Right from the start when Dreams was announced many people could tell it would be a colossal flop. How can a big budget first-party AAA studio not foresee that the kind of "game" Dreams was aiming to be would only appeal to an über niche audience? Did they really expect people to devote valuable time and effort learning to create free content and expect nothing back in return?
Talk about a fundamental misunderstanding of who your core audience is. It also isn't shocking that this project led to some high profile departures from the company. Hopefully now they understand their next project has to be something that actually appeals to their primary audience and not just a freeform tech demo stretched into a retail release. Nail down the gameplay loop first then build a game around that.
"And to maybe put a few minds at ease, releasing one first-party AAA title to PC doesn’t necessarily mean that every game now will come to PC. In my mind, Horizon Zero Dawn was just a great fit in this particular instance. We don’t have plans for day and date [PC releases], and we remain 100% committed to dedicated hardware." - Hermen Hulst, 2020
@theMEGAniggle I find it funny how Valve had no problems releasing a Portal collection on Switch expecting nothing in return from Nintendo whereas Sony's been hand delivering their most valued exclusives to Steam and Valve have shown zero desire to reciprocate the gesture.
It makes no sense to release a PS5 Pro. People who are obsessed with playing at the highest frame rates and resolutions will simply choose PC over console. It makes even less sense to release a Pro model for the PS5 because Sony's first-party titles are all releasing on PC now so why would anyone interested in high-end gaming pick a PS5 Pro over a PC?
At least back when the PS4 Pro released Sony had actual exclusives that couldn't be played elsewhere so it made sense to market that console as the best place to play their first-party titles as a last ditch attempt to retain players from migrating over to PC.
A PS5 Pro would be relegated to an incredibly niche audience and I can't imagine it would be profitable.
RE4 is the only thing here that interests me and even that was a let down. I really dislike this remake's art direction. The game is way too dark, the colours are over saturated and the overuse of fog looks awful. The original had a way better visual style to me that actually captured the desolate village feel. The game will probably play fine but can't say I'm happy with the way it looks.
Even if this is happening we know Konami will likely farm it out to some cheap D-tier studios like they did with Contra: Rogue Corps and Silent Hill 2.
That rain looks awful and the overall graphics just don't look any better than the RE2 and RE3 remakes on last gen systems. The lack of graphical progress is really getting annoying now; we're in the 3rd year of this generation and most third parties simply aren't pulling their weight when it comes to visuals. I guess they have no real incentive to when they continue to make cross-gen games and have no hardware to sell. To date there's still nothing that comes close to Demon's Souls visuals, and that was a launch title!
What's more dumb is the PC release gives Sony a 70/30 revenue split so they stand to make even less on PC. Sony is sabotaging their console customer relations and really testing their tolerance with moves like this. Loyal console owners are being punished with a more expensive, technically stunted version of the game while new PC players outside the ecosystem are getting the unfettered bells and whistles treatment, and this time it only took a mere 6 months for this ever shrinking port turnaround.
Like it or not this is the direction Sony is heading in; expensive PS5 games at launch going to PC not long after with additional features making the "definitive" version for sale cheaper with no PS+ requirements for online multiplayer. Hopefully a large number of PS5 owners will start to recognise this pattern as more of these ports continue and respond accordingly.
I'm not mad that they announced this PC release, in fact I applaud Sony for clearly communicating that it would release for PC not long after the PS5 version. At least they gave us the heads up to make our purchasing decision accordingly so nobody needed to rush getting it on PS5 out of port uncertainty. They should take the same transparent approach with all their future announcements so we can really judge for ourselves whether the PS5 is a worthwhile purchase at all.
What really irks me here is the price difference between the PS5 and PC versions. They spent all that time justifying the £70 price hike in articles and tweets from devs only to price it cheaper on PC, whose storefronts split the revenue 70/30. So in the end they release a better version of the same game that isn't crippled by console limitations and reward the PC players with a cheaper price while PS5 owners get royally screwed yet again.
The case is even worse for Returnal which won't even have the PS+ requirements for online play on PC and was falsely marketed as a PS5 exclusive. The minimum specs for Returnal are listed as only needing a GTX 1060 and an SSD is only "recommended" not required. So we have more proof that these games are not designed to fully utilise the PS5 and we will probably never get any true games made just for PS5 now that they're all seemingly PC bound.
I don't buy the excuse that it's selling poorly due to PC players not having the prior games for backstory. The Uncharted games are largely self-contained stories anyway. Explain how Metal Gear Solid V was successful on PC when neither MGS3 or MGS4 ever came to PC.
I bet Sony will still come out and say they were pleased with these pitiful numbers though and will have zero effect on how quick they release their PC ports.
This is nothing but developer incompetence. They spent the last 9 years (!?) developing this PS3 looking game and they still can't manage to achieve 60fps on current gen hardware when almost every game released so far has at least offered a frame rate priority mode in their games.
According to their Steam page, all that's required on PC to achieve 1080p/60fps is a GTX 1660 Ti, which is far weaker than what these current gen consoles have.
People were mislead into buying a PS5 for the better performance believing it was a Sony exclusive game
The game costs £39.99 on Steam while it's still £49.99 on PlayStation Store with no signs of price parity in future
The rhetoric that games are being designed to incorporate PS5's unique features (SSD, DualSense etc.) will never come into fruition as long as these PC ports continue to target low and mid spec PCs with slow hard drives and keyboard/mouse controls, so PS5 owners feel they've essentially just bought an upgraded PS4 Pro
Online features will still require paying for PS+ while being completely free on PC
@__jamiie "Sony have no internal studios other than those they've bought. They aren't Nintendo. They don't have in-house developers. They bought theirs."
What on earth are you talking about?
Polyphony Digital Santa Monica Studio San Diego Studio Pixelopus Team Asobi London Studio
All the above studios were internally established by Sony.
Some things need to be clarified here. If Microsoft wants to bring Game Pass to PlayStation, do they intend to port over all their 1st party games to run natively on PlayStation? Or are they only offering deals with 3rd party publishers on Game Pass for PlayStation?
If it's the former it makes no sense at all because then PlayStation would receive everything Microsoft produces as well as Sony's own 1st party games so why would anyone ever get an Xbox at that point? Even if they are staggered releases Microsoft would stand to lose even more Xbox customers from this, which would be disastrous to their business.
Whereas the latter offer of only 3rd party games on Game Pass for PlayStation is nothing but a trojan horse to undermine game sales on PlayStation and provides a backdoor for Microsoft to directly make money from PlayStation customers while Sony loses out on the 30% cut it would get from purchased games. If Sony were to accept this it would certainly raise suspicion of collusion taking place.
@Agramonte Sure but not everyone has the luxury to get a disc PS5, many settled for the digital PS5 just because that's all they could find.
There's no way anyone can defend the optics with the PC price though. Not only is the PC version full of all the bells and whistles unavailable on console (ultrawide, mods, free online etc), they have the gall to price it lower than the console release. It makes no sense to charge less on PC where they're additionally forced to take a 70% cut, it just shows pure contempt for their console customers. The message being received here is "go to PC to play our games cheaper and better than what our console can ever offer, and now you only have to wait a year for new releases!".
All the signs are clearly pointing to a console exit strategy.
Hulst even said in the interview that all PS games will come to PC after "at least a year" from the PS release with the exception to live service games coming day and date. A one year gap is simply worthless, just go day and date and be done with it already.
@ChrisDeku First party specifically refers to studios owned by the platform holder. Those games you listed are properties owned by the platform holder but not developed by an internal studio i.e. second party.
@ChrisDeku Team Ninja isn't first-party and I'm pretty sure that game is only "console exclusive" anyway so will end up on PC sooner than later like Nioh did.
God of War
Marvel's Spider-Man
Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales
Uncharted 4: A Thief's End
Uncharted: The Lost Legacy
Sackboy: A Big Adventure
And already announced/leaked for PC:
The Last of Us Part I
Returnal
And these are just the ports for one year; the gap is getting smaller and smaller.
Meanwhile not a single new first party PS5-only game has been announced in all of 2022.
How can anyone honestly feel that PS5 is still the main focus at PlayStation? Even key PlayStation employees like Shuhei Yoshida and Cory Barlog are constantly posting images of their SteamDeck on social media. I can't think of any other business that would allow their public figureheads to repeatedly undermine the product they're selling by promoting a direct rival like this.
Only the second time in history that I can recall where two different games with the exact same name released on the same console. The first time being Need for Speed: Most Wanted on Xbox 360.
As for this RE4 remake, the reveal video left me unimpressed and this announcement only reaffirms that it's deliberately being held back from what it could have been.
I wish these modern fighting games would at least bring back the single player modes that have become absent in recent entries. I don't understand why they removed classic staples like Team Battle, Survival and Time Attack modes from the latest games. I'd even settle for a new Tekken Force mode instead of the lousy Story mode from the last game. The Story mode ends all too quickly and has zero replay value.
I also miss having to actually earn new characters by unlocking them from completing the Arcade mode, but I understand why that's no longer possible due to the heavy online focus these days and requirement for immediate access.
I don't understand how PlayStation fans truly think diversifying into mobile and PC is a good thing for the console. The alleged claim is the money generated there will be pumped into more single player AAA console games but there's absolutely no evidence of that and I can't think of ANY other game company that has successfully used this as a strategy.
All we know for certain is that Sony aims to release 12 live service games by 2025, no mention of any AAA single player games (other than the ones we know, SM2 + Wolverine).
There's already a price hike of £70 for first party games on console and we've yet to see how that's contributed in any way to the improvement of future releases. I'm more willing to believe the price hike is actually contributing more to the mobile and PC divisions and it's the console gamers who are being bled dry with nothing to show for it.
@ryanburnsred So you'd rather have console users continue getting screwed over paying for server costs so that PC players can enjoy playing for free? PC players who can freely create infinite accounts to cheat and hack games with no repercussions? A paywall would greatly deter that from happening and ruining cross-play like it already has for Warzone. Once PSN gets into the mix they're no longer separate ecosystems. I'd wager it would be a greater PR nightmare for Sony when their core console players realise they're being taken advantage of and the only ones forced to pay for the same cross-play servers PC gamers are using.
The PSN during the PS3 era was awful, did you forget about the 2011 network outage where data was stolen? It was because of that that people accepted the need to pay for online for a better more secure service and PSN drastically improved as a result.
If PC players have no issues paying for MMO subscriptions, they shouldn't have an issue with paying a subscription for these upcoming live service games.
@Nepp67 That's exactly why I'm eager to see how they'll handle it. They even went to great lengths to remove multiplayer from these new versions (Uncharted, TLOU) on both PS5 and PC. So I can't wait to see what happens when they release a game with online multiplayer and they don't address the PS+ requirement discrepancy between console and PC. I really hope PlayStation players speak up against any paywall discrepancy if it ultimately does exist, unlike Xbox players who let Microsoft steamroll them into paying XBL Gold for Netflix and free to play games which are otherwise completely free on all other platforms.
@ryanburnsred Well if it's free on PC I'd say it's more embarrassing for PlayStation players if they voluntarily choose to be swindled into paying for PS+ when a competing platform will undoubtably get a superior version day and date with cross-play and PS+ tax free.
@Would_you_kindly PC players already pay MMO subscriptions, these live service games will probably be MMO lite so I can't imagine there'll be any way to circumvent a paywall if the content regularly updates and requires an always online connection.
I'm very curious to see if this is how they'll sneak in PS+ requirements for their live service games on PC. They must surely see how bad it would look if it's only the console players that have to pay for PS+ online play while PC players get a free ride.
@SerJosh97 You missed my point entirely, it's not the game itself that's the issue, it's the fact that a current gen game has been revealed for PC at the same time as PS5. This will undoubtably cannibalise sales on console (of which Sony would have stood to receive 100% of the money) which could have easily been avoided by not mentioning PC until much later after the PS5 release. The announcement only helps to assure PC gamers that it will be a short gap from console release, so no need to bother getting a PS5 for this game, which many will also extrapolate to other first party releases.
@JJ2 I agree, the PS5 release is clearly a smokescreen for the actual goal to get the game on PC without upsetting PlayStation owners. And they're doing this by throwing this remake to them first as a form of appeasement so that Part II can quickly sneak its way onto PC not soon after.
The latest game Sony revealed explicitly states it's coming to both PS5 and PC (The Last of Us Part I). So now even current gen games are being announced for PC not just old PS4 games. There's no way fanboys can spin this anymore, first it was coping with old PS4 games but now we have confirmation that games built from the ground up for PS5 are also PC bound. This alongside the very credible Nvidia leak pretty much confirms every current PlayStation game will go to PC, not just old PS4 games.
To me this doesn't make PS5 a worthwhile purchase anymore and its hardware will never meet its true potential when every game has to be dumbed down to work on mid and low spec PCs.
The consensus seems to be the release gap will be about 2 years but I suspect it'll continually shrink until eventual day and date. The excuse of Sony wanting to hold back PC releases to sell consoles went out the window as soon as they revealed their plans to release PC ports. Now people have all the ammo they need to wait for the superior PC release and skip the PS5, its £70 games and PS+ subscription fees altogether.
@MasterVGuides I believe the stipulation was the game must release on multiple platforms simultaneously, there was nothing stating it had to release on a subscription service from day one.
I find it unbelievable that Sony, who developed the game internally have no leverage to block their own game going to a rival service from day one when they seemingly have the power to block other third parties. This was a moment Microsoft completely clowned Sony and PlayStation owners and have yet to recover from this blunder.
@OrtadragoonX You say the current average PC specs don't stand up to a PS5 but don't you see how this will negatively impact console owners? This means their first party games will intentionally be held back to accommodate porting to mid and low-end PCs, so yet again PS5 owners will be getting screwed over with a system that never reaches its full potential and the features like the DualSense and SSD speeds will never be essential to a game's core design.
If Sony's goal is to reach more customers on PC they'll have to ensure these games are built and designed from the ground up to work on these lower-end PCs, screwing over PS5 owners still waiting for games that actually use the system's full capabilities. We're approaching the 3rd year of the PS5 and as it stands currently it's nothing but a glorified PS4 Pro 2 with early access to first party.
The PS5 is now a system you choose to settle for not the system you really desire, as you've illustrated already. This wouldn't be the case if it had actual high quality exclusives not playable anywhere else.
How pathetic is it that the best place to play your first party games is on a competing platform and not your own.
I can't think of any other business that provides the best version of its products on a competing platform, let alone for a reduced price.
For example, Microsoft and Apple have the foresight to not provide app parity across each of their platforms. Microsoft Office on Mac is a stripped down version with less features compared to Windows. iTunes on Windows is slow, bloated and outdated but still required for iPhone users to manage files. There's nothing stopping them from providing parity between their apps but they deliberately don't in order to lure customers to their own platform for a better experience.
Meanwhile Sony is doing the complete opposite and pushing console players away from PlayStation to PC by offering unlocked framerates, ultrawide resolutions, proper raytracing, Xbox and DualSense controller support, DLSS, freedom to mod and no PS+ online requirements. They're doing a good job propping up PC as the best place to play their games while completely undermining their own PS5 consoles. The only remaining advantage PS5 has is its relatively cheap price, that's it, which is only attractive to casual gamers.
I'll never get those who put story above everything else in a video game, it's like listening to music only for the lyrics and dismissing the actual music which is just as incomprehensible to me.
I play games for the gameplay first and foremost, story would never sway my opinion on how good a game is otherwise Nintendo games would be considered garbage if we all used those standards to determine the quality of a game.
£70 is an absurd asking price for this when it has less content than the PS4 remaster. It should be the same price as Part II was on launch - £50.
I'm very curious to see how fast it comes to PC and at what price it will release because I'm betting it won't be £70. The way it was showcased indicated it'll come to PC very soon i.e. a few months after PS5. Because when the superior version comes to PC and is cheaper than the PS5 version, it's a complete wrap for PS5. Jim Ryan is just gouging his core customers at this point and feeding them scraps while treating the PC players like royalty.
@Marquez We already have the Nvidia leak that's been proven completely accurate as well as Returnal and Sackboy PC screenshots.
Sony's own investor report stated it wants half of its games on PC by 2025. It's time to face reality that Sony's conditioning its console owners into accepting future multiplatform releases.
I think we can now definitively say that first party exclusives are over and PS5 will have none during the course of the generation.
Bold of them to reveal the PC version already, they really must not care that it dissuades people from getting PS5s anymore. Interested to see how this plays out for them because I for one have no desire to get a PS5 at all now.
@Quadalog The saddest thing is the both id@Xbox and Major Nelson tweeted about the release and not one peep from Shuhei Yoshida or anyone who works at Sony. It's so obvious Colin's been blacklisted by Sony at this point.
The biggest thing about this is Spider-Man and Miles Morales weren't even in the Nvidia leak, and if games as prolific as those can go to PC so soon, you can be sure practically every major first party game will too including Spider-Man 2 and Wolverine.
The point is as a business they've never been more successful than they are today and that has no bearing on the quality or quantity of the games they produce.
I don't get how people honestly think making more money will automatically lead to better single player games.
We can use Konami as a direct case study. Konami reported its most profitable year ever just last year and they've long abandoned high quality single player games. None of their money is being reinvested into single player games let alone good quality games. It's all going to the pockets of execs and shareholders and we can expect the same to happen to Sony. When they get a taste of how much money they can make from live service, why would they go back to costly single player games?
I have no confidence that the current leadership is serving in the best interest of PlayStation owners when the current focus seems to be live service games, PC ports, mobile games and tv shows; none of these things are what make hardcore gamers choose PlayStation above everything else.
When business takes precedence over art, we (the players) all suffer.
Comments 323
Re: Media Molecule to Cease Live Service for Dreams, Now Working on a New Project
Right from the start when Dreams was announced many people could tell it would be a colossal flop. How can a big budget first-party AAA studio not foresee that the kind of "game" Dreams was aiming to be would only appeal to an über niche audience? Did they really expect people to devote valuable time and effort learning to create free content and expect nothing back in return?
Talk about a fundamental misunderstanding of who your core audience is. It also isn't shocking that this project led to some high profile departures from the company. Hopefully now they understand their next project has to be something that actually appeals to their primary audience and not just a freeform tech demo stretched into a retail release. Nail down the gameplay loop first then build a game around that.
Re: Flagship First-Party Naughty Dog Will Develop for PS5 and PC Moving Forwards
"And to maybe put a few minds at ease, releasing one first-party AAA title to PC doesn’t necessarily mean that every game now will come to PC. In my mind, Horizon Zero Dawn was just a great fit in this particular instance. We don’t have plans for day and date [PC releases], and we remain 100% committed to dedicated hardware." - Hermen Hulst, 2020
Re: The Last of Us on PC Attracts 'Mostly Negative' Reviews for Crashes, Poor Performance
I've read that Iron Galaxy are behind this port, the same studio who were behind the abysmal Arkham Knight PC port.
This will probably put a strain on Naughty Dog who'll be simultaneously trying to fix this and work on their next game.
Re: Left 4 Dead, Portal Bonuses Part of The Last of Us PC Version
@theMEGAniggle I find it funny how Valve had no problems releasing a Portal collection on Switch expecting nothing in return from Nintendo whereas Sony's been hand delivering their most valued exclusives to Steam and Valve have shown zero desire to reciprocate the gesture.
Re: Left 4 Dead, Portal Bonuses Part of The Last of Us PC Version
And yet not even a hint that Half-Life: Alyx will come to PSVR2 after all this appeasement from Sony.
This really shows the power dynamic between Sony and Valve and now we can clearly see who actually holds the cards; it ain't Sony!
Re: Talking Point: Is 2024 Too Soon for PS5 Pro?
It makes no sense to release a PS5 Pro. People who are obsessed with playing at the highest frame rates and resolutions will simply choose PC over console. It makes even less sense to release a Pro model for the PS5 because Sony's first-party titles are all releasing on PC now so why would anyone interested in high-end gaming pick a PS5 Pro over a PC?
At least back when the PS4 Pro released Sony had actual exclusives that couldn't be played elsewhere so it made sense to market that console as the best place to play their first-party titles as a last ditch attempt to retain players from migrating over to PC.
A PS5 Pro would be relegated to an incredibly niche audience and I can't imagine it would be profitable.
Re: Poll: Did You Love Sony's Latest State of Play Livestream?
RE4 is the only thing here that interests me and even that was a let down. I really dislike this remake's art direction. The game is way too dark, the colours are over saturated and the overuse of fog looks awful. The original had a way better visual style to me that actually captured the desolate village feel. The game will probably play fine but can't say I'm happy with the way it looks.
Re: Rumour: Konami to Go Big with Metal Gear Solid 3 Remake, New Castlevania in Coming Months
Even if this is happening we know Konami will likely farm it out to some cheap D-tier studios like they did with Contra: Rogue Corps and Silent Hill 2.
Re: Resident Evil 4 Fronts Game Informer Issue, New Gameplay Revealed
That rain looks awful and the overall graphics just don't look any better than the RE2 and RE3 remakes on last gen systems. The lack of graphical progress is really getting annoying now; we're in the 3rd year of this generation and most third parties simply aren't pulling their weight when it comes to visuals. I guess they have no real incentive to when they continue to make cross-gen games and have no hardware to sell. To date there's still nothing that comes close to Demon's Souls visuals, and that was a launch title!
Re: The Last of Us: Part I on PC Costs $20 Less Than PS5 Version
What's more dumb is the PC release gives Sony a 70/30 revenue split so they stand to make even less on PC. Sony is sabotaging their console customer relations and really testing their tolerance with moves like this. Loyal console owners are being punished with a more expensive, technically stunted version of the game while new PC players outside the ecosystem are getting the unfettered bells and whistles treatment, and this time it only took a mere 6 months for this ever shrinking port turnaround.
Like it or not this is the direction Sony is heading in; expensive PS5 games at launch going to PC not long after with additional features making the "definitive" version for sale cheaper with no PS+ requirements for online multiplayer. Hopefully a large number of PS5 owners will start to recognise this pattern as more of these ports continue and respond accordingly.
Re: The Last of Us: Part I Endures and Survives on PC in March
I'm not mad that they announced this PC release, in fact I applaud Sony for clearly communicating that it would release for PC not long after the PS5 version. At least they gave us the heads up to make our purchasing decision accordingly so nobody needed to rush getting it on PS5 out of port uncertainty. They should take the same transparent approach with all their future announcements so we can really judge for ourselves whether the PS5 is a worthwhile purchase at all.
What really irks me here is the price difference between the PS5 and PC versions. They spent all that time justifying the £70 price hike in articles and tweets from devs only to price it cheaper on PC, whose storefronts split the revenue 70/30. So in the end they release a better version of the same game that isn't crippled by console limitations and reward the PC players with a cheaper price while PS5 owners get royally screwed yet again.
The case is even worse for Returnal which won't even have the PS+ requirements for online play on PC and was falsely marketed as a PS5 exclusive. The minimum specs for Returnal are listed as only needing a GTX 1060 and an SSD is only "recommended" not required. So we have more proof that these games are not designed to fully utilise the PS5 and we will probably never get any true games made just for PS5 now that they're all seemingly PC bound.
Re: Uncharted PC Port Has Lowest Player Count of Any Sony Game at Launch
I don't buy the excuse that it's selling poorly due to PC players not having the prior games for backstory. The Uncharted games are largely self-contained stories anyway. Explain how Metal Gear Solid V was successful on PC when neither MGS3 or MGS4 ever came to PC.
I bet Sony will still come out and say they were pleased with these pitiful numbers though and will have zero effect on how quick they release their PC ports.
Re: Despite Scrapping PS4, Gotham Knights Is Just 30fps on PS5
This is nothing but developer incompetence. They spent the last 9 years (!?) developing this PS3 looking game and they still can't manage to achieve 60fps on current gen hardware when almost every game released so far has at least offered a frame rate priority mode in their games.
According to their Steam page, all that's required on PC to achieve 1080p/60fps is a GTX 1660 Ti, which is far weaker than what these current gen consoles have.
Re: Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales Crawls onto PC in November
@Sqush-Pare I can think of a few reasons:
Re: Shocking: Sony Doesn't Want Game Pass on PlayStation, Microsoft Has a Pop at PS Plus
@__jamiie "Sony have no internal studios other than those they've bought. They aren't Nintendo. They don't have in-house developers. They bought theirs."
What on earth are you talking about?
Polyphony Digital
Santa Monica Studio
San Diego Studio
Pixelopus
Team Asobi
London Studio
All the above studios were internally established by Sony.
Re: Shocking: Sony Doesn't Want Game Pass on PlayStation, Microsoft Has a Pop at PS Plus
Some things need to be clarified here. If Microsoft wants to bring Game Pass to PlayStation, do they intend to port over all their 1st party games to run natively on PlayStation? Or are they only offering deals with 3rd party publishers on Game Pass for PlayStation?
If it's the former it makes no sense at all because then PlayStation would receive everything Microsoft produces as well as Sony's own 1st party games so why would anyone ever get an Xbox at that point? Even if they are staggered releases Microsoft would stand to lose even more Xbox customers from this, which would be disastrous to their business.
Whereas the latter offer of only 3rd party games on Game Pass for PlayStation is nothing but a trojan horse to undermine game sales on PlayStation and provides a backdoor for Microsoft to directly make money from PlayStation customers while Sony loses out on the 30% cut it would get from purchased games. If Sony were to accept this it would certainly raise suspicion of collusion taking place.
Re: PS5 Exclusives Will Take at Least One Year to Launch on PC
@Agramonte Sure but not everyone has the luxury to get a disc PS5, many settled for the digital PS5 just because that's all they could find.
There's no way anyone can defend the optics with the PC price though. Not only is the PC version full of all the bells and whistles unavailable on console (ultrawide, mods, free online etc), they have the gall to price it lower than the console release. It makes no sense to charge less on PC where they're additionally forced to take a 70% cut, it just shows pure contempt for their console customers. The message being received here is "go to PC to play our games cheaper and better than what our console can ever offer, and now you only have to wait a year for new releases!".
Re: PS5 Exclusives Will Take at Least One Year to Launch on PC
Sackboy: A Big Adventure
Price on Steam: £49.99
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1599660/Sackboy_A_Big_Adventure/
Price on PSN: £59.99
https://store.playstation.com/en-gb/product/EP9000-PPSA01288_00-SACKBOYADVENTURE/
And no additional PS+ requirements for co-op on PC.
Expect Returnal and others to follow the same pricing discrepancy.
Re: PlayStation Bigwigs Won't Shut Up About PC, Smartphones
All the signs are clearly pointing to a console exit strategy.
Hulst even said in the interview that all PS games will come to PC after "at least a year" from the PS release with the exception to live service games coming day and date. A one year gap is simply worthless, just go day and date and be done with it already.
Re: Sackboy: A Big Adventure PC Version Dated for 27th October
@ChrisDeku First party specifically refers to studios owned by the platform holder. Those games you listed are properties owned by the platform holder but not developed by an internal studio i.e. second party.
Re: Sackboy: A Big Adventure PC Version Dated for 27th October
@ChrisDeku Team Ninja isn't first-party and I'm pretty sure that game is only "console exclusive" anyway so will end up on PC sooner than later like Nioh did.
Re: Sackboy: A Big Adventure PC Version Dated for 27th October
So just in 2022 for PC we have firm releases for:
God of War
Marvel's Spider-Man
Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales
Uncharted 4: A Thief's End
Uncharted: The Lost Legacy
Sackboy: A Big Adventure
And already announced/leaked for PC:
The Last of Us Part I
Returnal
And these are just the ports for one year; the gap is getting smaller and smaller.
Meanwhile not a single new first party PS5-only game has been announced in all of 2022.
How can anyone honestly feel that PS5 is still the main focus at PlayStation? Even key PlayStation employees like Shuhei Yoshida and Cory Barlog are constantly posting images of their SteamDeck on social media. I can't think of any other business that would allow their public figureheads to repeatedly undermine the product they're selling by promoting a direct rival like this.
Re: Resident Evil 4 Remake Is Now Coming to PS4 as Well
Only the second time in history that I can recall where two different games with the exact same name released on the same console. The first time being Need for Speed: Most Wanted on Xbox 360.
As for this RE4 remake, the reveal video left me unimpressed and this announcement only reaffirms that it's deliberately being held back from what it could have been.
Re: Tekken 8 Officially Revealed for PS5
I wish these modern fighting games would at least bring back the single player modes that have become absent in recent entries. I don't understand why they removed classic staples like Team Battle, Survival and Time Attack modes from the latest games. I'd even settle for a new Tekken Force mode instead of the lousy Story mode from the last game. The Story mode ends all too quickly and has zero replay value.
I also miss having to actually earn new characters by unlocking them from completing the Arcade mode, but I understand why that's no longer possible due to the heavy online focus these days and requirement for immediate access.
Re: PlayStation Acquires Savage Game Studios, Focusing on Mobile Games
I don't understand how PlayStation fans truly think diversifying into mobile and PC is a good thing for the console. The alleged claim is the money generated there will be pumped into more single player AAA console games but there's absolutely no evidence of that and I can't think of ANY other game company that has successfully used this as a strategy.
All we know for certain is that Sony aims to release 12 live service games by 2025, no mention of any AAA single player games (other than the ones we know, SM2 + Wolverine).
There's already a price hike of £70 for first party games on console and we've yet to see how that's contributed in any way to the improvement of future releases. I'm more willing to believe the price hike is actually contributing more to the mobile and PC divisions and it's the console gamers who are being bled dry with nothing to show for it.
Re: Sony's Death Stranding Special Delivered to PC Game Pass on 23rd August
They should just register PlayStation as a charity with the way things are going.
Re: Don't Be Surprised if Sony Brings PSN Integration to PC Games
@ryanburnsred So you'd rather have console users continue getting screwed over paying for server costs so that PC players can enjoy playing for free? PC players who can freely create infinite accounts to cheat and hack games with no repercussions? A paywall would greatly deter that from happening and ruining cross-play like it already has for Warzone. Once PSN gets into the mix they're no longer separate ecosystems. I'd wager it would be a greater PR nightmare for Sony when their core console players realise they're being taken advantage of and the only ones forced to pay for the same cross-play servers PC gamers are using.
The PSN during the PS3 era was awful, did you forget about the 2011 network outage where data was stolen? It was because of that that people accepted the need to pay for online for a better more secure service and PSN drastically improved as a result.
If PC players have no issues paying for MMO subscriptions, they shouldn't have an issue with paying a subscription for these upcoming live service games.
Re: Don't Be Surprised if Sony Brings PSN Integration to PC Games
@Nepp67 That's exactly why I'm eager to see how they'll handle it. They even went to great lengths to remove multiplayer from these new versions (Uncharted, TLOU) on both PS5 and PC. So I can't wait to see what happens when they release a game with online multiplayer and they don't address the PS+ requirement discrepancy between console and PC. I really hope PlayStation players speak up against any paywall discrepancy if it ultimately does exist, unlike Xbox players who let Microsoft steamroll them into paying XBL Gold for Netflix and free to play games which are otherwise completely free on all other platforms.
Re: Don't Be Surprised if Sony Brings PSN Integration to PC Games
@ryanburnsred Well if it's free on PC I'd say it's more embarrassing for PlayStation players if they voluntarily choose to be swindled into paying for PS+ when a competing platform will undoubtably get a superior version day and date with cross-play and PS+ tax free.
Re: Don't Be Surprised if Sony Brings PSN Integration to PC Games
@Would_you_kindly PC players already pay MMO subscriptions, these live service games will probably be MMO lite so I can't imagine there'll be any way to circumvent a paywall if the content regularly updates and requires an always online connection.
Re: Don't Be Surprised if Sony Brings PSN Integration to PC Games
I'm very curious to see if this is how they'll sneak in PS+ requirements for their live service games on PC. They must surely see how bad it would look if it's only the console players that have to pay for PS+ online play while PC players get a free ride.
Re: Sony Expands PlayStation Homepage for PC Games
@SerJosh97 You missed my point entirely, it's not the game itself that's the issue, it's the fact that a current gen game has been revealed for PC at the same time as PS5. This will undoubtably cannibalise sales on console (of which Sony would have stood to receive 100% of the money) which could have easily been avoided by not mentioning PC until much later after the PS5 release. The announcement only helps to assure PC gamers that it will be a short gap from console release, so no need to bother getting a PS5 for this game, which many will also extrapolate to other first party releases.
@JJ2 I agree, the PS5 release is clearly a smokescreen for the actual goal to get the game on PC without upsetting PlayStation owners. And they're doing this by throwing this remake to them first as a form of appeasement so that Part II can quickly sneak its way onto PC not soon after.
Re: Sony Expands PlayStation Homepage for PC Games
The latest game Sony revealed explicitly states it's coming to both PS5 and PC (The Last of Us Part I). So now even current gen games are being announced for PC not just old PS4 games. There's no way fanboys can spin this anymore, first it was coping with old PS4 games but now we have confirmation that games built from the ground up for PS5 are also PC bound. This alongside the very credible Nvidia leak pretty much confirms every current PlayStation game will go to PC, not just old PS4 games.
To me this doesn't make PS5 a worthwhile purchase anymore and its hardware will never meet its true potential when every game has to be dumbed down to work on mid and low spec PCs.
The consensus seems to be the release gap will be about 2 years but I suspect it'll continually shrink until eventual day and date. The excuse of Sony wanting to hold back PC releases to sell consoles went out the window as soon as they revealed their plans to release PC ports. Now people have all the ammo they need to wait for the superior PC release and skip the PS5, its £70 games and PS+ subscription fees altogether.
Re: Microsoft Accuses Sony of Paying to Block Games from Xbox Game Pass
@MasterVGuides I believe the stipulation was the game must release on multiple platforms simultaneously, there was nothing stating it had to release on a subscription service from day one.
I find it unbelievable that Sony, who developed the game internally have no leverage to block their own game going to a rival service from day one when they seemingly have the power to block other third parties. This was a moment Microsoft completely clowned Sony and PlayStation owners and have yet to recover from this blunder.
Re: Microsoft Accuses Sony of Paying to Block Games from Xbox Game Pass
Ironic how Sony can prevent third parties from going to Game Pass but suddenly become helpless when it comes to MLB the Show.
Re: Returnal's Steam Page Getting Regular Updates, Reveal Seems Imminent
@OrtadragoonX You say the current average PC specs don't stand up to a PS5 but don't you see how this will negatively impact console owners? This means their first party games will intentionally be held back to accommodate porting to mid and low-end PCs, so yet again PS5 owners will be getting screwed over with a system that never reaches its full potential and the features like the DualSense and SSD speeds will never be essential to a game's core design.
If Sony's goal is to reach more customers on PC they'll have to ensure these games are built and designed from the ground up to work on these lower-end PCs, screwing over PS5 owners still waiting for games that actually use the system's full capabilities. We're approaching the 3rd year of the PS5 and as it stands currently it's nothing but a glorified PS4 Pro 2 with early access to first party.
The PS5 is now a system you choose to settle for not the system you really desire, as you've illustrated already. This wouldn't be the case if it had actual high quality exclusives not playable anywhere else.
Re: Returnal's Steam Page Getting Regular Updates, Reveal Seems Imminent
How pathetic is it that the best place to play your first party games is on a competing platform and not your own.
I can't think of any other business that provides the best version of its products on a competing platform, let alone for a reduced price.
For example, Microsoft and Apple have the foresight to not provide app parity across each of their platforms. Microsoft Office on Mac is a stripped down version with less features compared to Windows. iTunes on Windows is slow, bloated and outdated but still required for iPhone users to manage files. There's nothing stopping them from providing parity between their apps but they deliberately don't in order to lure customers to their own platform for a better experience.
Meanwhile Sony is doing the complete opposite and pushing console players away from PlayStation to PC by offering unlocked framerates, ultrawide resolutions, proper raytracing, Xbox and DualSense controller support, DLSS, freedom to mod and no PS+ online requirements. They're doing a good job propping up PC as the best place to play their games while completely undermining their own PS5 consoles. The only remaining advantage PS5 has is its relatively cheap price, that's it, which is only attractive to casual gamers.
Re: The Last of Us 2 Has Sold an Impressive 10 Million Copies on PS4
I'll never get those who put story above everything else in a video game, it's like listening to music only for the lyrics and dismissing the actual music which is just as incomprehensible to me.
I play games for the gameplay first and foremost, story would never sway my opinion on how good a game is otherwise Nintendo games would be considered garbage if we all used those standards to determine the quality of a game.
Re: The Last of Us: Part I PS5 Trailer Gives Us Our First Taste of Naughty Dog's Remake
£70 is an absurd asking price for this when it has less content than the PS4 remaster. It should be the same price as Part II was on launch - £50.
I'm very curious to see how fast it comes to PC and at what price it will release because I'm betting it won't be £70. The way it was showcased indicated it'll come to PC very soon i.e. a few months after PS5. Because when the superior version comes to PC and is cheaper than the PS5 version, it's a complete wrap for PS5. Jim Ryan is just gouging his core customers at this point and feeding them scraps while treating the PC players like royalty.
Re: Sony Leaks The Last of Us: Part I for PS5, Launching 2nd September
@Marquez We already have the Nvidia leak that's been proven completely accurate as well as Returnal and Sackboy PC screenshots.
Sony's own investor report stated it wants half of its games on PC by 2025. It's time to face reality that Sony's conditioning its console owners into accepting future multiplatform releases.
Re: Sony Leaks The Last of Us: Part I for PS5, Launching 2nd September
@get2sammyb It won't be much later, probably 2 years tops, not long enough to buy a whole console for it.
Re: Sony Leaks The Last of Us: Part I for PS5, Launching 2nd September
I think we can now definitively say that first party exclusives are over and PS5 will have none during the course of the generation.
Bold of them to reveal the PC version already, they really must not care that it dissuades people from getting PS5s anymore. Interested to see how this plays out for them because I for one have no desire to get a PS5 at all now.
Re: Mini Review: Super Perils of Baking (PS5) - Charming Old School Platformer Rises to the Occasion
@Quadalog The saddest thing is the both id@Xbox and Major Nelson tweeted about the release and not one peep from Shuhei Yoshida or anyone who works at Sony. It's so obvious Colin's been blacklisted by Sony at this point.
Re: Poll: What Was Your Favourite PS5, PS4 Game Shown at State of Play?
The Callisto Protocol, despite being cross-gen was way more impressive than Resident Evil 4, a supposed current-gen only game.
Re: Marvel's Spider-Man Remastered and Miles Morales Are Swinging Onto PC
The biggest thing about this is Spider-Man and Miles Morales weren't even in the Nvidia leak, and if games as prolific as those can go to PC so soon, you can be sure practically every major first party game will too including Spider-Man 2 and Wolverine.
Re: Marvel's Spider-Man Remastered Swings Onto PC This August
The PS blog also mentions this includes Miles Morales.
Re: Marvel's Spider-Man Remastered Swings Onto PC This August
Now PC users can mod the original Peter Parker model into the game and get the ultimate version, in effect making both PS4 and PS5 versions obsolete.
Re: Resident Evil 4 Remake Announced for PS5, Out March 2023
This was underwhelming, nothing about it screams only possible on current gen hardware.
Re: Reaction: Why You Shouldn't Worry About Sony's New Strategy
@RevGaming https://www.eurogamer.net/konami-just-had-its-most-profitable-year-ever
The point is as a business they've never been more successful than they are today and that has no bearing on the quality or quantity of the games they produce.
Re: Reaction: Why You Shouldn't Worry About Sony's New Strategy
I don't get how people honestly think making more money will automatically lead to better single player games.
We can use Konami as a direct case study. Konami reported its most profitable year ever just last year and they've long abandoned high quality single player games. None of their money is being reinvested into single player games let alone good quality games. It's all going to the pockets of execs and shareholders and we can expect the same to happen to Sony. When they get a taste of how much money they can make from live service, why would they go back to costly single player games?
I have no confidence that the current leadership is serving in the best interest of PlayStation owners when the current focus seems to be live service games, PC ports, mobile games and tv shows; none of these things are what make hardcore gamers choose PlayStation above everything else.
When business takes precedence over art, we (the players) all suffer.