470°

What does PlayStation look like without Jim Ryan?

Jim Ryan has departed Sony Interactive Entertainment, after roughly 30 years at the company.

erinlime841d ago

Less live service nonsense, I hope. Maybe more than one or two first-party releases a year would be nice as well. It'd be nice if they fixed the PS+ price hike too, but that's less likely because the only reason they would have increased the price in the first place is if it wasn't making them enough money to satisfy shareholders.

We won't see the real effects of Jim leaving for another 2-3 years and it all depends on who is replacing him.

Pepin841d ago

With how much money they make, I really doubt we'll see the end of Live Service experiments at Sony. Even if it's last few have been... under-whelming.

crazyCoconuts841d ago

What live service stuff have we seen so far again? I can't recall any

Plague-Doctor27841d ago

@crazyCoconuts @Crows90

Sony's definition of live service is pretty broad. Stuff like Gran Turismo 7 and MLB The Show count for them. Helldivers 2 will count. I'm not sure if they're including Marathon or Destiny 2 as Bungie remains seperate from Playstation Studios

crazyCoconuts841d ago

@plague, sorry man, that's reaching. Has Sony actually followed through with any real life service games?

fr0sty841d ago

It'll be great without Jim Ryan running all the PS gamers out of the room by passing GaaS.

Plague-Doctor27841d ago (Edited 841d ago )

@crazyCoconuts

https://www.truetrophies.co...

This is their financial report from early 2022. They list MLB the Show as a live service game and mention they will add 2 live service franchises in 2022. GT7 is the only game they released in 2022 that would count. The other was probably supposed to be Factions. GT7 is getting free updates, requires always online, and has a daily gatcha roulette and microtransactions. This isn't my opinion this is what Sony themselves stated

Even Destruction All-Stars was a live service failure.

S2Killinit841d ago

Are you just living on another realm of existence?

outsider1624840d ago

@plaque
I've been playing Gt7 and have about 20million credits. Did all that without the need to buy any of the credits. And it didnt take too much of a grinding either. I didn't need to buy every single car. Just a few. Enjoyed online racing as well.
MLB..i would play only offline career so i dnt know

+ Show (5) more repliesLast reply 840d ago
PitbullMonster841d ago

Oh please, the last ps+ price hike was 6 years ago in 2017 while Netflix, Spotify, Amazon Prime etc. raise their price nearly every year.

erinlime841d ago (Edited 841d ago )

Unlike those services, the PS+ price hike wasn't by dollar amount, it was by percentage. Across the board the prices for each PS+ tier increased about 30%. The lowest tier went up by way less than the highest tier. It's a clear money-grab, especially when they haven't even offered more Classics to warrant the huge increase on the Premium tier.

Also, unrelated, but it's still bad when those other services increase the price of their subscriptions as well, so I don't understand the use of this argument.

crazyCoconuts841d ago

"a clear money grab"- how is that clear? They were already MUCH cheaper than their competition in terms of annual so they brought that a little more in line. I think they were losing money on that $99/year Extra plan in my guestimation

EvertonFC841d ago

Exactly, everything goes up practically on a yearly basis apart from gaming subs.

Inverno841d ago

There's no way they would buy Bungie for the life service stuff to drop those plans after this guy leaves.

Obscure_Observer841d ago (Edited 841d ago )

"We won't see the real effects of Jim leaving for another 2-3 years and it all depends on who is replacing him."

I believe we´ll have news regarding the future of Playstation rather sooner than later.

As Ryan steps down next month, demands for what´s next for Playstation will not only be made by gamers, but shareholders, investors and board directors.

PS games on PC will still to be a thing? Will those games come to PC sooner or even later?

Day One Playstation games on PS Plus will be a thing? Will those games be released sooner on the service? There´ll be AAA third party day one releases on the service?

GaaS will continue to be a focus?

Will Playstation continue and invest in third party exclusives?

Will Playstation establish new partnerships with Microsoft and or Nintendo?

Will Playstation continue and invest in acquisition of studios? Will they now invest in publishers as well?

There will be more PSVR2 games from first party studios?

There´s lots of questions that needs to be addressed by the new leadership.

Of course, Totoki also might answer all of it with a single note: "All of Playstation future plans and direction, remains the same" and call it a day.

shinoff2183841d ago

Day One Playstation games on PS Plus will be a thing? Will those games be released sooner on the service? There´ll be AAA third party day one releases on the service?

I don't see this happening. The only reason ms did it is cause they were desperate imo. I'd rather Sony not do day one. I'm also of the mindset I prefer to physically own my games not rent or digitally have them. I've got no issue paying for a game I will truly enjoy.

Obscure_Observer841d ago (Edited 841d ago )

@shinoff2183

"I don't see this happening."

Just because you don´t see it happening doesn´t mean it won´t happen.

I don´t think you remember but there´s a lot of "I don't see this happening" type of comment in the comment history of many people here regarding both Playstation games on PC and some Playstation "Gamepass" type of service.

"The only reason ms did it is cause they were desperate imo."

By the time MS announced day one first party games on Gamepass the general opinion were that it would never happen! All that bs talk about "it´s not sustainable" blah blah bah.

Now we have not only all of the first party games day one on Gamepass but AAA third party games day one as well.

Imo, PS Plus will never outperform Gamepass if Sony is not willing to heavily invest on it specially now after that 40% price hike, and yet, they had the nerve to remove Spider-Man from its content list.

According to FTC documents MS had made more profit out revenue in 2022 than Sony, while numbers from both Bethesda and Activision weren´t even accounted.

You might think Sony have nothing to worry about, but that sudden retirement announcement does sound an alarm, and things about to change, again. Like it or not.

Elda841d ago (Edited 841d ago )

I saw you addressed Shinoff by saying Gamepass will be getting third party AAA games day one. I have Gamepass & what third party AAA games have currently released on Gamepass?

Obscure_Observer841d ago

@Elda

"I have Gamepass & what third party AAA games have currently released on Gamepass?"

Those are the latest off the top of my head:

A Plague Tale Requiem
MLB 23
Atomic Heart
Wo Long: Fallen Dinasty
Exoprimal

Upcoming AAA Third Party releases day one on Gamepass (also off the top of my head)

S.T.A.L.K.E.R 2
Flintlock
Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name
Persona 3 Reload
Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 841d ago
ChasterMies841d ago

“Less live service nonsense, I hope.”

Don’t bet on it. All the top grossing games are live service games. It’s apparently where the masses want to spend their money.

Jin_Sakai841d ago

I just hope an actual gamer gets the position. I wouldn’t mind Herman Hulst. He knows how gaming development works inside out.

Shane Kim841d ago

At the end of the day, if you want to run a billion dollar company, you need to make money for the shareholders. If not they will throw you out like yesterdays garbage.

MrNinosan841d ago

Do you for real think he's the reason why we'll get 10 live-service games over the span of 8 years, a long with singleplayer masterpieces?

Regarding the "price hike" it's the first in 6 years, and still cheaper than GamePass, even thou it became a better service.

What is it you're actually crying about?

northpaws841d ago

They haven't even put out one and you guys are screaming too much.

Personally I can't wait for a live service games on some of the IPs, for example, Ghost's legend mode, it was awesome that it was free, I played at least 200 hours on it, but if it is a live service game then I would still be playing today because it would get the funding for additional content, which I don't mind paying because of how good that was.

A monster hunter type of games in the Horizon's universe would be fun too.

A lot of amazing world that I would love to explore more with friends.

Of course I still looking forward to all the single player games, but both can co-exist.

crazyCoconuts841d ago

Cashing MLB and GT7 live service games...dunno. They both have tons of single player content.
Destruction All Stars isn't even a first party game.

Obscure_Observer840d ago

"Destruction All Stars isn't even a first party game."

Yes, it is.

S2Killinit840d ago (Edited 840d ago )

@erinlime
What live-service nonsense?
Here is what Sony has said:

“We will continue to publish the games that have served us so well over the years. These single player, graphically beautiful, narrative rich games will continue to be the bedrock of our first party publishing business”

Why is making live-service on top, nonsense?
MS is currently only doing live service. Starfield is live service, redfall is live service.

Double standard much?

+ Show (7) more repliesLast reply 840d ago
Flawlessmic841d ago

A return to the old Sony hopefully, way less focus on gaas, don't overly secretive about what games you have coming, keep providing AAA single player games.

Basically do what they have always done before Jim.

gold_drake841d ago (Edited 841d ago )

just to let you know, he has worked for sony, for 30 years.

so .... your comment doesnt rly make a whole lot of sense.

Kaze88841d ago

He was the boss of sony's game department for 4 years. All those years Sony has been arrogant and secretive, so I would say that the comment is valid.

DogJosha841d ago

Working for someone and making their major decisions is two vastly different things...

crazyCoconuts841d ago

I'm sorry guys, like just because Ryan SAID some things about GaaS, doesn't mean they actually did anything there.
PS kept up the quality of the 1st party games which have all been single player (NOT Gaas)
PS released PSVR2 (Hoorah)
PS5 turned out to be awesome, with awesome games, and sold the pants off of ... er.. the other guys
Ryan was honest about the sub service and how it'll never make money giving away day 1 games. He stuck to his word there
So same PS as always...

Yea, less communication about upcoming games... probably because they're in a fierce competitive battle w/ MS at the moment and are keeping secrets.
Yea, they bought Bungee and I'm not thrilled with that. Bungee probably pulled the plug on ND's factions thing because it wasn't gonna make $. They probably weren't wrong. So I don't know...
But overall not that much has changed - overall PS has pretty much continued to dominate while still making games that are way better than anything the competition can churn out despite all their $$. So, like, I kinda think the Jim hate thing is irrational

mudakoshaka840d ago (Edited 840d ago )

Every single game that has come out for the past 3 years, including Spider-Man 2, was greenlit before Ryan. And to be honest, the games that have been coming out for the past 2 years for PS5 are not impressive at all, with the exception for God of War Ragnarök. Mostly 3rd party games have been the big hitters. So you are totally wrong about Ryan. He has kind of messed up the approach of Playstation and they have become more generic and try to invest in GaaS. Playstation were always innovators, now they are just doing the same as the competitors. I think Jim Ryan was forced to resign as the brand is not heading in the right direction. Spider-Man 2 looks like a bland game with great graphics. I might get Spider-Man 2 on a sale in the future. No other big upcoming games which have official release dates. Are we supposed to wait until 2025 for the next PS5 exclusive? This is getting ridiculous. I am playing games on my PS5 I could have played on my PS4. People expected some great games to go along with their PS5 and not just 3rd party stuff that you can play on a Switch. E3 in 2016, that is 3 years after the release of the PS4, blew everyone away with the great upcoming titles. Sony’s presentation 3 year after the release of the PS5, a freaking joke!

PSVR2 was greenlit by Shuhei Yoshida and not Jim Ryan. So another example of Jim Ryan’s only contribution during his tenure is a bad version of Splatoon and a handheld screen to stream games.

crazyCoconuts840d ago

@mud you lost me at Spiderman 2 looks like a bland game lol
So it kinda sounds like he gets credit for nothing because everything was greenlit before him, and blamed for things like GaaS, which outside of a few games I guess hasn't been a real thing. I don't know, I hear some of your points about wanting more, less playing safe. I'd be curious to compare where, say PS4 was 3 years after launch compared to PS5...was it really that different in terms of first party games being released?

mudakoshaka840d ago

@CrazyCoconuts

Look at Sony’s E3 presentation in 2016. That was an amazing show! And the thing is that in 2016 during E3, most of the games presented were still years away. God of War was shown for the first time ever during that E3 presentation and it took almost another 2 years until release. At least we got a taste for what was to come. The only taste Sony is giving now is a taste of doubt. PSVR2 is almost shelved by Sony under Jim Ryan. Mine has been collecting dust for 4 months since almost all of the games released are available on PCVR as well. I am ready to downgrade the graphics in VR for PSVR2 in order to enjoy Playstation exclusive games, but since none of those seem to be coming, I see no reason why I would play Green Hell on PSVR2 when on PCVR it is crystal clear. They need to invest in their current products and not trying to chase the next Fortnite.

Regarding Spider-Man 2, it was fun swinging around New York and fighting was fun in the beginning. But after a while it is just like Assassin’s Creed where the same type of mission is repeated on a different location. I wrote in another post, it does not bode well that we are getting two Spider-Men and Venom in the same game. It’s just like in Hollywood when the story does not hold its own, you just add more characters to make it more appealing. Spider-Man 2 will look amazing, but be ready for a repetitive game.

outsider1624840d ago

And when at the end of a game showcase...always have a "there's one more thing" at the end of the show for a special game.

neutralgamer1992841d ago

Clear messaging about what is coming up content wise. Can’t say it’s only possible on PS5 than have the same game run on PS4 or run without SSD on PC’s

I hope they really go back and get Shawn Layden who was starting to have a really good synergy with gamers

Shawn layden
Andrew house
Jack Trenton

Please get one of these

And please put some more focus on Japanese market. MS have been growing their business in Japan and TGS showed how much they are investing yet Sony seems to care less and less

Do 2 shows/presentations a year. One totally focused on 3rd party content and the other all about 1st-2nd party exclusive content

Less focus on GAAS because there are enough 3rd party big games doing GAAS and companies like PlayStation and Xbox get 30%. They have bungie who will keep doing GAAS so let the other studios do more traditional games

Acquire some more studios or even smaller publishers to grow the PlayStation strength. Like Sony themselves said PlayStation is very important to the core of their business. I believe owning square and capcom would do well for PlayStation (Sony has close to 20 billion in acquisition funds and they can get both square and capcom for less than 20)

shinoff2183841d ago

I agree withwith everything neutralgamer, especially about the Japan gmfocus, and bringing back if possible one of those guys. Specifically layden

Rodney25841d ago

His run as CEO is why I stopped mainly gaming on Playstation. No fun first party games, no actual exclusives everything just goes to PC, the censorship that started, and the straw that broke was the PS+ price hike. It all screams arrogance of a company in the lead that just doesn't care what it does it's all about money. I just want old Sony that made wild exclusives like Crash and Spyro got Japanese publishers on their side and was the friendliest place for any dev to put whatever they wanted on console.

ChasterMies841d ago

“No fun first party games”

Yeah, right. Because Ghost and Tsushima and Horizon Forbidden West are a bad time.

Rodney25841d ago

Both those games are boring to me, IDK what to tell you.

840d ago
gold_drake841d ago

can you imagine being that bothered by one person that u quit something entirely?

DogJosha841d ago

Imagine hating what someone does with their free time so much that you support getting rid of games that have 0 impact on your life. Are you that guy Drake? Please don't be that guy Drake.

goldwyncq841d ago

If you actually read it properly, they didn't stop gaming entirely, they just stopped gaming mainly on Playstation because of the changes Jim Ryan made.

shinoff2183841d ago

Ps plus was the last straw. It was only a few dollars. I think I'm paying like 19 a month. I do agree with the last part of your comment about though. Where else do you game didn't all the console up prices on things recently.

TheTony316840d ago

The censorship started in 2016. Long before Jimbo was in charge.

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60°

Rockstar launches official marketplace for mods

Rockstar has launched an official marketplace for "every server and every player" to buy mods: Cfx Marketplace.

Read Full Story >>
gamesindustry.biz
Christopher2d ago (Edited 2d ago )

I wonder how much of this isn't just taken work of others who have modded for free.

Edit: Also, great way for R* to take popular ideas and build them into GTAVI based on demand.

fr0sty12h ago

What I see happening here is, R* is going to ban mods in GTA6 UNLESS you buy them from the marketplace and R* then gets a cut of that sale.

ActualWhiteMan14h ago

Ah, perfect timing with them taking down the Bully online fan mod. Greedy a$$ company.

Christopher12h ago

It's okay as long as they get a cut of the money.

fr0sty12h ago

Expect R* to force it on you.

Snookies126h ago

Yep, right there with you. I'll happily donate to a mod creator if it looks really cool, or if I enjoy it. But expecting payment up front? Nope, not touching it.

IanTH11h ago(Edited 11h ago)

I'm not entirely sure how to read this, as it doesn't seem exactly like an exact parallel to Bethesda's paid mods shenanigans.

Rather than single player stuff, this appears to be aimed solely on Cfx Servers. From what I've gleaned, apparently Rockstar bought the Cfx mod team several years ago, coming a few years after weird contentions led them to ban a few of their members. Ultimately, the question is if they plan to keep this contained to only online/servers.

I have to guess to a degree yes. It'd be pretty hard to "force" paid mods for single player when modding files locally on your own machine, but much easier for servers they'll control. So perhaps this is their soft launch ahead of GTA6 online and they'll clamp down more tightly on non-official servers going forward? Ever since they've become a 1 or 2 property studio, I haven't really cared much for Rockstar stuff, so I'm not entirely up on everything surrounding this. Sounds like it has the potential to be problematic further down the line, but right now fairly easy to ignore...I think lol.

Show all comments (10)
50°

Kotick claims lawsuit objecting to MS-Activision deal was "tied to Embracer's desire to boost sales"

Former CEO describes lawsuit filed by Swedish pension fund as a "collateral attack" on Activision Blizzard.

Read Full Story >>
gamesindustry.biz
OpenGL1d 8h ago

Yeah, the Microsoft deal has DEFINITELY worked out for everyone.

galgor1d 5h ago

Can this mother fucker just get lost already

PRIMORDUS1d 4h ago

He belongs in here ⚰️, hopefully sooner than later.

MrDead13h ago(Edited 13h ago)

Kotick Made $155 million from MS in the buyout, the little b*tch needs to stop whining. Thanks to this Microslop deal and massive industry consolidation thousands upon thousands of devs and other workers lost their livelihoods. This greedy piggie pervert needs shut up and f-off.

50°

Sony may have blocked 4th largest publisher on PS Store, targeting shovelware PS4/PS5 games

PlayStation Store shoppers are seeing fewer undesirable search results. ThiGamesDE, a major publisher of shovelware like The Jumping Spaghetti, no longer appears on the marketplace. The games are inexpensive, duplicate versions of other titles that appeal to trophy hunters.

Read Full Story >>
notebookcheck.net
HumanChimney1d 15h ago

Good! .....and no more awfully boring simulators as well please!

galgor1d 5h ago

You didn't see the group of simulator games that just launched then, eh?

Eonjay1d 11h ago

Next story will be about how Sony is hurting gamers by blocking trash games.

lodossrage1d 1h ago

....don't give them ideas.....

gold_drake1d 10h ago

dude who made those games definitely made bank with them tho.

im glad they're gone tho

jznrpg1d 8h ago

I hate those trophy whore games so good.

DivineHand1251d 8h ago

Too bad for the trophy hunters, but this action is necessary.

The existence of these games for the sole purpose of helping people pad their trophy list cheapens the experience.

It also clutters the store with garbage games.

jambola23h ago

I wouldn't even care if you could just filter them
but I like sorting by newest to oldest to see new games and this really just ruins it

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