Sony Committed to Better First-Party Games, 'Richer' Experiences, More PS5 Users

So just Astro Bot for the rest of this year then.

Not going to bother with a PS5 Pro as I'm barely using the original one. Some decent games would come as a welcome relief.

Sony need to understand that better first party games and richer experiences dont need to come at a 200 million budget and take 6 years to produce.

I won’t mind 2024 being a slower year if we get absolutely bombarded with first party games in 2025 and 2026.

60M PS5 is a great achievement and hope the devs can now start to tap into the power and create amazing game experiences

I am probably the least fan of most Sony first party games. Most of them just aren’t my play style. That said i respect all of them. They rarely if ever have game breaking bugs. Graphics are always great. Audio is top notch, and they mostly sell well. So not sure what the next level they can go from here but i am excited. If they do more shooters and online games i will be all over them. Otherwise i will stick to Ratchet and Clank and god of War and Last of us. I believe the future is bright for them tho and am really excited to see what Santa Monica and naughty dog are working on.

Dear Sony, if „richer experiences“ mean Live Service BS: No thanks

A rumored Astro Bot game you say.. 🤔

This further gives the impression that GTA6 is earlier on in the year like March/April. Have GTA6 start the year and then 2nd half of 2025 onwards being a packed 1st party lineup.

@Kidfunkadelic83 SAY THAT LOUDER FOR THE PLAYSTATION EXECS AT THE BACK!!!! 😅

And Sony you aren't going to get more PS5 users by doubling down on PC ports but hey you do you man (shrug)

How about a Bloodborne remaster already??

@Kidfunkadelic83 Very true. Budgets are getting ridiculous. Sorry Sony, I never asked for realistic pupil dilation in Ellie's eyes for The Last of Us Part II 😆

@Nexozi There are some other new games based on smaller IPs coming out this year according to rumours

We don't need better first party games, we just need more. Not every first-party game must be a 200-300mio $ production

Smaller-scaled games can be just as much fun

As I agree with most of all the above, we also were spoiled with a timeframe of super cool titles a year-two back. So, it is kind of normal to have some slow period. We can not have blockbuster year every year.

@Zenos if Sony had any since they would try to revive some of their own dormant jrpgs a legend of dragoon remake would sell like crazy so would a new dark cloud wild arms and freedom wars.

My most wanted Sony franchises to come back would be Ape escape and Boku no natsuyasumi.

Why are Nintendo and Xbox fans always here hating.

@mariomaster96 a lot of PlayStation gamers buy PlayStation for the big budget games mostly.

Really hope we get the new astrobot game this year. The rumored showcase really needs to show what a lot of these studios are working on. Hope they learned from last year's showcase.

Was does “enhanced” and “richer” even mean outside of marketing speak?

The only thing that would match up in gaming, for me, would be if they had auto VR implementation. That would certainly be an enhanced and richer experience.

Which means buckle up for more live service games (Helldivers 2 sold 12 mil) it's a good game, but is it really safe to assume that every live service title will achieve this?. It's gamers fault we will not be having games like Gravity Rush, Sly Cooper. Even AAA scale games are dying (few of those lately).

@Sifi you wouldn’t have one anyway as you despise everything Sony.

Just anything to look forward to. More games in development keeps devs in jobs too.

Great marketing speech. Nice words. Now show us. I need to see it before I see it. Would be great to see some old IP's making a comeback. Alundra, ape escape, Jak and daxter. Make a new IP, a jrpg with a Japanese studio to rival persona and FF.

Just suprise with all new games and show them already.

Hard to know exactly what that means from such a vague statement but, trying to stay optimistic, maybe the time of finding out what Naughty Dog, Bend, Asobi, Sucker Punch (well we basically know, we just haven't seen it yet) and others are up to isn't too far away.

Sounds promising, it looks like after this year there's going to be a steady stream of first party releases, 2025 is shaping up to be a great year on paper with GTA 6, Monster Hunter Wilds and some Playstation heavy hitters.

In terms of 2024 we will be getting Concord, Horizon ZD Remaster, Destiny 2 Final Shape, Silent Hill Remake and most likely the Astro Bot game, and we've already had TLOU 2 Remastered and HellDivers 2, plus Stellar Blade, Rise of the Ronin and Final Fantasy ReBirth. So this year hasn't been the drought for us PlayStation gamers that certain people like to make out it has.

@Jay767 Jealousy and Hatred, simple as that.

@Kidfunkadelic83 If I could give your comment multiple likes, I would.

Make more variety of games that aren't too cinematic feeling with realistic graphics. Make other games other than just 3rd person action. We need more in the lines of JRPG, platformers, fighting games, etc. and we don't need a million $ budgeted titles that takes years to develop. Also, less live-service games. Helldivers 2 is a great success (and all for the good reason but I'm hoping this doesn't go over Sony's head)

If Sony is commited with this "richer experiences" then I hope they would consider all those options

I get the feeling it’s a case of PS5 Pro 2024, PS5 Pro games 2025/26 … simpler games, clean retro PS1 style major franchise IPs with a quicker turnaround and a budget price.

Call it something like .. Sony Platinum games range

Kill zone 1, cleaned up, dual sense support.
Motorstorm, Resistance, Parappa, Twisted metal etc.

Same games just clean, crisp and simple. No online, no micro transactions. £20/$20 each

Release 5-8 over the next year it would print money for Sony and keep old and new players interested. Also would garner interest in existing IPs in time for the next AAAAA release in x years time

16 confirmed Horizon projects does not equal "enhancement of first-party software ". Horizon, GoW, and Last of Us until we all bleed from our eyes. I desperately miss Sony's push for new IP.

Cool.more first party games needs to announce.a big ps showcase is welcome.word up son

Simpler £20 games from the big studios could be so much more experimental and you know fun too

@Zeldorf Ah yes, GoW, that incredibly prolific IP that has seen a whopping - checks notes - two new, full game releases in the last decade. When will they stop ramming this down our throats!

@thefourfoldroot1 I'm hoping enhancement means like aiming for more frequent releases via variety of scope while maintaining quality. So like there being your usual big releases (e.g. TLoU, Horizon, GoW) and then there's a bunch of smaller projects in between (e.g. the rumoured Astro Bot game).

Nice, no more pointless remasters would be a good start. Unless they are a very very old games remade, at a push.

Basically I have a PS5 for your big end AAA campaign exclusives just like I had all my other PlayStations for.

Now get you heads out your arses cut with the PR chat and get producing, else’s being harsh, what is the point of PlayStation for me.

@LordFunkalot Those games you mentioned should already be put into Playstations Plus Extra/Premium, it's just so odd they haven't put their back catalogue onto the service yet.

No more live service please

@Ainu20 Two full games releases since 2018. Two Horizon games since 2017, plus DLC expansions. TLOU Part II, TLOU Part I, and now TLOU Part II Remastered since 2020.

And not a lot that has been genuinely new, aside from Returnal.

Yeah yeah, we've heard all of this before.. Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice shame on me.

I want to believe them, I really really do, but the last seven years have been so, so disappointing (R&C Rift Apart being the only great exclusive I've played on the system.. I don't care for any generic super hero or walking simulator games personally).

@Ralizah Plus a VR Horizon game!

I really do get the feeling that we're on the cusp of a video game industry crash.

I’m not necessarily longing for new games. There is such a backlog that I am working through. That said, a new Ghost of Tsushima would be a purchase for sure. As an owner of all the consoles, I’m just starting to use Game Pass on the Series X, and finishing up on Jedi Survivor (amazing game) and then Starfield once the big 40fps/60fps patch drops.

So Sony, take your time and make some bangers.

@UltimateOtaku91 The back catalogue is a goldmine for them and would allow simple clean retro re releases and fresh takes on existing IPs

Imagine God of war, Horizon PS1 demakes with clean crisp retro style graphics, it would sell like crazy and be quick for them to make.

Anything to plug the game gaps with franchises and characters we all love and would be interested to play

@Ralizah

Two full games releases since 2018. Two Horizon games since 2017, plus DLC expansions. TLOU Part II, TLOU Part I, and now TLOU Part II Remastered since 2020.

I generally find the people that complain about this kind of thing are the same people who will declare their love for the Nintendo Switch when it’s top 20 selling games are 8 games with the word Mario in the title(+1 colour swapped Mario in Mario’s Mansion)and 5 Pokemon games(9 releases technically). Has Nintendo released a single major new IP in the last decade?(I think Splatoon just makes it into that timeframe). People seem to be enjoying the Switch though. Isn’t that strange?

Sony must not be thinking about the fact that if they push heavily to PC, many people may migrate there and that just means huge losses of revenue/profit from their PS Store.

They may gain some software sales on PC but will lose sales from MTX on games like Fortnite and COD if people abandon their store.

@nessisonett lol I totally forgot about Call of the Mountain. That was, like, one of the only worthwhile first-party experiences on PSVR2 before they abandoned it, right?

@__jamiie Yeah, I'm getting that vibe as well. The amount of developers being greedy and selfish - along with all the bugs and glitches that plague games lately - will most likely result in another crash.

Nintendo will most likely be the only one left standing, with MAYBE Sony as well.. Microsoft's Xbox will definitely go under, however

@ChrisDeku
People who complain about that don't have a Nintendo either, they have that other platform that is sinking despite releasing new IPs every month or so.

All in all Sony IS delivering games and good games at that.

@ChrisDeku I feel you, that is a completely alternate reality 🤣 Mario kart remaster is the best seller of an interminable list of rehashed games, remasters, “remakes”, Wii U and PS3 ports

No predictions, but I am looking forward to learning more about what's coming. In the meantime there are plenty of other games to discover and wait for.

Would have thought Sony would have a big budget first party game to release alongside the pro but that’s looking unlikely.

Will see about that. Sounds like smoke and mirrors to make there shareholders happy to me.

I do not like the comments about them viewing play time as more important than game sales. This seems like a bad road to go down. It’s worked so well for MS.

@Maubari TBF, Xbox have been saying for years that selling hardware is irrelevant. And I'm fairly sure that the ABK deal they agreed with Sony only stipulated that Call of Duty had to be like for like on PlayStation hardware and Xbox hardware. If there's no Xbox hardware, then the game doesn't have to go to PlayStation hardware at all.

Either way, things are definitely not going well for the industry.

Apart from, as you said, Nintendo. They have their own corner of the market that they're very comfortable in.

Bespoke hardware that they sell for a profit. Hardware that sells millions upon millions.

First party titles that also sell millions upon millions (without costing hundreds of millions to make).

A gradually improving online offering (still very poor compared to Xbox and PS).

And a back catalogue of IP that's the envy of the entire industry.

I think Nintendo going their own way doesn't always work but right now they're incredibly strong.

@Mikey856 I think we're going to get that (though maybe Sam in the Sully role instead of Nate). But it's going to come from a different studio.

I hope this means we'll actually see first party games at the rumored PS Showcase.

I just wish they would concentrate on games for the ps5 and no cross gen anymore. I'm fed up of ps5 games being held back due to ps4 parity etc.

They want to sell more PS5 but keep releasing exclusives on PC?
Good luck...

@Luigia
To be fair, and from a purely technical point of view, I think we have already seen what the PS5 is more or less fully capable of in titles such as SM2, R&C, GOWR, HFW. Sure, insomniac may be able to get a tiny bit more out, or share some of their ability to acheive 80fps with decent but basic Ray Tracing, and GOWR could have had much faster loading, but I dont expect to see any major improvement except on PRO which is a different thing entirely. And I would be pleased if all games ran like these do at >60fps, looking as good as these games do.
In fact I daresay Demon Souls will remain one of the best looking/performing games from PS5 launch until the end of the generation on base hardware.

NB not knocking the hardware - its great in the hands of talented devs - just that I think we are in a period of significantly diminishing returns for increased power.

@KillerIsD34D @OmegaStriver
100% agree - Sony need to strike a careful balance or risk losing a slice of their business they probably dont consider at risk with their Games on PC strategy.

@Ainu20 2 recently. I think there has been 10 entries to the series, and many remaster/ collections. Thats all, I would take offense to his comment.

@Rich33 I hope to see more spectacular games in the years ahead for PS5 and ones that don’t just look like hi res versions of PS4 games

@Pistolega HD2 would like to say otherwise. It just outsold GOWR. Moving up the later as one of the best selling PS games of all time. Now again i want to see variety. So i want to see plenty of Single player story games, RPG’s, Co-op games, etc etc. but PS4 was so much action/Adventure 3rd person. I was so bored with it all. But i am liking the direction it seems Sony is going. Good days ahead.

"no big-budget sequels will launch for PS5 before March of next year"

Fine by me. Just bought Hades 2 (in early access) on the PC and it rules, with tons of stuff yet to be added. Will be buying the physical PS5 version too as I did with the first one because what I got was worth more than $30. Not bad for a dev of roughly 20 people lol.

Speaking of roguelikes, I really hope I don't find Tsushima 2 to be more repetitive than one like I did with the first game.

@Nexozi sounds good to me

@Milt Will be interesting to see what they are. Looking forward to the show. Hopefully there will be a few interesting ones. I have no interest in any of the live service games.

@obiwan3001 Hopefully will be a good size of a game. If Ghost of Tsushima 2 is out early 25 I'll be happy.

I would love some new IPs. Right now, it’s pretty much just continuation/sequels of last gens’ games. Hopefully Sony comes out swinging soon

I feel like people keep forgetting that the pandemic ended up delaying a lot of games this generation. People need to stop listening to every rumor out there and just wait for Sony to announce these things. Not every thing needs to be leaked and Sonys done a great job not having their games leaked ( yet) ( and not insomniac though)

@Luigia
I suspect based on the limitations of the hardware (again, not knocking it, its a fine console but had to meet a console price), that if the prophesied/announced big-budget game budget reductions start taking place, then we may be looking at a backwards trend graphically.

I agree that not all first party games need to be state-of-the arts hundreds of millions budgeted games. I missed games like Heavy rain, Detroit, Until Dawn, Heavenly Sword etc, all of which are excellent with low budgets. Ray tracing, detailed grass are overrated and blown out of proportion by PC players. Reducing those extra would also help with frame rates even though that is not important for some games.

Better 1st party and richer experience. = All the current 1st party games getting better with the pro badge in 2025 with a patch and some treated to richer experiences for the small cost of a £70 remaster. Cannot wait lol

I really enjoyed Horizon, Spiderman (MM especially ) and Ghost of Tsushima so I hope for more good games in the future.

Astro will be most welcome. I hope we see Barlog's new game soon.

They can say that but killing off studios I care about is making me and people like me be users they lost not drawing in more. We may be a smaller audience but having Ratchet, Astro and Sackboy isn't enough and even then many have gotten so disappointing why would I want to support them.

I enjoy the variety of PS1-3, not just nostalgia many I never owned I'm buying up. Xbox has variety but it's a bit messy of appeal for some of them even besides Gamepass existing and sales being different for them. Nintendo has that variety I'm looking for. The graphics/artstyle, worlds and tone can be family friendly or dark for all I care. I still find the genre variety and gameplay design compelling. Not the closeness Sony has of cinematic third person synergy. Sure they are action adventure, survival horror or other things but camera angles, movesets, level design and gameplay ideas still matter to me.

I do see some decent games on PS5 but I don't care enough to buy them and they are all third party AA games too. I can easily wait. Barely any racing games I want on PS5/Series consoles either which is disappointing too. I'm still happy on PS4 with the few PS deals like Valkyrie Elysium, or getting multiplat Square (more so these last few years then I usually would Square published titles) or other third party titles.

Some people asked for big blockbuster experiences but some of us just want AAA but AAA that is closer to mid range. To make expectations softer and build up slower then leap two generations worth from PS3 to PS5 that feels like PS3 to PS6 or 7 in the way they want to have money from customers and not just the MTX and $60 to 70 either and not being $100 as game development cost go either but prices for the products have stayed for years.

I don't play games because of their marketing hype or their big scale. Just give me a decent game with good ideas that's all I'm asking for and offer better marketing I'm not into the CGI and this and that. Indies do a fair job because that's all they can do, others for say survival games have good presentation. They may not be great updates sometimes but the marketing is still good. That's it. Companies set expectations, customers have their own but at the same time if they want so big of scale us players they are overthinking it, curb those expectations.

PC sales if they don't mess it up sure, tv/movies sure. But richer. What good worlds but worlds I don't want to play in. Just look at and go that's cool but never buy them because I don't like their design of gameplay or story at all. Yeah Sony can keep trying but I'm not buying them. Give me richer CREATIVE worlds and I'll join. But so far some boring worlds/stories isn't interesting to me. Grounding things down for casuals is not fun to me. I've seen tv shows do it too and I'm like how generic and dumbed down can you make a tv show till I just move on to the next and I keep doing so. How much emotional pandering, how much repetitive message story lines. How much basic gameplay.

I want mid budget games but with better ideas not be mid budget but comparable AAA competition of generic game design that's just boring. Make them stand out. Market them better. I don't want a PS5 that's how uninteresting Sony has been pushing a certain audience that will stop eventually. They can push tv shows/movies sure but eventually most of us will move on, be loyal or see a ceiling hit of audiences jumping to get their games. Film buffs or casuals.

They will hit a ceiling of players into the types of games they offer. So why cut off small audiences, gamer audiences, creative game seeking audiences, to build up to a big audience and only big audience jumps. Idiot companies. Of the big teen/adult IPs wanting a story driven cinematic experience. Some want more than that yet they don't care to offer.

There is a reason I focus on fiction so much as because these grounded boring/REAL or cinematic experiences from all AAA not just Sony are getting very 'so where is the creativity?' 'Where did it go they sucked the soul out of it to dumb it down for audiences too much'.

I get stories, I get worlds, I get graphics but I mean come on the games are just getting tropey, similar and unexciting. The stories are getting boring, the graphics are what they are, colour differences and tone yes but otherwise all shiny and boring.

People into Gran Turismo wanting better from it because the progression sucks and dream cars mean nothing if the use case for them sucks.

I play racing games for progression, I look at the menus for content/structure and what events. I think the racing game coming to Switch in a few months is pathetic because oh we have licenses yeah and your modes are generic.

Waste your budget on better things and have some skill not oh we have licenses as some pathetic cover up.

It's all brands and emotional excuse writing/tone and boring gameplay so basic it's sleep worthy for development in games and I'm sick of it. I see all the elements of games and movies and just go what am I supposed to be excited about.

As if the brain washing spell doesn't work because I've seen the tropes, the design and more before and I'm not phased or excited by it all.

Ratchet being either disappointing or fine depending on your stance on the series. LBP/Sackboy the same.

2017+ I got a Vita and Wii U, 3DS, Switch and I'm not disappointed in that decision. I spend more money on retro games I have no nostalgia for so don't give me the nostalgia excuse I have none for the games I'm picking up because they offer better ideas that's why I buy them.

That and researching them and wanting better ideas in games yet I don't see them I see casual Indies like Little Kitty Big City what a piece of junk with stupid animal cuteness marketing, games need depth not as barren as a tv show that has more in it then the game itself of appeal.

Nostalgic Indies too fixated on popular titles inspiration they are boring and lacking compelling reasons to buy them. I want more then old trends I want actual exciting ideas when the niche ones were better than the popular easy to appeal to audiences.

There is good Indies but there is also a lot of formulaic Indies with just so much nothing to them. Casual, nostalgia, anything of audience and nothing exciting about them marketing wise or game design wise. Just boring.

Or AA/AAA unappealing games. You get good ones yes I don't hate modern gaming and go oh it was better back in the day. It's just I find most to be really unappealing. I have branched out to genres then other trends happen and I find them weak of design elements to be compelling because they dumb them down so much their core is just so pass worthy.

Gameplay is so basic and the other elements like the world suffer from it with the level design/open world playground feel isn't there just boring recreations. I don't want holiday destinations and NPC quests.

I'll continue to buy PS4 third parties and continue to not want a PS5 because the console is a bad OS with Xbox One/Series elements I hated yet PS5/Switch do them anyways. Eh peripherals I was excited for but are so pathetically dull.

I'll stick to 8th gen (my least favourite generation and 9th is up there too) till both 1st/3rd parties actually offer a decent game with interesting gameplay ideas, actual good use of the SSD besides the usual load times and who cares 4K/ray tracing with whatever reflections, mirrors, puddles, lighting. I don't need glass buildings and cupboard glass to be reflective I don't care.

Give me a game mechanic with lightning or reflections sure otherwise I don't care.

Is this a load of nonsense I'm saying. XD Yes but at the same time they need to know there is focusing on an audience, a ceiling and then those other audiences go elsewhere and they can be big numbers sometimes for how small they seemed per game but among multiple games they end up being bigger than they thought.

You can only push so many different things, have many marketing angles for your console with a big book/tv or movie IP game come out, car licenses and more. We want better.

@Rich33 This gets missed a lot. Gone are the days of massive leaps in fidelity- now, each new system can either run last-gen games smoothly, or it can push the envelope a little further at the expense of performance.

There was only one time in gaming history when we had a huge, transformative leap in graphics, resolution, and performance, all at the same time. (That being the jump from 5th to 6th gen.) It was unprecedented, and I can confidently say we'll never see that happen again.

EDIT: Just want to add that I've been happy overall with the quality of game graphics ever since 2001, and I agree that the PS5 and Series X are perfectly fine and capable. All the games have to do is run smoothly, and preferably look somewhat decent, and I'm fine with them not being loaded with cutting-edge ray tracing and whatnot.

@smoreon
Yep, i just want option for smooth 60fps(+if possible with VRR 120hz), and a clean nice image - which is what Sony studio games tend to excel at.

I was trying not to be a killjoy, but the fact is its looking increasingly likely the gap will close with each console generation, and AAA budget ceilings wont help (but are probably needed).

That said i too have been happy overall with the boost from PS4, and have also been impressed with how quickly some studios (mainly Sony, but others as well) got to grips with the hardware - well, except the fast loading / smooth streaming which has been very variable considering the hardwares very advanced in this area.

@Zeldorf
"I desperately miss Sony's push for new IP"

Well, since PS5 released back in 2020, we got plenty of new IP's such as:

• Returnal
• Bugsnax
• Godfall
• The Pathless
• Sifu
• Kena: Bridge of Spirits
• Destruction All Stars
• Forspoken
• Deathloop
• Stray
• Goodbye Volcano High
• Ghostwire Tokyo
• Solar Ash
• Rollerdrome
• Sackboy: A Big Adventure
• those PSVR games

All these games either developed by Sony 1st party or collab with 3rd party. I still remember people showed their dislike that Sony keeps showing Deathloop or Ghostwire Tokyo on their SoP or PS Showcase lol.

And this year alone, there's Stellar Blade, Rise of the Ronin, Pacific Drive, and Ultros which are new IP's that Sony published / funded / pushed a lot on their marketing.

Obviously Sony will pushed more new IP's like Lost Soul Aside whenever it close to release, Phantom Blade Zero, all 5 games from India Hero Project (Meteora, Fishbowl, Mukti, Suri, and Requital), Concord by Firewalk Studios, Fairgame$ by Haven Studios, and who knows what new IP's that Sony 1st party has been cooking up at their kitchen. Last time i heard that Bend Studio, Bluepoint, ND, Housemarque, Team Asobi, and FireSprite are making new IP's.

But the only question here is are you gonna buy these new IP's or you gonna say meh and act as if Sony never pushed multiple new IP's for the last 4-5 years?

@PuppetMaster Not all of those IPs were good though, and you can expect there won't be sequels for a number of them

@Buckster

Good or bad is subjective and only Sony who can decide if some of those games deserves a sequel or not. I mean, Bloodborne is definitely amazing and it sold well too (iirc 7.4 million copies based on Insomniac leak?). But till this day we still not yet have a sequel or even a remaster / remake while games who has lower sales and reviews scores like Gravity Rush and Forbidden Siren has a sequel + remaster / remake. Hey, even Demon's Souls has a remake.

@OmegaStriver I will be one of those gamers that move to PC next gen. With PS exclusives now on PC, the overbearing number of remakes and sequels, and every developer's stubborn desire to sacrifice 60Hz for ever higher graphical-fidelity, I no longer have any reason to buy future consoles.

@Kidfunkadelic83 I have to disagree with you there is a place doe these games. But we need some smaller games inbetween not everything needs massive.

@Flaming_Kaiser what are you disagreeing with? All i said was
"Sony need to understand that better first party games and richer experiences dont need to come at a 200 million budget and take 6 years to produce."
I didnt mention there not being a place for big games.