Game news PlayStation: Sony wants to invest “aggressively” in its development capacity
After a State of Play that has disappointed more than one player, Sony’s quarterly results have fallen. CFO Hiroki Totoki took the opportunity to discuss recent PlayStation Studios acquisitions and the company’s plans to continue to grow, wanting to invest “aggressively”.
Since the start of 2021, Sony has been running the printing press. The Japanese manufacturer did not buy one, nor two, but four studios, with in particular Bluepoint Games, specialist in remakes, which offered to the PlayStation 5 its first great exclusivity with the redesign of Demon’s Souls, as well as Housemarque, behind the rogue-lite Returnal. The other two names are certainly more confidential – Nixxes at the forefront of the PC port and Firesprite to whom we owe The Playroom – but the company seems ready to put the means to catch up with Microsoft and its 22 studios, which feed an ever more powerful Game Pass.
“Following the acquisitions announced since the start of this fiscal year (in April 2021, editor’s note), the number of PlayStation studios will increase from four to 16, and the number of developers will increase by 20%” Explain Sony CFO Hiroki Totoki after the release of the company’s quarterly results. “We plan to continue to invest aggressively in our development capacity in the future” but also “Take advantage of these studios to increase the development capacity of PlayStation Studios (…) and deploy games on PC and mobile devices”. The tone is set.
Full PC, a little cloudy
With 115 million PlayStation 4s and now over 13 million from PS5 around the world, Sony is the leader of a model that has more or less had its day, today challenged by the strike force of Microsoft and its Xbox Game Pass. The firm can no longer be satisfied with releasing its exclusives only on its own media. In an interview with GamesIndustry, Jim Ryan, CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment, even said “frustrated”Of not being able to reach a wider audience as it is: “I would like to see a world where tens of millions of people can enjoy the games we make” he then said. “Almost unlimited audiences can enjoy music and movies”.
An obvious answer to this frustration is of course the arrival of PlayStation games on PC., ideal solution to reach a new audience and give a second life to titles that have already proven their worth on console. This was the case for the PS4 exclusives for the moment. Horizon Zero Dawn and Days gone, while Uncharted 4, Uncharted: The Lost Legacy and God of war will receive the same treatment next year (according to some rumors, Sackboy A Big Adventure could follow suit). The recent takeover of Nixxes, a specialist in PC ports, seems to have reinforced this ambition, as has the probable arrival of the label “Playstation pc”, Spotted online. On the sidelines, we should not forget the PlayStation Now either, which since 2017 has made it possible to play Sony games on computers via streaming, in 1080p since April 2021.
Days Gone – The PC version shows its strengths
“I don’t think you’ll see PlayStation releasing something new to PC at the same time as it does console” esteem in a emission on YouTube Shawn Layden, former president of PlayStation Studios, with more than thirty years of service with Sony. “The strategy that we were developing when I was still there was that we had to go and find these new customers ourselves, these new fans (thanks to the PC, editor’s note)”. And the Japanese firm still has a long way to go. Already to achieve the goal it has set for the PS5, with more 22.6 million units sold per year as soon as the replenishment thresholds return to normal. But also to realize the dream of Jim Ryan, who undoubtedly has his head in the cloud.
Through India, Journalist jeuxvideo.com
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