Kept you waiting, huh?
There is a lot of talk about Game Pass potentially being unsustainable without any real merit really. In reality, it’s sustained by one of the biggest tech companies in the world in Microsoft. One of the things that’s interesting to me personally is the shift in how Sony is moving into other territories in entertainment to help themselves.
For example, The Last of Us is getting its own TV series served up by HBO Max in the USA and in the UK, Sky. It’s quite remarkable really how times have changed since the Xbox One days. TV was a bad thing back then, but now, along with other initiatives that Sony has gotten involved in. It could be substantially helping their case for making the games that PlayStations fans know and love bigger and better. While also upping the profitability margins for them all the same and making them all important highly renowned single-player games much more sustainable.
You may say to me, well Craig, aren’t these games selling huge anyway? And I’d agree, but I’d also politely tell you just how expensive year on year these PlayStation-exclusive games are getting to sustain.
I can also mention the fact that there is a clear ‘new direction’ in Sony’s attempt to use and maximise its intellectual properties to new levels. You could also say, the very direction to head to live service and much more story-based multi-player games are really going to help the cause as well.
In a way, it’s safe to say it’s good news because PlayStation fans will continue to see the best single-player games, but also new ways in which Sony will want to maximise each IP. We’re seeing that with The Last of Us, but as announced recently, that’s also happening with Grand Turismo now as well.
In a way, it’s a very strategic move by Sony bosses. It’s something that probably needed to be done but at the same time, it pushes the envelope for the business and continues to allow them to manoeuvre in a way that is competitive not only with Nintendo but also Xbox as well.
All in all, it’s good news that PlayStation is heading in this direction for its future. I also think as long as Sony doesn’t lose sight of just what made PlayStation great in the first place. Then, they really won’t have anything to worry about in terms of keeping their fans happy.
Craig Clark
From gaming industry headlines to all things Manchester United and entertainment, Craig covers the stories everyone's talking about — alongside his own published works.