There is no doubt about the success of PS5 exclusive games. And Sony clearly plans to keep its winning formula to benefit for many years to come.
The PS5 exclusives are very successful and raise a lot of expectations. You only need to see the impatience surrounding the release of a certain Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 to be convinced of this. By exploring the history of the Japanese firm’s First Party games, a common point clearly emerges: an importance and quality of storytelling. This is a principle for PlayStation.
PlayStation DPG speaks on future PS5 games
In recent times, it is undeniable that Sony has aggressively stepped up its efforts in the games services sector, with projects such as Concord and Fairgame$, the new creation of Jade Raymond. Faced with these announcements, some fans fear a reduction in traditional narrative experiences, like God of War, The Last of Us or even Uncharted. However, in recent documents, the CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment wants to be reassuring.
Indeed, his statements come from a Q&A session with analysts in 2022, disclosed following leaked Microsoft court documents. He was asked whether Sony’s plans to double its revenue from first-party games were based entirely on the 10 titles originally planned by April 2026, a figure which has since risen to 12. Jim Ryan clarified that Sony will not didn’t expect all of these games to be hugely successful. He stressed that the criterion for success would vary from case to case and affirmed that the company would continue to publish games rich in narrative, which will remain a “pillar” of PlayStation’s initiatives.
It would be naive of us to assume that all of these games will be huge successes.
These single-player games, visually stunning and rich in narrative, will continue to form the basis of our first-party publishing business.
PlayStation wants to make sure the message gets across
Of course, this is not the first time that PlayStation executives have made such comments. Hermen Hulst, head of PlayStation Studios, had previously stated that Sony would continue to produce narrative single-player games. But it’s always reassuring to hear the CEO himself reiterate this intention. We can therefore expect to see First-Party games following on from the great successes of recent years. It is entirely possible to imagine a The Last of Us 3 to achieve unanimous approval and continue to dominate sales.
It seems clear that Sony wants to reassure everyone regarding future PS5 games, both internally and to the public. This is understandable, because considering the successes of its catalog, we understand that conveying the wrong message (an exclusive focus on games as a service) would not be the best idea in itself. We know how dramatic bad buzz can be in the industry in terms of image. Everything is therefore carefully calculated.
In the same statement, Jim Ryan also mentions the PC, explaining that the games will be available there, which will increase profitability. It is therefore a great hope to one day see Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 arrive on this platform. But when?