Sony kiss third-party exclusives farewell
The world has changed, says Koller
Marketing boss John Koller, of Sony Computer Entertainment America-fame, has said that console exclusivity is a thing of the past, with only first-party creations likely to be true to one format in the future.
"Exclusivity is something that doesn't truly exist in this cycle," the big cheese said at GDC.
"What does exist is first-party product. That's your exclusive product."
He admits that Microsoft now have the same big titles as the PS3, and that the PS2 exclusive days are long over.
"Exclusivity in the last console was a much different proposition, because developers would have smaller development costs, and they wouldn't necessarily feel the need to advertise that across all platforms.
"At that time we had a Grand Theft Auto exclusive, we had EA Sports at the beginning of PS2, we had Final Fantasy, and then we had a tremendous line-up of first-party games, that started off with the Jak & Daxters but went to the SOCOMs."
Koller believes, helpfully, that Sony's first-party development capability is the same as Microsoft and Sony's combined.
Comments
I don't think it's a question of hope. Sony's 1st part team has already shown, time and again, that they deliver quality product, much higher quality product than any 3rd party dev team (except...MAYBE....Kojima studios). As such, you then have to look at MS' internal team, if you really...really...want to enter into a debate over 1st party studios. The fact is, that while one cannot deny the quality of games like Halo, or Gears of War, the simple fact is, Sony has more of them, and they ALL deliver quality product that matches, and in some cases exceeds (obviously this is subject to debate) the quality of the aforementioned MS devs (Bungie/Epic).
So, from where i'm standing, yes, Sony has the lead on internal devs (and you know, that includes Nintendo also). As such, Sony doesn't need to rely as much...or at all, on 3rd party developement, because really, as the PS3 gains more marketshare, it won't be a matter of Sony having to pay for exclusivity, or even inclusion. It will become more cost effective for 3rd parties to make a PS3 version, simply to recoup developement costs for their games this cycle. IE. 3rd parties NEED Sony, whereas, Sony can get by perfectly fine on it's internal studios. Not to mention it's indie games push (Sony Pub Fund).
Morne
the above post proves there is hope left in a community of anoraks and fanboy feuds
Honestly Ellis, for a time, I was part of the fanboy feud, but, my new PC brought me out of that. I don't have to worry about missing out on anything, because any exclusives to MS these days, always hit PC. And...they're actually better on PC (simply because of the hardware ability).
But, for the intents of this discussion, you cannot ignore the fact that Sony's 1st party studios are consistently putting out IP that exceeds what the 3rd party studios are managing. Whether that's Sony's fault for not catering to the 3rd's enough, or not, really isn't something Sony has to be concerned with. The 3rd parties really need to be concerned THEMSELVES, because Sony can, and most certainly will, retreat into itself, provide absolutely nothing to the 3rd parties, and pump cash into their 1st party's (Keep in mind, that as of GDC Sony did offer new updates to it's PhyreEngine, as well as striking a deal w/ nvidia for free SDK's for PhysX....so, Sony IS doing SOME things for 3rd parties...but not NEARLY, as much as they do for their 1st parties). This is a win-lose situation for Sony. Because, Sony isn't spending a dime on 3rd party IP, and yet the 3rd parties are still forced to bring a version to the PS3, because they can't be guarunteed to recoup their costs via 1 platform only (360). Keep in mind, console development as a WHOLE this cycle...has increased cost-wise. Yes, the PS3 is more expensive, but don't forget that it's still higher on the 360, than previous gens also.
Morne
I must admit Sony do have some very strong 1st party titles and in my opinion they have had a couple of better ones than the 360 . Although my 360 still gets more use than my PS3 (mainly because I love my JRPG's). The best 1st party titles from the PS3 would be Drakes and Resistance well for me anyway.
The 360 for at least has just had better exclusives this gen than Sony's ofering.
Back to the article is it me or does this make no sense?
Koller believes, helpfully, that Sony's first-party development capability is the same as Microsoft and Sony's combined.
Does that mean he thinks that MSofts 1st party output is 0?
Bah who cares just let the games keep coming.
Mornelithe,
This has a lot to do with the fact that the Sony subsidiary companies, like Naughty Dog and Guerrilla Games, are developing on the PS3 as their primary development platform, whereas MOST third party developers have been developing on the 360 first, then porting to the PS3 afterwords.
As long as MS is willing to spend the money, the third party developers are making their money back without having to do any work up front.
@ MeMyselfandI:
You know, at one point, everyone thought that MS' exclusivity payments were enough to recoup costs...then again, why would Bioshock need to go Multiplat, if that were the case? Why would Mass Effect 2, need to come to the PS3? You see, I think that MS and Co. are attempting to put on a show, that they can take exclusives, and still allow developers the ability to reap great rewards. Fact is, that's not the case. These games have to sell in the millions in order to recoup costs, and that's not a guaruntee when developing for a single console.
But, you still miss the point I'm making, Sony doesn't need 3rd party studios, because it's internal developers aren't stuck on 1 or 2 types of games. You've got top tier racers (WipeoutHD, Gran Turismo), top-tier platformers (Ratchet&Clank, Uncharted, GoW3, Infamous, LittleBigPlanet), top-tier FPS/TPS (Killzone 2, MGS4 - ok, not an internal dev, but close), psychological thrillers (Heavy Rain + Syren's Call). Top Tier Sports (2K the Show), etc... The point being, unlike MS' internal devs, which really excel at 1-2 types of games (FPS/TPS)....Sony's cover a huge spectrum of gaming. Again, Sony doesn't need 3rd parties. They need Sony.
Morne