/event types I'll go back to better modes/events with actual creativity in them I don't need formulaic design due to lack of better ideas or branding or other nonsense to have fun.

Other than Valkyrie Elysium though I couldn't care less about the rest (got on PS4 anyway). They do the job well for what they offer and have fair ideas but aren't for me personally.

Stellar Blade I did have interest in but the movement speed of the combat and a few other details didn't do it for me in the demo. But as a fan of action games like it I approve of it.

Rebirth to me I got a sense from the minigames and wow even the PS1 era had more polish then those. I only played to help someone else that's my experience with it not the rest of the game just to clarify. Any Spyro 2 or 3 minigames are more polished. As similar well they differ sure but I mean I can still probably play Bentley's boxing more than the one in Rebirth.

The story/recreated moments are the best parts and are the only reason to play but as I was there to see some of those and they seemed good (no original PS1 FF7 reference for them of course) and mostly help someone with the minigames the minigames are so unpolished control wise.

The boxing is missing elements to be fun so the timing and gameplay was awkward, the chocobos for flight challenges, even PS1 games have better underneath camera let alone control feel then this or more clear flight feeling of control for the Minecraft Elytra and I suck at controlling that. When Spyro in Spyro 2 for speedways controls better and Ocean Speedway or others have more harder orb challenges I can easily beat you know the Chocobo challenges suck. A cool idea, but bad execution.

They really tried to offer content but in my opinion the story is the reason to play the gameplay side content (not the combat and rest seemed fine to me but I don't have much to go on as I didn't experience it really) moments are just awkward side projects that are imaginative but also really unpolished.

That's coming from someone that likes minigames but only if done well and these weren't. I'm not an open world fan but I seek open worlds with a minigame feel or good moveset use cases, a playground experience not a city recreation and generic RPG quests and even then I find many times 3D platformers with open world style missions to be boring and not for me.

Forspoken I didn't hate. People can meme on it all they want but like Balan (not exclusive I know) I actually cared about them. I got Balan as a Rayman 3 suit abilities game, everyone else saw it as 'oh these people made it and it's bad, it has a chao garden idea that's not as fun, point and laugh at it' yeah and I actually had fun.

When Rift Apart sucked at doing anything not scripted or generic and Psychonauts 2 was fair, Balan was still a fair game in comparison besides being unfinished in some areas. Sure both have issues but still. That's the most interested I've been in Square Enix titles in years. Besides Front Mission Evolved to pick up randomly.

Is 1 bad platformer I enjoyed (Balan), a fair open world with cool magic powers/GOOD verticality in it's world then boring city recreations/boring lack of playground level design (Forspoken).

Some hack n slashes and some tactics games from Square even if multi platform. Granted Front Mission 1st I preferred over Tactics Ogre and even then I didn't find either that good.

Diofield was just good to chapter 4 then the most repetitive boring tactics game I've ever played because the story doesn't get that much more interesting, I platinumed it like I planned and the game is just not throwing enough ideas at the player for the second half of a game.

I'm still not buying a PS5 though. I am staying on PS4 and only picking up non-third party deal games for PS5 years later when SOMETHING ACTUALLY WORTH MY TIME for gameplay design appears on it.

As besides a few of minor interest of 3rd parties most games still are just PS4 titles with 4K/ray tracing and lacking gimmicks to use the SSD or fun gameplay ideas that haven't been done to death, pass.

Even then I don't like the PS4 era it's my least favourite of PS3 refined game design a gen up ever besides a few decent games.

Even then PS4 if it wasn't for Japan Studio or London/Media Molecule on 1st party side, skipping many 3rd parties from major publishers I don't care about so it's why I bought up all the PS3/360/Wii third party games left behind because I had more interest in those games instead.

I'd have nothing to care about. As besides some AAs or Indies and even then many Indies suck in the safe nostalgia clone/fan game design besides the GOOD INDIES that exist out there with better ideas (it depends per genre what they make and how good some of their gameplay and worlds/concepts are while others fan gamify the same popular titles repetitive ideas and their new ones are surface level of good and make generic titles out of them. Indies are no different to AAA with repetitive design in some areas of the space).

Which is why PS5 has nothing I want 1st party offering wise. Just PS4 IPs I didn't like pushed further for 3 years early for people into them and the gap of exciting titles disappeared. So 3rd parties had to pull their weight as Sony killed the rest, games taking time as well of course and well they won't make smaller games or support PSVR2 so what else is there 3rd parties that may or may not appeal to people on the same level it depends on the game and the person.

Main problem is that AAA games production cycles are getting out of control. Uncharted 4 was released in 2016, sold 15 million copies and there's still no word about a sequel. Same with Persona 5. Problem isn't only with Sony. Last Grand Theft Auto and Elder Scrolls were released for PS3 and skipped a whole generation (E.S may skip 2). A kid that was 17 when Skyrim was made will be like mid 30s when a proper sequel comes out.

I have never understood the desire to have first-party exclusives. There are more than enough games to play on the system to make it worthwhile to have. I do not care whether a game is exclusive or who makes it as long as there are enough good games to play.

The exclusives are the problem in the industry. It is the reason you have to pay for three, and maybe more, different systems to play the games you want you to play.

I only buy one system and if the game is not it then I do not play it. Simple as that. Whilst I am interested in other games I do not care enough about them enough to buy another system.

Death to exclusives and first-party titles. Give the players the chance to play what they want on what system they want.

@TheAmbienWalrus The good ones do release, but what we consider good or at least worth our time and money is very different. I have less time then ever anymore so it's fine that Sony studios have made PS5 the "throw away generation".

I miss titles like Warhawk (PS3), Twisted Metal, Jet Moto, Destruction Derby, and many others.

What's been announced that I'm looking forward too? Mass Effect 5, new Tomb Raider, Instinction, Witcher 4, FF7 Remake Part 3.

Playstation studios haven't even announced anything I'm interested in. It's a very strange switch after four generations consistently providing anticipation.

@TheAmbienWalrus I actually just completed FF7 Rebirth. Took me about 2 months to find the 55 hours it took to beat it, having skipped the majority of side quests.

@BeerIsAwesome sony didn't kill it. You can read about how other companies went for vhs despite the superiority of betamax. It sad when money, not the quality, rules the world at many occasions

@TheAmbienWalrus That's a fair point to say don't worry I do take feedback seriously.

They do go a bit overboard/off topic at times, sometimes I need to put other examples or yes they are a bit big but I can't cut them down sometimes they need more details then something this short.

I'll look into it. I do edit them a fair bit but sometimes I don't know what to cut. Sometimes I come back later and edit them, other times I don't.