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[IGN] PlayStation Confirms Japan Studio Will be Re-Organized (Asobi only, Sony Globals studios to handle Localization & IP Management for SCEJ titles)
- Thread starter Jawmuncher
- Start date
What a weird way to try to justify this decision. You only need to check the latest FY Sony Sales threads by ArmGunar to see how untrue is this statement.
You mean good games that sell at the same time? I guess they do.
It makes sense on a surface level. Instead of spending money on a studio whose track record does not show money making IPs, they could focus on 3rd party relations...I would like to see them invest even more on the 1st party stuff in Japan, but the current PS studio head has yet to exhibit his capability of knowing Japanese gaming
I understand that people might feel sadness because of the legacy of the studio but its recent output has been lackluster. I don't think it was an issue of budget, I can't imagine the first Astro VR game having a big budget yet it clearly had a spark that showed that Asobi could produce something special. Sometimes things just reach their end of life and it seems that this is Japan Studio's EOL. Jim Ryan shouldn't be blamed for the change in focus from Japan to the west, Playstation has enjoyed enormous success through that shift.
Could also mean they are preparing for some big operation in Japan. Who was the other company reorganized?.
Whilst I don't think ForwardWorks is really affected by this move, I wonder how long they'll stick around or if they'll get rolled back
I see it as good news personally. They are consolidating efforts towards the group who had resounding success. Hopefully everything won't disappear but it might be cool to get bigger scale Astro games and what not. Sounds bigger than the usual April shuffles at Japanese companies. As long as the members still got their jobs I count it as a win.
I think only GoW did tens(2 tens) of millions. Those games often get reduced to 20$ greatest hits and 3 free pack-in titles for holiday console buyers. Nothing wrong with that strategy, but I don't think the number of "sales" at free/very reduced prices is point to brag about.
Y'all should have bought Rain on PS3, this wouldn't have happened otherwise. Poor Japan Studio, at least Astro Bot is alive and well...for now.
The Last Of Us, Uncharted, Horizon and Spider-Man all sold tens of million. And Ghost of Tsushima will follow too. Days Gone has also been pretty succesful, even if we don't have concrete numbers. Sorry but your comparison is just off. Sony Japan is struggling for a while, when it comes to quality, quantity and sales. Astrobot was the only really success story lately, so no wonder they stick with Asobi, which is a new team.
For all the talk about veterans like Toyama and others, what exactly did they bring on the table? And that's not even including all the cancelled projects we barely heard about or don't know.
Business-wise it makes sense, but people rather want to see it as Sony hates Japan and is unfair.
The game actually wasn't a resounding success though. It got brought up earlier in the thread, but Astrobot VR and Knack 2 were probably Japan Studios biggest bombs. It was a critic darling though, and maybe that's why Sony is pushing it as hard as they are and centering around that team while getting rid of everyone else.
A fair point, but these games are successes by every available metric. Commercial success, critical success, audience buzz and attention, driving console sales. I really can't blame Playstation's leadership for wanting more of that. I could see an argument for supporting Japan Studio if it was pumping out prestige projects instead of mainstream juggernauts, similar to how movie studios want both blockbusters and Oscar contenders, but Japan Studio produced neither.
Well millions of sales at reduced prices is better than tiny sales at reduced prices like the GR games lol
I suppose the writing has been on the wall for a while. They seem to have been making big deals with SE in particular, so they prefer to fund exclusivity deals with third party than produce their own stuff. Outside of SE, Capcom, From Software and maybe Namco, Japanese output of AAA games has gone down substantially in the last gen. I know that i bought significantly less Japenese games than during the previous gens.
Good point. I don't think it's going to sell really good at full price. There's a high chance Sony will bundle another Astro game with PSVR2 ( the headset ain't coming anytime soon).
Doubt we will see more collaborations like Bloodborne and SotC tbh. The small number of devs left at Sony are likely merged with other studios and that support team hardly exist anymore.
This "3rd person self important cinema wannabes" actually sells millions & cultivating awards.
I'm sure those high profile studios sad by this description of some Era user.
I'm sure those high profile studios sad by this description of some Era user.
These are player counts in millions up to Nov 19, 2020 from Gamstat which is no longer updated:
Bend Studio
Days Gone - 9
Guerilla Games:
Killzone Shadowfall - 7.5
Horizon - 21.5
Insomniac
R&C - 12.3
Spiderman - 30.1
Japan Studio:
Gravity Rush 2 - 1.3
Knack 2 - 1.6
Shadow of the Colossus (w/ Bluepoint) - 7.5
Media Molecule
Dreams - 610k
Naughty Dog
The Last of Us - 44.5
Uncharted 4 - 33.5
The Last of Us 2 - 7.2
Pixelopus
Concrete Genie - 170k
Polyphony
GT Sport - 13.3
San Diego Studio
MLB 18 - 2.5
MLB 19 - 5.5
MLB 20 - 1.8
Santa Monica Studio
God of War - 24.7
was japan studio given the same budget to do that? were they allowed the same opportunities to shore up talent and compete in their market?
the mid-2010s was really a solidification of the playstation brand being high-end tech. that's why vita was killed, why playstation classic failed, and why vr lives somehow. story-based western games are guaranteed for prestigious western game of the year awards (and this isn't just sony - rockstar, bioware, cdpr chase this too). but this happens because sony built up an industry around it the same way nintendo built up an industry around mascot platformers, jrpgs, and family-friendly multiplayer games.
there might have been disappointment in how sony japan pushed the ps4, but can't the same be said about the vita in the west, or japan studio games out in the us? did gravity rush's ps4 games receive the same care and attention that naughty dog games or santa monica studios received? i don't think so. and sony wasn't nearly as consistent in finding similar titles to help support an industry around those types of games so they'd be successful either.
and look - that's fine. nintendo did the same thing to their western support studios in the mid-2000s: left field studios, silicon knights, and rare were all abandoned roughly at the same time. meanwhile, retro's development focus was scaled all the way back to a single game at a time - and their more western-styled games were canceled in favor of the the metroid franchise. ultimately, after the n64, due to a change in leadership and with iwata as president, nintendo didn't spend the time to build an audience that enjoyed western games on their consoles. similar to sony now, nintendo tried just doing third-party deals with western studios as a way to compensate for the reduced first-party output: gba/gc connectivity games, rogue squadron iii exclusivity, and special commercials highlighting madden for gamecube, but in the end it was just a market nintendo decided to do without. it was intentional. so is this.
This.
I get that people are upset because they like japanese games and the games that Studio Japan has put out in the past but Sony is not doing this because they hate Japan, Japan Studios or japanese games... This is simply a business decision like it was with Studio Loverpool and Evolution, nothing more and nothing less. Studio Japan's output for the most part wasn't that successful financially but it't not like they didn't get their chances. Sony gave them plenty of chances but their games never took off the way Sony might have been hoping.
They see a lot of potential in Astro Bot so they're keeping Team Asobi around and they'll probably expand that studio over the course of the coming years so that's definitely someting to look forward to.
That's a bummer for sure. I quite liked the Japan Studio games.
But on the other hand i also must say that they didn't create one big hit outside of Astro Bot on their own and that was Team Asobi.
Maybe it's better to use the money to strengthen Team Asobi and outsource more games to other japanese development studios.
I sure enjoyed the time with PS2/Ps3s quirky mid-tier games over the years but in a time where most are pissed when it's not a new and shiny AAA game (see last nights State of Play) i'm afraid it's the right move for Playstation to do.
Jim Ryan is someone wo doesn't seem to have the same love for games of all kind like his predecessors did sadly. But he's knows what he's doing on the business side. Can't blame sony in game of chicken with one of the wealthiest companies on this planet to not lean back and not trying to find success wherever they can.
Indies, 3rd-party exclusives (some timed) and vr-games will be the places where this budget will now go.
But on the other hand i also must say that they didn't create one big hit outside of Astro Bot on their own and that was Team Asobi.
Maybe it's better to use the money to strengthen Team Asobi and outsource more games to other japanese development studios.
I sure enjoyed the time with PS2/Ps3s quirky mid-tier games over the years but in a time where most are pissed when it's not a new and shiny AAA game (see last nights State of Play) i'm afraid it's the right move for Playstation to do.
Jim Ryan is someone wo doesn't seem to have the same love for games of all kind like his predecessors did sadly. But he's knows what he's doing on the business side. Can't blame sony in game of chicken with one of the wealthiest companies on this planet to not lean back and not trying to find success wherever they can.
Indies, 3rd-party exclusives (some timed) and vr-games will be the places where this budget will now go.
that's very unfortunate, i hope anyone who's left out of a job because of this lands on their feet soon.
Is it really a big loss? Because most of sony japans studio made there game in collaberation with other developers. They could just throw a bag of money at a studio and still develope those games.
the production side of Japan Studio was heavily involved in the creative side of most of those games. They're gone
God it's sad, like Demons souls, Jumping Flash, Ape Escape, Wild Arms, Gravity Rush, Shadow of the Colossus, Bloodborne.... These are some of the games that freaking made PlayStation a household name. I'm floored.
I don't care if your 3rd person serious action games sell better, we are losing variety and a lot of possible interesting titles and a lot of people are out of jobs during a pandemic. Stop apologizing for Sony being shitty. There's no positive for consumers here and certainly no positive for the many people being cut loose.
"Fuck the employees, I get more budget for Last of Us!" is just an atrocious attitude.
"Fuck the employees, I get more budget for Last of Us!" is just an atrocious attitude.
PS4 and Vita already underdelivered in quirky AA Japanese games compared to the PS3 and PSP. Could see it coming, but it doesn't change the fact that these news really hurt. I will forever love Japan Studio for their work on Patapon and Bloodborne among others.
I don't like the direction Sony has been marching in since the PS4 era. I fully understand it, the PS4 was a huge commercial success so obviously they want to double down on their strategy, but I don't like it. :(
I don't like the direction Sony has been marching in since the PS4 era. I fully understand it, the PS4 was a huge commercial success so obviously they want to double down on their strategy, but I don't like it. :(
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It's rather bizarre to be scaling down in some areas where your main competition is exponentially growing.
Content is king in all ways. Quality, diversity and number.
Content is king in all ways. Quality, diversity and number.
Essentially. Like the the scaling back of NST and not utilizing any of the talents that joined the studio and then left, the loss of many western partners Nintendo had at that time, it's all reminiscent of what's happening now with Sony in Japan.
They didn't get the budget or attention because they didn't deliver in the same way other studios did. A studio like ND didn't just receive a blank cheque from the beginning. They made hits and then got more and more budget. In one of Alanah Pearce's podcasts I heard Troy Baker saying ND had to fight really really hard to get The Last Of Us approved by Sony and that was after they made a hit CB Trilogy and two succesful Uncharted games.
When Sony Japan delivered they got the support from Sony. After Shadow Of the Colossus was a critical hit, Sony sticked a decade (!) with The Last Guardian. Everyone else would have cancelled the game twice. They gave Gravity Rush a second chance on the PS4 with Remastered and 2 after it did poorly on the flopping vita. They even made Knack 2 a thing.
If Sony Japan would have delivered tons of 90+ Metascore games in the last decade, they would still be there, that's why Astrobot is seen as success and that's why they sticking with Asobi and Media Molecule. If their games would have sold 10+ million copies or even 5+ million copies they would be still there too.
But that's not the case, they produced bombs that sold poorly and their games weren't really critically acclaimed either.
And this doesn't include all the stuff that happened behind the doors like cancelled projects and things not coming together. If Sony Japan would be the hidden gem that just needs a bit backing to deliver success story after story I am pretty sure Sony would stick with them, but nothing points to that and Sony knows better whats happening in their studios than everyone else here.
It's a shame that the studio isn't a thing anymore, but like with their UK studios it's hardly an odd decision that Sony is putting the focus elsewhere.
Japan Studio got restructured during last gen. How many more chances and resources did people want to Sony to give them?