Sony loves a good PlayStation pack-in lately. You may recall the PS Vita shipping with Welcome Park, a pretty simplistic minigame compilation which introduced you to all the features and functions of its brand-new handheld. It followed the same formula with The Playroom on the PlayStation 4, a versatile bit of bundled software which showcased the unique attributes of the DualShock 4 – and later became something of a streaming sensation for a month or two.
PlayStation VR was accompanied by a pseudo-sequel to The Playroom, which would later spawn a full game in the form of Astro Bot Rescue Mission. And that means that, surely, the PlayStation 5 will continue this successful strategy, by including a piece of software on its super-fast SSD hard drive. I think that game should be Dreams, and while it may sound like a crazy suggestion on the Media Molecule title’s PS4 launch day, just hear me out.
Aside from it being a masterpiece, a lot of enthusiast discourse surrounding Dreams has settled on its commercial viability. Will this game sell? The answer, in truth, is that it’s probably going to struggle; word of mouth will obviously help as various creations continue to go viral, but there’s still a general misunderstanding about what the package entails. Sony’s come into some criticism for failing to effectively market the creation engine, but I sympathise a little bit because this is a tough sell.
It makes sense once you’re DreamSurfing and exploring all the weird and wonderful things that people have made, however, and this is where I think its potential as a pack-in could shine. Imagine having access to every single community creation, out of the box on your PS5. Imagine being able to browse your friends’ profiles and see their Dreams alongside their Trophies and Spotify activity. Imagine being able to create anything on your shiny new console at launch.
Consider an application like SHAREfactory, already available on the PS4. This has quietly proven a very popular free tool, leveraging the social functions of Sony’s current console by allowing owners to cut together gameplay clips using simple video editing software. Its accessible and encourages users to leverage their creativity in ways seldom seen on a console; bundling Dreams with the PS5 would take this same idea to a completely different stratosphere.
Here’s the thing: lowering the barrier for entry means there’s a greater audience for every Dream created, but it also increases the pool of potential creators. As an educational aide, the PS5 could become invaluable to schools looking to teach basic modelling, composing, and game design in a fun and familiar environment. For children asking for a next-gen console at Christmas, the inclusion of a creative tool could convince parents to take the plunge.
Social networks succeed because they have a low barrier of entry; once you’ve signed up to Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook you’re pretty much free to connect with your friends and build your audience as you please. Dreams is, in every sense of the word, a social network – but to reach critical mass it needs to be in front of as many people as possible. Media Molecule says it has a ten-year plan for this project, and the best way to fulfil that will be ensuring that everyone has access to it.
It’s true that I don’t know have an answer to how the developer could monetise the product in this scenario; perhaps pre-installing the engine on every PS5 means that creations could eventually be sold for real-world money in the PlayStation Store. But perhaps, just like ray-tracing and the aforementioned SSD hard drive, Dreams becomes a selling point for the PS5 itself. It’d be a bold move by Sony, but it’s one that I think could become a benefit for both the game and the next-gen console moving forwards.
Do you think Dreams should come bundled with the PS5? Would you be more willing to explore its features if it was a pack-in with the console itself? How do you think Media Molecule could monetise the game should it take this route? Use your imagination in the comments section below.
Comments 31
I think its a great idea more viewers more content they could continue to develop the game of the next gen and release a paid for dreams 'pro' to monetise it later on into its life cycle?
Welcome park...eurgh shudders. I loaded that up again on the weekend to try and get the last few trophies. Its just awful 😂
I love your idea though. I think having Dreams preinstalled on PS5 makes so much sense and would be a lovely gesture from Sony. What a way to build the community too.
Yeah I'd be down for that
Completely agree.
Dreams could go either way. It could be a slow burner & be absolutely massive,
or...
It could fizzle out to nothing.
I really hope Sony does the ‘right’ thing here. Dreams is incredible, but it needs time. Your not going to see a return from this for years, but the end result could be something truly revolutionary.
This is a great idea. I absolutely love this game. I've been doing the tutorials for a few days, I've got an idea for a level, but I don't think I'm good enough to pull it off 😂
The amount of articles of this game makes me think that either you guys really love this game and creating things or got paid to promote this
@GKO900 Dreams is 91 on metacritic. The user score is even better.
If anything the game has been criminally over-looked when compared to Death Stranding, God of War & Horizon: Zero Dawn.
Good idea. Anyone picking up a PS5 would have a massive game library alongside whichever launch titles they get.
Due to the niche nature of Dreams and the difficulty marketing it, a bundling deal might be a better bet for Mm. Maybe a slow and steady income instead of the money tailing off a while after launch.
@GKO900 @Arugula Imagine if, as a PlayStation website, we didn't fully cover the launch of a major PS4 exclusive.
Cool idea. How about on the monetisation side the PS5 came with a learning version inbuilt. It allows you full access to all the creative tools to make what you want but a limited access to the playable ‘dreams’. Say a month or 2 and then you can upgrade to the full version for about ten pounds/dollars.
@Fight_Teza_Fight I didn't know that, still they love to talk about this game a lot even before it came out and I'm glad that it turn out to be good for the fans that like to create this but this kinds of game are not my thing so I didn't even know it was actually good
Smart idea to be honest, picking up my copy of Dreams today, can't wait!
Totally agree defo think dreams should be pre installed on ps5 just like playroom was on ps4, i didnt have a camera at the time of ps4 but if i had would have defo played it because it there was not m7ch out at time. Also if you imagine how many new kids/adults who probably have not heard about this game (i have prob about 15 on friends list who dont know) but kids especially who maybe dont have much money but can create games themselves for free, and maybe didnt have much intersest/did not know that they could create such things. Ok maybe sony might lose some money in bundeling it in for free, but think long term, these ppl who might have never had an interest/money or even confidence to create, or maybe inspired by what they have seento buy this game might one day be creating AAA games or films, music its just lose money to make the future if that makes sense, sorry been out for a few tasty beverages so this makes sense to me and hopefully someone will understand what im trying to say haha, and prob a cheeky smoke now so dont expect a reply if someone can understand what im saying untill tomorrow, (ill prob read this 2morrow and be like wtf lol)
I got a chance to try it out for a bit today. Art’s Dream is an absolute masterpiece, they did such a wonderful job with it. I found the controls a bit wonky for the creator, but I also didn’t play it much and I went into this knowing I wouldn’t spend much time in the creator. I bought it because I’m excited to see what creative people with FAR more patience and discipline than myself can do with it. So far it hasn’t disappointed one bit.
That would be brilliant.
Or they could do a limited time version installed on the PS5. Launch the game and gives you a week free. It's tough to say the best idea.
What about if they included a full version of dreams bundled in with a 12 month PS plus subscription?
@get2sammyb if this title could become very popular it could become the biggest thing ever for sony. Just needs more marketing, but such a hard thing to market. Everyone on this site knows what it is, but ask ur average gamer and most have never heard of it. How do u market something like this to average gamers.
It would certainly sweeten the pot a little towards getting a PS5.
This website has been on the front lines of sharing the incredible potential of this game. Great job guys 👍
Considering the money Sony likely sunk into Home on ps3, I think this would be a significantly better investment and the upside would be felt for years to come.
Content is king. I support anything that creates more quality content on ps4
@get2sammyb I gotta give this some more thought. They've spent 10 years making this, I have no idea how they've functioned this long as a company, and now 8 months after release you wanna give it away for free? I spend all of time on the internet complaining about paid DLC for $60 games but these people gotta get something for that decade of work for a $40 game many of us only paid $30 for.
So here's a few tired thoughts.
As @NYJetsfan123 said, PS+. At least it's a selling point.
Bundle it with $400 PSVR2. Now that's an expensive piece of hardware that needs a selling point. PS5 will sell on it's own.
Speaking of PS5, if they wanna bundled it with something, Uncharted Drake's trilogy, that's a selling point. Nobody is buying a PS5 at launch for Dreams, and most people will be booting up God of War of Ghosts of Tsushima or TLoU2 in native 4k w/ no loading.
So I do like the idea of getting Dreams out there, but as a PS5 pack in it it's more likely to be treated as a pack-in like Playroom and ignored. PS+, PSVR2, maybe a pair of new Move controlers with thumbsticks that function like Joycon, preferably w/o the drifting. Something that highlights the game, not buries it.
But if you're r right, I won't complain. 😁
Only if I have the option to delete it. Space is a very important thing and I want to choose if it will take up some or not.
I would say give people the YouTube like aspect of being able to play and like games for free. But have the ability to make, collaborate and comment locked behind the purchase of the game. If you expand the social media like aspects to everyone you’re likely to get the same problems as other social media platforms.
Ha!
No thanks. Seriously, no.
I don't appreciate stuff I don't want pre-installed on my phones, and that's only megabytes. I certainly don't want gigabytes of unwanted stuff on my PS5.
I agree with Sammy, this would be a good move by Sony to ensure Dreams having a 10 year lifespan like Shu envisioned.
It would definitely be an easy way to add value to a likely expensive bit of hardware.
If it’s not packed in with PS5 though I can see it having a long tail sales curve over time though...
@Arugula Yeah I hate when people are enthusiastic about something and share that with the world.
That's a pretty good idea. It would start to have a huge amount of great creations, and it could become a big selling point over Xbox. They don't have anything to match couldn't for years to come.
It would lose out on some motorization, but it still has the PS4 to get that part done, then to give the overall brand a big boost. Sony could feature the best creations and it would be a huge free content stream for anyone with a PS5.
And if you already bought it, the benefits of extra creations would make it harder to complain instead of being happy.
So, as well as tons of Indie crap for the first year of PS5 we also get tons of user made crap? No thanks.
When you have gamers who can't stand load times, think tapping X to run is too much work, I don't know if they have the time and patience to get creative in Dreams.
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