Sources: Sony is committing to India after improving their sales and reputation in both Spain and China with the PlayStation Talents Program and China Hero Project respectively.
An Indian initiative will be formed alongside an Indian studio for External Development + publishing.
Since Scooby Doo is trending, here's a reminder!
Straight Outta Nowhere: Scooby-Doo Meets Courage the Cowardly Dog arrives on September 14th for the following;
๐PVOD platforms (iTunes / Google Play)
๐DVD/Blu-Ray
It'll be available later here;
๐HBO Max
๐Netflix*
Sony Interactive Entertainment is being pressured by PlayStation and PC gamers to put Helldivers II on Xbox Series X | S to continue to not only make the game even more successful but so their Xbox friends may join in.
This is the first time Iโve seen *THIS* much support.
I feel like those making fun of Sony for continuing PS4 a year into PS5's lifecycle don't know much about gaming.
PS1 was discontinued 6 years after PS2.
PS2 was discontinued 7 years after PS3.
PS3 was discontinued 4 years after PS4.
Why would PS4 end production after 1 year?
The Last of Us Part II, the most awarded Game of the Year title of all time, is getting a proper PS5 version later this year. I'm not talking a remaster, I'm talking new engine + full PS5 graphical fidelity.
It will be free to those that owned the PS4 version.
Sources: PlayStation Studios is interested in a sequel to PlayStation All-Stars: Battle Royale thanks to their acquisition of EVO.
Characters like Crash, Aloy, Deacon, Ellie, Joel, Spyro, and more are planned for the sequel alongside all characters from All-Stars.
The Future of Metal Gear definitely looks interesting with no new entries, here's the rumored breakdown;
โขMetal Gear Solid Remake - PS5 exclusive
โขMetal Gear Solid 3 Remake - PS5 exclusive
โขMetal Gear Solid 1-3 Remasters - PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series, PC
PlayStation Studios Malaysia Studio has helped Striking Distance Studios greatly with The Callisto Protocol by having over 150 of their staff members assist development on the game.
This is just another major example of how PlayStation Studios wants to see the industry thrive.
The FTC has confirmed that Starfield, Indiana Jones, and SEVERAL other games at Xbox Game Studios + Bethesda were once in development for PS5 but Microsoft pulled the plug on those versions.
Microsoft has been trying to say they want games everywhere but keep contradicting that.
Why are Xbox fans trying to make it seem like Horizon: Zero Dawn's 20 million copies sold is a bad thing?
Both Halo and Forza don't come close in terms of both pure sales and revenue, they've been around for 10+ years. Horizon is a new IP and is outselling both.
FromSoftware is apparently making another PlayStation exclusive game, Project "Velvet Veil".
Some previous exclusives in the past 10ish years;
Demon's Souls
Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn
BloodBorne
Deracine
FTC: "Tell us about the Disney IP, Indiana Jones being an Xbox Exclusive"
Phil Spencer: "One of Sony's biggest IP, Spider-Man doesn't ship on Xbox."
Important to note Microsoft passed up on Disneyโs offer to develop a Marvel IP. Also, Sony does not own Spider-Man.
Ok I'm gonna give some hints to an upcoming PS5 exclusive!
Is a PlayStation IP.
First appeared in the 90s.
Is a JRPG.
Is not being worked on by first party.
The last entry was within the past 5 years.
PlayStation Studios Spotlight - Polyphony Digital
This Japanese giant is currently working on the PS5 exclusive Gran Turismo 7. They are also hard at work on a JRPG as well as an open world Gran Turismo spinoff series akin to Forza Horizon and mid 2010s Need for Speed titles.
The "big" PlayStation Showcase / State of Play is gonna lineup Sony's 2022. Big announcements from several studios still to come, as nearly all of PlayStation Studios has at least 1 unannounced game ready.
Microsoft confirms that Final Fantasy VII Remake can't launch on Xbox because Sony paid for full console exclusivity, not timed exclusivity. So PlayStation and PC only.
Final Fantasy XVI remains the same way, future Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts games likely to follow.
It's not a rumor, Sony has approached CD Projekt multiple times. Hence why CD did that entire thing with announcing several The Witcher games alongside new Cyberpunk, it's to boost their stock before acquisition.
@NR_Garrett
@Variety
Game of Thrones's last episode had 19.3 million viewers on its finale episode with 18.4 million on the episode before. You think 9.9 million is unrealistic? Even with all the hate seasons 7/8 got, Game of Thrones is HBO's largest show ever.
Sony Interactive Entertainment to release over 50 PS1 and PSP games to the PS+ Extra lineup by April 2023. The licensing team has gone "above and beyond" after backlash from games coming too slow, I've heard.
While exact figures of the game are unknown, sources have told me a breakdown of how sales of Hogwarts Legacy are tracking;
PS5 - 46%
PC - 36%
Xbox - 18%
Also, the Hogwarts Legacy DualSense is completely sold out.
โ The leader in better performing games
โ The most exclusives
โ Virtual reality
โ Fastest SSD for consoles, doubling the speeds of the competition
โ Japanese games galore
โ Most of all the best community
Do not underestimate the power of PlayStation.
Sony Interactive Entertainment has apparently acquired Ballistic Moon, a new developer working on an unknown new Sony IP exclusively for PS5.
A recent job posting had the studio bunched up only with other Sony owned studios.
Sources: Sony Interactive Entertainment is looking into allowing PlayStation VR2 support PC / Mac.
This is to ensure the marketshare of PlayStation VR2 can grow rather than being restricted like the original PlayStation VR headset.
PS5 Pro specs have seemingly been passed around.
RDNA3 GPU with RDNA4 features clocking in around 14.3TF alongside 16GB of GDDR6 RAM.
Sheโs gonna be a powerhouse.
Activision Blizzard's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II is now the best selling game in the US for 2022 in just a single month on the market.
Breakdown of sales in the US;
PS4 / PS5 - 61%
PC - 22%
Xbox One / Xbox Series X | S - 17%
Visual Arts is now the lead on a brand new PS5 title based on a Naughty Dog IP. This "beloved" franchise will be co-developed with Naughty Dog.
It's expected to be out by 2025 at the earliest.
Sony Interactive Entertainment confirms that PlayStation Studios games will be less innovative if they no longer have that massive revenue coming in from Call of Duty.
This is a major part of why they're fighting for Call of Duty to remain on PlayStation.
Horizon II: Forbidden West had a budget of over $117 million, making it the
#1
most expensive media ever produced in the Netherlands and the
#3
largest PlayStore Studios title released by budget ever.
PlayStation All-Stars sequel update: developers are asking for too much money, it's nearly triple what Sony is willing to shell out. Roster may need to cut in half, licensing fees for the 80+ character mashup seems to be the main cost outside of development.
This is the last time the beautiful and extremely talented Thea White will voice Muriel Bagge as she passed away on July 31st of this year at the age of 81.
RIP Thea ๐
1940-2021
Reached out to the original source for a larger character list, plan is;
Crash
Spyro
Aloy
Deacon St. John
Spider-Man (Peter)
Spider-Man (Miles)
Ellie
Joel
Astro
Dart Feld
Rivet
The Hunter (Bloodborne)
Joker (Persona 5)
Geralt
Vib
+ about 30 others
Sources: PlayStation Studios is interested in a sequel to PlayStation All-Stars: Battle Royale thanks to their acquisition of EVO.
Characters like Crash, Aloy, Deacon, Ellie, Joel, Spyro, and more are planned for the sequel alongside all characters from All-Stars.
I wouldn't worry too much about Horizon: Forbidden West. It has the largest opening for any PS5 game and second for PS4 just behind The Last of Us Part II.
Pretty sure when Starfield releases, it wonโt be overshadowed by anything. That will be the primary game gamers will be talking about.
Even Halo and Forza had their spotlight last holiday. That Sony canโt do the same now speaks volumes to me.
PlayStation Studios' PC branch is releasing tons of games in 2022! According to GeForce Now, here's what's coming in 2022;
Ghost of Tsushima - 2/8
Returnal - 4/30
Sackboy: A Big Adventure - 5/1
Horizon: Forbidden West - 9/30
Ratchet & Clank (2016) - 10/3
PlayStation Studios' Ghost of Tsushima from Sucker Punch Productions will not only be getting a movie, but an anime adaptation too.
PlayStation Productions will reveal more information soon!
Microsoft: exclusivity is bad
Also Microsoft: we're gonna make every Bethesda game exclusive and will with every Activision Blizzard game except COD since we'll make our money back quick keeping it multiplatform
Microsoft confirms that Final Fantasy VII Remake can't launch on Xbox because Sony paid for full console exclusivity, not timed exclusivity. So PlayStation and PC only.
Final Fantasy XVI remains the same way, future Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts games likely to follow.
Have it on extremely good word that if Microsoft acquires Activision Blizzard, Sony is going after Take-Two Interactive to counter it.
3 of my trusted and almost always correct sources confirmed that to me.
Interesting that a 3rd party publisher (Square) is allowed to lock major games off Xbox.
But a 1st party publisher (Bethesda) isnโt allowed to make a Xbox exclusive.
To recap today's news;
โขUbisoft+ Classic included with PS+ Extra / Premium
โขPS1 and PSP BC is real
โขPS1 Classics and PSP Classics are Cross-Buy between PS3, PS4, PS5, PSP, and PS Vita / PS TV
โขHigher res / FPS + save states and rewinds coming to PS1 and PSP games
At the end of the day, I think Sony will acquire (by 2030);
Square Enix
Capcom
Konami
Embracer
Crytek
SEGA
Ubisoft
Remember 2 things; The Great European Acquisition War is about to begin and Sony is at the forefront. Also, 2030 would include 2 more budget additions.
Sony Interactive Entertainment's PlayStation Studios is assisting Square Enix on the development of Final Fantasy XVI.
Yoshida-san, the director of the game, confirms that the teams at Sony have heavily helped with optimization amongst other things.
Sources: Sony Interactive Entertainment to "heavily" focus on subscriptions starting sometime in 2023. They're planning on removing the once a month updates to PS+ Extra and instead release games whenever like Xbox Game Pass.
This is to offer more titles Day 1.
PlayStation Spartacus
Essential - $9.99/month
โขPS Plus essentially
Extra - $12.99/month
โขPS Now combined with PS Plus essentially
Premium - $15.99/month
โขFree Trials
โขBackwards Compatibility In Catalog
โขCloud Gaming
โขMonthly Games Added
I think the most anticipated game for me right now is what PixelOpus has in development. Concrete Genie was such a wonderful experience and the fact that they're working with Unreal Engine 5 + having assistance from Sony Pictures Animation makes me super pumped.
Sony Interactive Entertainment has acquired Ballistic Moon, making the PlayStation Studios count jumping to 27 studios.
The studio was formed in 2020 made up by mainly ex-Supermassive Games developers.
HBO Max removes 4K and Dolvy Vision support for Xbox One and Xbox Series platforms. PS5 is now the only console to have 4K support with the Warner Bros. Discovery streamer.
The FTC has agreed to give Sony Interactive Entertainment the ability to limit the scope of the initial subpoena from Microsoft. They are not allowing a full blown search like previously wanted.
Helldivers II has surpassed well over 1 million copies now, splitting the PS5 and PC difference almost 50/50. Alongside this, it broke a new peak player count on Steam of 155.9K players.
Sony Interactive Entertainment is extremely happy as it blows expectations out the water.
Moon Studios, the team behind the Ori franchise at Xbox Game Studios, confirmed via their CEO that Xbox Game Pass hurts Moon Studios and Microsoft is currently not allowing the game on PlayStation.
Sources: Sony Interactive Entertainment is "very interested" in bringing back classic PlayStation Japanese IP, looking for studios willing to do them.
This will be a combination of remakes, sequels, VR titles, mobile spinoffs, and more.
I find Xbox fanboys a little laughable when it comes to performance.
Modern Warfare II is a Sony marketed game, runs better on Xbox, they love it.
Warzone 2 is a Sony marketed game, runs better on PS5, all of a sudden Sony paid to have the Xbox version nerfed and PS5 is weak.
PlayStation Showcase - 4/10
LOADS of unanswered questions from PlayStation Studios, little was shown from their studios. Lots of indies, hardly any VR time. The Q handheld is a massive L.
"When we consider Game Pass, weโve sold more PS5โs in two years than they have gathered subscribers and theyโve been doing that for 6-7 years. Weโre just shy of 50 million subscribers and they are in the low 20s, but thereโs more work to do to grow that numberโ - SIE CEO Jim Ryan
PlayStation Studios highlight - Shanghai Studio.
Shanghai Studio, the Chinese first party studio that handles the entire China Hero Project will release Loong Forceโs Convallaria in 2024.
The third person shooter supports up to 100 players in both PVP and PVE environments.
Little inside stuff - 22 developers from across the globe, including some from PlayStation Studios, helped put this together.
Rockstar North is obviously the lead once again.
Publishers Sony Interactive Entertainment currently has a deal with for a least 1 PS5 Console Exclusive (PS5 and PC) or PS5 Timed Exclusive (PS5 first, PC later);
Take-Two Interactive
SEGA
Konami
Square Enix
Embracer Group
Devolver Digital
Capcom
+ more
26 studios.
5 publishers.
80+ games.
1 vision.
Sony Interactive Entertainment is leading the charge for the gaming industry, and with the other 7 gaming publishers across Sony Group making a monster 12 publishers altogether, we're in for a new rebirth of quality.
Ghostwire: Tokyo is unfortunately a massive disaster on Xbox Series X.
Bethesda Game Studios' Tango Gameworks title has performance below 30fps in various modes and its quality mode has major input delay.
I wonder what went wrong with this port given the extra time.
Patiently awaiting the next PlayStation Showcase like everyone else, man I'm just so excited to see everyone's reactions on Twitch / YouTube, it's a magical time for gamers when they see what Sony has to offer.
A little fun fact.
If Sony Group and Embracer merged, they would have 25 gaming publishers between them (12 and 13 respectively).
The pair combined would still not equate to the marketshare of Bethesda, Xbox Game Studios, and Activision Blizzard combined, hence the pushback.
PlayStation Studios games coming in 2024!
The Last of Us Part II Remastered - January 19th
Helldivers II - February 8th
Rise of the Ronin - March 22nd
Lost Soul Aside - Q1
Convallaria - TBA
Stellar Blade - TBA
Concord - TBA
Insomniac Games leak - that multiplayer game we kept hearing about, now titled Marvelโs Spider-Man: The Great Web has been canceled.
All multiplayer ambitions here moved to Marvelโs Spider-Man 3.
For the people saying Sony can't afford Take-Two Interactive or that they wouldn't spend $20-$25 billion on just Sony Interactive Entertainment, just remember in 2016-2017 that Sony put up a $50 billion bid for 21st Century FOX for just Sony Pictures Entertainment.
Just sayin'.
A little behind the scenes news; Sony Interactive Entertainment and Warner Bros. Discovery have signed a deal to have PlayStation market Mortal Kombat 12 and a new Harry Potter title.
Sony Interactive Entertainment currently has a deal to market all rated T or higher DC titles.
Expect PS4 to continue production into 2024, Sony had a 10 year plan for PS4 regardless to how well PS5 sold or how well PS5 was being produced to keep up with demand.
โKeep your religion away from me, out of our schools, and away from our children.โ
My speech at The Teens Against Gender Mutilation Rally in Murfreesboro, TN.
The Vergeโs Tom Warren confirmed my theory - Microsoft to do the business update next week, most of the team at Xbox including several higher ups are left in the dark about whatโs about to happen.
Microsoft essentially took control over the Xbox division โtil further notice.
Larian Studios, the developers behind Baldurโs Gate 3, confirms that Sony Interactive Entertainment did not pay for console exclusivity.
The developers haven chosen to release it first on PS5, PC, Mac, and GeForce Now.
Sony Interactive Entertainment is developing an additional 5 Marvel games thanks to the PlayStation Studios Marvel Universe (PSMU) getting such amazing reception (Spider-Man, Iron Man, Wolverine).
Developers unknown, Insomniac Games is only developing 2 right now.