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[Wandering Leopard]

Sony can't compete if Microsoft keeps on acquiring major publishers. Meaning, PlayStation gamers will lose out on well known IPs.

MS going on to potentially monopolise the industry would be bad for everyone. But it's too to early to tell if that's MS' intention, if it is I won't support it.

Monopolies are not normal and are bad for everyone, even though some fanatics won't see it that way (of course I'm not saying you're one of them).

 

[Warnen]

How is xcloud working out so far?

 

[ShirAhava]

"Fuck Japan and retro games censor everything except Abby STAY WOKE" - SONY

SonyGAF

 

[Raekwon26]

I wouldn't really call this competition..........

 

[K' Dash]

How can Sony possibly compete with Xbox - whom they've been dominating for 20+ years?

That's easy, this gen MS stopped being a pinching bag. This time MS is hitting back really, really hard.

They could choose to think like you and ignore the competition, but would you really ignore a company with virtually infinite money looking to dominate the gaming space with a subscription service that's too good to be true?

 

[Negotiator101]

Meanwhile, PS5 is the fastest selling console of all-time.

What's that got to do with anything? You do know every console is sold at a loss right? Microsoft are looking at a much wider scope than selling the most consoles.

While I agree with this for the most part, I think you're referring to Japan studios and the MLB wanting to go multi-plat to rake in more revenue? It's hard to to argue that Sony is dwindling with the amount of hype/excitement around recent releases/planned releases not to mention the insane demand for their consoles and the actual verifiable sales number of 7.8 Million units sold thus far. Sure, Xbox has some interesting projects in the pipeline, but when is that? When do they come? And what will the be competing against? The only thing I am even remotely interested in is Stalker 2, but that's coming to PC as well. Starfield could be interesting, but if it comes out looking like Outer worlds/Fallout, no thanks. But I have heard rumors of it being built on a new engine. I think the best thing, Xbox could do with their Bethesda purchase is to do a Bluepoint style remake of Skyrim. The formula works, you release a new edition, people buy it.

I agree, Sony will win this generation no worries, I'm more concerned about their business model after that. If the market stays the same then they're fine but what if it doesn't? Regardless all 3 are doing great and us gamers reap the benefits.

 

[Iced Arcade]

Amazing comparison. What was BlackBerry's market share? How many competitors? For how long? And of course, Apple needed two decades of the Iphone to finally turn it into the Iphone of today... a real war of attrition.

Some of you are just priceless.

Good job edit quoting. Holster the barrels gunner, it was a joke.

 

[Topher]

I said what I said this sounds like next-level corporate speaking, it sounds like a fucking Colt Eastwood video, like stating the obvious to what WE ALL SHOULD KNOW about a company that intends to stay in completion. That is why I also posted "Water is Wet" implying to OP, no shit sherlock. Of course, Sony is going to be competitive with Microsoft and Nintendo.

Whether or not Sony was going to continue to be competitive wasn't the question at all. The question is how will they continue to be competitive. Should they change their business strategy and make massive moves or continue doing what they are doing? Somehow, suggesting that what they are doing is working and continuing their course is "next-level corporate speaking"? Yeah, I don't get that at all.

 

[ZywyPL]

It's been a while since Captain Obvious striked again... Not only Sony will stay on course, they'll actually lean towards high budget AAA games more than ever. The recent financial report clearly shows that Ryan doesn't have time for games like Days Gone 2 or Bloodborne sequel, those games don't bring any of those numbers, Sony will aim for 10MLN+ sales blockbusters this gen more than ever before. And people will love Ryan for that.

 

[Men_in_Boxes]

I don't understand why people think that Sony is gonna change their strategy if it works for them.

Because Microsoft has never been this competitive in the console space. Once it's 23 studios start releasing games at regular intervals, it's a new ballgame.

The article also ignores Sony's drastic 180 on multiplayer. They have 10 multiplayer exclusives in the works right now which signifies a pretty drastic change in strategy already.

 

[GHG]

Why would I be salty about streaming services that I will never use?

The only one that would have any value to me is GeForce Now because it would allow me to play my pre existing library but even then there's no need. At most I use steam link across my home network and that's already pushing the limits for me in terms of latency. I dread to think how bad it would be when actually streaming games across the Internet.

You were wrong, just hold your hand up and admit it instead of attempting to deflect.

 

[Warnen]

Why would I be salty about streaming services that I will never use?

The only one that would have any value to me is GeForce Now because it would allow me to play my pre existing library but even then there's no need. At most I use steam link across my home network and that's already pushing the limits for me in terms of latency. I dread to think how bad it would be when actually streaming games across the Internet.

You were wrong, just hold your hand up and admit it instead of attempting to deflect.

How was I wrong? Sony PSNow is nothing compared to MS's offering. Blockbuster tried a mail in rental service too.

 

[ChuckeRearmed]

This is so true lol, it would have been a huge deal if it were a Microsoft game.

Nah, it would be crucified and that's it.

I am more curious about Starfield reviews. If it were multiplatform game it would get at least around 90 and would be a contestant for GOTY. Now, it being MS, the reviewers will be much less forgiving.

 

[Gediminas]

'Sony's plan to compete with Xbox' --- i am sorry, compete? really? compete? Sony is market Leader by Huge margin in almost every metric is there available. Sony need just keep on track with what Layden, House and others done for the last 10 years prior 2019, until those two nutcracks come into leader positions, and they would dominate next 10 years.

 

[Airbus Jr]

Ok

now get ready for another upcoming gamepass thread getting bummed

 

[Raekwon26]

Nah, it would be crucified and that's it.

I am more curious about Starfield reviews. If it were multiplatform game it would get at least around 90 and would be a contestant for GOTY. Now, it being MS, the reviewers will be much less forgiving.

Around 90? Really?

What is the game about? What are the gameplay mechanics?

 

[Thirty7ven]

That's easy, this gen MS stopped being a pinching bag. This time MS is hitting back really, really hard.

They could choose to think like you and ignore the competition, but would you really ignore a company with virtually infinite money looking to dominate the gaming space with a subscription service that's too good to be true?

This is literally the same argument made since Xbox entered the industry, repeated every year since then. Word for word. The Xbox launch had Bill Gates and The Rock on the ballot, it doesn't get any bigger than that.

Nobody is ignoring anybody, is just that Xbox fanboys always come into these discussions from the POV where MS will dominate because they are rich. And gamepass isn't too good to be true until big third party games start releasing on it day 1, games like COD, FIFA, GTA, Assassins Creed. Some people are desperate for the service to grow like Netflix, but videogames are not like movies/tv shows. Considering MS's track record with their production pipeline for the last two decades, nobody in their right mind should conclude that they have just solved game development for the industry and can guarantee on time releases, no development hell, no stinker after stinker. They are not special when it comes to game development, Bethesda doesn't know how to fix the problems everyone has during game development, and nobody knows what will happen with gamepass and what type of ecosystem it will create and how big it will or not be.

And again, the thing about subscriptions? Easy to leave a paywall behind.

 

[Wandering Leopard]

Worked for blockbuster

The one glaring problem with this comparison is that Sony makes their own content - which does really well critically and commercially.

 

[Dabaus]

“That major acquisition does change the structure of the industry -- it ups the stakes of platform competition and for Sony, it's arguably an existential threat. Various different responses will have been discussed and considered within the company, no doubt -- it's rumoured that an acquisition of Square Enix has been explored, for one -- but Totoki's comments seem to make clear that Sony's immediate response is going to be staying the course, doubling down hard on exactly the strategies that made the back half of the PS4's lifespan into one of the most dramatically successful periods, creatively and commercially, for any game console in history.”

That seems like a heck of a rumor. Would love to know his source on that.

 

[GHG]

How was I wrong? Sony PSNow is nothing compared to MS's offering. Blockbuster tried a mail in rental service too.

You referenced blockbuster.

Blockbuster never made an attempt to start investing in streaming infrastructure/services until it was too late. The mail in service wasn't even the problem, it was the rapid transition to streaming that blindsided them.

Sony were the first of the major console manufacturers to start investing in a consumer ready streaming service. There's also the fact that right now xcloud doesn't even work as intended (which is understandable since it's still in beta):



If anyone is "blockbuster" in this scenario it's Nintendo.

 

[ChuckeRearmed]

For one, Sony was ahead of the game with streaming games and a downloadable games service. And they are doing VR on consoles. They are surely adapting, something BB..Palm....and MS either didnt do or did way too late in the smartphone market. And in MS case they tried to straddle Android, old Win Mo and iPhone when they should have just picked one direction. Their hybrid approach with Win Phone, WIn Phone 7 was the wrong idea.

And...IMO MS should have never let Google do what it did. MS was there before Google, with an updated UI on the HTC HD2 and somehow they let Android come in and outdo them on their turf. Android resembles the old Win Mo so much its not funny.

Android looks like what the evolution of what Win Mo should have been.

The problem is that MS - at that time - was chasing Apple instead of doing its own thing. In mobile market, the old guard - like Symbian, WinMo, Blackberry - was openly mocking touch screens and so on.

Another thing to consider is that in 2000s MS was still suffering from anti-trust lawsuit and it heavily affected them as they were afraid to take risks. They build their legendary lawyer division though at that time. I am not sure if they have the biggest amount of lawyers among the companies nowadays or not.

Not to mention "era of warlods" within MS. A lot of factors involved and we still have to deal with the crap - like UWP - that was made by one group without prior knowledge by other and so on. Or GFWL where there are no people basically who know how it works essentially. It is essentially like Sony's companies - movies and music and gaming only started to probe some synergy between them.

The good thing though, is that how fast MS is evolving right now and it is not stuck in old thinking, chasing somebody else. By the end of this gen we will have a completely different world with Sony and their Paystation, Nintendo and their mushroom world with their handhelds, and MS with their Android like presence in gaming where almost any device (except Playstation because it doesn't support browsers) will run Xbox service.

 

[kretos]

Sony compete with Xbox? lol MS is spending billions so they can compete with Sony

 

[MistBreeze]

compete in what ??? Sony is the market leader by a huge margin

and what with some of people preaching game pass like a cult ??

Microsoft did not do a new thing with game pass

it is office 365 all over again...

at least sony and nintindo are making games ... while microsoft making services

 

[KingT731]

So the long and short is certain folks want Sony to compete, not with X-Box, but with Game Pass(that's what they really mean). This has been the narrative for over a year already. It's right up there with "games are too expensive" which is somehow Sony's fault as well even though 2K was alredy raising the price of their games.

 

[El Pistolero]

I think Sony's road to success is reasonably certain this gen, however, they're not showing the mobility and adaptiveness of a company looking toward the future. Perhaps we'll see some more visionary strategy to tackle streaming and cross-platform ubiquity in the future. PC ports are a good start, but only a start, and it's not as if their competitors are going to politely wait for them to catch up, either.

I'm particularly worried about Amazon more than MS, since their a uniquely monopolistic and cancerous company who are focusing more and more of their resources and efforts on gaming.

Yep, being worried of Amazon, which has not diped their small toe in, instead of Microsoft who has a long history of even more monopolistic and cancerous activities, and who expressed its interest in acquiring more publishers...Makes complete sense!
It reminds me of posts on Ree where they would go: "Man, I wish MS gets Capcom and Square...Could you imagine what would happen if they let either Tencent or Amazon acquire them?".

 

[ChuckeRearmed]

MS going on to potentially monopolise the industry would be bad for everyone

Highly doubt of that. I mean game companies pop up left and right. Gaming is too big these days to be a monopoly for anybody. Certain niches - probably. But in general - no.

 

[ethomaz]

That's easy, this gen MS stopped being a pinching bag. This time MS is hitting back really, really hard.

They could choose to think like you and ignore the competition, but would you really ignore a company with virtually infinite money looking to dominate the gaming space with a subscription service that's too good to be true?

Let's be clear here.

The Series X launch is worst than Xbox One.
PS5 launch is better than PS4.

The gap is widen than previous generation and people talk about MS stopping to be a pinching bag and hitting back? Are you and me in the same reality?

The MS actions are always focused in cater a small fanbase that keep become smaller... they seems to be blind to overall gaming marketing.

 

[Thirty7ven]

You referenced blockbuster.

Blockbuster never made an attempt to start investing in streaming infrastructure/services until it was too late. The mail in service wasn't even the problem, it was the rapid transition to streaming that blindsided them.

Sony were the first of the major console manufacturers to start investing in a consumer ready streaming service. There's also the fact that right now xcloud doesn't even work as intended (which is understandable since it's still in beta):



If anyone is "blockbuster" in this scenario it's Nintendo.

The blockbuster argument... it's just so dumb. Ignorant. Unaware. Myopic.

Somebody give me a list of Blockbuster's IPs? What did they produce exactly? This idea of a physical video rental store that was just an intermediary between movie studios and home video being a good comparison is clown shoes. Gamestop is Blockbuster, what's so hard about this?

Nintendo is nowhere near being in a Blockbuster scenario either, and if push comes to shove and they need to go third party they will become Disney and eventually buy their own Fox. The sky is the limit for Nintendo, and the only reason why they aren't even bigger than they are, it's because you just know that shit is run by extremely conservative Japanese suits that don't understand exactly what they have in their hands.

 

[Jaysen]

Currently it’s a battle of better games versus better services. As a gamer, better games wins for me. Where Sony could be in trouble is if MS actually starts to release some great exclusives and they’re on Game Pass. Until then, why should Sony sweat MS?

 

[Papacheeks]

"Fuck Japan and retro games censor everything except Abby STAY WOKE" - SONY

SonyGAF

Show me where on your playstation Sony hurt you?

Sony compete with Xbox? lol MS is spending billions so they can compete with Sony

This is where I don't understand people. How can you not connect the dots? Like there was literal talk of spinning the xbox division off. When there is that kind of talk, you know there is very little interest or confidence in that sector. Phil was the only one among a couple others still passionate about the brand.

They know it takes generations to get at the level of synergy Playstation has with it's studios. So they are buying Publishers, studios already established to try and close the gap. And all of this falls under expansion for growth under services which was the only way Xbox would still exist.

They saw that trying the oldschool way of producing bangers year over year, gen over gen was too much money, and also would show too many lows in growth that would impact their market share in stocks. Matt Prescilla who is a number analysts even said services like Gamepass are market growers. Which to large 2 trillion dollar company is what they want. Right now Microsoft is loving what they are seeing in terms of growth that the losses dont matter. Which is also the same for video streaming services. You want growth/MArketshare which drives stock prices keeps them higher without the lows if you were to show profit being lower than previous year.


But the issue is for other companies without unlimited funds Nintendo/Sony it doesnt make sense to make games that cost 100 Million+ to put them on a service thats $9.99-14.99 a month. Even in a pandemic and closing down all their attractions, Disney's stock price has been banging. And thats with no feature releases in theaters for over a year. ANd thats because of Disney+ growth=marketshare which equals more stable stock.

To me it's a false sense of growth and the negative will be what Xbox has in its stable library that moves the needle for keeping subscribers and gaining new ones.


Sony's issue will be their games have to hit, and sell well. But I think they are now looking at how spaced out Nintendo does their releases. People are willing to buy their games if they are must have or give a overall experience you cant get anywhere else. Which with their smart marketing thats the way they have sold the PS5.

And it's working.

 

[ChuckeRearmed]

The article also ignores Sony's drastic 180 on multiplayer. They have 10 multiplayer exclusives in the works right now which signifies a pretty drastic change in strategy already.

Well Sony tried from time to time to have some multiplayer games though. I think in PS3 era? But it never took off like it did on Xbox for some reason. Though again Playstation - nintendo aside - also later started to pivot towards the digital gaming. Xbox is closer to PC in such trends.

 

[I Love Rock 'n' Roll]

I'm thankful for Gamepass, without it Sony would have sold games @ 80$

When those Bethesda games hit gamepass day 1 boy are we gonna see some lovely things from the expensive 30fps machines

Yes 2028 will great for Beteshda fans. Meanwhile, i'll be playing on PS6.

Why are you trolling Nintendo hardwares?

 

[RCU005]

I'm thankful for Gamepass, without it Sony would have sold games @ 80

Sony is not the one that established the $70 price.

First of all, it was 2K the first one to price a game at $70 (NBA 2K)

Second of all, EVERYONE agreed on the price increase. Microsoft maybe hasn’t had a game at $70 yet, but that’s because they haven’t release any new game yet since Series X launched, but you’ll see that they will also have their games at that price.

In conclusion, it’s not a Sony thing, it’s an industry thing. It’s still sucks, but people still buying and they keep breaking sales records, so they will never change it back.

 

[Torrent of Pork]

Another day, another gaggle of people bickering over the internet defending their plastic boxes, and the multi-billion dollar corporations behind them.

Personally I'm happy that all main actors in the industry are going in wildly divergent business strategies. I wish everybody wild success, if anything to keep everybody else on their toes, and fighting for our money.

 

[ChuckeRearmed]

Around 90? Really?

What is the game about? What are the gameplay mechanics?

Considering that it is Bethesda game it is gonna be Fallout or TES in Space. Unless the game lacks the content and more buggy than usual (FO76), Bethesda's games are very well received. For Starfield they had enough time for the content so the game expected to get the high scores.

 

[ethomaz]

Because Microsoft has never been this competitive in the console space. Once it's 23 studios start releasing games at regular intervals, it's a new ballgame.

The article also ignores Sony's drastic 180 on multiplayer. They have 10 multiplayer exclusives in the works right now which signifies a pretty drastic change in strategy already.

Sony used to have multiplayer in all games... and have tons of focused multiplayer only titles.
That changed in the middle of PS4.

That was really a bad take from them.

 

[FalsettoVibe]

Umm....this topic seems pretty tame, so why are so many people getting triggered in this thread?

 

[ZywyPL]

The article also ignores Sony's drastic 180 on multiplayer. They have 10 multiplayer exclusives in the works right now which signifies a pretty drastic change in strategy already.

The results are still yet to be delivered tho, because historically, Sony's MP games don't last longer than just a few months, half a year at best. I've been saying in the past decade or so, that the MP mode is the ultimate test for the gameplay, as there are no scripts, no cut-scenes, no QTEs, no nothing that takes away your attention, it's all just pure, core gameplay, and if it's not fun nothing will keep people with the game.

 

[ChuckeRearmed]

Sony is not the one that established the $70 price.

In EU Sony raised PS games prices twice effectively.

 

[Men_in_Boxes]

Sony used to have multiplayer in all games... and have tons of focused multiplayer only titles.
That changed in the middle of PS4.

That was really a bad take from them.

You've got to get in contact with Jim Ryan and tell him this.

It's almost like Sony is making choices based on the next 5 or so years, rather than...(checks notes)...the success of it's early PS4 multiplayer games.

Keep in mind, Fortnite makes most of it's money on PS4. The PlayStation audience now fully embraces multiplayer and has been "trained" to spend money on microtransactions.

 

[Interfectum]

By nearly every conceivable metric Playstation is stomping Xbox competitively besides Game Pass vs PS Now.

Armchair analysts in this thread think Sony should throw away their winning strategy and get into a spending arms race with a trillion dollar company because we *think* people will give a shit about xcloud in 10 years? Huh.

 

[Bryank75]

Worked for blockbuster

Isn't Xbox offering the rental service now?

 

[Warnen]

Isn't Xbox offering the rental service now?

history is circular?

 

[CAB_Life]

Yep, being worried of Amazon, which has not diped their small toe in, instead of Microsoft who has a long history of even more monopolistic and cancerous activities, and who expressed its interest in acquiring more publishers...Makes complete sense!
It reminds me of posts on Ree where they would go: "Man, I wish MS gets Capcom and Square...Could you imagine what would happen if they let either Tencent or Amazon acquire them?".

Spoken like a true console warrior with no insight or exposure to the actual world and Amazon's subhuman practices. Maybe start with this and educate yourself a little: https://www.wsj.com/articles/amazon-competition-shopify-wayfair-allbirds-antitrust-11608235127

MS does dirty buisness, that is true, but they're limited to tech, whereas Amazon has its interests and tentacles in every aspect of modern culture.

 

[The Hamburglar]

I'm thankful for Gamepass, without it Sony would have sold games @ 80$

When those Bethesda games hit gamepass day 1 boy are we gonna see some lovely things from the expensive 30fps machines

Your console warring is getting ridiculous. You don’t even try to be funny with it. You legit believe your garbage

 

[DrumNBassDanTTV]

It better for all of us as gamers that both Microsoft/Sony do well and offer good service & value, it would be terrible for the gamers if any one company had a monopoly on the industry. Choices for gamers are key.

 

[Rikkori]

How is what I said controversial?

It's not controversial but it is short sighted. You can't keep executing the same game plan in an ever changing competitive landscape. As Xbox booms in titles with all the new acquired studios, as previous juggernauts now become Xbox-clusive (Future skyrims et al), as Xbox has a wildly competitive gamepass service which offers incredible games for as little as $2-3 a month (shoutout to BR VPN trick), and as more and more games even from Sony go multiplat, all while on PS5 you gotta pay $70 off the bat for a roguelike... It just looks like bad strategy. Never mind the threat of cloud streaming which is brewing nicely in the form of both Xcloud (another great competitive edge for Gamepass owners) and Geforce Now (another great advantage of the PC base), as well as a resurgent Nintendo which is looking poised to strike back with their DLSS Switch hybrid.

Right now all of this doesn't matter so much because of the shortages, like the article states, but make no mistake about it it's going to be a looooong generation and what worked in the PS4 era isn't going to be as effective going forward. The market has changed and the competitors have adapted.

 

[Valentino]

Sony don’t need to compete with Xbox... all I hear is gamepass waffle from Microsoft. Where’s the fuckin exclusives?

You don’t compete when you don’t compare.

 

[MilkyJoe]

How is what I said controversial?

I was going for cringe

 

[Daymos]

Ok.. so Sony's plan is to make good games and Microsoft's plan is to have Bethesda (or somebody) make good games for them.

I am ready to play these games!

Oh and gamepass gamepass gamepass. Every thread must say gamepass 52 times per page. Gamepass! Pass gas with gamepass.