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[Pallas]

They are certainly in better position since they made those purchases, but I feel like Nintendo is better prepared to survive altogether.

 

[FStubbs]

Nope, non of the consoles could.

This is the correct answer.

We saw what Nintendo last looked like with no third party support with the Wii U.

 

[Mr Hyde]

As much as I love Playstation and Sonys first party output, they would be fucking dead and buried without third party support. I for one, wouldn't stick around if major players left the PlayStation in the dust. Which, luckily, will most likely never happen. At least not during my lifetime.

 

[Zannegan]

This is the correct answer.

We saw what Nintendo last looked like with no third party support with the Wii U.

I think that's putting the effect before the cause. Had the Wii U taken off, it would have gotten more third party support, if not on the level of the Switch (though I think a lot of that has to do with how *relatively* easy the Switch is to port to).

 

[Danjin44]

Well for me I almost lost interest in Playstation's first party because they are mostly concentrating on western games, currently most games I play for Playstation is in their 3rd party and if they lose that then I have no reason to own Playstation system.

 

[Heisenberg007]

Sony would lose a significant chunk of market share and likely won't be the #1 console. But it will survive.

The first-party studios are too big, too well-oiled, and too well-known now. When games like Ghost of Tsushima 2, God of War, Gran Turismo, Naughty Dog's next IP drop, many people would still buy the PlayStation console.

Similar to Nintendo. It not only survived but thrived, as a secondary console, primarily on first-party support.

 

[Chiggs]

I feel like they could...they're that strong.

 

[Ghost of Caelid]

Horizon at 20 million
Spiderman at 20 million
God Of war at 20 million
The Last Of Us 1 at 20 plus million.

I think without 3rd party, they'd actually do just fine, clearly not move the same units of hardware, but they have more then enough of a solid base that buys PS for those titles to do very, very well for many generations. With the right purchases, Square and Capcom, they literally could go one with no 3rd party titles and still move a massive amount of units.

If anything, Nintendo has proven such a thing is feasible as the majority of what they move is their own software, Sony is the closest to that type of set up as 3rd party titles to many PS fans are a massive plus, they are simply not hte sole reason for anyone to worry of such a situation would be a doom type thing for Sony. I would have argued that for MS the start of last gen, but even MS RIGHT NOW, could go on with no 3rd party and likely do quite well lol

MS for many generations was the only first party that was even so fucking weak in the first place, now it seems all 3 have a very healthy base instead of it just being Sony and Nintendo, but I digress.

They'd survive but the drop in quality of their games would be felt. less hardware sales, smaller budget for games. Even the games listed are yeeeeears apart, so a huge 20 million selling game every other year isnt going to do it for them...they need third party to fill in the gaps that exist.

 

[BadBurger]

Take away the third parties and I doubt the PlayStation division would earn enough revenue to keep cranking out quality games and tech like they do. They rely a lot on licensing fees and taking a cut of sales. PlayStation might limp along, but in a much less capable state. The division overall would shrink, some studios would probably have to be closed, etc.

 

[Robb]

No, I don’t think so and I don’t think Nintendo or MS could either. Although MS might be able to later considering all the purchases they’ve made recently, but that’s still years away.

 

[Beechos]

It sure can. Their first party games are nintendoesque in their own way.

 

[Kagey K]

Not a fuckibg chance in hell.

Most of thier 10 or 20 million numbers come from deep discounts or bundles.

Nobody is buying a system in 2020 to play 4 games on it.

 

[Plantoid]

Some people are crazy, Sony releases what? Maybe 2-3 first party titles per year, do you think people would buy a console to play only 3 games the whole year, lots of people here play 3 games in a week

Welp, just finished my complete platinum of god of war, let's take a 4 month break before the next game releases... LoL

Nintendo's approach of no-blockbusters is what keeps it alive

 

[Black_Stride]

Xbox, maybe. But I still think a strong case could be made for Sony.

Only first party?

Nope Sony doesnt make it.

Basically all the most popular games in the world are actually third party.
The vast vast majority of gamers actually buy their consoles almost exclusively for third party stuff with "exclusives" being an added bonus.
If Playstation didnt have FIFA/Madden/NBA/Call of Duty/Need for Speed/Fortnite/Apex Legends/Siege etc......the majority of gamers would migrate to where ever all these games were.

Most gamers can rather easily live without having played Sonys first party lineup.......the same cant be said for "yearly" releases and BR gamers.
The water fountain conversation pieces are almost incessantly third party titles.

I know people IRL who dont even know that some games are Playstation exclusive and others are Xbox exclusive, cuz they just assume their buddies with the other platform just doesnt have game X....if you told them you CANT get FIFA/NBA/Madden/COD/Fortnite etc on Playstation or Xbox.....they would never even look at that platform.

 

[DavidGzz]

People talking about these 20 mil sellers like they come out every year. 1 of them a year at best, games take about 5 years to develop these days. How many years between TLoU 1 and 2? Miles Morales was an exception cause it was a copy pasta city.

 

[Y0ssarian]

I don't think so. I mean, for me personally, the most important first party Snoy game is God of War. If they only had first party I'd basically be buying the console for that series, and I'd rethink buying it

 

[remember_spinal]

People talking about these 20 mil sellers like they come out every year. 1 of them a year at best, games take about 5 years to develop these days. How many years between TLoU 1 and 2? Miles Morales was an exception cause it was a copy pasta city.

You forget that naughty dog made 2 games inbetween that?

 

[SeraphJan]

Risky exclusive pushes consoles sales, Console sales push third party release, Third party release = taking cuts without any risk

This is how console manufacturer makes money. If they would solely rely on exclusives, they would better of being a publisher, the console hardware itself barely make them any money.

Third party game to them is like free revenue, and their ultimate goal.

I'm not saying exclusives don't make revenue, I'm saying the risk is very high, and unsustainable in the long run.

 

[Sosokrates]

Really? Where are they?

Edit: This is also a dumb thread.

Theres many, gears, forza, hellblade, Dmc, doom, Wolfenstein, halo, Psychonauts 2, elder scrolls, prey, deathloop, dishonered, the evil within, sea of thieves, the outer worlds and more!

 

[SeraphJan]

Theres many, gears, forza, hellblade, Dmc, doom, Wolfenstein, halo, Psychonauts 2, elder scrolls, prey, deathloop, dishonered, the evil within, sea of thieves, the outer worlds and more!

I like Gears of War 1-3 and 5, Hellblade, Forza 3, Doom Eternal, Halo 3, Psychonauts 2, Skyrim, Dishonored 2, The Evil within 2 etc.

I Also like Last of us 1&2, Ghost of Tsushima, Uncharted 2&4, Horizon Zero Dawn, The 7 God of War games, Ratchet & Clank entire franchise etc.

Competition is always nice, hope both brand flourishes, gamer wins

Although Microsoft went into a bad direction in 8th gen due to Don Mattrick, hope they could even the field in 9th gen.

 

[Majukun]

not evedn nintendo can, let alone sony

 

[NeoIkaruGAF]

I don’t think it’s possible.

Sony’s brand was built on expensive, cutting-edge, larger-than-life experiences. They couldn’t thrive on their minor IPs, nor at this point could they backpedal on the hype and return to making more AA releases. It’s just not what people expect from PlayStation.
Nintendo can get away with it because their games don’t aim for the best tech, and they probably cost a fraction of the greatest Sony blockbuster. I’d wager the VA alone in God of War or The Last of Us costs more than whole Nintendo games. Nintendo can’t keep a continuous stream of games with their unified weak hardware and lower costs, you think Sony‘s first parties could churn out one “Sony-tier” game a month?

Also, the real potential of some of Sony’s IPs is grossly overestimated. Ratchet sells a fraction of any Mario game from the same generation, in spite of all its bells and whistles. And a game like Animal Crossing on PlayStation wouldn’t sell twenty million in three generations, while Nintendo can sell that much in a year and at full price (yeah, yeah, the pandemic. Twenty fucking millions. One year. FULL PRICE). No way Sony could (or would dare) sell such a game at AAA price, and even so, it’d never sell that much even if PS users were starved for games.

Finally, core gamers are spectacularly bad at understanding the average gamer’s habits.
Most people don’t finish games. Most people don’t buy games for the challenge, but for escapism. Games have shifted more and more towards movies because the average player wants to experience a game like they would a movie. Most people don’t care to complete Assassin’s Creed or The Elder Scrolls, or even to get to the end of the story. They’re perfectly content with wasting some time in a nice fantasy world for a while, before going on to the next big thing. The success of Let’s Plays and YT “influencers” is proof enough that people are content with watching other people play the quirkiest, most challenging games, without having to deal with the challenge and the frustration. Those who want a challenge, find it in multiplayer games, not in playing TLOU on Crushing. And this is crucial in understanding why the biggest third parties are absolutely essential to PlayStation’s success, and why no matter how much money Sony is willing to spend, Ubi’s, Rockstar’s and EA’s games are more important to PlayStation hardware than Sony’s own IPs in the end.

 

[Lunarorbit]

Of course they could survive. Ps isn't Sega of America. There's over 20 1st party studios and they've been diversifying their portfolio too with purchased like nixes to get into the pc space.

Just cause they aren't the biggest publisher in the industry doesn't mean they can't develop and release games. COD, FIFA, etc would still continue; they don't replace games that sony puts out.

 

[Beechos]

I disagree sony can def stay in the game with 1st party output. Their brand image and loyalty are there, they have the games. Theres enough gamers out there to support them. As long as they get at least nintendoesque 3rd party support theyll be fine. In addition to that with their recent gaas approach ppl will be olaying their games longre and theyll reap the mtx money all for themselves. If nintendo can do it sony can also theyll just be like the adult version of nintendo for ppl. Now im not saying theyll be king of the hill like they are now but they can survive.

 

[Mahavastu]

People talking about these 20 mil sellers like they come out every year. 1 of them a year at best, games take about 5 years to develop these days. How many years between TLoU 1 and 2? Miles Morales was an exception cause it was a copy pasta city.

Its more then one per year, but not enough to keep the platform alive without 3rd party.
in 2018 we had spiderman and God of war, in 2020 we had Miles Moralez, Ghost of Tsushima and Last of us 2, this year we have Horizon, God of War and GT7...

It is "just not enough" on its own. I consider myself as a kind of Playstation fan boy, but even I would not be satisfied with only that.

But then, why should all the major 3rd party studios leave Playstation? It makes no sense.

 

[SeraphJan]

I don’t think it’s possible.

Sony’s brand was built on expensive, cutting-edge, larger-than-life experiences. They couldn’t thrive on their minor IPs, nor at this point could they backpedal on the hype and return to making more AA releases. It’s just not what people expect from PlayStation.
Nintendo can get away with it because their games don’t aim for the best tech, and they probably cost a fraction of the greatest Sony blockbuster. I’d wager the VA alone in God of War or The Last of Us costs more than whole Nintendo games. Nintendo can’t keep a continuous stream of games with their unified weak hardware and lower costs, you think Sony‘s first parties could churn out one “Sony-tier” game a month?

Also, the real potential of some of Sony’s IPs is grossly overestimated. Ratchet sells a fraction of any Mario game from the same generation, in spite of all its bells and whistles. And a game like Animal Crossing on PlayStation wouldn’t sell twenty million in three generations, while Nintendo can sell that much in a year and at full price (yeah, yeah, the pandemic. Twenty fucking millions. One year. FULL PRICE). No way Sony could (or would dare) sell such a game at AAA price, and even so, it’d never sell that much even if PS users were starved for games.

Finally, core gamers are spectacularly bad at understanding the average gamer’s habits.
Most people don’t finish games. Most people don’t buy games for the challenge, but for escapism. Games have shifted more and more towards movies because the average player wants to experience a game like they would a movie. Most people don’t care to complete Assassin’s Creed or The Elder Scrolls, or even to get to the end of the story. They’re perfectly content with wasting some time in a nice fantasy world for a while, before going on to the next big thing. The success of Let’s Plays and YT “influencers” is proof enough that people are content with watching other people play the quirkiest, most challenging games, without having to deal with the challenge and the frustration. Those who want a challenge, find it in multiplayer games, not in playing TLOU on Crushing. And this is crucial in understanding why the biggest third parties are absolutely essential to PlayStation’s success, and why no matter how much money Sony is willing to spend, Ubi’s, Rockstar’s and EA’s games are more important to PlayStation hardware than Sony’s own IPs in the end.

Exactly this. And don't forget, Sony gets 30% cut from every third party game sold on its platform, with absolutely no risk and no effort. To them first party games are more like investment for them to promote their hardware/ecosystem, its the third party where they reap the their harvests.

 

[Belthazar]

None of them could. Proof: the Wii U.

 

[DavidGzz]

Its more then one per year, but not enough to keep the platform alive without 3rd party.
in 2018 we had spiderman and God of war, in 2020 we had Miles Moralez, Ghost of Tsushima and Last of us 2, this year we have Horizon, God of War and GT7...

It is "just not enough" on its own. I consider myself as a kind of Playstation fan boy, but even I would not be satisfied with only that.

But then, why should all the major 3rd party studios leave Playstation? It makes no sense.

You're right. That said, I did buy a PS5 solely for it's exclusives. But Sony also isn't making much from me over a generation compared to MS and Steam. If PS5 owner did what I do, PS would probably cease to exist.

No chance 3rd parties are dropping Sony. Maybe OP meant in a nightmare scenario for Sony if Google, MS, and Apple bought them all out and made their games exclusive to their respective consoles. Just a what if, I guess

 

[Jubenhimer]

Nintendo can’t keep a continuous stream of games with their unified weak hardware and lower costs, you think Sony‘s first parties could churn out one “Sony-tier” game a month?

To be fair, Nintendo releases a game nearly every month. Not all of it is a big experience, or in some cases... Good. But they're able to provide a steady stream of games for those interested in "Nintendo stuff". I do agree that Sony might struggle in this area though, but I don't think it would be impossible necessarily.

 

[EverydayBeast]

PlayStation without 3rd party support would still win generations they know their exclusives are AAA.

 

[BennyBlanco]

Only Nintendo can do this

 

[The_Mike]

According to Gaf, which hates fifa, call of duty and only enjoy exclusives, yes.


According to the real world, where the best selling games are games like fifa and call of duty, no.

 

[thicc_girls_are_teh_best]

Nope. At least, not without acquiring more publishers and finding an excuse to move PlayStation to an even more boutique brand where the hardware can be priced higher (higher profit margins from Day 1).

At the end of the day it'd come down to net profit; Apple actually has a smaller share in the smartphone market than most people think, but their profit margins are crazy high off of what they sell. Nintendo has smaller annual revenues than PlayStation and soon even Xbox (once the ABK acquisition is approved), but they have higher profit margins than both.

Losing 3P revenue in bulk would have to be made up in some way proportioned to that lost in revenue; the division would have to find ways to generate enough profit equivalent to what they were making with the higher 3P revenue factored in. But realistically, this isn't something I think PlayStation needs to worry about for a good several years, at the very earliest.

Sony would lose a significant chunk of market share and likely won't be the #1 console. But it will survive.

The first-party studios are too big, too well-oiled, and too well-known now. When games like Ghost of Tsushima 2, God of War, Gran Turismo, Naughty Dog's next IP drop, many people would still buy the PlayStation console.

Similar to Nintendo. It not only survived but thrived, as a secondary console, primarily on first-party support.

I don't think Nintendo comparisons are warranted; Sony does have a lot of nostalgia on their side these days for sure, much more than Microsoft. But it still pales in a lot of ways compared to the nostalgia Nintendo commands. Some of that might be undeserved IMHO, but it is what it is.

Also, the budgets for Nintendo's games on average aren't as costly as those for Sony's AAA titles. Sony does mitigate those costs somewhat with shared tech, engines (particularly engines staying in-house, i.e Decima), and sharing resources not only among teams via ICE, but also probably being able to source talent and resources from other divisions of the company if need be. But the average cost of their AAA games is still notably higher than Nintendo's just due to the nature of their respective studios and vision WRT AAA games.

Sony would also need to find more ways to merchandise their games via toys, clothing, animations, films, shows, licensing deals (including getting characters into other games), etc. They're actually doing some of that now, but they would have to increase the volume and pace of it a lot more to counterbalance any losses in 3P revenue.

 

[The Alien]

I think they all need 3rd party support and games to thrive. There is too much cost involved in game making and console support to just survive....you need to thrive.

I dont think Sony could. As great as their 1st party is, they don't release enough games or the type of games that sustain longer term engagement.

I think current day XBox could to varying degrees of success. They now have a crazy amount of studios with established and broad popularity (COD, Elder Scrolls, Doom, etc.). They can release enough games in a calendar year to provide fresh content. They also have a mp focus which sustains engagement longer than repeated playing of single player (Halo, COD, etc.). Lastly, they have established GamePass across multiple platforms beyond console (PC, mobile, with more likely to come).

I dont think it'd be realistically feasible for any of the big 3, but believe Microsoft is best postioned than Sony.

Nintendo on the other hand pretty much solely relies on 1st party for their success.