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[SlimySnake]

Sony fans, you should be seriously upset about this news, I cant even imagine excusing or defending this. Think about BluePoint... they had so much momentum. They made their mark with the Uncharted Collection and the Shadow of the Colossus remake, and then they really proved their talent with Demon's Souls. Now, all of that momentum seems wasted on years of struggling with a fucking God of War GaaS project. Who knows how much employee turnover they've had during this time, and for those who stayed, imagine the hit to morale. This could damage the studio for years, maybe even permanently. It's heartbreaking to see so much potential go to waste.

Real Sony/playstation fans ARE upset about this. The only ones who are defending it are fanboys, not fans. We had a guy here who literally admitted to being a Sony Brand Fanboy when I told him that i like Sony for the games they make, not the company itself. Those are the kind of brand loyalists you are seeing here. Cultists. Real Sony fans love Bend for Days Gone, Uncharted Golden Abyss and Syphon Filter. Fanboys dont care about them because they didnt win gotys or help them win sales wars.

 

[DonkeyPunchJr]

https://www.reddit.com/r/GamingLeaksAndRumours/s/Po0dvieP4b

 

[mdkirby]

Ffs, bend too, we could have had a days gone 2 by now, but now they have fuck all to show after 6 years.

 

[FoxMcChief]

I think the thing that Sony has failed to realize is that the big GaaS titles are on just about every platform.

Helldivers 2 is a great game. Have they talked about how well it's battle passes or in game currency are selling?

 

[Markio128]

What an absolute clusterfuck. I'm not too upset about Bend (not a fan of Days Gone), but I was really looking forward to what Bluepoint were cooking. In general, this has knocked the stuffing out of any anticipation I had for 1st-party games over the next year or two. There's really only ND and SSM with potential single player games on the horizon, which is sad really.

Thank fuck MS are moving toward publishing their games on PS5. And thank fuck for GTA6.

 

[Felessan]

God of War, Concord, etc. It wouldn't surprise me if they have sunk almost a billion dollars into this mess and Sony will be scrambling to find ways to make that money back.

They will be fine, their 3rd party gaas business is thriving. Genshin alone brought them a billion.
It's called gachastation for a reason and it brings a lot of players and their money to the platform

Two more nails in the GaaS-coffin, good. What worries me more is that Sony actually thought this was a good idea at some point. I guess the chase for the really big bucks can make you totally blind to the obvious.

They earn half of revenue from gaas, so it's good point to have their own.

 

[adamsapple]

https://www.reddit.com/r/GamingLeaksAndRumours/s/Po0dvieP4b

Just not in the way they intended.

 

[FoxMcChief]

While the money wasted does suck. I think it's the wasted time that's the true killer. Now these teams need to start from scratch. And the way these stupid teams are developing games these days, we might not see their games until mid PS6 generation, and they'll most likely be available on the PS5 as well, meaning they won't be great examples of what the PS6 can do.

This really is a huge blow that will set them back a lot (time).

 

[MDSLKTR]

Media Molecule must have squatting rights going on for them at this point.

 

[Astray]

I didn't know this, but DA was always a single player RPG franchise before so it's more like a single player game that had second thoughts of going GaaS? I'm struggling to see the connection though. Did Bluepoint and Bend try to go GaaS on their/known IP then pitch it going singleplayer again or something like that?

You can see it in the design of Veilguard.

I'm mainly responding here to what I presumed is your suggestion that they could retool the work done on the GOW GAAS into a singleplayer game.

With all of these cancelled live-service games is Sony going to be able to release a first-party exclusive other than Intergalactic in the next five years?

Ghost of Yotei says hi.

 

[dottme]

https://www.reddit.com/r/GamingLeaksAndRumours/s/Po0dvieP4b

If they were using the same kind of argument to defend their GaaS project promising million, Concord might have triggered the Exec team and stop the shit.

 

[Three]

You can see it in the design of Veilguard.

I'm mainly responding here to what I presumed is your suggestion that they could retool the work done on the GOW GAAS into a singleplayer game.

Oh, that's not what I was suggesting. I was saying it's not hard to imagine GoW as some type of multiplayer game because we had GoW Ascension trying to do that already.

 

[diffusionx]

https://www.reddit.com/r/GamingLeaksAndRumours/s/Po0dvieP4b

Obviously, the "Concord cost Sony $12 and took 3 people a few weeks to make so it bombing out wasnt a big deal" posters were wrong. Hulst is lucky he still has a job. Ironically he probably survived because the Concord failure was so total that everyone had some part of it.

 

[GymWolf]

Still waiting to see what companies out there have better output than Sony.

There's a disconnect out there somehow and I don't necessarily blame the commentators entirely. I think at least part of it is Sony's fault with bad PR and communication, but the reality is Sony is outputting more/better games than pretty much anyone in the industry.

CDPR came out with Cyberpunk in 2020 and 4 years later they have no new games outside of a DLC. I don't see anyone complaining about their output.

Naughty Dog also put out The Last of Us in 2020 and released a remaster bundle of two games, a remake, and another remaster. They get a ton of flack for their lack of production.

Cdpr doesn't own you nothing, they are not selling you a ps5 nor they give a fuck if you buy one, sony on the other hand...
Cdpr is an high caliber third party like rockstar, people know that their projects are few and far between, they should not provide a constant stream of games like sony should do with multiple studios working on multiple projects.

And nd hasn't made anything new since tlou2, nobody gives a fuck about that cheap ass remake and the super low effort tlou2 remaster, they were making the most interesting\hyped gaas project in factions 2 and they cancelled the project, and whow knows if intergalactic is a 2026 or a 2027 game.
So yeah people after 4-5 years wanted to see more than a controversial, mediocre trailer with barely any gameplay.

 

[Angry_Megalodon]

It's insanity that they start looking into their ongoing projects only after a massive bomb. The lack of professionalism is what shocks me the most. In every normal company, teams and individuals have annual performance appraisals and quarterly objectives reviews. Literally, there's no management or direction at PS Studios.

 

[DonkeyPunchJr]

Obviously, the "Concord cost Sony $12 and took 3 people a few weeks to make so it bombing out wasnt a big deal" posters were wrong. Hulst is lucky he still has a job. Ironically he probably survived because the Concord failure was so total that everyone had some part of it.

LOL yeah I remember at least one prominent poster here kept saying "this is all part of the plan, Sony knows that not all their live service games will be hits".

Guess spending 5 years and $400M on a game that got canceled + refunded in less than 2 weeks wasn't what Sony had in mind.

 

[K' Dash]

https://www.reddit.com/r/GamingLeaksAndRumours/s/Po0dvieP4b

Brace for impact guys, Sony rising prices in 3, 2, 1....

 

[Felessan]

It's insanity that they start looking into their ongoing projects only after a massive bomb. The lack of professionalism is what shocks me the most. In every normal company, teams and individuals have annual performance appraisals and quarterly objectives reviews. Literally, there's no management or direction at PS Studios.

No
Most projects don't have deep scrutinity check past initial budget committee approval, they only checked against kpi and delivery (they already "approved" and "accepted")
And these one's got "re-evaluation" which is rare and most time result of concord-style fuck-up

 

[Mibu no ookami]

Cdpr doesn't own you nothing, they are not selling you a ps5 nor they give a fuck if you buy one, sony on the other hand...
Cdpr is an high caliber third party like rockstar, people know that their projects are few and far between, they should not provide a constant stream of games like sony should do with multiple studios working on multiple projects.

And nd hasn't made anything new since tlou2, nobody gives a fuck about that cheap ass remake and the super low effort tlou2 remaster, they were making the most interesting\hyped gaas project in factions 2 and they cancelled the project, and whow knows if intergalactic is a 2026 or a 2027 game.
So yeah people after 4-5 years wanted to see more than a controversial, mediocre trailer with barely any gameplay.

I think you meant to say "owe" me something. Sony doesn't "owe" you anything either. No company does, outside of what has been promised via a contract.

CDPR is no different than Naughty Dog. Naughty Dog is a single development studio, but somehow people pretend like they can produce games faster than similarly situated studios. If you want to talk about Sony collectively, they have produced much more than CDPR, which would be expected given the number of studios they have. They've provided a constant stream of games.

Name another company with more highly regarded AAA games than Sony. They don't exist. Not Microsoft even with Activision, not EA, not T2, not Ubisoft.

Microsoft once promised 4 AAA hits a year. That's a pipe dream for any company, it's pretty much impossible in this era.

A lot of people didn't even want them working on Factions and 5+ years is pretty standard in AAA gaming today for any studio. Tell me I'm lying.

Did Witcher 4 have any gameplay at all?

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

Cdpr doesn't own you nothing, they are not selling you a ps5 nor they give a fuck if you buy one, sony on the other hand...
Cdpr is an high caliber third party like rockstar, people know that their projects are few and far between, they should not provide a constant stream of games like sony should do with multiple studios working on multiple projects.

And nd hasn't made anything new since tlou2, nobody gives a fuck about that cheap ass remake and the super low effort tlou2 remaster, they were making the most interesting\hyped gaas project in factions 2 and they cancelled the project, and whow knows if intergalactic is a 2026 or a 2027 game.
So yeah people after 4-5 years wanted to see more than a controversial, mediocre trailer with barely any gameplay.

Using this argument, Sony doesn't owe you anything either, there's plenty of third party games on ps5 like gta6 coming up

 

[Honey Bunny]

IVE BEEN THROUGH THE DESERT ON A PS5 WITH NO GAMES

 

[StreetsofBeige]

https://www.reddit.com/r/GamingLeaksAndRumours/s/Po0dvieP4b

Think of it like when a bank goes bankrupt because a rogue trader lost billions on derivative bets. It's not like only he goes overboard. If it's bad enough, the entire ship goes down.

Its just that Concord didnt turn Sony into a Barings Bank situation. But looks like it did create enough waves to wash some people over the railings.

 

[Hypereides]

GOWR, HFW, and Spiderman 2 are all disappointments compared to their predecessors. Ratchet sucked. This game lineup is not very good compared to what they did in prior generations. I don't care about the sales numbers.

This mindset some of these zealots have will forever elude me. If you're an actual gamer, why the fuck are you more preoccupied worrying about their financial records rather than their actual release schedule?

What's more is these financial reports are always subject to change. I'm willing to bet if Sony keeps mucking up their first party strategy it will eventually have an impact and reflect in their finances. Then, this argument about their "great financial reports and stability" will fly right out of the window.

If any of you zealots actually care about Sony, you best start making some noise and express your dissatisfaction instead of smothering them in undeserved praise.

sony fans (not fanboys) have been upset over the entire GaaS initiative.

The damage is already done. Let's see how Hermen tries to fix thi shit:

a) He will continue down the rabbit hole of insanity.
b) He can come to his senses.

Some of these people act like borderline astroturfers at times. Its frustrating being associated with these types in the same camp.

 

[Mibu no ookami]

Helldivers was a fluke, everyone at sony, even Hermen was caught by surprise of its success and yes, we are very lucky Hulst didn't close Team ASOBI and they got one through. HH is responsible for greenlighting all these games since 2019. Hulst is just now course correcting all the major fkups he made over the last 5-6 years. Japan is going to put his ass on the chopping block in next year, you can book it.

It was a fluke that they doubled the development time/budget on the game?

I think people need to learn what a fluke is.

Did they expect Helldivers 2 to be as successful as it was? No. Does that mean it's success was a fluke? No.

Was it lucky that Hulst didn't close Asobi? Define why it was lucky. Sony spent over a decade trying to reform Japan Studios. They sent Nicolas Doucet to manage Japan Studio after Gavin Moore tried to save it. Doucet would have been a part of the conversations as to what elements of Japan Studio to keep and which elements to shutter. They didn't just roll the dice. They cut away what wasn't working and focused on what was working.

If your definition of fluke/luck is that someone you've decided you don't like can only have success through means other than competency... sure... I guess...

I agree that there is a level of mismanagement here that is puzzling, but for some reason people see things like this and they decide to run with it to extreme lengths particularly without knowing any details whatsoever.

 

[DeepEnigma]

https://www.reddit.com/r/GamingLeaksAndRumours/s/Po0dvieP4b

 

[GymWolf]

I think you meant to say "owe" me something. Sony doesn't "owe" you anything either. No company does, outside of what has been promised via a contract.

CDPR is no different than Naughty Dog. Naughty Dog is a single development studio, but somehow people pretend like they can produce games faster than similarly situated studios. If you want to talk about Sony collectively, they have produced much more than CDPR, which would be expected given the number of studios they have. They've provided a constant stream of games.

Name another company with more highly regarded AAA games than Sony. They don't exist. Not Microsoft even with Activision, not EA, not T2, not Ubisoft.

Microsoft once promised 4 AAA hits a year. That's a pipe dream for any company, it's pretty much impossible in this era.

A lot of people didn't even want them working on Factions and 5+ years is pretty standard in AAA gaming today for any studio. Tell me I'm lying.

Did Witcher 4 have any gameplay at all?

Nah dude, sony definitely owe you something since they sold you the console and everyone expect a constant stream of first parties from the company that sells you the console, of course they are not legally forced but you don't get to play naive here, you absolutely know what i'm talking about.

Comparing the output you expect from sony with the output you expect from a third party that is famous for making one big project at a time with long development time is ridicolous, sony is MUCH bigger than cdproject or any other third party developers except maybe ubisoft, the expectations are different between the 2.

The fact that other companies are not much better is not the great defence you think it is, me and many people in here shat equally on sony, M and nintendo when they deserve it.

Oh and just for the record, ND games are vastly smaller than cdpr projects, people are willing to wait more time for a gigantic, immersive open world more than they are ok with waiting for a 15 to 20 hours game.

I sincerely doubt that intergalactic is gonna be even remotely comparable to witcher 4 map size or amount of content if past projects are anything to go by.

I understand where you come from dude, but People are mad because so many sony studios have been mismanaged this gen, you can't deny that.

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

This mindset some of these zealots have will forever elude me. If you're an actual gamer, why the fuck are you more preoccupied worrying about their financial records rather than their actual release schedule?

Because not everyone agrees with the idea that GoWR, HFW, and SM2 are somehow retconned into being shitty games like some people claim?

 

[GymWolf]

Using this argument, Sony doesn't owe you anything either, there's plenty of third party games on ps5 like gta6 coming up

Tell that to all the people pissed off about sony mismanaging his studios in this topic

I think it's easy to understand why people have some high expectations from sony and why they are pissed off guys, it's not rocket science.

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

Tell that to all the people pissed off in this topic

Pissed off people are going to be pissed off. There's always a bunch of people crying about Sony in yet another year with plenty of titles to play and a GoTY winner…

 

[GymWolf]

Pissed off people are going to be pissed off. There's always a bunch of people crying about Sony in yet another year with plenty of titles to play and a GoTY winner…

I personally don't have much problems because i have all the consoles\or pc so i kinda always have a constant stream of stuff to play but some people only have a ps5 and only care for first parties and a couple of other games.

Also, seeing telented teams like bend and bluepoint being mismanaged hurt the soul man.

 

[Mibu no ookami]

Nah dude, sony definitely owe you something since they sold you the console and everyone expect a constant stream of first parties from the company that sells you the console, of course they are not legally forced but you don't get to play naive here, you absolutely know what i'm talking about.

Sony has delivered far more AAA bangers than Microsoft or Nintendo. This really isn't disputable.

Comparing the output you expect from sony with the output you expect from a third party that is famous for making one big project at a time with long development time is ridicolous, sony is MUCH bigger than cdproject or any other third party developers except maybe ubisoft, the expectations are different between the 2.

So compare them to Ubi soft. Sony has more than double their output this generation. They're not even comparable. There isn't a single company out there putting out as many AAA games at the level of Sony games this generation. Not one.

The fact that other companies are not much better is not the great defence you think it is, me and many people in here shat equally on sony, M and nintendo when they deserve it.

Oh and just for the record, ND games are vastly smaller than cdpr projects, people are willing to wait more time for a gigantic, immersive open world more than they are ok with waiting for a 15 to 20 hours game.

They're different kinds of games. CDPR games are bigger, but Naughty Dog games have much better gameplay.

The main storylines for Cyberpunk and TLOU2 are pretty much the same. Cyberpunk has a lot of extras you can do, but not nearly as good gameplay.

I sincerely doubt that intergalactic is gonna be even remotely comparable to witcher 4 map size or amount of content if past projects are anything to go by.

I understand where you come from dude, but People are mad because so many sony studios have been mismanaged this gen, you can't deny that.

See above.

Not going to tell anyone how to feel, but I do think it's misplaced. I think there has been some mismanagement, but I also think that it's overstated how much mismanagement there has been. Not every project is going to go off without a hitch. Some games are going to get canceled and some are going to flop. The more studios you have the more canceled projects you're going to have.

 

[TintoConCasera]

plenty of titles to play

Another plenty got cancelled. Millions wasted, years wasted and many cool single-player games that haven't been made because of it.

You being a Sony man should be the most pissed off about it.

 

[Hypereides]

Because not everyone agrees with the idea that GoWR, HFW, and SM2 are somehow retconned into being shitty games like some people claim?

I don't really care about your opinion on this matter, Sawyer. I've seen enough of your goofing. You can scooch and pester someone else with your blind fanboyism.

 

[Mibu no ookami]

Also, seeing telented teams like bend and bluepoint being mismanaged hurt the soul man.

How talented is Bend exactly?

Bluepoint wanted to make their own game, Sony let them. I would have advised them not to do a GoW live service game and maybe Sony did, but let them do it anyways. We don't know the details.

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

but some people only have a ps5 and only care for first parties and a couple of other games.

I don't understand these people, I only own a ps5 (not including switch since I don't use it for third parties), and 2024 has been a packed year all around.

Could Sony be better? Yeah, the live service initiative was way overextended. It's disappointing that Bend/BP/ND wasted years of time. But I'm still playing tons of high quality Sony funded games, and don't exclude third parties.

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

I don't really care about your opinion on this matter, Sawyer. I've seen enough of your goofing. You can scooch and pester someone else with your blind fanboyism.

Yep if you think 90+ metacritic games that sell millions are just shitty games only fanboys like, maybe you should look in the mirror and question who the actual fanboy is

 

[Represent.]

https://www.reddit.com/r/GamingLeaksAndRumours/s/Po0dvieP4b

Concord flopping was the best thing to happen in the industry last year.

It ensured every single one of these fucking live service games gets cancelled.

I cant believe how out of touch these corporate idiots are.

God of War live service.. LMAO. You cant make this up.

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

Another plenty got cancelled. Millions wasted, years wasted and many cool single-player games that haven't been made because of it.

You being a Sony man should be the most pissed off about it.

Until Sony pulls a Valve or Microsoft with years of nothing to play at all, I'll forgive them for a few GaaS disasters

You can be disappointed things aren't better in some areas while realizing they're still doing a great job elsewhere

It's not a binary viewpoint

 

[Represent.]

"Bring back Socom", says the gamer
"Bring back Resistance", says the gamer
"Bring back KIllzone", says the gamer
"Bring back Twisted Metal", says the gamer
"Bring back Syphon Filter", says the gamer
"Bring back Motor Storm", says the gamer
"Bring back Driveclub", says the gamer
"Bring back Uncharted", says the gamer
"Give us Days Gone 2", says the gamer

Sony - Yeah I think a God of War live service multiplayer game is what the people want! Also a Horizon MP live service game!

Fuck you Hermen.

 

[TintoConCasera]

Until Sony pulls a Valve or Microsoft with years of nothing to play at all, I'll forgive them for a few GaaS disasters

Valve put out a game in 2020 dude, and I've seen you beg for it to come to PSVR so don't play dumb on me.

And as far as I know MS has almost the same third-parties you say you play on you PS5.

You can keep deflecting with your brand-warring shit but the truth is that this gen has been a blunder for first-party titles. You people should be complaining more and defending less.

You can be disappointed things aren't better in some areas while realizing they're still doing a great job elsewhere

Elsewhere... Where exactly? Astro is cool and they've funded a few (one?) cool third party games but if you think that's doing "good" then I guess the bar's pretty low nowadays.

But don't worry man, the rest of us will keep complaining. Maybe in a few years they turn the boat around and go back to the amazing single-player games.

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

Valve put out a game in 2020 dude

A single game! Wow

And as far as I know MS has almost the same third-parties you say you play on you PS5.

So? Doesn't excuse their disastrous launch this gen and paltry output in terms of quality

Elsewhere... Where exactly? Astro is cool

Yeah, just a cool GoTY winner. Tee hee. Let's forget winning MP of the year with Helldivers 2, or funded project partnerships like Stellar Blade and Ronin

Not to mention FF7R which was exclusive too

 

[TintoConCasera]

A single game! Wow

CS2 and Deadlock as well. For a single studio that seems like enough to me.

So? Doesn't excuse their disastrous launch this gen and paltry output in terms of quality

I said this gen has been shit for first-party games and that includes MS.

Yeah, just a cool GoTY winner. Tee hee.

It's funny how you dudes bring up MC scores and the Geoff awards as if they were the ones who decide which games are good and which not.

Anyway, hope you have fun defending a company online instead of asking for more quality games. I'm sure many are having fun as well just by reading your posts.

 

[viveks86]

This mindset some of these zealots have will forever elude me. If you're an actual gamer, why the fuck are you more preoccupied worrying about their financial records rather than their actual release schedule?

What's more is these financial reports are always subject to change. I'm willing to bet if Sony keeps mucking up their first party strategy it will eventually have an impact and reflect in their finances. Then, this argument about their "great financial reports and stability" will fly right out of the window.

If any of you zealots actually care about Sony, you best start making some noise and express your dissatisfaction instead of smothering them in undeserved praise.


Some of these people act like borderline astroturfers at times. Its frustrating being associated with these types in the same camp.

Can't handle a debate on a gaming forum without all the name calling and chest thumping? Seems like the pot is calling the kettle black. Chill man. All this is uncalled for.

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

Anyway, hope you have fun defending a company online instead of asking for more quality games. I'm sure many are having fun as well just by reading your posts.

I never see you out in any Valve or MS threads bashing them for their terrible output, so maybe use some of your own advice

I'm not ignoring their failures, but I'm also not shitting on one of the only first parties that has had anything significant over the last few years relative to their peers

 

[Hypereides]

Can't handle a debate on a gaming forum without all the name calling and chest thumping? Seems like the pot is calling the kettle black. Chill man. All this is uncalled for.

Chest thumping? There's a significant difference between a fan and a fanboy. One is not like the other. You're welcome to believe that's the kettle calling the pot if that's your view.

 

[Xtib81]

The question that remains to be answered now is : were those two games side projects with small dedicated teams or were bend and Bluepoint using all the ressources that they had in making those 2 games ?

 

[viveks86]

Real Sony fans love Bend for Days Gone, Uncharted Golden Abyss and Syphon Filter. Fanboys dont care about them because they didnt win gotys or help them win sales wars.

I can see the divide with Days Gone, but people didn't like Golden Abyss or Syphon Filter? The hell...

 

[Humdinger]

Thank fuck MS are moving toward publishing their games on PS5. And thank fuck for GTA6.

Yup. At least we have MS exclusives to look forward to, lol.

 

[TintoConCasera]

I never see you out in any Valve or MS threads bashing them for their terrible output, so maybe use some of your own advice

Bro I have been shitting on MS' woke shit far more than you have been defending Concord lol.

Got nothing bad to say about Valve tho, and the same goes for Nintendo. They just don't seem to be focusing on the games I like but both are doing fine, imo.

I'm not ignoring their failures, but I'm also not shitting on one of the only first parties that has had anything significant over the last few years relative to their peers

Listen James, I agree with that but the truth is, using the other first-parties as a reference point is a very, very low bar to set.

MS went full retard, Sony seems to be following and Nintendo has been a remaster machine for the last few years.

We are consumers, not defenders or boot lickers, and we should complain until those retards go back to be what they used to: developers of the best games around.

 

[Angry_Megalodon]

I don't know about "sonyers" but Days Gone sold 9M copies and even today it has a large following. Making a second part was a no-brainer, but it turns out that Sony management redefined what no-brainer means.