Comments 521

Re: Sony SVP Says PlayStation Is 'Moving Away From A Hardware-Centric Business Model'

Questionable_Duck

@Weebleman Even if the "moving away from a hardware-centric business model" quote was referring to Sony as a whole, I think it's safe to say that PlayStation is not exempt from this, as well.

You can already see, just by the moves that Sony has been making lately, that console sales are no longer their biggest metric for success. The pursuit of live service games, the multiplatform pivot, etc. All this suggests that Sony is prioritizing software engagement and platform building with PlayStation rather than just relying on console sales. At least, that's my opinion.

Re: Sony SVP Says PlayStation Is 'Moving Away From A Hardware-Centric Business Model'

Questionable_Duck

@Fiendish-Beaver I agree, I don't think in the slightest that Sony will stop making consoles or abandon hardware altogether.

But again, he isn't saying "moving away from hardware," he said "moving away from a hardware-centric business." That has a completely different meaning. From what I can gather, he was basically saying that Sony is no longer going to use hardware sales as their primary metric to determine success. Rather, they're going to use software sales and platform growth instead.

Re: Sony SVP Says PlayStation Is 'Moving Away From A Hardware-Centric Business Model'

Questionable_Duck

@Fiendish-Beaver @Weebleman It's not completely being taken out of context, though. While, yes, Sony isn't saying they're gonna leave the hardware business and move away from making PlayStation consoles, the quote here is specifically referring to Sony's gaming business, not Sony as a whole.

Quote: "In the gaming business, we are moving away from a hardware centric business model more to a platform business that expands the community and increases engagement."

Note the use of the words, "in the gaming business."

Re: Helldivers 2 Coming To Xbox Was All Because Of PlayStation, Says Developer

Questionable_Duck

@Fiendish-Beaver "Today, I've asked people to nail their colours to the mast and say what games they expect to come over, and when they expect them to come, and no one has given me any definitive responses."

I can't say anything with 100% certainty since I obviously don't have any insider sources at Sony, but I expect Sony to port at least one major singleplayer game to Xbox consoles before the end of 2026.

My guess is that Days Gone, Spider-Man 2018, or Horizon: Zero Dawn will be the first singleplayer game to make the jump.

I also expect the rumored 2D God of War Metroidvania to launch day-one on at least Nintendo Switch. Not so sure about Xbox on that one. Because maybe releasing a God of War game, even a small one, day-and-date on Xbox would be too much.

Re: Marathon Is Expected To Launch Before April 2026 As Sony Tightens Its Grip On Bungie

Questionable_Duck

@Kaloudz By the way, did you see that Sony said that they're moving away from a hardware focused business model to a platform one, like Microsoft is?

“In the gaming business, we are moving away from a hardware centric business model more to a platform business that expands the community and increases engagement.” - Sadahiko Hayakawa

https://x.com/Genki_JPN/status/1953483758667170146

Re: Turn-Based TMNT Game Announced For Xbox, Releases Next Week

Questionable_Duck

@Sindayl Strange Scaffold really ignores PlayStation a lot with their games, for some reason. They tend to prioritize Xbox and Nintendo, in most cases.

Two of their other games, Space Warlord Organ Trading Simulator and An Airport for Aliens Currently Run By Dogs, were released on Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch, and PC, but not PlayStation. El Paso, Elsewhere, meanwhile, was released on Xbox a year before PS5.

Strange Scaffold and Chucklefish are two of the only developers I can think of that tend to release on everything except PlayStation consoles.

Re: Talking Point: So, What Other PS5 Games Do You Want To See Come To Xbox?

Questionable_Duck

@Jenkinss That's what I was thinking. Maybe Microsoft negotiated a deal with Sony so that they get, like, an 88% cut out of all PlayStation games sold on Xbox. That would give Sony an incentive to publish directly on the Xbox store instead of making Xbox gamers use Steam or something.

In Microsoft's eyes, while this may be an unfortunate concession, it's better to get 12% from Sony games than to get 0%.

I say, 12%, by the way, because that's how much of a cut Microsoft takes from games sold on the Xbox PC app, I believe.

Re: Talking Point: So, What Other PS5 Games Do You Want To See Come To Xbox?

Questionable_Duck

@Fiendish-Beaver Fair, but notice how they don't even have a specific role for Nintendo ports yet. They do, however, have roles for both Xbox and PC.

"Senior Manager, Platform Sales – Xbox & PC

Manager, Platform Planning & Performance – PC & Xbox"

They wouldn't be hiring a new team of well-paid executives if they only had plans to continue doing what they're already doing. The job listing clearly shows Sony's strategy has changed significantly.

Re: Talking Point: So, What Other PS5 Games Do You Want To See Come To Xbox?

Questionable_Duck

@Fiendish-Beaver You would have said a month ago that there is no chance in hell Sony would ever willingly publish a game on Xbox, live service or otherwise. And yet, here we are with Helldivers 2. Now the goalpost has moved to "it's just live service games."

We have went through this song and dance at least twice already. First, with Sony porting their games to PC, and second, with Microsoft bringing their games to PS/Xbox.

When it comes to multiplatform stuff, corporations are never going to put hard red lines on what they will port over or not. When they see the success they have from their live service/smaller singleplayer games on Xbox and Nintendo, they will make the move to port some older tentpole singleplayer games to other platforms as well.

I've said this before in other comments, but it's not a matter of if, it's a matter of when.

Re: Talking Point: So, What Other PS5 Games Do You Want To See Come To Xbox?

Questionable_Duck

@themightyant You're right, but the thing is, the days of exclusives convincing people to switch platforms en masse is over. It doesn't matter if Sony starts porting some of their old tentpole singleplayer games to Xbox. The overwhelming majority of PlayStation gamers will remain on PlayStation.

The only thing that would threaten the PlayStation platform is if Sony started releasing mainline God of War, The Last of Us, etc. games on Xbox day-and-date. Then they would be giving people no reason to buy a PlayStation. But that's not gonna happen.

Older singleplayer titles, on the other hand, make a lot of sense. Sony has won the console war, and no matter how many old games they port to other platforms, people are not gonna leave PlayStation to get an Xbox.

Re: Talking Point: So, What Other PS5 Games Do You Want To See Come To Xbox?

Questionable_Duck

NateTheHate and Shinobi, the two insiders who told people that they're getting carried about with this job listing, don't actually know anything about what Sony plans to bring to other consoles.

PlayStation may not be actively developing a God of War Xbox port, sure, but there is zero chance that Sony is going to just stop at small titles and live service games with its multiplatform initiative. They will see the money they make from these Xbox/Nintendo ports, and then make the move to bring some tentpole singleplayer titles as well, in the future. Not day-and-date, of course, but eventually.

If you asked Nate and Shinobi if Sony would ever bring Helldivers 2 and Lego Horizon to Switch/Xbox a year or so ago, they would have laughed in your face and told you no.

Re: No Rest For The Wicked May Skip Xbox 'For The Time Being' Due To 'Current Market Conditions'

Questionable_Duck

Good job screwing over the one fanbase that made your company become successful. If it wasn't for Xbox players, Ori and the Blind Forest would've flopped and Moon Studios wouldn't be a renowned studio.

I never liked Thomas Mahler anyways, the dude always seemed to be a bit of a jerk who uses culture warring to gain internet points (not to mention the reports about him being a terrible person to work with), but this further cements my disdain for him.

Re: Opinion: Xbox Series X Still Hasn't Been Fully Utilised Yet, But 2026 Could Be The Year

Questionable_Duck

"That said, imagine what MS/their array of devs could do with a game if they were NOT held back by having to scale down for the S as well."

We don't need to image, we can just look at the games that Sony has made for PS5, none of which were "held back" by the Series S. And, from a technical standpoint, these games pretty much look exactly the same as Series X games.

Re: Opinion: Xbox Series X Still Hasn't Been Fully Utilised Yet, But 2026 Could Be The Year

Questionable_Duck

@dskatter Didn't Larian say that optimizing for the Series S helped improve BG3 as a whole?

https://gamerant.com/baldurs-gate-3-xbox-series-s-memory-optimization-better-performance-improvements/

Besides, that and Wukong are literally the only two games in the last five years that have actually been impacted by the Series S. You would be hard pressed to find literally any other examples of games being delayed or downgraded on Xbox because of the Series S.

Re: Opinion: Xbox Series X Still Hasn't Been Fully Utilised Yet, But 2026 Could Be The Year

Questionable_Duck

@dskatter Blaming the Series S, as if it is responsible for the Series X not being fully utilized is so bizarre to me, when Sony hasn't released a single game (aside from maybe Death Stranding 2) that has taken full advantage of the PS5 or the PS5 Pro. Clearly you are not seeing games with drastically better graphics on PS5, and the Series S certainly isn't to blame for PS5 exclusives being unable to take advantage of the console.