"Everything was third-party." I expect Dolan, the magnificent meme duck, will be on fine form in just over a month's time, when Sony's big E3 2015 press conference inevitably fails to live up to expectations. We live in constant fear of the restless Los Angeles event here at Push Square Towers, so it's always a point of conversation: what will the Japanese giant reveal during its show? On this occasion, the feeling throughout the office is unanimous: you already know.
I've talked about third-party partnerships on this site before, but I think that it's important to discuss in a little more detail how they work. Essentially, publishers align with platform holders in order to better promote their products. The benefit for the game maker is that its title gets added exposure, while the manufacturer is able to market the release as one of its own. This often results in bonus content, console bundles, and PlayStation Blog coverage – as well as convention stage time.
Cast your minds back to PlayStation Experience, where the PlayStation maker almost upset the pace of its opening keynote by inviting Bungie on stage to talk Destiny. The developer had nothing new to show – The Dark Below had already been announced at that point – but it put in an appearance for contractual reasons; the Activision published first-person shooter has been at every Sony show since the PlayStation 4 was announced in February 2013. It's part of the marketing deal.
And it'll be at the organisation's E3 2015 media briefing in June, of that there's no doubt. Rumours have suggested that a much larger-scale expansion pack is due out later this year, and I'll personally be gob-smacked if the PlayStation maker doesn't announce it. But this is why I think that you should temper your expectations for a big first-party love-in next month: the organisation's made far too many deals with other publishers for it to have the time to spotlight its own stuff.
Let me just spell it out for you: Star Wars: Battlefront will be privy to a big blowout during the press conference; Batman: Arkham Knight will surely have its launch trailer showcased; No Man's Sky is too big of a deal to avoid the event; Assassin's Creed Syndicate looks like its returning to the PlayStation fold; Call of Duty: Black Ops III could yet have switched sides; and these are just names that we know of. That's easily an hour of press conference content right there – if not more.
If you consider that Uncharted 4: A Thief's End is also a lock for a hearty gameplay segment, while Sony's certain to spotlight several indie titles as well – well, that's more than enough for it to rattle through. Project Morpheus is a big deal for the firm, so that will get its fair share of attention, too – and it'll no doubt want to touch upon PlayStation Plus, PlayStation Now, PlayStation Vue, and other key subscription-based services. There's not going to be much time for anything else.
I want to be clear here: I don't think that Sony's shunning first-party development in the slightest, I just think that if you're expecting to see all of its exclusives distilled into a single 90-minute show, then you're going to come away very disappointed. There will be something – whether it's from Guerrilla Games, Media Molecule, or any one of the organisation's other studios – but the bulk will be spread between Paris Games Week, PlayStation Experience, and Tokyo Game Show.
And the point is that people are going to be disappointed – we've been talking about it between ourselves for weeks. The games are coming – we know that they're in development – but as the market leader, Sony now finds itself in a privileged position where it can handpick the cream of the third-party crop. And that means that the E3 press conferences of old that were packed with first-party content from start-to-finish may be long gone. I'd suggest getting used to that idea now.
Do you think that Sammy's logic is sound, or do you reckon that Sony will still come up trumps? Will you be disappointed if it focuses on third-party content, or are you eager to see more of the likes of Battlefront? Talk it out in the comments section below.
Would you be sad if Sony focused on third-party games at E3? (91 votes)
- Yes, I want to see lots of first-party games this year
- Meh, not bothered
- No, I'm just as interested in the third-party titles
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Comments 58
The only press conference I watch at E3 is Nintendo's. With the obvious thing that it is not really a press conference.
Spencer promised a bigger focus on first party games, but I don't expect much from that either. I will at least give him the benefit of the doubt.
I will check Push Square later to see that promised Uncharted 4 trailer. I guess Street Fighter V and Persona V will also be there. I see Sammy too focused on the Western games.
I pretty much always find E3 boring. I just watch the trailers of games I'm interested in later on YouTube.
Uncharted, Ratchet, Tearaway, GOW, Gravity Rush, Media Molecule game and more to come, I think it's a pretty good line-up.
Probably I feel in many ways Sony and Microsoft has switched postions with the PS4 being the big third party system and the xbox one having more interesting first party games.
Out of the Sony stuff i'm hoping that Project Horizon from GG is anounced and shown off.
Yup, if Sony keeps on slipping Microsoft will be the console with the killer first and second party titles.
Whenever these companies are sky high and doing amazing, be it Nintendo, Microsoft, or Sony, they more often than not forget what's really important.....Microsoft did it with the over focus on Kinect, Nintendo did it with the Wii and alienated a whole demographic, Sony did it with the initial PS3 launch and they are showing signs that they are slipping into the same mindset again.......time to eat some humble pie.
Let's not forget Street Fighter 5 too. E3 will be a strange affair this year. Microsoft will rely on old franchises again (Halo, Gears and Forza) Nintendo will get goodwill because there Nintendo but really their passing time till NX now. And Sony will show blockbuster 3rd party titles and the odd exclusive.
Why PS4's E3 2015 Press Conference
I bet it's less disappointing than Vita's E3 press conference
I would be a little disappointed if Sony only covered 3rd Party software. No doubt Ubisoft, EA, Activision have their own chance to showcase their games so what I want to see most is what Sony have planned for the Playstation. The only 3rd Party games, I think, that should occupy any of Sony's conference is those that are purely PS exclusives.
I don't like seeing all these 'exclusive' 3rd party deals that give one console something 'extra' for a period of time and have mentioned that on other posts. Whilst its good for you if you own that console, its also annoying if its on a rival. Its not like you are going to swap consoles if a big 3rd party game releases its DLC early or you get a few extra cosmetic items on the rival.
I personally want to hear and see what Sony are bringing that's purely exclusive. Its not like we won't get to hear about the 3rd party games during each publishers briefings anyway. If that includes 3rd party 'extras' then I want to see what those extras are - not mostly game play that's also on other formats. The way Sony use Destiny, you could easily assume its a PS exclusive
What did Phil Spencer say like a week or two back, this year's Xbox E3 conference will be more geared towards first and second party.
C'mom Sony......
@sub12 He talked up their conference last year and under delivered with old franchises and CGI trailers.
I think it is time for the last guardian to get an outing haha
To be honest I couldn't care less whether the game is first, second or third party. As long as it is good, a finished product upon release and I want to play it I am interested.
It makes me laugh how people expect Sony to show every exclusive under the sun and then expected them to do the same at Gamescom (Now Paris games week) and PSX. If people were more tuned into how the industry works then expectations would be realistic.
The important thing is to have GAMES.
Looking back at last year, after spending the first hour or so focusing on games they spent about 20 minutes talking up a new online TV show, I think it was Powers. And some guy spent another 10 minutes droning on about something but I don't remember what at all.
I thik we were all in agreement afterward the entire show was backwards, They opened w/ Uncharted 4, slowly drifted downhill w/ some other games, fell off a cliff w/ that talking head and Powers, and ended w/ something equally boring.
First or third party doesn't matter, just make it all about games, and save the best for last. They need to sit down, watch last years event, and do the exact opposite.
Did everyone forget Grand Turismo?? Also you'd probably have medievil (I know people think its fake, I don't), siphon filter, rachet and clank, uncharted, God of war, and a few others...
Heavenly blade too that games a ps4 exclusive right?
@ruckus Ah red herring sir
Timed exclusive I believe but PS4 is the only platform their making it for.
Also a new heavy rain game possibly, maybe rebooted twisted metal, also Until Dawn that scary horror game coming to PS4 too
I personally enjoy Sony's policy. 3rd party games are generally better than 1st party games, so I'd rather they focused on those. Batman and Battlefront will be all the better for having the PS4 as their lead console, and on top of that, Assassins Creed won't be a cluster-muck since it's coming back home to Playstation. These games will dominate 2015 so it's really for the best that they partner with Sony and not Microsoft.
@sinalefa Street Fighter V is a good shout - I forgot about that. I think that supports my point, though.
@BLPs To be fair, Sony does do a similar thing to the 'Treehouse', I just don't think they do a very good job of promoting it.
@shingi_70 I think that's fair. The difference between the two, though, is that historically Microsoft wouldn't show up at Gamescom, TGS, etc. I know it's started doing the Germany show, but there'll still be plenty of additional opportunity for Sony to show stuff if E3 does go how I think it will.
@rjejr What's a Vita?
@adf86 I agree with you, Sony's always been good at spreading the love across several shows. If the competition's dropping everything at once, though - which Microsoft probably will - I understand how the cynicism can set in from some.
@ruckus757 Sadly, Medievil's confirmed fake. There's an article on the site somewhere.
@ruckus757 you do know it has been confirmed fake by the one who made it, right?
@BLPs LOL. You stole his cookie!
@get2sammyb I wouldn't mind if it's third party only, as long as there are some exclusive titles.
Its gonna be good, why worry, there will be loads of brilliant games announced/ updated. I just need time to play the games I have.
I love E3. Always gets me pumped!
@rjejr this... So much this.
Well written, and this is my concern. Rather than just knocking it out of the park with exclusive announcements it'll be all about the deals they made. I really don't think SONY will drop any major bombshells this year at E3.
@Sanquine - "This" as in the poor lost Vita or "this" as in my stellar recap of last year's show?
If I recall correctly you were a big Vita fan and waiting on the PS4, though that was a while ago so you probably own a PS4 by now.
I expect a new God of War, gran turismo, siphon filter, medievil, silent Hills, uncharted, crash bandicoot, Spiro, gta v Dlc, resident evil, destiny comet, infamous teaser, fallout 4 marketing deal, Mass effect 4 marketing deal, and more! I jest of course, but I'm hoping for at least some fireworks.
All I care about is Fallout 4, Doom, Rise of Tomb Raider and Halo, anything else is just a bonus.
@rjejr. Stellar recap of last years show!
I got a PS4 now and i let my vita collect dust. My 3ds gets all the love. Pokémon Y!
I'm not that bothered really, just want to see star wars gameplay. Been waiting for years. And then bethesda announcing Fallout or ES game. But really hoping they announce a Uncharted collection before the 4th one, as I played the vita Uncharted and the last of us remastered. Both awesome so want to play all uncharteds before the 4th one is released, not sure they will but Im hopeful.
@Sanquine - OK, thanks. I'm still considering a new 3DS XL for my birthday in July. There doesn't seem to be a lot forthcoming but there are 4 years worth of good games I still want to play. And there really isn't a #2 on my birthday list, usually limit myself to $200 which rules out a PS4, I'll leave that to Santa.
@rjejr awesome! I need to buy Luigi mansion. From the lady im getting a gaming chair. For the time being im waiting for the Wii U to drop in price.. I always want to buy one... Two weeks ago i played donkey kong tropical freeze and i loved it. But holiday is coming... Tenerife it is
@Sanquine - "donkey kong tropical freeze"
I played the first world of DKTF and loved it. Then I played the 2nd level in the 2nd world - riding Rambi over the falling bridge - and couldn't get past it. I'm a laughing stock over at NL.
I like my Wii U but Nintendo really needs to lower the price. They have no big games coming out this year - maybe XCX but JRPGs are still a niche unless they have FF in their name - and Zelda sometime in 2016. It's been a poor selling system for 2 1/2 years, just who do they think is waiting to buy it for $299? I think Sony must have lowered the price of Vita in Japan, thing has been selling well over there, where they make games for it.
As much as I'd like Sony to come out and present first party titles one after another in a huge blowout awesome press conference, that's probably not going to happen. Yes, its quite disappointing to think about, as that's what I was honestly hoping would happen this E3, but it's looking like that not going to happen at all. I believe though, that its about time Sony started showing us SOMETHING from their first party studios. I'm so tired of waiting. We've been told over and over that all of their internal studios were making PS4 games. Cool, then show them to us. Prove to us that we have exclusives to look forward to. Treating third party titles as if they were exclusives with the marketing deals is REALLY starting to get on my nerves. I hope nobody takes my rant the wrong way, its just an opinion, one I felt I had to share.
Though I really wish they'd give the Vita some focus, it already has plenty of great games and I'm fully satisfied with my purchase of it. Now, PS4 on the other hand is in need of some more first party games. Though the second half of this year looks a lot more filled with games than the first half, I've realized that I can't be sure if a game will disappoint or not. I went from interested to definitely not buying for The Order: 1886, so who knows if that will happen to anymore games this year. If Sony can announce a few more first party titles for this year, it will be enough to balance out any possible disappointments that could happen.
E3 is amazing, the show will be great and I will be staying up. Its the highlight of the gaming year and as a gaming fan all my life I love it. No mans sky will be amazing, mgs will be fleshed out and we will get some news on streets of rage 4 (please Sega I will be your best friend forever)
Games are games. Doesn't matter where they come from. I dont understand this 'First-party or GTFO' mindset people seem to have these days.
People who don't get the importance of first and second party titles will lead to the decline of this industry.
I honestly wouldn't be surprised if Arkham Knight got pushed back so Sony could show it at the e3 and use it at their boots: for WB it's just a 2week delay, but with a promise of some valuable time in the limelight.
And I wanna bet they're gonna go all out with Battlefront by announcing a Star Wars themed PS4 Battlefront bundle!
I want to see exclusives, I don't mind if they show third party exclusives like No Man Sky and Persona but showing multiplatform titles is pointless
Persona 5> Halo. With that being said, Microsoft will probably "win" Nov and Dec again. Sony is already ignores Vita, so they need to not get in a habit of having a weak first party line up around Christmas time.
It needs a TLOU 2 and Fallout 4
I think we must entitle sony and his developers to have delay in presentation new or older first party game. maybe their project will not be ready until E3 conference.
That's easy for us to say why we can't see new franchise, but our patient has a good result in final. Always PlayStation first party games have the best qualities
@rjejr
Splatoon and Star Fox, no?
@rjejr
Splatoon and Star Fox, no?
@MadchesterManc Join the club.
@sub12 I get the importance of exclusives, it's the "everything now" attitude I can't stand. Sony have got into the mindset of only announcing games when their ready.
E3 is for Nintendo and few new stuff. Sony and Microsoft need change their presentations.
For sure, mass media loves drama & has been eager to the dramatic reversal of Xbox. And this year is their best chance to stir the topic...
expecting lots of E3 Headlines: "XBox Wins E3"
First party, third party, I don't care, but build that exclusive library to something better than what it's at now.
@rjejr
Splatoon, Star Fox, Mario Maker, Shin Megami Tensei x Fire Emblem, Xenoblade X, Fatal Frame/Proejxt Zero, Yoshi's Woolly World and a couple unnanounced games that Iwata has mention a couple of days ago. That's a pretty impressive exclusives and Im not worry about Nintendo, last year out of blue they announced on E3 Captain Toad. This year's gonna be the same. They have momentum, and even if they're not selling Wi U as much as they want more important is to yield a profit. But I agree they should cut the price for at least $50-80.
About Sony I think if they're should focus on balancing both third-party and first/second party titles. If not, people will notice that the Xone gives them more value (with a little help of Wii U).
@rjejr
That summed up Sony's E3 2014 perfectly. It was just not good in comparison to MS and Nintendo. Not to say there were no good announcements. Bloodborne was nice, seeing Uncharted was nice but it needed more. Funny enough, the stuff MS used to get killed for was exactly what Sony did at last year's E3 (while MS' show was ironically strictly about gaming), yet I didn't see anywhere near as much b*tching about it and there should have been. If there's games I don't give a damn about so be it. At a games show it needs to be all about the games and inevitably there will be some that people simply don't care for. But if the focus is all games, the opposite is also true and there's bound to be some that people are very excited about. So cut the crap this year. There's the PS experience at the end of the year where I think it's more appropriate to show stuff like Powers. The focus, again, should obviously be games but if there's some cool non-gaming stuff heading to PlayStation, no better place to announce it than at an event dedicated solely to PlayStation?
@Gamer83 - The downfall of this years E3 for Sony will be Project Morpheus. No matter how great it may turn out to be for gamers, watching a bunch of people standing around on stage w/ helmets on isn't going to get anyone excited about it.
Anybody remember Wonderbook from E3 2012?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPYUkbP5Kh4
@Fandabidozi - Splatoon will attract a lot of attention from non- Wii U owners. They'll watch the commercials w/ their kids, then decide $300 is too much to spend on a Wii U in June fr 1 game.
Star Fox fans already own a Wii U. And those who don't won't want to pay $300 now for 1 either. And it doesn't have a date yet. Zelda got pushed back to 2016, Star Fox may as well.
@Chrno-x - I don't see anything on that list that will sell more game copies and more consoles than Mario Kart 8. Most of them are niche titles, not major console sellers.
Wii U has sold under 10 million consoles (9.4 mi is the # Nintendo just gave). Iwata once said if Wii sold less than the Gamecube it would be a failure. Gamecube sold 22 million, so after 2 1/2 years - half of a typical console 5 year lifespan - Wii U is less than half of that. So by Nintnedo's own words Wii U will be a failure. And people don't want to buy a failure for $300.
Silent hills? Sorry, too soon?
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