Sony Continues to Expand Its Strategy with Console Exclusives

[Peter_Brosdahl]

Image: Sony Interactive Entertainment



One of the things that has attracted people to becoming long-term fans of the PlayStation is its exclusives. These games often show off the hardware to such degrees that even PC gamers find themselves eyeing them. Sony Interactive Entertainment has been expanding its strategy for current and future exclusives as the PlayStation 5 launch nears. VGC spotted an interview that Reuters recently had with SIE CEO Jim Ryan, who continues to lay out more details regarding this ongoing strategy.



One of the driving forces for this business model is console sales. He...

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[Dudhunter]

Really wanted to buy a PS5 after how much I enjoyed the ps4... but game pass is a ridiculous value.

 

[Armenius]

Really wanted to buy a PS5 after how much I enjoyed the ps4... but game pass is a ridiculous value.

Sony doesn't think this is a sustainable business strategy, which is why they won't make a similar service. Sony also believe that their games are worth too much to give away for $10/month, apparently.

 

[MadMummy76]

Sony doesn't think this is a sustainable business strategy, which is why they won't make a similar service. Sony also believe that their games are worth too much to give away for $10/month, apparently.

And I agree, a good game is easily worth its price. I'd rather have 3 good games in a year than get showered with dozens of mediocre titles over some subscription service like games pass, or ea play, or whatever.

Paying $10/$15 a month for games I wasn't interested in enough to buy in the first place is not such a good deal.

 

[DrezKill]

Plus in this day and age, you only have to wait a few months to get discounts as large as 50% on new games, and by the next year chances are they'll be on sale for $5-$10.

 

[LeRoy_Blanchard]

And I agree, a good game is easily worth its price. I'd rather have 3 good games in a year than get showered with dozens of mediocre titles over some subscription service like games pass, or ea play, or whatever.

Paying $10/$15 a month for games I wasn't interested in enough to buy in the first place is not such a good deal.

Well based on your math.

3 good games at $60 a pop is $180 a year in games.
$10 a month subscription for 12 months would be $120 a year.
$15 a month subscription for 12 months would be $180 a year.

Therefore, you'll actually save money with the $10 per month subscription, but have access to at the very least try out every game available while still saving $60 a year. At $15 per month subscription, you'll break even, but still have access to dozens of other titles to try.

The only problem with this is everyone will soon have a subscription model like we do for streaming Movies/Shows and it'll start to become more expensive.

 

[MadMummy76]

Well based on your math.

3 good games at $60 a pop is $180 a year in games.
$10 a month subscription for 12 months would be $120 a year.
$15 a month subscription for 12 months would be $180 a year.

Therefore, you'll actually save money with the $10 per month subscription, but have access to at the very least try out every game available while still saving $60 a year. At $15 per month subscription, you'll break even, but still have access to dozens of other titles to try.

The only problem with this is everyone will soon have a subscription model like we do for streaming Movies/Shows and it'll start to become more expensive.

Strange because there is no math in my post. Thankfully buying the few games that are of interest to me are not a problem financially. So game pass cannot appeal to me with value.

To me 3 great games for $180 is much better value than even a hundred mediocre games for the same price.

Plus subscription services are based on fomo. I've had games pass for free and still had fomo for not utilizing it. I don't want to feel obliged to play games just to make my subscription worth its while. I often go an entire month or more without playing any games. On playstation that can be 6 months. So no, I Don't want a subscription model. I put $0 value on games I didn't want to buy.

 

[SeymourGore]

I've been pretty happy with Game Pass - I've been surprised by how much I've enjoyed games that I wasn't interested in the first place. Not sure if I'd still be a subscriber if I had to pay full price (did the Xbox Live Gold 1:1 transfer 'trick').

Still, I agree with Sony that they should focus on their exclusives. The reason I'll be picking up a PS5 at some point will be to catch up on whatever exclusives they launched this generation (unless they start porting more to PC).