PS5 first party exclusives coming to ‘other platforms’ confirms Sony president

UK News

PS5 first party exclusives coming to ‘other platforms’ confirms Sony president

admin

February 20, 2024

PS5 first party exclusives coming to ‘other platforms’ confirms Sony president

Horizon Forbidden West screenshot — Horizon Forbidden West – maybe it’d work on Switch 2? (Picture: Sony)

After the last set of financial results for Microsoft and Sony – that included the all-important Christmas gift-giving season – both companies have been panicking about profits and, rather than cut back on the budget of new games both have come up with the same idea: release first party games on each other’s formats.

Although that’s confirmed to be what’s going on, all the discussion has so far been very vague, with Xbox not even revealing the names of the first four games coming to other formats – even though their hints make it very clear what they are.

Sony has been even vaguer, with many suggesting that when president Hiroki Totoki said that, ‘First party can be grown with the multiplatforms and that can help operating profit to improve’ he was actually just talking about the PC. But now it’s been made clear that’s not the case.

In an investor Q&A, Totoki was asked what the keys will be to improving Sony’s operating margin, which have sunk to their lowest level in recent history.

‘When it comes to PlayStation 5, one challenge that sets this console cycle apart from PlayStation 4 and previous generations is that we find it difficult to reduce our costs during the course of the cycle. Unlike high-spec PCs, PlayStation consoles enable us to offer an immersive experience for many people in a safe environment with affordable price,’ he replied.

‘To offer that kind of experience, with costs for components like chips and memory on the rise, one key will be that we continue to sell consoles without substantial discounts [during the course of its product life cycle] by engaging in product planning that ensures affordability for consumers.

‘Another driver will be first party titles. Strong titles that achieve growth on PlayStation 5, PCs, and other platforms will widen our margins. We believe that we have opportunities for margin improvement and intend to pursue them aggressively.’

PlayStation American HQ — PlayStation seems dead set on going multiformat

Totoki has given no indication when any more detailed announcement might be made but he’s likely encouraged by the success of Helldivers 2 on the PC, which has proven more popular than all Sony’s previous PC ports put together and may also convince him that live service games are the way to go.

Speaking of which, he was also asked for an update on Bungie, who are suffering under the threat of not just job cuts but Sony taking over direct control of the developer.

‘I visited the Bungie studios and had meetings with [the] management, and I saw that employees working at the studios were highly motivated, showing great creativity as well as an impressive knowledge of live services,’ said Totoki.

‘However, I also felt that there was room for improvement from a business perspective with regard to areas such as the use of business expenses and assuming accountability for development timelines. I hope to continue the dialogue and come up with some good solutions.’

The future of Bungie, which Sony bought in 2022 for $3.6 billion, is now very much dependent on the success of upcoming Destiny 2 expansion The Final Shape, which has suffered multiple delays and is intended to reverse declining player numbers for the game.