Sony Investing in External Japanese Development Group

Sure. And they’ll get them to make games that appeal largely to the western market because it’ll make them more money. Sony just aren’t interested in PlayStation having the breadth it once did when it comes to flat games (I have to give them credit for VR).

Could agree somewhat because of the timed ghostwire exclusivity at the beginning of last gen, seemed to me like they were trying at least. But to say this after disbanding japan studio doesn't sit right with me.

I have no confidence whatsoever in Herman Hulst.
It's been almost 2 years now he's been the head of Playstation Studios, and he's yet to show anything positive.
All his interventions smell of corporate BS with nothing concrete to reassure us.

Look, I love Japan Studio as much as the rest of you, and was obviously upset by its closure, but people like us, who frequent these websites, live in a bubble. Those games didn't sell. Gravity Rush, Everybody's Golf, even The Last Guardian after that wait - they didn't sell. And, surprise! Sony is a corporation, who would prefer to make money on the products they invest in.

@thefourfoldroot
that's because the only thing selling in the Asian/Eastern market are mobile and handheld games.

We already get enough rubbish mobile ports and crappy anime tiddy switch games from other Japanese developers. I don't want any more from Playstation.

@Iroha
Yeah, but I don’t want to buy a switch, so where are my “anime tiddy games”? Lol.
But you are right to an extent, if certain games still sold well on consoles Sony may have thought twice about dropping them.
I do think it’s a bit short sighted though. A larger proportion of PlayStation users are with them for these games, at least in part, compared to with MS for example, so strangling that market doesn’t seem the most sensible to me.

I’ll believe it when I see more off-beat stuff like Puppeteer and Gravity Rush and less of the video game equivalent to Oscar bait coming from them.

Sony keep saying this but never do anything to show for it.

@sajoey "Those games didn't sell. Gravity Rush, Everybody's Golf, even The Last Guardian after that wait - they didn't sell"

Many of those games sold better then Dreams by Mm and all they get from Sony is wet kisses, is it because Media Molecule is a Western studio that it gets more breathing room?

Pathetic you should be investing in INTERNAL 1ST PARTY JAPANESE STUDIOS!!!!!! You should have more in house Japanese studios

Ah, yes, the routine "Japan is still important to us" shtick from Sony that continues to mean virtually nothing. It's the same thing they were saying even before they shut down Japan Studio, which basically proved their words meaningless.

I hope we continue to see great Japanese games for Playstation. I really don't want to use my Switch primarily for smaller Japanese games as I simply don't like using it if I can avoid it. An easy way to put folks minds at ease would be to put out a Bloodborne Directors Cut or dare I dream a Bloodborne 2!

I think the next few years under Hulst could be big. I wasn't as confident earlier in the generation but as more interviews come out, the better. The man who went from making Killzone to Horizon is no joke. what a towering achievement.

While I understand Sony reason for closing Sony Japan Studios I am still not happy about it . The reason I loved Playstation was for all the interesting games they used to make and fund . jumping flash, Tokyo Jungle , Tomba , Ape escape , Gravity Rush , Kula World , Everybody golf , Ico , Shadow of the colossus , the last guardian, Fat Princess .

These are the reasons why playstation 1 ,2 and 3 were so memorable to me . I have to be honest guys the older I get and the more new gaming generations come the more I get bored with AAA gaming. If it were not for the indie game scene and Japanese studios like Fromsoftware , Capcom and Nintendo I would Quit gaming .

While Yes Japan studios games never sold well they still did alot of work co-developing games with Bloodborne , Demon souls remake Déraciné to name a few , at the end of the day it was not Sony Japan Studios that failed Sony , it was Sony that Failed Japan studios from letting all that talent go .

If there is a bright light to this story is that all these people will form their own studios which means we will get even more amazing games in the future .

Japan studio was mediocre for the last decade. "BUT THEY MADE PARAPPA THE RAPPER 20 YEARS AGO!!!".....stfu.

People shouldn't miss when Sony was a Japanese company, you should miss when Japan actually cared about non mobile gaming. If Japan still bought console games then Sony would still be a Japanese company, you have to adapt to the market. Even the Wii U sold terribly in Japan where Nintendo is adored because it was just a standard console. Believe me I absolutely miss the Ps1-Ps2 days when there were so many incredible Japanese developers and games, but you can't really blame Sony for this changing. Japanese culture just seems to only care about mobile gaming now which is just depressing.

I'd like to see them invest in more Japanese content going forward for the system. I'm also someone who fell in love with Playstation back with the PS1 primarily for the top-quality Japanese games on their systems, and I'd love to see games like that designed exclusively for the system with big Sony money behind them.

To be frank, I think it'd be in their best interest, given Microsoft will have an edge going forward with Western content from developers like Ninja Theory, the various teams putting out content for Bethesda, Obsidian, etc., all of whose games will hitting GamePass on day one.

@sajoey same thing I've been saying. People didn't support those games. I mean I get why a golf game wouldn't sell much, but we've had games like gr and gr2, ico, Folklore, last guardian, etc. Great games that no one bought 🤷‍♂️

@Ralizah Spider-man alone is bigger than any of those games.

It's been mentioned, but it's certainly true that Sony has doubled down on a certain type of game because that is the sort of game that sells well on Playstation.

Companies are ultimately going to focus resources where they're most efficiently utilized.

Playstation owners have been buying fewer Japanese-developed games that aren't blockbusters. Which is probably why Disgaea 6 was localized as a Switch exclusive, even though there's a perfectly good Japanese PS4 version they could have brought over.

@Amppari And Mario Kart is bigger than Spider-Man.

Nevertheless, man cannot survive on Spider-Man and Mario Kart alone.

@Ralizah Good thing they have more than just those games, and mario kart is not a western game.

@Steel76 They still “somewhat” are. That not doing it for ya?

@Royalblues I think there was a Gravity Rush OVA a few years ago, though I haven’t seen it. I might try to track it down since I really enjoyed the GR world.

Not sure where you’re getting the manga and anime censorship stuff from though. Anime has been edited, recut, and censored here in the States at least since the Robotech/Macross days. Manga was changed a bit too back when they would publish english versions in US comic book format. Japan also mandates some censorship to comply with domestic broadcast regulations and pornography laws, so this stuff is nothing new. I think people forget about it from time to time.

Like I've said before people didn't buy or support all the Japanese games we used to get. Everyone bought God of War and sushi ghost and Spiderman and whatever else. No one buys those unique Japanese games. Amd it's not just japan studio. There have been so many amazing Japanese games that didn't sell well over the years. Games that brought something new to the table or managed to make a done already thing feel new. God hand, okami, wonderful 101, The silver case, no more heroes, gravity Rush, vanquish, 13 sentinels, Jet set Radio future, etc. Its unfair

@Amppari Tokyo Jungle was this decade so I have to disagree. Sony Japan was crushing the PS3/PSVita era. I don’t know what happened in the PS4 era — especially when you consider Sony now had the proper online marketplace to support those creative sub-20$ games like Tokyo Jungle and squandered it.

@Amppari lol then why mention "Spider-Man alone" if you didn't want to discuss it in isolation from the rest of Sony's output? While Marvel's Spider-Man sold extremely well, I wouldn't say it's "bigger" than, say, just the last Elder Scrolls game. tbh I'm not even expecting Spider-Man 2 to match its sales momentum. The first game released at just the right time in history to massively benefit from Marvel hype when it was at a historical fever pitch.

Don't get me wrong: it's (probably) a good series of games. Miles Morales is selling very well, and Spider-Man 2 will sell very well. But probably more along the lines of a God of War or Horizon Zero Dawn.

Which is not shameful. Most games don't hit those sorts of numbers, and Sony has done a great job of cultivating a first-party line-up that appeals to the masses.

But if I had to choose between even just Bethesda's output and the next Spider-Man, I'd go for the former all day. How valuable the Zenimax deal ultimately is will become clearer when stuff like the next DOOM, the next Fallout, the next Wolfenstein, the next Elder Scrolls, Starfield, etc. starts releasing.

Riiiiight...

I'll believe it when I see it.

I recently finished Gravity Rush Remastered and enjoyed it a fair bit, so I hope this is true so more games of the same style get made.

“I will say that we are in some ways very much a Japanese company still'

Bet Sony corp is less than enthused hearing statements like that regardless of where Playstation HQ is based. Sony is first and foremost a Japanese company. Playstation execs would do well to remember that.

If anything, the devs outside of Japan should be the external ones, as Sony is a Japanese company. Sony should make another Boku no natsuyasumi. Those games were cute. We could also do with a PS5 remake of Amagami. Getting ridd of the censorship policies and funding Senran Kagura 7even would also be nice.

They have Western based studios. They have an initiative to expand Chinese games and clearly working with japanese studios (you all playing Tales of Arise/Judgement on Switch?)

But Let’s keep questioning the only company in gaming history that has created a console that has sold 1.5 billion games.

They clearly should copy the company in 2nd or 3rd.

“Just get a Switch. Problem solved.”

Erm, no. I’d rather play excessively censored Anime games on PlayStation than dealing with 20 FPS/540p ports like Dragon Star Varnir, Neptunia on Switch. Thanks.

Whatever, Hermie. I'll believe it when I see it. I'd say play it, but we know anything that comes from current management is going to be a movie with button prompts, in fully western clothing. Does Kojima even count as Japanese development given his open adulation of Hollywood?

I miss the PlayStation of pre-2015

Contact media vision and order Wild Arms 6 from them.
Have team Asobi make an Ape Escape reboot.
A remake of legend of dragoon would be cool too.
Contact Level 5 and order Rogue galaxy 2 from them.

You will be golden. Japan recaptured.

Why bring this up again? Just release to your audience fun and interesting things from Japan.

I hope the next project from Team Asobi is great though, because I don't know what other game Sony is making in Japan.

@Rob_230 I'd like to think you're right, bit in reality, Sony has always been weird among Japanese companies in being primarily western export oriented. They're one of the few companies that earnings and share value take a nose dive any time the yen is strong and they go through the roof in a Japanese recession. Sony corp probably doesn't care about Japan any more than PlayStation does. It's not really their main market in any industry short of insurance and at least part of their music publishing (where they're more or less a true monopoly for Japanese artists. Avex handles the live tours, Sony handles recording and publishing, and the Yakuza provide the idol meet and greets 😆)

Is Playstation 5 going to be the only playstation that has no Everybody's Golf ? 😟😟😟

@Steel76 we all do .

Means little until they show us some games. They've been doing interviews, speaking in vague corporate lingo for awhile now while not engaging us with showcases much at all. They're taking success for granted.

@Amnesiac 😋 "Anime has been edited & recut since at least Robotech/Macross"!! True enough about meeting strict U.S.,(& from there worldwide tv syndication for kids breakfast/afternoon viewing),but also the likes of Voltron, Star Blazers, Battle of the Planets! 👍Also seen cut bits on YouTube from others before them like Speed Racer & Kimba that i was too small to remember much of unlike BOTP,Star Blazers etc.!
Enjoyed Robotech even though as an adult I can see how dreadful HG has been trolling its "rights" to the IP ever since!😕

@Robocod
I loved the Robotech Macross Saga in its day. It was so different from the G.I. Joe/Tranformers/Thundercats formula. Characters you invested in died. And it became more common as it played out, with a genocide near the end. Great show, although the graphics and sound haven't held up enough for a re-watch...but damn...

@sajoey you make too much sense for this place

@lacerz Looks over at my DVD collections of Robotech etc.,yep!👍Though hated how the "remastered" versions dropped the better sfx for the laser sounds etc. The novels weren't too shabby either albeit with some curious little changes to the cartoon Canon! Just a pity all the wrangling over the rights thereafter prevented the follow-ups we wanted at the time!
Great times to be a kid back then...albeit still shakes fist at Hasbro bumping off most of my notable Transformers during THAT movie to promote their newer toy lines!!😂

@sajoey True, but the question is they they make enough to break even or turn a small profit, or did they not make enough according to the investors? Even successful games can be deemed a failure by large corporations.

I think sony should collaborate with capcom to make exclusive 3D megaman x games with housemarque, with returnal like gameplay. No roguelike, just normal level

@Iroha You are exactly right. Mobile games market is by far the biggest money maker. Like it or not, it will have impact on game design on all platforms. For now Sony seems to follow the path of offering something exclusive, which you cannot have in a form of a mobile game. That, plus allowing for experiments (like Death Stranding, Returnal) makes for much better strategy than relying on wide audience AAA heavy hitters. Those will come from third party publishers anyway, and Sony is poised to make more unique games.

@Olmaz You are right the horrible firstparty titles with no quality whatsoever keep coming. I especially hate the way that they rather wait and release later then then the Ubisoft and EA way just release and see when or if they fix it. The one thing i have a issue with is that they dont do smaller stuff enough.

@Dobbos That is one that hurts me and only i played the PSP, PS3, PS Vita and that horrible PS4 thing.... ☹️

@Dobbos Yes, and it's a sad reflection on the current 'what's a playstayshun?' management.

Shutting Japan Studio was going to have knock on consequences - everyone could see that apart from Ryan and his minions.

@Nem Legend of Dragoon man i would even take a high resolution remake with some upgraded textures. 😁

@sanderson72 Besides not being alble to play a lot of gems show me the massive succeses that they made with their Japanese games. As much as i love Legend of Dragoon, ICO, Shadow of the Colossus, Gravity Rush, Dark Cloud, the Last Guardian (was a disaster took a decade to make) and did they sell a lot and copies. Like that how much money has been made in the end. Dont get me wrong i love these games but do they make any money.

@Flaming_Kaiser Can't find any figures, but I can imagine that games like Everybody's Golf has made a tidy sum over the PS1 to PS4 years? Now it's on Apple Arcade in all but name only.

Shawn Layden said some time ago (before being ousted) that the creativity was important - even if the game didn't sell that many copies. I don't know what direction this new PS is heading in but I miss the creative days.

@Rob_230 Why does it matter that Sony is a Japanese company first, and why do the execs need to remember that?

A lot of strange, Japanese nationalism in many of these posts...

@Robocod You’re definitely bringing the nostalgia. I loved the five lion Voltron as a kid, but for some reason the one with the dozens of vehicles is what really fascinated me. I think the original title was Dairugger - so many parts!

The one thing I’ll give Harmony Gold credit for is the Robotech opening theme. I still find myself humming it once in a blue moon. And wasn’t there a decent cel shaded Robotech game a few years ago? Good times.

@Flaming_Kaiser I have enver said Sony didn't have any good first party games. But tell any 1st part Sony game you've played that wasn't already in development before Hulst took over?
And since he was made the head of PS Studios, tell me of one game published or developed by Sony that really tried to be a daring breakthrough in video gaming?
The only one I can think of is Returnal, and it wasn't even a 1st party game.
I want to be proven wrong, but Hulst gives me the classic politically correct BS culture western CEO vibes... which is not why I fell in love with the Playstation brand and its games...

@Olmaz You think a CEO from Japan is going to be motivated by greed and profit any less than an American? You realize that corporations are founded on human principles and navigated by poor human traits, such as greed and ambition, and not racial ones? Or are the only people capable of greed Americans/westerners, and Japanese CEOs have some magical immunity to it?

@BloodNinja Jeesh, calm down!
You're strawmanning me a lot here, my issue with Hulst is that every word that came out of his mouth for the last 2 years sounds like all the PC BS that we hear in the west, and that he doesn't have much to show for it.
I never implied there's no greed or ambition in Japan, or even that a Japanese CEO would do better than a Dutch one.
I'm just saying Hulst doesn't inspire confidence in me that he will help make PS grow better. It has nothing to do with racial/cultural bias and I'm actually surprised you've seen any in my comment.

@Olmaz Still quality games and fantastic profits. The games that people people complain about you mean the 18 year old that look like 14 years. The feeling up of women that was how long ago was that. Or was the big issue the lesbian Ellie for you?

@Flaming_Kaiser WTF are you talking about? Aren't you projecting a lot here?
Where and when did I even imply any of the things you're mentioning in your post?

The big question for me is did all these Japanese-developed games actually sell badly, or did they not reach incredibly high sales expectations? The Tomb Raider reboot was deemed a “failure” by Square Enix last gen for “only” selling 3.4 million copies in the first 4 weeks. I was always a bigger fan of the smaller “b-tier” games that publishers released in between their flagship titles as they tended to experiment more and less inclined to follow customer expectations (I.e. must have crafting, must have open world, must have stealth and open combat, etc).

I will reserve judgement on this statement until tangible examples become reality.

I think it's very simple. You invest in company A and company B several times. Every time company A brings you money but company B doesn't. So at the end of the day, which one would you like to invest in next?

@Amnesiac Funny you say that about Voltron! Pretty sure Down Under we got it in reverse order so Vehicle Force Voltron was shown first & I really enjoyed! Guess its why I latched onto Peter Cullen's Optimus Prime after his being the C.O. in Voltron!😁 Was surprised to discover how much more liked Lion Force Voltron was years later on the internet-I liked both each in their own way!
As for Robotech,yeah the music they did was absolute top notch,(much like Battle of Planets did for its adaptation I believe.🤔)!👍 Got an anniversary CD years ago after originally coming across its music tracks as Real Player music files on the internet!😂
They did a couple of games,(after a N64 one got abandoned),Robotech Invasion based off the Invid War,(never saw it in action),& Robotech Battlecry(set in the Macross saga). Both came out on PS2/XB. Did play a little bit of Battlecry on ps2,but was quite rare in my neck of the woods so sadly never had a copy for keeps Had a few "invisible wall" issues common of the era,but like you said,the cel shading worked great! Your character was a buddy of Roy Fokker, Rick Hunters "Big Brother". Had a couple of the old Voice Actors too,I think!👍
Good times indeed being a kid back then!!😎

@Olmaz You put down western CEO style companies in your post, so it left an interesting hint for me. But! You just clarified it, so no worries

at the end of the day, sony of japan agreed to "westernize" its playstation division. the playstation division in its curent form did not happen by accident or out of the blue. it is as simple as that.

Go, go Bloodborne 2!

@Royalblues Turns out it was just two 8 minute OVAs that Sony produced before the launch of GR2. Still, they are well done and have the same voice actors and composer from the games. You really get a sense that Sony gave it their best shot with Gravity Rush, but it didn’t quite breakthrough to the mainstream. The OVAs are available here: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=h-hs9QQXjSo

BRING!!! BACK!!! 'Japan Studios'!!! SONY!!! (I LOVED THAT NAME) Since the PS1 days whenever I heard something is coming from Japan Studios I got really excited about it.
It's like SONY are embarrassed by the word 'Japan' now :-/

@Ralizah Mmm based on the quality of recent Berhesda I think theyre past their prime. Most people prefer FO3 to 4 and Skyrim is 10 years old. Even Doom vs Infinite - I think the sequel was received less well. Same for Wolfenstein. Arkanes output is getting boring. Lastly i thought the same thing about Rare in the 90s. Havent heard anything good out of Obsidian either since their acquisition.