The topic of original IP is a tricky one for PlayStation at the moment – after all, it just killed a project which has taken years to create and millions to develop mere weeks after it launched.
According to Sony CFO Hiroki Totoki, the company is lacking when it comes to tried-and-tested intellectual property – a statement that might have some PlayStation fans scratching their heads in confusion.
Speaking to The Financial Times (behind a paywalled link), Totoki said:
Whether it’s for games, films or anime, we don’t have that much IP that we fostered from the beginning. We’re lacking the early phase (of IP) and that’s an issue for us.
In the same interview, Sony CEO Kenichiro Yoshida adds that the company is focusing on the creation of new IP moving forward:
We have the technology and creation is the area where we like and where we can contribute the most. By putting our efforts in creation, that also means that we will work with partners on the distribution side.
It's worth noting that Totoki and Yoshida's comments aren't limited to just video games but include Sony's film and anime interests, too – and in that regard, you could argue that outside of games, Sony does indeed lack wholly-owned IP to exploit.
Even so, it seems like an odd thing to say when you consider that there's a seemingly endless selection of PlayStation IP to choose from, with many popular franchises having been dormant for years – and even more so when you look at the acclaimed hit Astro Bot, which celebrates PlayStation's diverse and colourful history.
And, lest we forget, video game IP is very useful in the realm of movies and TV – as The Last of Us has proven. Surely Sony can leverage some of its gaming IP in that regard, too?
[source playstationlifestyle.net]
Comments 97
They've got an absolute goldmine, but they've been playing it safe for a couple of generations now. They've got more than freaking Nintendo.
Astrobot is cool and all, but why couldn't a Sackboy game be that good? Sackboy used to be their mascot bigtime ans they've wasted it like many others. Also, where's Cole from Infamous? Where is the next Infamous game period
They have more than enough. And they need to revive some dead ones. Jak, Sly, DARK CLOUD ESPECIALLY!!!! Most Sony IPs are so storied! God Of War, TLOU, Uncharted, etc. Again, there are more than enough.
Sony has a habit of shelving great IP. Just bring me a new Parappa, Sony. Be a little weirder again. Astro Bot proves my case. Glorious game in the half hour I tried it this morning.
You do actually dumba🐍🐍 you just don't use them 🙄
Utterly bizarre thing to say. They have the biggest selection of dormant IP of any of the big three - many of which have large swathes of long time fans regularly hounding them for new entries.
This is the kind of out of touch take I'd have expected from Jim. At least Herman, who's in charge of PS Studios, probably (hopefully) doesn't share this view.
I kinda agree with them. Yes it's true they have had a lot of IP, but most of it is dead. Rightly so in my view. E.g. Jak for instance told it's tale and is done. Uncharted is the same. I don't want them making all the same franchises forever like Marvel or Star Wars or rebooting endlessly. Make a good set of games, tell your tale and move on. Don't get stuck in a rut like Microsoft did with Halo/Gears/Forza. Of course some can stay longer, especially if they are more pure gameplay than story based, but not most of them. Create something new instead.
Isnt infamous a Sony IP - they can tell different stories set in the same world.
I've wanted a new Parappa for over two decades but yeah no IP's.
Remake Tokyo Jungle, you goddamn fools!
SIE are lacking an online juggernaut, otherwise they're rock solid in the games department. But this statement is more about movies and anime.
A few years back they said this specifically about their movie IP.
In that regard, when it comes to franchises with long term mass appeal only Spidey and Ghostbusters come to mind, so I can see where they're coming from.
So Astrobot The Movie confirmed?😉
I think it’s more a case of Sony leaning heavily upon tried and tested IP. I’m really hoping that naughty dog’s next title is a new IP rather than another last of us or remake.
Returnal from housemarque games is a new IP that had a relatively successful launch at the beginning of this generation, although I’m struggling to think of anything else.
Sony aren’t there yet, but they are moving closer to replicating the 360 days of relying upon third party and only releasing sequels to the same big three first party blockbusters.
Give some love to one of your oldest then - namely WipEout - thanks
I think when he says original IP he means mainstream IP. Which too be fair they don't have many. They only really started hitting mainstream with their games last of us 1 onwards (outside of Gran Turismo)
Well I think of the games they no longer make as their 'style' of games became more similar. Take their First Person Shooters - games like Killzone and Resistance that are no longer around. Instead, everything is 3rd Person in that very ''Naughty Dog' style.
Its also not helped that studios are taking so much longer to make games. Naughty Dog had 3 Uncharted and the Last of Us games released during the PS3 era but only 2 since - U4 and LoU2. SuckerPunch too only released 2 games during the PS4 era - Infamous and Ghost of Tsushima. Since releasing Killzone as a launch title over a decade ago, we've had two Horizon games roughly 5yrs apart.
If you were to ask me what I would have thought Sony's policy had been, it was to focus on those 3rd Person Action Adventure cinematic style games they found success with and make deals with 3rd Party Publishers to make the games they had 'less' success with - hence making deals with Activision for CoD whilst ditching Killzone/Resistance, making deals with SE for Japanese favourites so they don't need to make their own etc...
This is the biggest L take from Exec for at least one week....
Nothing wrong with wanting to grow your IP portfolio but they should have been remaking and remastering the games people actually wanted instead of the games they've been doing.
Gamers do love to contradict themselves though. One minute they are like...
And the next
Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft all have different audiences, games, content, and feel. But there's one thing that brings all of us fans together. ❤️
Having to deal with bullcrap like this.
What a ridiculous statement to come out with. You have loads of IP you just haven't bloody used them.
Jesus :/
I don't know I reckon you could do a fair bit with these:
Uncharted
God Of War
Horizon
Jak & Daxter
Ratchet & Clank
Sly Cooper
Astrobot
Twisted Metal
Days Gone
Syphon Filter
Killzone
Alundra
Blasto
Ghost Of Tsushima
Resistance
Heavenly Sword
Parappa The Rapper
MediEvil
Ape Escape
Bloodborne
Dark Cloud
Concrete Genie
Until Dawn
Demon"s Souls
The Getaway
Helldivers
The Order
Knack
The Last Of Us
SOCOM
Little Big Planet
Wild Arms
ps5 has turned $ony into Xbox, smh
They would have lots of IPs if they didn't abandon all of them. I am talking about Killzone, Retribution, Infamous. It's been forever since Playstation actually had its own proper shooter THAT isn't online only moba.
@Neither_scene yep
MAKE A NEW SIREN GAME DAMN IT!!!! OR A NEW ORIGINAL J-HORROR!!!!
Nintendo have a vast library of iconic IP, but the only reason this IP is iconic is because they’ve had a variety of games to put them in. Mario is in different styles of games to Link, who is in different styles of games to Samus, which are all different to Pokemon.
Sony have abandoned Parappa, Buzz, Jak and Daxter, Destruction Derby, Dark Cloud etc… because they don’t make those sort of games any more. To me a lot of recent Sony games have just felt like reskins of others.
@BAMozzy yeah, i noticed that strategy with sony as well during the ps4 gen, but we all let it slide because of how good the ps4 ended up being. not this time though , not again
I feel like this quote must have been taken out of context. I'm not sure what he means by "early phase". They don't have a Mario, Zelda or Sonic, maybe that's what he means?
My 2 cents for Sony:
Make more kids / family oriented games on PS5 like they have done during PS2 & PS3 era such as My Street, Eye Toy games, Ratchet & Clank, Jak & Daster, Sly Cooper, Sorcery PS3, Sports Champions 1 & 2, Eye Pet, Invizimals, Carnival Island PS3, etc.
I would like to play them on my PS5 machine.
Oh brother, there's like, huge dormant sony ip catalogue spanning from psone to ps3, if sony want a platformer, just make an ape escape games by the maker of astro bot ps5, strategy rainbow six-like military shooter? well, there's socom, scifi shooter? there's either killzone or resistance, twisted metal for car combat, etc.
Wtf is he's talking about, sometime I feels like sony is back to previous era, before kaz hirai change sony for the better back then.
I'm pretty sure it means they don't have a Star Wars, DC or Marvel ( yes they licence spider-man ).
He he talking about Sony as a whole, not just games, which most of the comments here (understandably) aren't focusing on.
For example they could have made Ratchet & Clank into a decent long running Cartoon, which in turn would have boosted the movie and game sales.
It’s an odd thing to say when it seems to me that Sony has the most original IP of the ‘big 3’. Not the most iconic or productive IP, mind you, but I think they have the largest quantity.
They just haven’t always shepherded their existing IP very well. Nevertheless, I’m all in favor of a steady stream of new IP, and yet maintain a controlled reliance of recycling older stuff. I would prefer it not become a Nintendo level of dependency on Mario, Zelda, and Pokemon; or a Xbox level of scattershot IP which mostly just die quietly. A good balance of core IP that recurs in games and media, coupled with new experimental projects, please.
As usual people are missing the point. What he's getting at is they lack IPs that are evergreen and big merch sellers.
Disney have Star Wars
Warner Bros have Harry Potter
Microsoft have Minecraft
Nintendo have Mario.
Sony simply don't have anything on that level, that's what he's getting at.
When it comes to dormant IPs, many of Sony's studios have moved on to largely bigger and better things. See Naughty Dog, Sucker Punch and Guerilla Games.
And handing off the IP to someone else isn't always the best option.
@Th3solution I'd agree, as an owner of a switch / Nintendo in general also, Sony has a lot more "vacant" IP than nintendo, which as others have said is effectively mario characters in new environments, link / zelda games, metroid and... pikmin? Obviously more than that, but I'm talking core.
Whilst I was never any good at the higher difficulties, I'd happily take a new parappa (love me some rhythm action) or wipeout... which aren't really all that expensive to make compares to a spiderman / horizon (I personally think), but the list of IPs they do have, as alluded to for better or worse above is astoundingby others above...
The only thing I can take from the statement is "we've tried those, they didn't sell as expected and we're struggling with creating / developing new IP".
I guess he missed the memo.
Here's one...
Bloodborne!!
I love new IP. The industry cannot recycle ideas forever. But come on!
Make a new WipEout: sell 3m copies
Make a new Locoroco: sell 3m copies
Make a new Patapon: sell 1m copies
It’s not rocket science here. These are smaller niche IPs that sit well alongside the big budget titles. Make them!
I agree with everybody else saying how much dead IP they have been sitting on all this time, but I suppose the one positive from the interview is him acknowledging that they will be creating new IP moving forward. Yes, they could just revive some of the MANY ones they have been sitting on, but at least it seems like they'll be creating more new games going forward rather than be content with just using the handful of IPs they've been relying on for a while now and trying to use other companies to fill the gaps. That philosophy, while it has managed to get some solid 2nd/3rd party exclusives along the way, isn't PlayStation.
Mandatory Bloodborne post, since it has been pointed out many times it is a Sony IP and Miyazaki can’t remaster himself
@AdamNovice Is that what he’s saying? He says, “…we don’t have that much IP that we fostered from the beginning. We’re lacking the early phase (of IP) and that’s an issue for us” and then goes on to say how creation of new IP is their focus, so that it can be distributed.
You might be right, because his statement seems a bit contradictory. But none of those you listed are “early phase” IP, they’re properties that have been around for ages and stood the test of time. Sony has a nest egg of legacy properties that they failed to keep relevant, mostly at the expense of creating new ideas. If they want a Star Wars or Mario type of property, why would they keep creating more new IP rather than mining the popular stuff to death like those you listed? I mean, Uncharted is no Harry Potter, to be sure, and neither Kratos nor Aloy are Mario or Luke Skywalker, but I haven’t seen them commit their popular creations to the level they could be. The closest we have now is Horizon which they are tapping into from all angles at this point with a show, an MMO, a Lego game, etc. (which incidentally seems to be too much and risks killing the franchise with oversaturation, imo) but Sony seems to be have been happy to move on and maintain a better diversity than their competitors by encouraging and allowing their creatives to do what they want, which is often making something new. Because that’s usually what artists like to do.
I'm all for creating new IP but a company as big as Sony can't forget the IP's that made them / PS brand popular.
So i guess for Totoki, IP's like Wild Arms, Ape Escape, Legend of Dragoon, Syphon Filter, Legaia, Dark Cloud, Rogue Galaxy, Bloodborne, Demon's Soul, Gravity Rush, Patapon, Twisted Metal, Resistance, Killzone, SOCOM, Warhawk, Wipeout, Forbidden Siren, or Shadow of the Colossus are not worth mention or label as "Sony's IP" since they didn't sell a gazillion of copies 😐
Oh well...i don't expect the next 5 years will be great for PS brand under Totoki.
I put a big list in a previous article so I won't repeat it here. But I do think the gaming division has been unfairly lumped in with the movie and animation department. Sony has a wealth of untapped ip they are sitting on in the vaults
I think Sony should take a good look through the archives and see what could be updated for a modern audiences, taking the lessons it has learnt over the past 30 years of game development.
Nintendo has shown that there is no such thing as a dead ip if you can bring it back in an updated and different way. Heck, Mario has been slapped onto all sorts of different genres over the years and his popularity is only growing. So there is nothing stopping Sony looking to try something original with some of its IP.
I keep coming back to Killzone and Resistance and think there is easily fuel left in the tank of those franchises for a revival to provide the online shooter they crave.
The Getaway could have provided a useful stopgap between GTA releases, but no where to be seen.
Uncharted 4 is 8 years old. The franchise is long overdue a return, particularly with Tomb Raider seemingly in development hell as the ip gets thrown around different developers.
Syphon filter would provide something different in a market crying out for new stealth titles.
Siren could capitalise on the revival of survival horror resulting from the recent success of the resident evil franchise.
Tip of the iceberg, but my point is, there is a lot of money and potential being left on the table.
I will say if Sony want to invest in new ip, they won't find me complaining. I just wonder how much they will take the financial risk in today's environment. With that said, look at how that leap of faith has worked with titles like the last of us, Ghost of Tsushima, and Horizon.
Best of luck to them. An interesting few years ahead
You want to chase live services Sony the bring back the Resistance IP. It's a perfect one to use but also remaster the trilogy while you're at it. The technology is there now to bring back MAG and make it work. Remake MediEvil 2, SOCOM, Killzone approach Amazon for an exclusive Bond game we haven't had one in ages. You've got IP's sitting dormant.
"Even so, it seems like an odd thing to say when you consider that there's a seemingly endless selection of PlayStation IP..Even so, it seems like an odd thing to say when you consider that there's a seemingly endless selection of PlayStation IP.."
It's an odd thing to make an article framing what they say as if it were focussed on PlayStation when they were talking about all forms of media.
Of course it's going to look odd if you are going to take it out of the much broader context it's was said in. You're MAKING news rather than reporting it without a spin. So now people are saying, '...but PS has lots of gaming IP!! They're idiots!!'
You say,
"It's worth noting that Totoki and Yoshida's comments aren't limited to just video games but include Sony's film and anime interests, too – and in that regard, you could argue that outside of games, Sony does indeed lack wholly-owned IP to exploit "
It's not just worth noting that, THAT is the actual basis of their comment, and you distilling it creates a narrative that was not their intention.
Unfortunately the FT requires a subscription payment so I can't even read their comments to comprehend the statement in its entirety, making you representing it in a skewed fashion even more frustrating. Not cool @Damo
What about Bloodborne? Idiots.
Can you imagine just how good a new Motorstorm game would look now on PS5 or PS6. Resistance, Infamous or Killzone on PS6 too. All for much more new IP but no harm in having a few sequels from Motorstorm or Resistance as well
What a bizzare thing to say. No problem with creating new ips but this is just ridiculous in terms of playstation. PS has so many ips from so many different genres that they can easily create a bunch of lower budget titles with those instead of splooging all over the live service bandwagon or even the very high budget cinematic third person games, I like these ones but variety is clearly the way to go.
How about stop losing IP like crash and foster old IP like wipeout, killzone, jak, sly etc?
I think you two have the best take on what he said. @Th3solution @AdamNovice
Most people seem to be focusing on the IP part:
"we don’t have that much IP that we fostered from the beginning."
but I think he's going w/ the self blame part:
"we don’t have that much IP that we fostered from the beginning."
It's not about their lack of IP, it's about turning their IP into Mario, Sonic, Pac-Mac or even Master Chief. (Halo show wasn't that bad, though the 2 seasons were 2 very different shows.) I don't think he's even talking about IP really, he's talking about household name mascots like Mickey Mouse or Tony the Tiger or even Kool Aid. There are literally characters who only exist in tv commercials that have a much bigger cultural presence than nearly any Sony IP. Astro Bot isn't even a Chia Pet yet. Or a pet rock. Sony has the Playstation brand as their mascot more than any 1 character. And Kratos isn't kid friendly. That's his lament.
@Decoy_Snake Thanks for the list, might have been helpful if the article included something similar. I've been a Sony fan since playing FF7 on PS1 but even I don't know what's a "Sony IP" as opposed to another companies game on a Sony console. 🤷♂️
I think they have a decent amount, they just need to use them more
I mean, he's not wrong. Sorry guys, you can list all of PS1 and PS2 era dead IPs, truth is they're not very relevant, most of them weren't that big a deal back then.
Maybe they will not relegate Insomniac to a Marvel factory in the future then. No? Sad.
They have loads of IP's they just let then die off during PS3 and PS4 era so bringing them back now is an uphill battle. A lot of the older ones are not instantly recognisable in the current market and trying to sell a game by relying on those IP's would not work in todays market. Socom, Killzone, Syphon Filter are often brought up as shooter IP's but the name has no real pedigree in recent gens, so would not selll just on name alone which is what they really mean by a fostered IP.
And with other actually fostered IP's its not just about using them but getting the studios on board to want to make the games also. I would love to see Bloodborne 2 one day but only if its FS with Miyazaki at the helm. And I can't see that happening for a while when they are dropping bombs like Elden Ring instead. The the like of Uncharted need a rest untill they have a great story to tell and not just Uncharted 6: Daughter Drakes Big Day Out.
Personally I reckon Medieveil and Resistance would be fairly safe bets to start with and as an outside punt I reckon they could do well with White Knight Chronicles if they can just come up with a good game.
You do have more then enough IPs within your games catagory Sony, you just pretend they are not there.😒
Gamers feel this is ridiculous because of the game division's insistence on scoring a live service hit above just making games.
If they reset expectations and fostered good, solid titles using their dormant IP, they could reinvigorate them, make a bit of money, and build a war chest. Then they can safely wait to come across a big smash GaaS naturally while they sip profits off the top of 3rd party GaaS titles on their platform as they have been doing.
Companies want Fortnite money but want to jump from "doesn't exist" to "global phenomenon" forgetting that Fortnite didn't set out to become what it is. It rolled out at a small scale and grew naturally by word of mouth. Epic never saw that coming. They didn't TRY to make it what it is initially. It surprised everyone. It was never the goal.
If Sony would just focus on great games, they'd eventually hit upon something that exceeded expectations (say, maybe, like Helldivers?) that they could then invest in and support to create a bigger hit (something they have NOT been doing behind the scenes with Helldivers, it seems, as that game and its tech is still a ***** show as its small dev still struggles under the weight of the success).
I'm beginning to lose faith in Sony knowing what the heck they have in front of them and what to do with it. They wouldn't know a potential hit if it literally landed in their lap. They've proven that earlier this year!
There's no way in hell that whatever Factions or Twisted Metal were would have faired worse than Concord. No way in hell. Just BEING a new entry in a storied IP would have been enough to exceed the player numbers. Easily. Concord was that catastrophically bad.
But instead, Sony kills games before they have an iota of a chance to prove themselves, thinking that they know better than the market. If Concord proved anything, it's that Sony has no f'ing clue what the market wants and they're not listening to them when they say what they want.
@The_Wailing_Doom Marvel as an IP if is a great example of this comment about fostered IP's. The marvel games will sell, its an IP which will pretty much always do well. Compare that to Ratchet and Clank and you can see exactly why Insomniac is currently a Marvel machine.
I mean, I think Sony lacks any IP that transcends gaming. They don't have characters that the average person knows, like Mario, Sonic, Master Chief.
@themightyant I think that's the old Sony philosophy but I think now they're looking over their shoulder at the "power of IP" quite specifically at Disney with marvel, MS with CoD now, Nintendo with....everything, and they're jealous they don't have something like that going on. Specifically what you're against is what they're lamenting they don't have. They WANT to be Marvel. I mean, they ARE Marvel but they have to pay Disney for it. They want that on their own.
This wasn't about gaming, I can't believe these quotes have been twisted about gaming. When it's obvious PlayStation has a treasure chest .
It was directed at TV and more precisely movies. As sonys biggest property is spiderman which isn't their own . He wants a greater range of original powerful IP at the media studios.
Along the likes of star wars, wizarding world, fast and furious, Jurassic park, MCU etc etc.
Not an easy task.
@Anthony_Daniels that's what I said too. This article is deliberately misleading. Embarrassing.
There is a difference between lots of IP and profitable IP. Sony is no stranger to rinsing IP that is profitable (Uncharted, TLOU, GOW, Horizon, Spiderman, Gran Turismo)
@themightyant they have remakes to remake, duh.
That’s one of the smartest passive aggressive thumbnails. Brilliant jab, Damien.
@darylb24 I'm pretty sure Nintendo and MS are no stranger on milking IP's that is profitable either with Mario, Zelda, Halo, Gears, Forza, etc. Heck, other companies also the same like Acti with COD, EA with Fifa, Sega with Sonic, etc.
Come on sony.blame yourself.you can have original ip.stop chasing that live services.and you already got some.and you can actually make some.a similar game like astro bot.and closing down japan studio didnt help.they made good games.word up son
Sony has lots of IPs, but most of them aren't as profitable as a new IP. And most of them also need a total overhaul in order to catch up with the new IPs.
Also, Sony lacks the personel necessary to develop those IPs since most of them are IPs developed by second party studios back in the PS1/PS2 era
I actually agree with the dude here, but whining about it while spending the better part of a decade squashing most of the ip you do have, pumping put repetitive sequels and chasing trends will do that to you. A lot of the Ips you guys are referencing above are very niche or already somewhat recently used. Aside from that this is just a corporate goon. He doesn't mean IP to bring a diverse portfolio of games to us. He means major IPs to milk for additional profit in a multitude of ways. The bottom line Sony has recently abandoned Ed what got them to the level of success they were at because of the fictitious endless growth model these goons and their investors demand.
Ps:
Bring back socom. (although a multi-player format that existed during the time of socom and many other beloved platforms cannot exist with the greatness they once did, with the onset of live service predation models being the parasite it is in the multi-player space).
I just want solid sequels to beloved IPs with moderate budgets to allow them to be creative and minimize financial risk. The world doesn't need that entire big IP merchandise crap, especially considering the state of the world and how much waste it creates.
@Decoy_Snake Exactly. Sony have PLENTY of IP, all they need to do is make games from them! I mean people have been crying out for Resistance and SOCOM games but no we haven't had anything for ages. Sony seems reluctant to make any FOS action games and instead is obsessed with the over the shoulder story games. They can get a bit tiresome after a while so some Sony IP FPS games would be nice.
Now they see the value of not abandoning every series they own. Its a shame they probably still won't see this as an opportunity to bring back more beloved series
Astro bot is literally a celebration of sony history they have a lot to choose from
@tameshiyaku I agree, but I definitely see their point. He's said they're shifting from an electronics to an entertainment company. Being "an entertianment company" in the corporate space, means having brands/franchises to milk in multimedia, merchandisable ways. Being an entertainment company doesn't mean "have more video games that cater to more variety" it means "having iconic brands people want to watch, wear, sleep in, eat breakfast cereal of, and go to vacation destinations featuring." It means copying the model of Disney, Universal, Nintendo, etc.
Sadly what CORPORATE sees as the end goal is exactly what nobody here wants. A few monolithic BRANDs to dominate media and merchandise categories across the board. Everyone needs too be the next Marvel/Disney. One brand to smear everywhere and skin everything in.
The public doesn't want experimental and new. For $70 a pop (or worse at the movies) they want the same, familiar thing they already know they like.
Sony has a lot of IPs, they're just horribly underutilized
Astro Bot just shows how many IPs they have that are dormant for years now
I'm ready for another Uncharted game.
Sony doesn't have enough IP?! Didn't they just TODAY release a game that celebrates all their IP?
@rjejr there's some I didn't add like the racing games so you've got Wipeout, Driveclub, ModNation & Gran Turismo plus Siren which I completely forgot about.
Really the IPs they are sitting on
Wipeout
SOCOM VR
Drive club
KillZone
@Decoy_Snake
Motorstorm
Sunset Overdrive
Gran Turismo
Folklore
Well I agree it be good to add new ip based games. But also some of their ips are abandoned, like the order 1886, days gone, some old game series too.
@NEStalgia yeah, it's unfortunate.
I'm a huge overall pop culture geek, but the only place where you can tell that is in my movie, game and book collection, nowhere else. I feel like if I'd wear a marvel or star wars t-shirt then Disney should be paying me for advertising their stuff, not the other way around! I'm all in for stories and experiences, everything else is unsubstantial garbage, and the world has enough of that. But instead of acknowledging that they'll just virtue signal some bs green initiative rather than doing the one thing that could actually make a difference, cut down on capitalism.
@tameshiyaku Our recyclable hemp made carbon free sustainable organic doohicky is environmentally friendly and engineered to last for days and days before failing exactly at its intended lifetime so you can buy another sustainable organic hemp made carbon free doohicky again and again. Our accountants assure us that the investments made into cleaning up an oil spill in antarctica offset the jiggawats of energy used to produce and transport our failed biodegradable doohickeys on a monthly basis as we continue to produce more to replace them in an ISO-666 certified ecologically friendly facility!
I'd love a Bloodborne and Demon Souls 2;
I haven’t read any of the comments yet, but I felt compelled to share my thoughts to get this out: When Sony has had opportunities to build and grow the love for their IP, they’ve undercut themselves and have failed. Case in point: Sony PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale. It brought the IP together in a fun, frenetic way, but it didn’t sell as well as they wanted it to, so they shuttered the studio and moved on. For many, PS All-Stars was an opportunity to get to know some of the faces of PS that I didn’t have any history with—like Toro, like the dude from Medieval, like Sweet Tooth, and Heihachi. Now, because of that Battle Royale game, I got to know the characters and it grew my interest in their IPs, and I’ve since gone on to buy a couple of Tekken games, a Twisted Metal game, and a Medieval game. I never would’ve bought any of those games if not for Battle Royale.
Silly Sony.
@Decoy_Snake Wipeout and DriveClub feel like a dime a dozen to me, it's kind of sad about MNR though. Everyone compared it unfavorably to Mario Kart, and it wasn't as good, but Nintendo hasn't let us build our own tracks yet, just 2D Mario levels.
@RudeAnimat0r it used to be crash bandicoot a long time ago , i have no idea why sony never bought crash. even to this day i still see crash as a playstation mascot , he fits playstation perfectly , smh
@Markatron84 Most of that IP was acquired via acquisition. Not home grown from the ground up by Sony. I think that the point he was trying to make.
Might help if they didn't have a CEO who had only worked at one of their in-house Studios (not including the ones they closed!),prior to being promoted to his World Wide studios role wherein he focused on remasters for TV tie-ins!🙄😂
Just brainstorming off the top of my head, but Legend of Dragoon, Lomax, Colony Wars, Wipeout, Alundra (at least as UK publisher), Motor Toon Grand Prix, Lemmings. Then Jak, Ratchet, Sly Raccoon,Getaway(?),Infamous, Motorstorm, Last Guardian,SOTC/ICO, Twisted Metal (forgetting the last one like an Indiana Jones sequel!),Litlle Big Planet, LBP Karting (effectively morphing Mod Nation racers into it),Resistance.
Daresay I've left some others ala Rain etc.,from Studio Japan but I am glad for Astrobot. But yep, maybe hire some execs & managers that know your catalogue! Or maybe its more code for 'Stuff that can be turned into our own GTA/COD cashcow"?🙄😂
Sony has plenty of IP’s they just don’t want to fans of those IP’s and do remasters of them for current gen as well as doing new games. Ape Eacape last a main game on PS2, Sly is still stuck in Egypt after all these years, Ico last had a HD version on PS, LOD is long overdue a remake, Jak and Daxter hasn’t had a game since the HD trilogy and the re-releases. There’s plenty of other IP’s as well most stuck on PS one/PS2
@jgrangervikings1
Medievil 2 still needs a remake, the first one got a remake for the PS4.
I don’t get why they don’t have enough original IP’s when they do most of them are stuck on the PS one/ PS2 era and Sony seem to want to bring them back
@Decoy_Snake I would like to add legend of dragoon and rollcage to that list.
Not that they ever did anything with rollcage. The creators had to crowdfund the sucessor, grip.
@McTwist
To be fair, Sackboy - A Big Adventure is an absolutely fantastic game.
@NEStalgia haha, yup that's how it goes. Corps can take any positive social movement, pack it up and sell it back in some perversely warped way where it's lost all its meaning, except leaving a bunch of split up culture warrior shills on both sides who "define" themselves through there consumer habits.
@BlaizeV
They did release re-release Parappa in 2017 on ps4 (with a visual update I assume), maybe to test the waters, I'm assuming it did not sell well enough to warrant any further investment in money and time on a sequel or re imagining?
However, it could have been the case that they were looking to make tens of millions on a that 2017 updated Parappa 1 game that cost, for example, 500k to do, rather than be content with doubling their investment and a bit more, and that they are too/only fixated on games that they hope to sell 5-10mil+ of at 60-70usd and make hundreds of millions?
Hopefully a game like Astrobot made in three years and will hopefully be a commercial juggernaut (along with its critical success).
Going forward they will no doubt want their big studios to continue to make the big games.
How do you think they could make a new Parappa and make it viable for them? Set up a new smaller Studio like Team Asobi, splinter team within their big studios etc? (just want to point out this is not an antagonistic question like I'm in your face, genuinely would like to flesh this out through conversation
Good grief they have plenty of IPs to draw from, some to bring back while they also work on creating new IPs. There are so many that probably would be welcome back by gamers and loved by fans that maybe never played them before.
But how would/could they do this from where they sit now in their current Team structure?
What one of their dormant IPs would you like to see them bring
back that you think could sell well with either enough old fans or if made right would draw in enough new fans and make in financially viable?
Who or how would you have them make it?
To have a go at answering my own question.
Maybe Resistance (Reboot) - Let Insomniac create another Team (So it does not conflict with all that they have got on their plate/roadmap for the next 10-15 years) to have some control over it vision wise and keep what was great about the first series, so maybe they handpick the dev team. Again though this would require significant investment.
When it comes to older beloved games like Jak and Parappa etc, sad to say, as much as I would love to see them again, I think they may have had their day. An old style 3d platfomer and a rhythm game. They would need to make them on the cheap (A Parappa game could be easily done cheap I think) and not be full 60-70usd price. Which then probably means at best it will make a profit but not even 5 million and Sony are in the business of making billions. Pulling that 5 million number out of thin air of course but this is small change and there is always a high chance of not making their money back even.
I suppose what I get stuck on in terms of their dormant IP is, what of their existing IP could be relevant today (be it story or genre) and turned into a billions maker? Do they make one of their existing Teams make it, pulling them away form what they are currently known and successful for or spend a huge amount of money creating a new unproven Team to do it?
Argggggh! I can't figure it out!
Would love to read all of your opinions!
Wait! Give their IP to successful /up and coming Devs that would possibly jump at the chance to remake one of their classic IPs ?Would have to share the profit but share the risk too.
It’s true folks, they don’t have enough IP to move across media like we’re seeing other companies do.
Most original PlayStation mascots, are from other devs. When it came time to foster what they did have, Sony kept cutting those IPs off short. Jak, Daxter, SackBoy…anything seen as original IP power was replaced by some white dude character or grimdark universe.
We’ve come full circle, now the original looking stuff is cool again, so AstroBot is the hot toy.
They need to make good JRPGS.
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