Grumblevolcano

Hopefully Square Enix treats this as a traditional online multiplayer game like how things were in the PS3/360 era and not go the live service route.

@knowles2 Concord releases in 2024, Fairgame$ is the one which doesn't have a release year.

If the CMA approves the Activision acquisition in the final decision next month, Sony's share price will plummet. So if Sony has games to show off that aren't just Spider-Man 2, it would make sense to have a State of Play or PS Showcase ready to announce the day after the CMA announces their verdict (Sony announced the May PS Showcase the day after the EU approved the acquisition).

If the CMA blocks the acquisition then the State of Play/PS Showcase could just be delayed or cancelled.

@nhSnork From Sony's actions so far, I get the impression their strategy for Playstation Studios PC ports is:

• PS4 era - Only the AAA single player stuff
• PS5 era - Everything except MLB The Show

Given the decision to port over Legacy of Thieves Collection before Nathan Drake Collection, I get the feeling if the PS3 trilogy comes to PC it'll be individual remakes rather than porting over the collection.

PC release window lines up with 2 years after the PS5 release. So we can probably guess from this that 2024 PC ports (excluding day 1 live service releases) are going to be:

• HFW
• GT7
• GoW Ragnarok

Alongside at least 1 of the following games that are more than 2 years old:

• Ghost of Tsushima
• Demon's Souls
• TLoU Part 2

Is it just owned or does games played via PS+ also allow you to rate games? If the latter I get the feeling the system will have a review bombing problem like with HFW (that game always seems to be a target for some reason).

Given the tactics revealed in the Xbox leak about acquiring Nintendo, I don't think any company is safe from the gigantic threat that is Microsoft.

@DeathlySW It could be because of the whole live service mess. Babylon's Fall flopped but didn't make them give up on live service. Now the live service graveyard is a lot bigger than it was in October 2022.

https://www.pushsquare.com/news/2022/10/colossal-flop-babylons-fall-hasnt-changed-platinums-plans-for-more-live-service-games

Not related to this week's charts but still relevant to the topic of UK sales. I noticed that there's another big discount for the disc PS5. £50 off (£429.99) for the disc PS5 with free EA Sports FC 24 included. I checked and it's present at GAME, Amazon, Smyths, Argos and Currys so I'm guessing it's a country-wide discount like the previous 2 big PS5 discounts.

For a game that released digitally 3 months ago, Pikmin 1+2 getting 4th in the physical charts is impressive.

@Godot25 Like the leak revealing Microsoft has a former board member buying up Nintendo stock to force Nintendo to merge with Microsoft. You'd hope that Nintendo would take that seriously and the current cozy relationship between Microsoft and Nintendo burns down.

I do wonder if the recent Xbox leak may have burned some bridges with 3rd parties such that the final decision is different.

@LifeGirl MGS4 being a PS3 exclusive is to blame. Even Sony are struggling with their own PS3 hardware choices as shown by PS3 games on PS+ Premium being only via cloud streaming.

Good to see FFXVI is doing well enough that it's not on sale here.

I wonder where Stellar Blade will fit in if delayed from the current 2023 release window.

This list was before Microsoft acquired Bethesda so Microsoft likely cancelled the remasters completely as the games are already available on XB1/Series X|S via the backwards compatibility program.

The only XGS ports/remasters/remakes of games that came to the backwards compatibility program since the program was announced in June 2015 were:

• Gears of War Ultimate Edition - August 2015
• Halo Wars Definitive Edition - December 2016
• Halo Reach (as part of MCC) - December 2019

Gears of War Ultimate Edition was probably in development before Microsoft chose to go down the backwards compatibility route and the 2 Halo games were when Microsoft became serious about PC gaming.

You can tell how much Microsoft is opposed to releasing ports/remasters/remakes of games already added to the backwards compatibility program by how those Marcus Fenix Collection rumours turned out fake despite 3 of the Gears games (2, 3, Judgment) not being on PC. I'd guess the strategy here is about xCloud as those 3 Gears games were added to xCloud in March 2021.

Given no platforms are announced, it feels like either the 3 games with no platforms listed are getting Switch 2 ports (DQ3 remake, DQ12, KH4) or it's a Starfield type situation where an acquisition happens with those games becoming exclusive to the system by the company that acquired them (e.g. exclusive to PS5 if Sony acquired Square Enix).

Hoping that the Switch 2 theory is the correct one.

@Ralizah The Level 5 games staying with 2023 release window but not giving a precise release date gives me the impression they'll be announced as day 1 on Game Pass in Microsoft's TGS stream with a precise release date.

It was an ok State of Play given the expectations set beforehand (only previously announced games, focus on 3rd party and indie) but ranked it good because of the FFVII Rebirth trailer.

@BusyOlf No, it's similar to how Sony don't own Kojima Productions so Death Stranding was able to appear in a 3rd party State of Play despite being a Playstation Studios game.

@Beerheadgamer82 It would've been a bit more than that regarding Xbox Game Studios without Bethesda:

• Goldeneye 007
• Age of Empires II Definitive Edition + Return of Rome DLC
• Forza Horizon 5 Rally Adventure DLC
• Minecraft Legends
• Age of Empires IV
• Forza Motorsport

My point being that one of the reasons Sony has a smaller library is that their lack of interest in bringing back old games, even PS+ Premium seems like an afterthought. Ports/remasters/remakes is one of the reasons Nintendo's lineup is so packed a lot of the time. This year for example had:

• Kirby's Return to Dream Land Deluxe
• Metroid Prime Remastered
• Advance Wars 1+2 Re-Boot Camp
• Pikmin 1+2
• Super Mario RPG

There will probably be more announced in today's Direct for this year as well.

Each company's approach seems to be:

• Microsoft seems to only care about ports/remasters/remakes of games that never appeared on any Xbox console previously
• Sony only seems to care about ports/remasters/remakes of games that are already playable on PS5 via backwards compatibility (Demon's Souls was a sole exception)
• Nintendo's approach seems to be pretty much anything is possible for port/remaster/remake as long as it's not F-Zero

@pharos_haven It currently has a release window of Early 2024.

@Sequel I think it could be a mixture of going too heavy on live service and the whole Activision acquisition situation. Sony very well knows that it going through would result in their share prices plummeting (the EU approving the acquisition showed an insight into this) so they need something to counteract that drop.

Arrowhead isn't owned by Sony so I could see Helldivers 2 appear here with a release date (Death Stranding appeared in a 3rd party State of Play despite being a PS Studios game).

As for the closer I'd guess it'll be FFVII Rebirth with a release date, I hope we see Gold Saucer.

Speaking of State of Play, I get the feeling Sony will announce one later today for airing tomorrow because of the Nintendo Direct timing.

The normal Nintendo Direct timing for February and September is 10pm GMT/11pm BST but last September the Direct was at 3pm BST because there was a State of Play at 11pm BST. Tomorrow's Direct is also airing at 3pm BST so the reasoning may be the same.

@Cashews Wouldn't it make more sense to have 1 or 2 games if you want Second Story R to sell well though? I mean, if you're to look at it from the typical subscription mindset you think that given all these are here you can play those and wait for Second Story R to come to PS+ Premium next year.

Interesting that they put almost the entirety of the Star Ocean franchise on there.

@MagisterMagi So far Sony has announced PS+ Extra/Premium games on the 2nd Wednesday of the month which would mean September 13th for this month.

@Bez87 Alan Wake 2 is digital only, this list of games are only ones that have physical versions.

@Perturbator I'd guess the overwhelming negative reaction to the Suicide Squad focused State of Play (mostly because of Suicide Squad being your typical live service game) will have also been a factor as Rocksteady's path is similar.

Rocksteady went from the extremely well received single player Batman Arkham trilogy to a live service game. A lot of Sony's studios made extremely well received single player games.

I think it's definitely believable that there's a State of Play as:

• Spider-Man 2 is approaching (that would most likely be the event closer)
• There's games like Stellar Blade and Helldivers 2 which have vague 2023 release windows
• Playstation Portal needs a release date and there's still the whole detachable disc drive PS5 thing unaccounted for
• Rift Apart came out on PC in July so Sony will probably announce the next PS Studios PC game (my guess would be GT7 because of the movie)

But I don't think the event would give a reason for the PS+ price hikes, let alone a justifiable reason.

The price hike makes it the worst PS+ month and I wouldn't be surprised if in 2 weeks Microsoft follows up this by getting rid of the 3:2 conversation that's currently present for upgrading Gold to Ultimate when Gold is replaced by Game Pass Core.

https://blog.playstation.com/2023/08/30/playstation-plus-monthly-games-for-september-saints-row-black-desert-traveler-edition-generation-zero/

The blog post also says that subscription prices for all 3 tiers are increasing starting September 6th.

@Cherip-the-Ripper Armored Core 6 uses smart delivery so there's only 1 physical version for Xbox containing both versions (though with smart delivery games the Series X|S version is usually a full internet download for physical releases).

SIE further gives the impression they have only 3 priorities:

• Live service games
• Hardware
• TV/movies of PS IP

That nothing else matters to them.

@Anthony_Daniels I was on about how you have all these franchises that are getting movies or TV shows like Twisted Metal, Jak & Daxter, Gravity Rush, MediEvil which has been absent from the games side of things.

Microsoft are also guilty of this is as they're doing a Gears of War movie and that franchise is missing too.

Would be nice if Sony announced games. The Mario movie was a gigantic success but Nintendo did also announce Mario franchise games (e.g. Super Mario Bros Wonder, Super Mario RPG remake, Luigi's Mansion 2 remaster, untitled Peach game).

It was rather meh though there was some really cool stuff at times like the Sonic news. I do agree with @Americansamurai1 that Sony's complete absence is likely a sign of a Sony event in the near future.

So that explains why Ubisoft games are starting to be removed from PS+ Extra/Premium.

Sonic Superstars for sure. The more the show focuses on multiplatform games, the more likely there's a Sony event in the near future.

@Beerheadgamer82 Sony's probably working on the Activision acquisition timeline like they announced the May showcase 2 days after the EU approved the acquisition. So the CMA will probably be the signal of when the next State of Play or PS Showcase is announced.

Twisted Metal and now Jak & Daxter? What is up with Sony creating movies/TV shows for dormant game franchises but still leaving it dormant on the games front.

@somnambulance The PS showcase had FFXVI though, there was the awkward dilemma about how do you promote FFVII Rebirth without overshadowing FFXVI. That issue doesn't exist anymore given FFXVI has been out for nearly 2 months now.

I don't think we'll get another PS showcase but a State of Play feels likely. Cover a bunch of 3rd party stuff and then end with a big Spider-Man 2 trailer like how they approached last September (GoW Ragnarok was the closer back then).

@somnambulance I think we'll see Rebirth get its release date in a Sony event, ever since Sony debuted the State of Play format there's always been a State of Play or PS Showcase in August/September. State of Play feels more likely this time given the way they named the May showcase.

I think Sony may announce the detachable disc drive PS5 and/or release date for the Q remote play handheld here. They used Opening Night Live last year to reveal the Dualsense Edge.

But I only think this would be the case if there's no PS event in the near future. State of Play for late August as an alternative to announcing at Opening Night Live feels like a possibility.

@Tharsman Wouldn't Microsoft benefit the most from the PS marketing deal being scrapped? If Starfield is any good then the combination of Starfield + CoD day 1 on Game Pass would cause Game Pass subscription numbers to skyrocket.

By not getting rid of the marketing deal, it gives the impression of damage control in case something delays the acquisition's completion. I'd guess Activision losing the extra 10% from the CoD marketing deal while at the same time the acquisition by Microsoft being held up would anger shareholders.

@Tharsman I think we're going to find out that the CMA aren't satisfied with Microsoft's new concessions.

@rjejr I think the situation is all about pushing more people to digital only. Either people see the price of the disc drive and go "too expensive, I'll go digital" or the disc drive is limited stock in which people get digital in the hope that they can get the disc drive in the future.

It honestly feels like everyone's trying to kill off physical games except Nintendo (even then the gap between digital and physical release date for Prime Remastered and Pikmin 1+2 could be seen as an attempt to push more people to digital).

@rjejr I'd guess they'll do a PS event (probably State of Play) in late August or give the announcement to Geoff on August 22nd. Either way, I don't see Sony commenting on this until the current discounts are over (US $50 off seems to be until August 19th).

@KundaliniRising333 Ultimately the upcoming lineup decides whether it makes sense to show up and the May showcase made it rather clear that Sony's upcoming lineup is on the lighter side.

Not to say it couldn't have worked, Nintendo in 2016 showed up to multiple conventions with just BotW. But irrelevant of whether Sony showed up to Gamescom, their focus would've been on Spider-Man 2.

Helldivers 2/Concord/Fairgame$/Marathon is live service so it'll go the online beta route and who knows if 3rd party single player games like Stellar Blade/Rise of the Ronin would be ready for a playable demo on the show floor.

Sony's error was going all in on live service as while games like Fortnite are still popular, live service is a rather hated game genre on a more widespread level nowadays.

The delayed 1st party games brought up in the earnings report were likely live service given Sony's announced last year targets for 3 live service games in the fiscal year ending March 2023 (2 happened) and 12 live service games by 2025.