PlayStation, possible arrow to Xbox: "money is not enough for talent"

PlayStation, possible arrow to Xbox: money is not enough for talent

PlayStation, possible arrow to Xbox

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What is PlayStation's strategy for making a development studio successful? Jim Ryan tried to reveal it, during an interview with Stephen Totilo for Axios. And the answer, as often happens when certain managers and executives speak, is by no means so obvious. Ryan has been with Sony for some time now and has only recently taken over the reins, to accompany the launch of the new console and guide the company towards a new horizon regarding video games.

Jim Ryan spoke how talent is cultivated on PlayStation. "It would be simplistic to feed the studios only by guaranteeing sources of money," said the president of Sony's gaming division. More specifically, Ryan spoke of how no one decides to put stakes on projects currently in development at the first parties gathered under the PlayStation Studios label. "When Sucker Punch introduced us to Ghost of Tsushima it wasn't the game we thought they were producing but we didn't stop anything, we weren't so strict" concluded Ryan.

The PlayStation philosophy, therefore, seems to be summed up like this: no stakes or creative limits, but only freedom and then the actual financing, with the approval of the project. A choice that is also consistent with what has happened in the past, not only under the label of first parties but also with strong relationships with third parties. An example? Death Stranding: although not directly funded by Sony, he was granted the use of the platform and the Tenth Engine, as well as obviously taking care of the costs associated with the launch and distribution on consoles.

At the moment for Jim Ryan this is the only way to go. "I can't wait to find out what third parties and studios have in store under the PlayStation Studios label. There are games like Spider-Man Miles Morales or Returnal, which demonstrate what developers can do in no time. Imagine what the future will be like in two or three years ", concluded the executive in force at Sony.

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Head of Xbox Phil Spencer Quietly Criticises PlayStation's PC Port Strategy

Head of Xbox Phil Spencer has quietly criticised other developers that port their games to PC after initial release, and charge full price for the new versions. Spencer didn't say he was talking about PlayStation... but he was talking about PlayStation.


In a video shown to press this week, Spencer explained Xbox is currently, 'the only platform shipping games on console, PC and cloud simultaneously.' He then compared that to other companies. “Others bring console games to PC years later, not only making people buy their hardware up front, but then charging them a second time to play on PC. And of course, all of our games are in our subscription service day one, full cross-platform included.”


Sony only recently began creating PC ports for its first-party PlayStation exclusives, but it's recently committed to the idea. PlayStation Studios boss Hermen Hulst recently said there was clear appetite for the PC ports, but that 'PlayStation will remain the best place to play our PlayStation Studios titles at launch.'


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As Spencer points out, PlayStation's current strategy is to release its games on console first, with full-priced PC ports following at a later date – a marked difference to the Xbox Play Anywhere approach that sees all Xbox first-party games sold at a single price, offering access on all supported platforms.


As part of Spencer's presentation, Xbox also announced that it would commit to bringing at least one first-party game to Xbox Game Pass every quarter going forward. It was part of a wider new push to bring Xbox experiences to as many people as possible regardless of whether they have consoles, including building Xbox apps into new TVs.


While a little coded, it's an unexpected criticism from the usually generous Spencer – who also recently called console tribalism 'one of the worst things in the industry.'