What is up with Sony and lack of communication?

[bamf26]

Some really hilarious jumping to conclusions in here, with little to no understanding of product marketing. There is nothing random about an article with Wired. It is a completely targeted marketing decision. I get wanting to see that same info from a splashy press conference, but do not confuse this with a lack of communication, that is ridiculous. We have almost as much info about PS5 as we do XSX. One company has given their info via press conferences, the other is drip-feeding info through various forms of media outlets. I can tell you as someone who does product marketing for a day job, this thread popping up is just one indication that Sony's marketing strategy is working so far, because everything we are seeing such as the logo reveal for example, points to huge excitement towards PS5 and a craving for more information. Now yes, if they don't capitalize on this built up excitement, that is another story, but so far they given you the exact info that they have wanted to give you.

 

[xxracerxx]

I swear, if it isn't in video form then news doesn't matter to some people.

 

[Nzyme32]

The title says it all.
For last 2 year Sony have been really bad with communicating their ideas and plans for the future:
Poor State of Play showings;
Random PS5 articles;
No E3 or other big shows;
Absolutely zero communication about exclusives going to PC;
etc.

Which begs the question what Sony is even doing right now? Do they even have a future road map? Or they completely lost their vision for the gaming business? Is it because of the leadership shake up from not long ago?

What do you people think? How do you think they can make it better?

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Making games takes time
Don't want to play their hand until they want to

Simple.

 

[SavoyPrime]

I wouldn't expect Sony to start dropping plans and info until closer to launch. Why would they have started showing their hand two years out?

 

[ByWatterson]

Microsoft has been talking a big game for the entire gen, with little to show.

Sony just shows. I'm fine with that.

 

[rusty chrome]

Calm before the storm.

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Yep. All will be revealed soon. :)

 

[hrœrekr]

OP is right. Things were very different during this time leading to PS4 launch.
Sony is silent, with focus the same few games for the last 2 years while smaller games like Concrete Genie and Medievil are sent to die. Vita had a terrible death in silence.

PS4 was fine, but mainly because of the huge user base built from the start and support from thirds.
Will the new Sony be able to build the same user base and dominate the market again? XBox and Nintendo are not the same...

 

[Swift_Gamer]

I think I'll be asking the same thing if they're quiet during Feb. Definitely not a good look if they keep it up, no matter if your in pole position, no excuse to not involve fans more.



Do we know specs ? At least broadly like we do for XSX? If not then your completely wrong, we dont know core parts of it, so it's nowhere near the equivalent of what we know about XSX at this stage. SSD and controller info isnt really the meat of the machine that people consider core info.

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You can wait a month or two for that.

 

[xxracerxx]

OP is right. Things were very different during this time leading to PS4 launch.

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Can you show us how they were different leading up to the Feb PS4 reveal?

 

[retrosega]

Sony might wait as late as the summer to release decent info on PS5.
I thought they would come out swinging early in 2020, but it looks like they are building hype instead.

 

[Swift_Gamer]

OP is right. Things were very different during this time leading to PS4 launch.
Sony is silent, with focus the same few games for the last 2 years while smaller games like Concrete Genie and Medievil are sent to die. Vita had a terrible death in silence.

PS4 was fine, but mainly because of the huge user base built from the start and support from thirds.
Will the new Sony be able to build the same user base and dominate the market again? XBox and Nintendo are not the same...

Click to shrink...

They've always been able to do it, even after the failure that PS3 launch was. There's no reason to believe otherwise. I think this is really the so called concern trolling people are talking about here. I mean, it's like some users really believe Sony don't know what they're doing when they've been dominating since the ps1 when they were new and inexperienced at this.

 

[Youngfossil]

Arrogance plan and simple. I bit them in the butt once (PS3) looks like the cycle will continue

 

[Elliott]

They haven't called me back in weeks. Not even a text.

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[Kaguya]

I need to know Mark Cerny's favorite toilet paper brand, the silence is unacceptable.

 

[Ryengeku]

This feels like a lot of people's first console generation transition.

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I think a lot of us were still too young and in school to feel the weight of the waiting period during the last transitions.

 

[hrœrekr]

They've always been able to do it, even after the failure that PS3 launch was. There's no reason to believe otherwise. I think this is really the so called concern trolling people are talking about here. I mean, it's like some users really believe Sony don't know what they're doing when they've been dominating since the ps1 when they were new and inexperienced at this.

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If as a consumer you are always happy with everything they did during all these years, that is great. Good for you.

I am not. As a long time consumer I see ups and downs. So it's natural for me to be concerned with changes until they are proven to be good. That's why a good communication is important.

 

[RingRang]

There is no question Playstation is not as good at public relations as Xbox is right now. While I will acknowledge that I don't think it's really harming their business at this point, it is very frustrating as a fan for some of the reasons mentioned in the OP.

Love him or hate him, Microsoft having someone like Major Nelson, and even Phil Spencer so available on twitter makes a world of difference. They can explain things quickly if there is confusion, and they can help people to understand their thinking and their strategy.

 

[CorrisD]

This is weird topic.

We know more about the PS5 officially from Sony at this point in time than we did about the PS4 at the same time, they fumbled the PS3 launch, they aren't doing that again. It's pretty obvious they they are generally following their PS4 release plans again. Everyone is expecting an announcement soon for a show next month.

Why would they say anything about their games going to PC? It hasn't been officially announced? Almost no publisher of games would comment on rumours and speculation.

There are no random PS5 articles, they are very much released to who and when Somy want the news to be out there.

Just because they don't follow your imaginary timeline for news doesn't mean there is a lack of communication. We've still got most of a year full of games to go, and some of Sony's biggest titles, there's no rush for news.

 

[Anthony Hopkins]

I think I'll be asking the same thing if they're quiet during Feb. Definitely not a good look if they keep it up, no matter if your in pole position, no excuse to not involve fans more.



Do we know specs ? At least broadly like we do for XSX? If not then your completely wrong, we dont know core parts of it, so it's nowhere near the equivalent of what we know about XSX at this stage. SSD and controller info isnt really the meat of the machine that people consider core info.

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Oh prine 😔
The only additional info we know about the XsX is that it's been confirmed to have a NVMe SSD, GDDR6 RAM, a vague performance multiplier from Xboss Spencer and we know what the box and SoC looks like.

But they have both been confirmed to have zen2 cpu, Navi GPU, raytracing hardware and a ssd.

The machine will be very similar definitely in the same class (though depending on the consumer type the definition of "similar hardware" varries)

 

[Swift_Gamer]

If as a consumer you are always happy with everything they did during all these years, that is great. Good for you.

I am not. As a long time consumer I see ups and downs. So it's natural for me to be concerned with changes until they are proven to be good. That's why a good communication is important.

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Yup, definitely concern trolling.

 

[Midas]

I think a lot of us were still too young and in school to feel the weight of the waiting period during the last transitions.

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Haha yeah. I remember seeing the first pictures of PS2 without having any idea it was about to be announced. Wasn't following things as much back then. I do remember it being on some asian gaming site I used to visit. I wish I could remember the name for "nostalgic" reasons, but I really can't. Short tidbits, I think they sourced everything from Famitsu, basically.

Edit: maybe it was magicbox? Just popped up in my head.

 

[Deleted member 36086]

If as a consumer you are always happy with everything they did during all these years, that is great. Good for you.

I am not. As a long time consumer I see ups and downs. So it's natural for me to be concerned with changes until they are proven to be good. That's why a good communication is important.

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Apple dont say shit about their upcoming product releases until the big reveal and they seem to be doing just fine.

 

[rusty chrome]

Apple dont say shit about their upcoming product releases until the big reveal and they seem to be doing just fine.

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Neither does Rockstar until it's ready to be released shortly after. The "arrogant Sony" posters don't realize that the joke is on them. Sony has sold over 106 million PS4s now, they know what they're doing.

 

[Jingo]

Its the opposite with me. All my friends know PS5 is coming Holiday 2020.

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Are they casual or hardcore gamers?

 

[BradleyLove]

Arrogance plan and simple. I bit them in the butt once (PS3) looks like the cycle will continue

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MichaelJordan.gif

 

[rusty chrome]

Are they casual or hardcore gamers?

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Even the most casual gamers I know ended up talking to me about the PS5 logo as it eventually ended up trending on their social media. One simple logo that they recognized is all it took. You don't have to be a "hardcore gamer" to know about any of this.

 

[EvilBoris]

Weird thread.
Communicate what?

it's all going to be ok my sweet child

 

[Deleted member 1003]

Everything feels fine to me, State of Play was not long ago and announced some cool games. Logo was revealed at CES, a place not typically for consoles. February is definitely when they will talk more about PS5 and that isn't far away, so why worry?

Sony will definitely be talking more after the reveal.

 

[AllChan7]

Are they casual or hardcore gamers?

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Some are more casual. Others a bit more hardcore. Also I saw a lot of buzz about PS5 on social media after the Wired articles.

 

[CenaToon]

I know exactly when The Last of US 2 will release
I know exactly (sorta) when Ghost will release
I know exactly when FF7R will release (isnt even a sony game but what the hell, someone mentioned RE3's lack of communication as sony's fault too lol)

That's all the info i need right now to enjoy my console. Thanks.

 

[ty_hot]

What is Sony doing? They are selling PS4 consoles, games and services.

 

[dunkzilla]

You're impatient. This gen is winding down and they're preparing to introduce their next gen console.

 

[Goodacre0081]

Goes back further than 2 years. They have no real front facing people engaging the community like Nelson or even Spencer.

 

[xxracerxx]

I just want someone who says they were much more vocal leading up to the PS4 release to actually show me what the hell they are talking about.

 

[joe_zazen]

Sony's messaging has indeed been lacking compared to Microsoft's this time around.
Whether is technical information about the hardware or just hypebuzz or even a supposed roadmap it seems that in each of these categories Microsoft has the upper edge.

Let's sum it up... Microsoft in this period had:
Name and logo
Rumored roadmap/skus
New technical features (ssd and hw ray tracing)
Box design
Rumored performance values with supposed advantages to competition
Die shot of the chip
Random footage of titles supposedly in development

Sony in this period had:
Name and logo
New technical features (ssd and hw ray tracing)
Rumored performance values that are supposedly worse than the competition


It's a landslide imho, yeah sure we are almost a full 12 months from release but by now i would have expected even a reactionary release of info to counter all this nice stuff Microsoft had... instead the last thing we got was a bad piece of news with them saying that they won't be at E3.

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yeah, I dont know how anyone can argue that Sony's pr and fan engagement is anything but abysmal compared to MS. But I put that down to Spencer being really really good at that part of his job. He exudes confidence and charisma.

Sony guys are just normal business executives that hate going on stage and interacting with fans.

so, yeah, it is more fun being an engaged xbox fan than a sony one right now. You only need to look at the ots to see this.

 

[Raylan]

You're impatient. This gen is winding down and they're preparing to introduce their next gen console.

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Just like the competition does. And they weren't silent for over a year while canceling all conferences. SIE is a mess right now.

 

[xxracerxx]

Just like the competition does. And they weren't silent for over a year while canceling all conferences. SIE is a mess right now.

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You know there are more conferences than E3, right?

 

[ImaLawy3r]

Sony is smart. This is competition. Why reveal your hand now when all the players haven't shown everything? Getting off to a good start is important and the more you're able to keep hidden the better position you're going to be against competition - especially if those things can differentiate the product for a better experience. Don't reveal anything with enough time that your competition can try to replicate it to diminish your own sales.

 

[RavFiveFour]

Nobody has an issue with SONY's communication I laugh when I hear this.

 

[angel_deamon]

Sony should communicate each product independently as Microsoft does.

Gamepass: They announce games, additions, improvements.
xCloud: Plans, beta, adding new games and countries
Xbox Hardware: XSX, power, console model, elite controllers, custom controllers
Xbox OS: Features, updates, improvements
Xbox BC program: This is no longer reporting anything, but they used to announce games.
PC & Windows: Games in steam, updates to xbox app, features, gamebar features

----

Sony? what about PSNow plans, VR plans, PS plans?

 

[Betty]

What is Sony doing? They are selling PS4 consoles, games and services.

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[No Depth]

U r not e

 

[Melchiah]

yeah, I dont know how anyone can argue that Sony's pr and fan engagement is anything but abysmal compared to MS. But I put that down to Spencer being really really good at that part of his job. He exudes confidence and charisma.

Sony guys are just normal business executives that hate going on stage and interacting with fans.

so, yeah, it is more fun being an engaged xbox fan than a sony one right now. You only need to look at the ots to see this.

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Yeah, normal business executives platinum Bloodborne, and reach higher ranks in Let It Die, like Shu did. Being a gamer at heart is what matters most to me.

You know, I follow many bands on Facebook, and I really can't stand those who are constantly bombarding my feed with trivial stuff, trying to high-five the fans. Whereas I appreciate those who share meaningful information more sparingly.

 

[joe_zazen]

Yeah, normal business executives platinum Bloodborne, and reach higher ranks in Let It Die, like Shu did. Being a gamer at heart is what matters most to me.

You know, I follow many bands on Facebook, and I really can't stand those who are constantly bombarding my feed with trivial stuff, trying to high-five the fans. Whereas I appreciate those who share meaningful information more sparingly.

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normal in the sense that going in front of millions is an unpleasant, stressful experience to be avoided. Spencer is an anomaly in that he actually likes that stuff.

but i understand the frustration. I am not interested in xbox, so all the 'phil sez' threads etc are annoying. But i have to give credit where credit is due, and he has been outsiding at PR, community building, and all that stuff. Sony has not.

 

[SmittyWerbenManJensen]

They're probably just waiting until they really need to speak up about everything. It's not like they're in a poor position right now (commercially). It's more important for MS to speak up and inform us that they will be approaching the beginning of next gen more appropriately than they did last (current) gen.

 

[hussien-11]

Honestly, Jim Ryan's era of leadership thus far has been absolutely miserable - there hasn't been a single bit of good Playstation news out of Sony since he took over. I'm not looking forward to the PS5 at all with him in charge.

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In my humble opinion, you are jumping to conclusions too early.

 

[Shark]

In my humble opinion, you are jumping to conclusions too early.

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Those are the type of thoughts and opinions that develop when you've gone near-radio silent for this long.

 

[PlanetSmasher]

In my humble opinion, you are jumping to conclusions too early.

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Entirely possible. But Sony's steadfast refusal to say anything isn't inspiring confidence out of me.

 

[MakgSnake]

The title says it all.
For last 2 year Sony have been really bad with communicating their ideas and plans for the future:
Poor State of Play showings;
Random PS5 articles;
No E3 or other big shows;
Absolutely zero communication about exclusives going to PC;
etc.

Which begs the question what Sony is even doing right now? Do they even have a future road map? Or they completely lost their vision for the gaming business? Is it because of the leadership shake up from not long ago?

What do you people think? How do you think they can make it better?

Click to shrink...

I really hope they can get back on track on being the way they were back in 2013.

My theory is when a system or company wins a Gen - They stop caring about the fans and do whatever they want. And once they fall back, they get back on track.

It sucks.. but it is true to some degree.

They have been very poor at communicating over all when it came to VITA. Poor thing never got what it deserved. I love my VITA. Still play it daily, and use Remote Play A LOT!

 

[AuthenticM]

You'll know once Sony start revealing shit, when the kaz gifs get unleashed

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yo, DemonNite needs to come back for the hype gifs. Legit, the three-week wait for the PS4 reveal back in 2013 was so much fucking fun.

Have the gifs been archived somewhere? I remember people using gifs to compare Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony in regard to various stuff. There were the "staring gifs" with Sony being Tony Montana and Nintendo being that creepy guy from Times Square lol.

I want this again.