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PlayStation has canceled two more live-service games, from subsidiaries Bend and Bluepoint, Bloomberg has learned

moogman

Neo Member
Sony seem to go round in circles. Get successful doing what they do best and what gamers want, decide that they can get more money and can sell anything to us, fail and go back to point 1.

Problem is it'll probably take 5 years and a full dev cycle to get fully back to where they were.
 
Sony fans, you should be seriously upset about this news, I cant even imagine excusing or defending this. Think about BluePoint... they had so much momentum. They made their mark with the Uncharted Collection and the Shadow of the Colossus remake, and then they really proved their talent with Demon’s Souls. Now, all of that momentum seems wasted on years of struggling with a fucking God of War GaaS project. Who knows how much employee turnover they’ve had during this time, and for those who stayed, imagine the hit to morale. This could damage the studio for years, maybe even permanently. It’s heartbreaking to see so much potential go to waste.
Who exactly asked Bluepoint to make a GoW MP game?

Do you have any idea how many Uncharted fans were disappointed when they found out that the Uncharted Collection didn't have Uncharted 2/3 MP?

Bluepoint has already ported 95% of the codebase to the PS4, all they had to do is port the rest 5% (the MP, mainly netcode, since the graphics engine is already ported) and also release a PS5 patch -> there's your GaaS (tons of MTX/skins to sell in UC3 MP):



Case in point, modders are already trying to reinstate UC3 MP (via LAN mode) on PS3 & PC (via RPCS3 emulation):



If you are a 1st party MP gamer (yes, those people exist, if you remember the PS3 era), there is nothing to play these days on a PS5.
 
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Felessan

Member
I don't care about revenue lol. I am a player and a customer. not a shareholder.
If you don't want to be pushed around and then cry on a forum about how companies betray your idealistic views - you should at least a little bit care about the basis of decision companies made.
And no, it's not "customer always right", it's for the most part "money always right". Just "money" is a complex thing here (it's NPV and not outright cash).

Besides, up few years ago physical 1st party games sold MORE on disc than digital...
Anecdotical evidence prove nothing
The things is - it's not even about 1st party (those are expected to sell at par). 1st party is a way to promote platform, having a high degree of physical is excellent. Physical option are for enthusiasts and for lower strata (as phys.games are cheaper) and if you can penetrate to lower strata its already a success.

Actually having physical at discounted price only helps Sony - they actually can sell convinience of not having to deal with disk for money at the same time not denying (and grabbing money) from those who prefer discount over convenience,

If you have all-digital future, you actually loose this tiered pricing - you either keep high price and deny access for lower strata or keep low price and not get extra "convenience" margin from higher strata.

PS. And as for enthusiasts that use lower strata prices for themselves - nobody cares about them. They just too small.
Same as credit card - if you can stay (and some can) in grace period - you obtain immensive benefit, deposit rate on half of your spending over grace period, miles, etc. Do banks care? Not so much (at least where I live). They clawback much more on those who have no financial discipline.
 
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Aenima

Member
I was kinda excited to know what Bluepoint was cooking. Knowing it was a GAAS im glad it got canned. Just a shame all these studios are losing time and money on failed attempts instead of doing what they are good at.
 
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seb85

Member
Why am I not surprised!
I expect nothing from a brand managed by couple of fucking morons who knows nothing about gaming or what gamers want
Fire these pics of garbage in suits before they take the entire playstation brand along it's first party studios to the ground
 
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Fabieter

Member
That narrative was created by clickbait media who offered 0 context. Christopher Dring never said it.

Hulst himself said that the game is super important to them. It showed with the controller and amazon show. It was probably just the start and was stuff they couldn't stop anymore. They had super high hopes.
 
Hermen Hulst himself. I saw him do a presentation to Bluepoint. He was smoking a cigar and had pages and pages of concept art made lovingly with crayon. Said this was how Bluepoint would reach true greatness. He Praised the Sun on his way out and they all followed suit. It was glorious!
This guy is a moron, he doesn't even respect GG's legacy (Killzone 2/3 MP), let alone ND's MP legacy (Uncharted 2/3 MP).

I'm not against GaaS, but I believe they're doing it the wrong way.

The right way: remaster old and beloved PS3 MP games that people have been craving to play for a long time!

Bonus: it's only going to cost 10% compared to Concord (and other unproven/cancelled new MP games). The rest 90% can be saved for SP projects.

Hermen Hulst doesn't get it. Nepotism at its finest if you ask me...
 

Men_in_Boxes

Snake Oil Salesman
Hulst himself said that the game is super important to them. It showed with the controller and amazon show. It was probably just the start and was stuff they couldn't stop anymore. They had super high hopes.
They have high hopes for all their games.

We know Marathon had mixed reactions to their play tests.
Dring said Fairgames was testing well internally (after the Concord flop).
We have no idea how Concord was testing internally.

If I was ya'll, I'd be very worried about the GAAS titles that didn't get shuttered during this last round of reviews. I think PlayStation has cut anything with a degree of risk to it. Their next 6 will likely do very well.
 

Felessan

Member
We know Marathon had mixed reactions to their play tests.
Because the idea behind... is not very much mainstream
It's basically spin-off of full-loot PvP from early MMO days (and for the notice - every MMO remotely mass-market abandon this notion since then). It's extremely nerdy, like Tarkov is.
But it might get its own WoW, LoL/DoTA, (PuBG) Fortnite moment if handled properly, where originally nerdy gameplay (mmo, battlegrounds, gank PvP) goes viral in mass-market
 
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Pop

Member
o31hmWv.jpeg


Now its so obvious what this teaser was. Sony trying to be greedy and chase the gaas money, only to lose hundreds of millions
 

VulcanRaven

Member
Sony fans, you should be seriously upset about this news, I cant even imagine excusing or defending this. Think about BluePoint... they had so much momentum. They made their mark with the Uncharted Collection and the Shadow of the Colossus remake, and then they really proved their talent with Demon’s Souls. Now, all of that momentum seems wasted on years of struggling with a fucking God of War GaaS project. Who knows how much employee turnover they’ve had during this time, and for those who stayed, imagine the hit to morale. This could damage the studio for years, maybe even permanently. It’s heartbreaking to see so much potential go to waste.
I would say that they made their mark with Metal Gear Solid HD Collection in 2011.
 

SlimySnake

Flashless at the Golden Globes
Nah dude, sony definitely owe you something since they sold you the console and everyone expect a constant stream of first parties from the company that sells you the console, of course they are not legally forced but you don't get to play naive here, you absolutely know what i'm talking about.
Bingo. This is the part people dont understand. We paid $500 to sony on the promise of games. Consoles havent shipped with games since the 80s. The entire business model is the trust between the console manufacturer and the consumer that those games will come in due time. With the PS5, that trust was predicated upon the goodwill they had built up releasing single player games. In an era when all third party publishers were chasing multiplayer trends, sony were a beacon of light. Not a single GaaS game was revealed at the PS5 reveal. They then pulled a 180 and greenlit 12 gaas games forcing all their SP studios to make those games and have now cancelled or shutdown 10 of them.

Thats a broken promise. A promise third party devs like CDPR do not make because we only pay them when they release their game.

That said, CDPR taking 4 years to make a pre-rendered Witcher 4 trailer is just as incompetent as ND releasing a 4 minute ingame trailer with no gameplay. They are both run by incompetent buffoons.
 
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Felessan

Member
False.
They invited Escape from Tarkov players to their playlists. That's an audience that fully embraces the Extraction Shooter. Has nothing to do with how mainstream the concept is at this early stage.
You miss the point
They have to get info from Tarkov to understand what makes it nerdy popular
Because full loot PvP is so out of market that even Tarkov, being nerdy, is already existence outside expectation. And if you want to push genre further - you should push it from already high high point, not your illusions.
Same as WoW did - it got best of niche of that time (like ff11, eq, la2 etc) - best r&d practically on the edge, made a perfect craft of it (compared to art) - and make it a huge success in mass-market
 

Felessan

Member
Bingo. This is the part people dont understand. We paid $500 to sony on the promise of games. Consoles havent shipped with games since the 80s. The entire business model is the trust between the console manufacturer and the consumer that those games will come in due time. With the PS5, that trust was predicated upon the goodwill they had built up releasing single player games. In an era when all third party publishers were chasing multiplayer trends, sony were a beacon of light. Not a single GaaS game was revealed at the PS5 reveal. They then pulled a 180 and greenlit 12 gaas games forcing all their SP studios to make those games and have now cancelled or shutdown 10 of them.
"I'm "entitled"" is way to much of a cancer of current generation.
Personally I got ps5 for the half the cost of pre-build pc and half the problem of latter. And about 1/5 of volume of pc box. It's a target other options valued against.
PC is just the whole another space, mainly for nerdy people, not exactly wide mass-market.
 

sachos

Member
Dude i hate how everyone of us that warned about the GaaS push was right. It was so obvious it would backfire! Bluepoint potentially wasting 4 whole years on a GaaS is devastating after their SotC and DeS Remakes. WTF SONY!
 

Perrott

Member
Dude i hate how everyone of us that warned about the GaaS push was right. It was so obvious it would backfire! Bluepoint potentially wasting 4 whole years on a GaaS is devastating after their SotC and DeS Remakes. WTF SONY!
They only worked on it for two years, since the release of God of War: Ragnarök in late 2022. Before that, they were assisting on said game's development.
 
The whole time I was thinking what Bluepoint is working on and if it will be another Remake or an original game, but I never expected they work on live service crap. Really sad to see the state Sony is in. Why can’t Shareholders push more for a replacement of Hermen???
 

ikbalCO

Member
Live service GoW game has to be one of the most discusting ideas ever in entertainment.

Also i despise this idea of putting bluepoint games on creating a new game project.

You bought them because they made several great remakes and remasters. Either make them remake some ps classics or close them if they refuse to do so.
 

nbkicker

Member
Sony Japan need to take control before Sony USA completely wrecks the PlayStation name, live service games no one wants and agendas and diversity constantly pushed in there games, my ps5 has sat under tv collecting dust , definitely the worst amount of good games on any PlayStation platform since they produced consoles, the only good thing for Sony is Microsoft isn’t doing any better.
 

Fabieter

Member
Sony Japan need to take control before Sony USA completely wrecks the PlayStation name, live service games no one wants and agendas and diversity constantly pushed in there games, my ps5 has sat under tv collecting dust , definitely the worst amount of good games on any PlayStation platform since they produced consoles, the only good thing for Sony is Microsoft isn’t doing any better.

Well yoshida did an insane job on greenliting good games thats for sure. Well hulst didn't do a good job and it shows. We paying garbage prices for all of his mistakes.
 
It's not surprising that they're canceling games, Totoki clearly talked about putting stronger checks in place after the Concord debacle, and we're kinda seeing them in action. They're clearly having a root and branch review of basically every project in the pipeline.

I think the real surprise is in how shitty the reality of the cancelled projects are. A fucking GOW GAAS game? How the fuck would that even play? Why the fuck would you even put Bluepoint on that, a studio with zero experience in multiplayer games?

Also that Days Gone remaster is absolutely happening huh? Like I see no other way forward for Bend studio to land a project with a relatively short turnaround time.

I think we are finally understanding the state Jim Ryan left the PS development slate.
That's what struck me. It's like that Oprah meme but with GaaS titles and devs.

Oprah Winfrey Car GIF


Only everyone is fucking sad after because being assigned one of these projects seems more like punishment.
 

Astray

Member
That's what struck me. It's like that Oprah meme but with GaaS titles and devs.

Oprah Winfrey Car GIF


Only everyone is fucking sad after because being assigned one of these projects seems more like punishment.
I can imagine a dev pitching a multiplayer game because if that hits, their bonuses would effectively get multiplied. Devs are people too, they want better pay and more money/status.

It's on management to understand where a studio is and what would be a bridge too far for it and not green-light studio pitches when said studio doesn't have the minerals for it.
 
Is this all Herman then? The guy who still has a job?
Its weird isn't it. But hulst greenlit games for half a Generation and most of this crap got Canned.
Rumor has it he and PS HQ are facing some scrutiny from Sony Japan atm and they're keeping them under a watchful eye with their next few releases. Few more blunders and Hulst might not be the CEO of PS studios for longer.
 

Fabieter

Member
Rumor has it he and PS HQ are facing some scrutiny from Sony Japan atm and they're keeping them under a watchful eye with their next few releases. Few more blunders and Hulst might not be the CEO of PS studios for longer.

Don't give me hope pls be true. They should also count the countless cancelled games. It's insane what he wasted.
 
They have high hopes for all their games.

We know Marathon had mixed reactions to their play tests.
Dring said Fairgames was testing well internally (after the Concord flop).
We have no idea how Concord was testing internally.

If I was ya'll, I'd be very worried about the GAAS titles that didn't get shuttered during this last round of reviews. I think PlayStation has cut anything with a degree of risk to it. Their next 6 will likely do very well.

😆😆😆

You’re crossing into Lost guy territory with the Concord nonsense.

We do have an idea of how Concord was testing internally because as the other user said, just look at what they had lined up for it. You don’t do that for a game you aren’t thinking is going to be a hit.
 
😆😆😆

You’re crossing into Lost guy territory with the Concord nonsense.

We do have an idea of how Concord was testing internally because as the other user said, just look at what they had lined up for it. You don’t do that for a game you aren’t thinking is going to be a hit.
Let's be honest here:

Internal testing means jackshit if your internal playtesting team is composed of blue-haired wackos/whales. Of course they "thought" Concord would have been a "hit"! :messenger_tears_of_joy:

Nobody wants to play with asinine characters, here's a better idea for a proper PS GaaS:



There's a reason Uncharted 2/3 MP were highly successful and beloved during the tumultuous PS3 era.

So, yeah, they do have the proper MP/GaaS recipe, but it's buried deep down below... will they listen though? I doubt it.
 
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DenchDeckard

Moderated wildly
Rumor has it he and PS HQ are facing some scrutiny from Sony Japan atm and they're keeping them under a watchful eye with their next few releases. Few more blunders and Hulst might not be the CEO of PS studios for longer.

I can see this 100% There will be a lot of pressure around the horizon gaas
 
I can imagine a dev pitching a multiplayer game because if that hits, their bonuses would effectively get multiplied. Devs are people too, they want better pay and more money/status.

It's on management to understand where a studio is and what would be a bridge too far for it and not green-light studio pitches when said studio doesn't have the minerals for it.
Granted, I fully just took the Redfall story and extrapolated for no reason lol. That team seemed to have received that assignment almost as punishment and sounded morose.
 
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