The Ascension of Sony's First Party – And What It Means For PS5

While Sony has always used exclusive games to sell its PlayStation consoles, it's not really unfair to say that for a very long time, most of those exclusives came from third party partners, rather than Sony themselves. Crash Bandicoot, Spyro, Final Fantasy, Metal Gear Solid, Ridge Racer, Tekken, Persona, most notable PlayStation games that people identified the brand with, at least early on, were not from Sony. There were, of course, exceptions to the rule – Gran Turismo was an early Sony first party hit, and it spawned a franchise that continues to this day, while God of War and Ratchet and Clank kicked off series of their own in the PS2 era. But like I said, they were exceptions, not the rule.

This started to change in the PS3 era. That was when Sony realized it couldn't take third party exclusives for granted – don't get me wrong, most major third party games still came to the PS3, but games that may once have been PlayStation exclusive, such as Grand Theft Auto 4, or most notably, Final Fantasy 13, all went multiplatform, hitting the Xbox 360 as well. In terms of exclusives, Sony didn't have the edge, because most of their notable exclusives were going to multiple systems at the same time.

Sony understood their plight here, because they did the extremely sensible thing that it would take some of their competitors another decade or so to get around to doing themselves – they realized that if they wanted to sell their systems on the back of their exclusives, those exclusives would have to come from themselves. Sony could no longer rely on third parties furnishing PlayStation with notable exclusives, not in the era of HD development, where game development was so expensive that multiplatform releases were all but necessary to see meaningful returns on investment.

the last of us

The PS3 era was where Sony started to build up its first party roster. It was marked by wild experimentation, and a sort of "anything goes" philosophy. It was a bit reminiscent of the Sega of old actually – a lot of games, with a lot of varied styles, and of wildly varying quality. But Sony's first party games in the PS3 era weren't necessarily huge industry stopping performers – selling 5 million was a big deal for a Sony game (ones not named Gran Turismo anyway) back in the day. It wasn't until the very end of the PS3 era, with The Last of Us, that the success – and future direction – of Sony's first party efforts became clear.

The Last of Us was a seminal critical success, but perhaps more importantly, it was a massive commercial success. With over 18 million units sold, it showed Sony what a market there was for that kind of game – and from then on, that informed their direction with their titles.

Rather than trying to meet every possible genre – such as multiplayer shooter – with their first party games, Sony realized they didn't need to do that. After all, no third party multiplayer shooter they made would be bigger than Call of Duty, and Call of Duty was going to come to PlayStation anyway. But there was a market for story driven singleplayer experiences – a market that was very clearly not being served, as third party publishers hopped on the Games as a Service bandwagon. And Sony is exceptionally good at making games that fit that single player story driven adventure mold. And so the circumstances all lined up, and the perfect storm was born.

The results speak for themselves, really. Last generation, Sony had one game that crossed 10 million – Gran Turismo 5 (The Last of Us needed the PS4 port to reach its massive sales). This generation, we have five games to have done so already: Spider-Man, Horizon: Zero Dawn, God of War, and, yes, the PS4 port of The Last of Us. This isn't counting games such as The Last of Us Part 2 or Ghost of Tsushima, which are all but guaranteed to get to the 10 million milestone (and which would bring that total up even further).

The list of that games is as important as what it signifies. That's a list that includes two sequels, two new IPs, and one new take on an existing property. Basically what it shows is Sony is capable of moving anything in big numbers, be it a sequel or a new IP. Crossing 10 million units sold that frequently – and on one system alone – when that is a mark even third parties often fail to breach (when releasing on multiple platforms) is indicative of the strength of Sony's first party now. Sony's first party game releases become events now, and each is guaranteed to meet a certain baseline standard of quality, and be a big seller – at least as far as Sony's big flagship releases go.

horizon forbidden west

Why is this important? It's important because Sony is now capable of selling its consoles to a fanbase on the basis of nothing but their first party games. There are enough fans of Naughty Dog, God of War, or Horizon that people will want to get a PS5 to get their respective next games. This is honestly something that only one other company has ever managed to achieve – Nintendo (who have now been selling their systems on the back of mostly nothing but their own titles for almost 20 years now). Not even Sega could support a console with only its first party efforts, and it's no coincidence that the most successful Sega system – the only successful Sega system – was the one that had an entire industry's worth of third party support backing it.

In the long run, this secures Sony's position entirely. Even in a nightmare hypothetical scenario, where they make a system that is completely abandoned by third parties, Sony can sell enough consoles on the promise of their first party games to stay afloat until they can try again (think Nintendo with the Wii U or GameCube) – and of course, Sony will never reach that nightmare scenario to begin with, because in spite of the strength of their first party games, they still do make consoles with third party game makers in mind.

What this means for the next generation is that, presuming the PS5 is not a sales disaster, we will probably see more games from Sony cross the 10 million mark (probably the sequel to Ghost of Tsushima and maybe even Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart), but also more games cross the 15 million mark (only two did this gen), and start to brush up against the 20 million ceiling. Once again, these are crazy numbers – most multiplatform games don't even reach those numbers, and those release on multiple systems, not just one. And these crazy numbers will only perpetuate Sony's position in the industry, and their capability to sell their platforms without needing to rely on third parties to carry the torch for them – millions will buy a PlayStation anyway to play Sony's first party efforts. 

Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.

Call Of Duty: Warzone Is Seemingly Teasing Franchise's Next Game

Call of Duty Warzone_04

Despite entering August, we have yet to hear anything about 2020's Call of Duty entry. While some suspected the game would be pushed back due to COVID concerns, this isn't the case. It's been confirmed there will be an entry this year, as per usual, and that the reveal will be "very different" than anything the company has done before. Well, today, we might be getting a feel for what that means.

Players who have been playing Warzone have reported a random 'glitch' message coming up during rounds. It consists of two screens, one saying "Know Your History," and the other a message in Russain (you can see both below). It was said earlier in the month that Warzone, the current free to play battle royale mode of the series, would evolve and be integrated into the mainline series. It seems this could be what was being referenced. Could it be possible that the next game will finally be unveiled inside Warzone in some fashion?

Activision has sent out strange crates to streamers and press that were said not to be opened until August 10th, which you can read about through here. Most likely this is something involving the next Call of Duty, and all of this will be tied together. We know the likely title is Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War because of a bag of chips. We'll see what's in those crates come Monday.

COD 2020 knowhistoryglitch_02 COD 2020 knowhistoryglitch_01

Assassin's Creed Valhalla Showcases Female Eivor And Remixed Music In Cinematic Trailer

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While the franchise took a year off, it's now time for one of Ubisoft's biggest series to return with vengeance in the form of Assassin's Creed Valhalla. The game will take you to the viking days at the year's end across current and next gen consoles. And today we got something of an alternate look at the game's reveal.

Ubisoft released a new cinematic trailer for the game. It'll look familiar as it's much like the game's initial reveal trailer, just this time featuring the female version of main protagonist, Eivor, instead of the male. Much like the previous game in the franchise, you can chose your main character's gender, though this time around you can swap genders on the fly. The trailer also sounds a little different as it includes a remixed version of the main theme. You can check it out below.

Assassin's Creed Valhalla will launch for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC and Stadia on November 17th with versions for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X to come later. We recently got to sit down with the game's Narrative Director and talked all about the game, and you can take a look at it through here.

Suicide Squad Reportedly Began Development In 2016-2017, Still "A While" Before Release – Rumor

Suicide Squad

So out of the blue today, Rocksteady decided to confirmed they are, in fact, working on a game based on Suicide Squad that will be unveiled at DC Fandome later in the month. It's long been rumored this was the case, but the developer decided to remove all doubts it seems. Rocksteady has been radio silent ever since the release of Arkham VR in 2016. We don't know a lot about this game right now, but we do have some new potential information about when it started development, and when we can, and cannot, expect to see it on shelves.

Bloomberg's Jason Schreier took to his official Twitter to talk about the surprise announcement. There he talked about the Suicide Squad game from WB Montreal that was canceled (you can read about this through here), and that Rocksteady's take came into being roughly somewhere in the late 2016 or early 2017 range. Despite that, Schreier does say not to expect much more than a tease at Fandome, saying the game is still a ways off. As always, take these types of reports as rumor, but Schreier is one of the more reliable sources.

We're not even sure what the game will be called at this point, though a recent website registration points to Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, which matches with the recent tease. DC Fandome will be on August 22nd, so we will, hopefully, get a better picture then.

Injustice And Mortal Kombat Creative Director Confirmed To Be At DC Fandome

Near the end of this month, DC is planning to drop quite the treat for their fans with the Fandome event. It will take place over a 24 hour period and have all kinds of different looks at movies, TV shows and video games spawning from various DC properties. We know for a fact that Rocksteady's next game based on Suicide Squad will be there, but what else is in store? Well, a certain notable someone could be giving us a hint.

Ed Boon of NetherRealm Studios confirmed via Twitter in his usually cheeky way that he would be at the event on a panel with Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson (he will not actually be with Johnson, it's just listed alphabetically). But it is, in fact, true that he will be at the event in some capacity. Boon is a long time member of NetherRealm and served as a Creative Director for both the Mortal Kombat and Injustice series.

Considering the context of the event, along with rumors that a new Injustice is in the works as well as something going on with the comic book series tied into the game, it seems chances are good we could get a reveal of Injustice 3. Of course, they could throw us for a loop and bring us information about Mortal Kombat. It would be a very Boon-like thing to reveal something non-DC at a specific DC event. DC Fandome will be held on August 22nd, and whatever comes from this, we'll let you know.

PS5 to Outsell Xbox Series X 2:1, Analyst Firm Predicts

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Sony and Microsoft are preparing to launch their respective next-gen consoles in a few months' time, and both will be hoping for success with their new hardware. According to a new report by analyst firm DFC Intelligence, however, Sony will likely end up seeing a lot more success- at least from a hardware sales standpoint.

As per DFC Intelligence, Sony will have breached 100 million units sold for the PS5 by the end of 2024, making it their third home console to do so. The firm also predicts that it will outsell the Xbox Series X 2:1, owing to the PlayStation being more globally popular. The report mentions that with PlayStation having much more cache in European markets and in Japan (and essentially most other non-English speaking markets), Sony's console is likely to see much greater success in terms of sales.

DFC Intelligence's report does mention, however, that in spite of significantly lower sales than the PS5, the Xbox Series X and Microsoft's approach to next-gen will probably lead to greater success in the long-term. With Xbox Game Pass being Microsoft's primary focus in their new system-agnostic ecosystem, raw hardware sales for their next-gen consoles probably won't be the only metric to measure success by.

Another recent report recently predicted similar sales for the two consoles, saying that the PS5 will outsell the Xbox Series X 2:1 and will probably have sold 120 million units worldwide in a matter of five years. You can read more on that through here.

Of course, it's worth mentioning that crucial variables for both consoles are still unknown- most importantly, the price. The Xbox Series X is scheduled to receive more info later this month, while the PS5 will also reportedly be receiving new details soon, so perhaps we'll learn more about that in the coming days.

13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim Trailer Teases Time Travel Shenanigans

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Strange things are afoot in 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim, Vanillaware's critically acclaimed narrative adventure/RTS that's finally getting a Western release. It's set in an alternative version of 1980s Japan with 13 characters pulled into a war versus alien invaders. However, there's also elements of time travel mixed in – check out the latest trailer, which hints at what happens when the player fails.

The story intertwines between all 13 characters as they pilot Sentinel mechs in an attempt to defeat the kaiju. Depending on how things pan out, the future may end up the worse for wear. Of course, what's going on with each student and how that impacts their battle performance is also a key factor.

13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim is out on September 22nd, having been delayed by two weeks from its original date. The delay has allowed for the inclusion of English voice-overs in a day one update which is a nice consolation. Stay tuned for more details on the title in the coming weeks.

GhostWire: Tokyo Lets You Pet the Dog

Ghostwire Tokyo_pet the dog

QuakeCon at Home 2020 is currently ongoing so Tango Gameworks decided to provide a short update on GhostWire: Tokyo. As is the trend – or should be, depending on your outlook – it will be possible to pet the dog. Check out the trailer below with Shinji Mikami providing the news.

To be fair, among all the games you can pet the dog, GhostWire: Tokyo's looks very good. There will likely be others and given that 99 percent of the city's population has suddenly up and vanished, these good boys and girls will require your attention. Of course, you can fight off a number of evil spirits along the way.

GhostWire: Tokyo is out in 2021 for PS5 and PC. For consoles, it will launch on PlayStation 5 first and use DualSense's haptic feedback along with 3D spatial audio to immerse the player. It's set to be quite the epic experience with Mikami noting it to be the "longest" he's ever worked on a game. Stay tuned for more gameplay details and footage in the coming months.

Over 40% of PlayStation's Revenue in Previous Quarter Came from DLC and Microtransactions

PlayStation logo

During their recent quarterly financial brief for the first quarter of the current fiscal year (April 1 – June 30), Sony revealed that the bulk of revenue for their PlayStation division (their Game and Network Services division, as they call it), came from add-ons (via Niko Partners senior analyst Daniel Ahmad on Twitter).

To be more precise, 41% of their net revenue came from microtransactions in games and from purchased expansions and DLC via the PlayStation Network, amounting to $2.29 billion. Meanwhile, 16% of the revenue (amounting to $0.87 billion) came from subscription services, including PlayStation Plus and PlayStation Now.

24% of the revenue (or $1.37 billion) was attributed to digital sales of games. Digital sales have been steadily increasing for all companies of late, especially in this previous quarter (the pandemic has likely contributed to those boosted numbers significantly). Console sales and physical software sales collectively make up for 15% of the net revenue.

Sony recently also confirmed that the PS4 has now shipped 112.3 million units worldwide.

Marvel's Avengers Trailer Highlights "PlayStation Advantages"

marvel's avengers image

Marvel's Avengers has come under plenty of flak of late with the announcement that Spider-Man will be coming to the game next year as an exclusive character on the PS4 and PS5. Sony have released a new trailer for the game, doubling down on that from a marketing perspective, while also highlighting other advantages that PlayStation owners will get with the game.

In addition to Spider-Man's addition to the game's roster of playable characters next year, on PlayStation, Marvel's Avengers will also have exclusive community challenges, early access to legendary outfits for various characters, and, of course, access to the game's beta a week before other platforms. That beta, incidentally, has kicked off now on PS4 for pre-order holders.

Spider-Man being exclusive to the game's PlayStation versions in particular is something that has kicked up something of a controversy, though the developers have said that that's down to the fact that Sony holds the license to that property.

Marvel's Avengers is out for the PS4, Xbox One, PC, and Stadia on September 4, and will also be coming to PS5 and Xbox Series X later in the year. We were able to spend several hours with the game's beta over the last week- you can read our impressions on it through here.

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