None of those examples are AAA though.
But they are AA. And AA JRPGs would be perfectly fine.
I'm sure Sony could fund Zeboyd Games or something to make a JRPG but it feels like AA-to-AAA JRPGs often underperform unless they are from the three big JRPG brands.
I want a JRPG from a japanese dev team/studio.
Some JRPGs perform well, some don't. It's all about the budget. Sony doesn't have a problem to fund games like Gravity Rush, Knack, Concrete Genie, MLB The Show, Dreams, The Last Guardian, Fat Princess Adventures, Guns Up!, Helldivers, Matterfall, Resogun, Entwined, Everybody's Gone to the Rapture, Hustle Kings, Super Stardust Ultra, Bound, Kill Strain, Destiny of Spirits, Tearaway Unfolded, The Tomorrow Children, Alienation, Shadow of the Beast, Escape Plan, Sound Shapes, Hohokum, CounterSpy, Dead Nation: Apocalypse Edition, The Unfinished Swan, Wipeout Omega Collection, Hidden Agenda, Erica, etc.
They should not have a problem to fund AA JRPGs.
The aforementioned Xenoblade 2 and Fire Emblem Three Houses which were put up as great examples sold very low compared to, well anything Sony's major western studios have done this gen. Even middling games like Days Gone.
I'm still talking about AA JRPGs like Xenoblade Chronicles 2. Let it sell 1 million or 2 max. Breakeven -> Everybody is happy.
It just doesn't seem to me like a genre to invest big in. It's not easy to make a new IP a success and JRPGs have such limited appeal. Sure, fund Media.Vision and make a mid-budget Wild Arms but it feels like there isn't really much of a market to chase with a AAA JRPG project.
You think SIE thought there is a huge market for games like Gravity Rush, Knack, Concrete Genie, The Last Guardian, Fat Princess Adventures, Guns Up!, Helldivers, Matterfall, Resogun, Entwined, Everybody's Gone to the Rapture, Hustle Kings, Super Stardust Ultra, Bound, Kill Strain, Destiny of Spirits, Tearaway Unfolded, The Tomorrow Children, Alienation, Shadow of the Beast, Escape Plan, Sound Shapes, Hohokum, CounterSpy, Dead Nation: Apocalypse Edition, The Unfinished Swan, Wipeout Omega Collection, Hidden Agenda, Erica, etc. so they shouldn't make a 1st party (AA) JRPG? Really?
There are more important holes to fill in the first party portfolio. Sony has no major multiplayer games and the competition has built an incredibly popular arcade racing series for example. They also need to decide if they're in VR or if they are going to continue half-assing it.
We got some nice 1st party VR games in the last 3 years. We got some multiplayer games and modes in the last 10 years.
We got ZERO JRPGs in the last 10 years.
Horizon is a new IP and look at how much it sold. All of these were new IPs at some point.
Horizon Zero Dawn is a AAA game which was almost 8 years in development. I'm pretty sure SIE Japan can fund some AA JRPGs, too.
