Sony as a Publisher is on a roll and this is probably their best year. What changed?

Toriko · Oct 1, 2018

This year might just be one of Sony's best years as a publisher both commercially and critically. Last gen they ended up getting a lot of well reviewed and critically acclaimed titles but never commercial success. This gen they have been doing phenomenally well. This year in particular has been fantastic

1. Shadow of the Colossus - Metascore 91

Probably the best selling Fumito Ueda title opening 70% higher than the PS2 original atleast in the UK

2. MLB the show 18 - Metascore 82

Still killing it as the best Baseball game on the market and set a franchise record for first month sales

3. Detroit Become Human - Metascore of 78

and going to probably be the best selling quantic dream game worldwide by all accounts

4. God of War - Metascore of 94

Lighting the sales charts and reinventing the franchise

5. Marvel Spiderman - Metascore of 87

Best selling Sony first party game and finally giving us a great Spiderman game after years

6. Astro Bot - Metascore 90

Critics calling it one of the best and most inventive 3D platformers made ( makes me giddy with excitement about future Sony Japan Studio titles )

There are other big VR games like Persistence and Firewall Zero Hour that have got really good reviews. The biggest question mark regarding the VR games is their commercial success but I am sure they are also doing okay relative to the budget.

What changed? Is it just the stars aligning? Is it management related? Is it just giving studios more time? Is it marketing? Or is it a little bit of everything? I certainly think it is a little bit of everything but interested to hear ERA's thoughts.

kennyamr · Oct 1, 2018

Toriko said:
Is it management related? Is it just giving studios more time? Is it marketing? Or is it a little bit of everything? I certainly think it is a little bit of everything

Exactly.
They, as a business, have found what they are good at, and now they are focusing and investing on that specific strength.

Ant_17 · Oct 1, 2018

Luck i guess.
They did had misses in the start of the gen. Order, Driveclub, Vita 1st party games in general.

Phil32 · Oct 1, 2018

I believe it comes from years of fine-tuning its studios and building them up over the years. I think we'll see this with Microsoft's studios as well in the future.

Kyoufu · Oct 1, 2018

Toriko said:
What changed?

They made an affordable console for the mainstream.

Faenix1 · Oct 1, 2018

Ant_17 said:
Luck i guess.
They did had misses in the start of the gen. Order, Driveclub, Vita 1st party games in general.

Order would of been a good foundation to build upon and improve though. The world is just begging for a sequel. :/

Khanimus · Oct 1, 2018

Games actually came out.

Ant_17 · Oct 1, 2018

Faenix1 said:
Order would of been a good foundation to build upon and improve. The world is just begging for a sequel. :/

It does, but alas, not happening.
The again, Knack 2 happened...

gundamkyoukai · Oct 1, 2018

Nothing change .
All that happen was there first party showed up after being late for the first few years .
Also people seem to like the software more this gen from them .

geomon · Oct 1, 2018

Trial and a lot of error. Years and years of stumbles and not just learning form their own mistakes, but from their competitors too.

everyer · Oct 1, 2018

Ant_17 said:
Luck i guess.
They did had misses in the start of the gen. Order, Driveclub, Vita 1st party games in general.

The order is a good game, the only weakness is the length. The design, the graphic are amazing level.
Drive club is a pity but the graphic in rain and snow are amazing too.
And I still prefer to bring my vita outside than switch.

Vroadstar · Oct 1, 2018

I think it's a little bit of everything too, they are just on the roll lately and we still have several exclusives in the pipeline til PS5 hits.

Hopefully all this success and sales will lead to strong launch for PS5 when it drops.

LifeLine · Oct 1, 2018

Most of their games have been successful this gen compared to last gen. This means higher funding, more staffing, more confidence, and better marketing. All of this in turn leads to even more highly rated and successful first party games.

Ant_17 · Oct 1, 2018

everyer said:
The order is a good game, the only weakness is the length. The design, the graphic are amazing level.
Drive club is a pity but the graphic in rain and snow are amazing too.
And I still prefer to bring my vita outside than switch.

Yeah, but the general public doesn't like them.
And i have my Vita right now, but i only have Freedom Wars from Sony.

xxracerxx · Oct 1, 2018

Ant_17 said:
Luck i guess.

Nah, they kept going even after faltering. That isn't luck.

v_iHuGi · Oct 1, 2018

Nothing changed, Sony has been the best publisher since Ps3 days, software quality speaks volumes.

Many people still think Ps3 library is superior to Ps4.

Zukkoyaki · Oct 1, 2018

The games they've spent years and years working on finally came out.

Deleted member 19533 · Oct 1, 2018

Ant_17 said:
Luck i guess.
They did had misses in the start of the gen. Order, Driveclub, Vita 1st party games in general.

What Vita first party games?

Ant_17 said:
Yeah, but the general public doesn't like them.
And i have my Vita right now, but i only have Freedom Wars from Sony.

I think most people just aren't aware of what the Vita offers. I have 44 physical games for it myself. I actually just imported a second Vita just to have one since I know they're no longer going to be making them.

It's really a great system that just wasn't given a fair shake.

Omeganex9999 · Oct 1, 2018

Toriko said:
What changed? Is it just the stars aligning? Is it management related? Is it just giving studios more time? Is it marketing? Or is it a little bit of everything? I certainly think it is a little bit of everything but interested to hear ERA's thoughts.

Sony basically understood what people expect from PlayStation and started investing in their own studios heavily. Up to PS2, they didn't need to make an effort since all games wanted to be there, but when Microsoft disrupted the market with the 360 Sony had to invest on what made PSX and PS2 amazing machines: games.

They started investing heavily during the PS3 era. In PS4 we are seeing the return of that investment.

On top of that, Sony is famous in the industry for being really generous with both funds and time. Big publishers like EA and Ubisoft can't afford/don't want to have 5-year cycles for their games, but Sony and a few others can and it shows.

darkside · Oct 1, 2018

I think a lot of it has to do with them staying the course as a publisher of big budget player single player stuff when other pubs decided to chase big multiplayer games as a service. Its paid off for them.

Aters · Oct 1, 2018

I don't care about any games they released this year, but they do seem to be on a roll lately. All of their games are well liked and sold well.

Luka · Oct 1, 2018

Ant_17 said:
Luck i guess.
They did had misses in the start of the gen. Order, Driveclub, Vita 1st party games in general.

The way I see it, The Order and Driveclub along with Killzone Shadow Fall were more like tech demos. They were released early on in the PS4's lifespan to show off what the console could do visually, as well as jump start its library.

Captain of Outer Space · Oct 1, 2018

Moss is an indie VR game, not Sony. It's on the other platforms now.

Sony just had their best ducks line up well for this year. Sometimes there are stinkers, but this year has been great from start to finish.

Derrick01 · Oct 1, 2018

It's not strictly about giving their studios time and resources. MS gave sea of thieves and state of decay 2 around 4-5 years as well, and there's been no hints that they were restricted on money, and both of those turned out pretty bad at launch.

Jstevenson said in the MS thread a while back that people don't understand how good the pipeline is for single player games at Sony. That and the communication between their studios probably plays the biggest role. Time and money is important but you also need talent and the aforementioned support from others and the publisher too.

edit: Another factor is they basically sacrificed the first year and a half to two years of the PS4's life to make sure their studios were ready to release something one after the next.

Fisty · Oct 1, 2018

v_iHuGi said:
Nothing changed, Sony has been the best publisher since Ps3 days, software quality speaks volumes.

Many people still think Ps3 library is superior to Ps4.

I would agree with them before 2018, but this year has easily been their best ever.

2017+2018 pushes PS4 past the PS3, and that's not taking Bloodborne into account

Memento · Oct 1, 2018

They have build an incredible foundation for their first party titles by the end of last gen, and then as PS4 became the market leader and a huge sucess, eventually their first party critical sucess also translated to commercial sucess.

They will end up this gen with 5 (FIVE!) 10+ million LTD games. They had just 1 last gen.

Pretty incredible.

Mercenary09 · Oct 1, 2018

You forgot Firewall Zero Hour and The Persistence on PSVR as well. It's been an amazing year for Sony but really it's been like that going back to 2015 with Bloodborne. Since that game released it's pretty much been hit after hit from Sony.

Nightengale · Oct 1, 2018

Moss doesn't count, that's not first party.

Philly Cheesesteak · Oct 1, 2018

Phil32 said:
I believe it comes from years of fine-tuning its studios and building them up over the years. I think we'll see this with Microsoft's studios as well in the future.

You won't see this from MS for a long time. People forget that Sony's success has been in the making since PS3 released. All of these studios had to build and refine to get to where they are now. It's not something you can just purchase and flip a game in a year or so.

FelipeMGM · Oct 1, 2018

It definitely didn't happen overnight, this is the result of many many years building themselves as a top publisher (while gathering both successes and mistakes in the way). They've recruited a bunch of top-notch talent, bought or invested in super talented studios, built their development support groups (VASG, Special Ops, ICE Team, SN Systems, PlayStation Music Studio) to help developers during production and stepped their marketing game a whole lot.

EdReedFan20 · Oct 1, 2018

Nightengale said:
Moss doesn't count, that's not first party.

Yup. It's on the other VR headsets as well.

Sonicfan059 · Oct 1, 2018

Captain of Outer Space said:
Moss is an indie VR game, not Sony. It's on the other platforms now.

Sony just had their best ducks line up well for this year. Sometimes there are stinkers, but this year has been great from start to finish.

Didn't they partially fund it though and publish it?

xxracerxx · Oct 1, 2018

Phil32 said:
I believe it comes from years of fine-tuning its studios and building them up over the years. I think we'll see this with Microsoft's studios as well in the future.

They are heading in the right direction, but we probably won't see these fruits of their labor until next gen.

Toriko · Oct 1, 2018

Nightengale said:
Moss doesn't count, that's not first party.

I was talking as a publisher. Didnt Sony publish the PS4 version first and then the developers self published on other platforms? At least thats what I thought.

Edit : Guess not.. Removed.

Captain of Outer Space · Oct 1, 2018

Sonicfan059 said:
Didn't they partially fund it though and publish it?

No, it's listed as self-published on PSN. They probably helped with marketing and such, but nothing to make Sony the publisher.

https://store.playstation.com/en-us/product/UP1983-CUSA09290_00-MOSSGAME00000000

Deleted member 17676 · Oct 1, 2018

They didn't chase the multiplayer or lootbox fix. Focused on single player and let third party do that.

FelipeMGM · Oct 1, 2018

Sonicfan059 said:
Didn't they partially fund it though and publish it?

Maybe it got money from the pub-fund program, but it was self-published by Polyarc

Deleted member 17403 · Oct 1, 2018

Sony has always been a great publisher

Rosebud · Oct 1, 2018

And they just build a new studio in San Diego, and are expanding Santa Monica. Keep it going.

Viceratops · Oct 1, 2018

I guess Killzone Shadow Fall, Driveclub, or Infamous Second Son don't count for the first year and a half of the PS4 life cycle. If those aren't good games and don't count then don't call anything under 71 on metacritic a good game.

LiquidSolid · Oct 1, 2018

Ant_17 said:
Luck i guess.
They did had misses in the start of the gen. Order, Driveclub, Vita 1st party games in general.

Nah, Driveclub had some really bad launch issues but it was still a great game and most of Sony's first party Vita games were pretty great (Killzone, LBP, Tearaway, Soul Sacrifice, etc). And what exactly do you mean by luck?

FelipeMGM said:
It definitely didn't happen overnight, this is the result of many many years building themselves as a top publisher (while gathering both successes and mistakes in the way). They've recruited a bunch of top-notch talent, bought or invested in super talented studios, built their development support groups (VASG, Special Ops, ICE Team, SN Systems, PlayStation Music Studio) to help developers during production and stepped their marketing game a whole lot.

This. Also, they've got the most popular system on the market and have done a great job positioning themselves as a high quality publisher in a lot of people's minds. The only difference is a lot of them have happened to come out in one year, whereas they "only" had a couple standout first party games in previous years. Same thing happened with Nintendo last year.

Wollan · Oct 1, 2018

Firewall is another PSVR game Sony published.
Déraciné is incoming (co-development between FROM Software and Sony Japan).

Looking at MC scores I believe Detroit got slightly robbed. It's above similar games in its genre right now. Just a really polished product with fantastic production values.

Phil32 · Oct 1, 2018

Philly Cheesesteak said:
You won't see this from MS for a long time. People forget that Sony's success has been in the making since PS3 released. All of these studios had to build and refine to get to where they are now. It's not something you can just purchase and flip a game in a year or so.

xxracerxx said:
They are heading in the right direction, but we probably won't see these fruits of their labor until next gen.

That's my fault for leaving a word out haha-- I think we'll see this with Microsoft's studios as well in the distant future, because you're right--it started with the PS3 for Sony, and it doesn't happen overnight.

Kaako · Oct 1, 2018

They've been on fire this generation and all them years of cultivating that creative DNA/talent, and learning from past mistakes is slowly paying off. It is wonderful to see.

TheRulingRing · Oct 1, 2018

Simply Sami said:
They didn't chase the multiplayer or lootbox fix. Focused on single player and let third party do that.

I wish they'd chase the multiplayer fix. It's a massive hole in their line-up and makes me less interested for their games.

Easy_D · Oct 1, 2018

Games take long to make and they happened to release a bunch of 'em in succession. Not like they've ever had a problem with the quality of their output and I say this as someone who's never owned a Sony console

Dragonyeuw · Oct 1, 2018

I think the term for this would be 'firing on all cylinders'. It's safe to say after 25 years they've mastered their developmental craft, figured out their core strengths and understand the market( both theirs and in general). I'd add that this is the first time in some time they aren't battling on multiple fronts( using the Ps3 as a trojan horse in the HD format wars, allocating resources to an uphill battle against Nintendo in the handheld space).

Crayon · Oct 1, 2018

Maybe because they tried hard for a long time and didn't give up.

v_iHuGi · Oct 1, 2018

Rosebud said:
And they just build a new studio in San Diego, and are expanding Santa Monica. Keep it going.

They're expanding all studios, Guerrilla is growing to 400 people.

Chaos2Frozen · Oct 1, 2018

Wait, Detroit dropped to under 80? I thought it was like 80+ on the low end :v

Sony as a Publisher is on a roll and this is probably their best year. What changed?

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