The Pathetic State of Modern PlayStation

Summary

The video script discusses the challenges faced by Sony's PlayStation 5, including high costs for consoles and accessories, a lack of exclusive games, and a perceived decline in variety and innovation in Sony's game offerings. It criticizes Sony's business model, suggesting it's unsustainable, and points out the company's slow response to market needs. The script also laments the loss of the creative spirit that once defined PlayStation, urging Sony to rethink its approach and re-engage with fans by providing more diverse and budget-friendly gaming experiences.

Takeaways

• 📉 PlayStation is facing financial struggles and layoffs, with a noticeable decline in the success of AAA game studios.
• 🎮 The PlayStation 5 is criticized for having a limited number of exclusive games, leading to consumer dissatisfaction.
• 💸 Sony's pricing strategy for the PS5 ecosystem, including games and accessories, is seen as expensive, potentially alienating casual consumers.
• 🕹️ The variety of games released by Sony is perceived as lacking, with a heavy focus on a few franchises and a formulaic approach to game design.
• 🕒 Development cycles for PlayStation's AAA titles are lengthy, contributing to the slow release of new exclusive games.
• 📈 High budgets for game development at Sony may be unsustainable, with games like 'Spider-Man 2' costing over $300 million to produce.
• 📉 Sony's business decisions, such as the acquisition of Bungie, are questioned in light of the financial struggles and lack of clear benefits to consumers.
• 🔄 There's a call for Sony to restructure their approach, including investing in smaller, creative games to bring variety and maintain consumer interest.
• 😔 The video expresses a sentiment of disappointment and nostalgia for the 'old PlayStation', indicating a loss of faith in the current direction of the brand.
• 🔮 The gaming industry is in a transitional period, and changes in major publishers like Sony could significantly alter the gaming landscape in the coming years.

Q & A

What is the main issue discussed in the video script regarding PlayStation 5?

The main issue discussed is the financial struggles of PlayStation 5, including high costs of products, lack of exclusive games, and a perceived decline in the variety and quality of game releases.

Why does the script mention that PlayStation 5 is being compared to a Netflix box?

The comparison is made because the script criticizes the lack of game availability on the PS5, suggesting that its primary use for some consumers might be streaming services like Netflix, rather than playing games.

What is the significance of the layoffs mentioned in the script in relation to PlayStation's financial problems?

The layoffs are significant as they indicate that PlayStation is facing severe financial challenges, which has led to cost-cutting measures and a reduction in their workforce.

How does the script suggest that Sony's approach to game pricing is affecting PlayStation's market position?

The script implies that Sony's high pricing for games and accessories is making the platform less attractive to consumers, potentially leading to decreased sales and interest.

What is the 'give up mentality' mentioned in the script, and how does it relate to Sony's business strategy?

The 'give up mentality' refers to Sony's perceived lack of effort in addressing the PS5's shortcomings and declining sales, instead of quickly moving towards the next generation of consoles without resolving current issues.

Why does the video script criticize the variety of games coming from Sony Studios?

The script criticizes the lack of variety because it sees a predominance of sequels, remasters, and similar game genres coming from Sony, which it argues is reducing the overall appeal and innovation of PlayStation's offerings.

What is the script's stance on the development cycles and budgets of PlayStation's AAA games?

The script is critical of the long development cycles and high budgets of PlayStation's AAA games, suggesting that these factors contribute to the platform's financial struggles and lack of game diversity.

How does the script evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on PlayStation's game releases?

While not explicitly stated, the script implies that the pandemic's timing with the PS5's release may have exacerbated Sony's challenges, as it mentions the console's launch coinciding with a globally difficult period.

What historical comparison does the script make regarding PlayStation's current situation?

The script compares PlayStation's current struggles to the early era of the PS3, noting that both periods involved initial success followed by significant challenges that Sony had to overcome.

What does the script suggest as a potential solution for PlayStation's current issues?

The script suggests that Sony should focus on creating a more diverse lineup of games, including smaller-budget titles and revisiting older franchises, to re-engage consumers and improve the platform's value proposition.

Outlines

00:00

📉 PlayStation's Struggles and Financial Downturn

The paragraph discusses the challenges faced by PlayStation, particularly the Sony Interactive Entertainment, as they transition from one gaming generation to the next. It highlights the financial difficulties many AAA game studios are currently experiencing, including layoffs and unmet sales expectations. The focus is on Sony's recent struggles, such as the announcement of no major game releases for the rest of the year and the PlayStation 5 console entering a later stage of its life cycle after failing to meet sales expectations. The paragraph suggests that these issues have led to a downward spiral for the PlayStation brand, causing confusion and concern among gaming fans.

05:01

💸 High Costs and Lack of Exclusives on PlayStation

This paragraph addresses the high costs associated with PlayStation products and the perceived lack of value due to a limited number of exclusive games. It provides a hypothetical scenario to illustrate the financial burden on consumers, including the cost of the console, additional controllers, games, and necessary subscriptions. The paragraph criticizes Sony for pricing strategies that make the PlayStation ecosystem less accessible, and it questions the value proposition of the platform given the small number of exclusive titles available, especially when compared to the investment required.

10:01

🕹️ Limited Variety and Overemphasis on AAA Titles

The paragraph critiques Sony for a perceived lack of variety in their game releases, with a focus on remasters, remakes, and sequels rather than original IPs. It points out that many of the recent games from Sony's studios are similar in design, leaning towards cinematic third-person action-adventure games with serious narratives and realistic graphics. The paragraph argues that this narrow focus diminishes the excitement and uniqueness of PlayStation's offerings, contrasting with a more diverse lineup in previous generations. It calls for a return to a broader range of creative and original games to reinvigorate the platform.

15:03

🕒 Slow Development Cycles and High Budgets

This paragraph discusses the long development cycles and high budgets associated with PlayStation's AAA game releases. It suggests that these factors contribute to the slow pace of exclusive game releases for the PS5, which is already considered to be in the later half of its life cycle. The paragraph also touches on the impact of these long development times on Sony's ability to maintain a consistent stream of new and engaging content for players. It highlights the need for Sony to consider a more diverse approach to game development, including smaller-scale projects that can be produced more quickly and provide variety to the platform.

20:04

📉 Sony's Business Model and Future of PlayStation

The final paragraph reflects on Sony's business model and the future of PlayStation. It suggests that the company's current approach, which focuses on high-budget, long-development games, is unsustainable and has led to recent financial struggles, including layoffs. The paragraph criticizes Sony for not adapting to the changing gaming landscape and for not providing a consistent stream of exclusive, varied, and engaging content. It calls for a reevaluation of Sony's strategy, including a potential return to smaller, more creative projects and a commitment to delivering a broader range of exclusive titles to rekindle consumer interest and ensure the platform's longevity.

Keywords

💡PlayStation 5

The PlayStation 5 (PS5) is Sony's latest generation gaming console, which the video discusses in the context of its performance and market reception. The PS5 is central to the video's theme as it represents Sony's current flagship product facing challenges in sales and game exclusivity. The script mentions the PS5's high cost, lack of exclusive games, and the company's strategy as key issues affecting its success.

💡Generational Transitions

This term refers to the shift from one console generation to the next, which is a significant aspect of the gaming industry's evolution. The video discusses Sony's approach to these transitions, suggesting that the company's handling of moving from the PS4 to the PS5 has not been as smooth as expected, leading to various issues including employee layoffs and game release problems.

💡AAA Game Studios

AAA, standing for 'Triple-A', refers to the highest level of quality and budget in the gaming industry. The video script mentions that many AAA game studios are facing financial difficulties, which is relevant to the discussion on the challenges Sony faces with its PlayStation brand, as these studios often produce the high-profile games that drive console sales.

💡Exclusive Games

Exclusive games are those developed or published by a company for its own platform, not available on competitors' systems. The video emphasizes the lack of exclusive games on the PS5 as a significant issue, suggesting that Sony's strategy of releasing cross-generation games has limited the PS5's unique appeal to consumers.

💡Sales Expectations

Sales expectations refer to the predicted or targeted sales figures for a product. In the context of the video, the PS5's failure to meet sales expectations is a key point of discussion, with the script attributing this to high costs, lack of exclusive games, and other strategic decisions by Sony.

💡Casual Consumers

Casual consumers are individuals who engage with gaming but may not be deeply invested in the industry or specific platforms. The video discusses how Sony's pricing strategy and lack of exclusive content may be alienating this group, which is crucial for maintaining a broad consumer base and driving sales.

💡Game Development Cycles

This term refers to the time it takes to develop a video game from concept to release. The video points out that Sony's games have long development cycles, which contributes to the slow release of new titles for the PS5. This is a critical factor in the console's struggle to maintain a robust library of exclusive games.

💡Live Service Gaming

Live service gaming refers to games that are designed to receive ongoing updates and content after their initial release, often with a focus on online multiplayer. The video mentions Sony's initial focus on live service games but criticizes the lack of consistent releases in this genre, contributing to the company's financial struggles.

💡Business Model

A business model outlines how a company creates, delivers, and captures value. The video discusses Sony's business model for the PS5 as unsustainable, pointing to high costs, slow game releases, and a lack of variety in game offerings as issues that need to be addressed for the platform to succeed in the long term.

💡Layoffs

Layoffs refer to the termination of employment for a group of workers. In the script, layoffs at Sony Interactive Entertainment are mentioned as a consequence of the company's financial struggles, highlighting the human impact of the business challenges faced by the PlayStation brand.

Highlights

PlayStation emphasizes generational transitions and the benefits of moving to the next generation console.

There's a noticeable pattern of financial struggles among AAA game studios, including layoffs and unmet sales expectations.

Sony Interactive Entertainment, the publisher of PlayStation, is facing significant challenges.

PlayStation 5 is entering a later stage of its life cycle after failing to meet sales expectations.

The high cost of PlayStation products is a growing concern for consumers.

PlayStation ecosystem entry can be expensive, with the console, games, and additional costs like controllers and subscriptions.

The quantity of PlayStation 5 exclusive games is surprisingly small for a console that has been out for over three years.

The variety of games from Sony Studios is at an all-time low, with a focus on remasters, remakes, and sequels.

Sony's development cycles for their games are long, contributing to the slow release of exclusive titles.

Sony's business model, focusing on high-budget games, may be unsustainable in the long term.

Sony's acquisition of Bungie for a large sum has not yet provided clear benefits to PlayStation fans.

PlayStation's high game budgets, like the $315 million for Spider-Man 2, raise questions about cost-effectiveness.

Sony's response to poor sales includes layoffs and a lack of major game releases, indicating a 'give up' mentality.

The video suggests Sony should restructure their business model to include more consistent and varied exclusive releases.

The lack of innovation and reliance on the same franchises are causing PlayStation to lose its unique appeal.

The video concludes with a call for Sony to change their approach and recapture the spirit of what made PlayStation great.

Transcripts

welcome to PlayStation 5 at PlayStation

we believe in generational Transitions

and we put years of work into making

them happen we want you to enjoy the

unique benefits of moving from one

generation to the next I literally I

have one I have one there's no games

there's no games on it it's a it's a

Netflix box there's nothing if you've

been around the gaming social media

landscape for the last month you may

have been noticing a very alarming

pattern going on with many AAA game

studios as of late that pattern being

that they are struggling big time from

employees being laid off to game

releases failing to meet sales

expectations to even said game releases

simply failing to be you know actual

good video games basically besides for a

couple of exceptions like Nintendo and

epic games pretty much nearly every

Master AAA developer and publisher you

can think of is going through real

financial problems right now with one of

these mive Publishers being arguably the

most infamous among the rest that one

gaming publisher being none other than

Sony interactive entertainment AKA

PlayStation there's been a lot of

recently revealed news about the

foreseeable future of PlayStation that

shows that they are currently going

through a rough time right now from the

aformentioned layoffs to the

announcement of no major game releases

for the rest of this year to even the

announcement of the PlayStation 5

console now entering the later stage of

its life after failling to meet sales

expectations there's simply no sugar

coating it the PlayStation brand is

currently going in a downward spiral

naturally with all of these shocking

announcements coming from the actual

company itself this has caused a lot of

confusion and justifiable eyebrow races

among General gaming fans how is

PlayStation a brand that felt like it

was on Top of the World by the end of

the last generation only a few years ago

now suddenly in a position where they

had to let go of 900 of their employees

well unfortunately the answer to that

question isn't exactly a simple one

while it would be so easy for me to

basically summarize this entire video as

haha the PS5 has no games and that's why

no one is buying it thank you for

watching my video subscribe for more the

simple truth is that there is way more

to the situation besides that I mean the

Wii U definitely had games for its time

and yet you saw what happened to the

that thing instead what I believe is

going on is a combination of small

problems that have been plaguing

PlayStation for years now small problems

that have been getting worse and worse

and are now all coming back

simultaneously to bite Sony back and

that is what I want to talk about today

let's take a look at the issues that are

currently ruining PlayStation and

explain how I feel like PlayStation has

been really taking us and their fans for

granted as of late I guess I should

structure this video by going through

these issues one by one I'll even add

the Inception noise in between the

transitions to make it funny issue

number one why is everything you make

for PlayStation so expensive now Sony

you know for the longest time I always

thought Nintendo was the worst of the

big three gaming companies when it came

to giving their products the most

egregious and ridiculously high prices

you can think of $100 for an extra

switch stock like yeah no thank you but

honestly the way Sony has been handling

the prices for PlayStation products in

this generation has gone to the point

where they are now just as bad if not

worse than Nintendo let's pin a scenario

we're in the United States let's imagine

that I want to get into the PlayStation

ecosystem and I have two stupid kids who

want to play play the latest EA Sports

Game together because they're kids and

they're stupid so how much would I have

to Fork over well there's the console

itself for $500 an extra controller for

$70 and the latest EA soccer game for

another $70 which means that even before

tax this would already cost me

$640 and that's only for the bare

minimum for my example I can

theoretically keep going such as what if

one of my kids wants to play their game

online you can't play this game online

without an active subscription to

PlayStation Plus so you know what that

means there are a lot of annoying

factors that play when it comes to

saying how much PlayStation Plus cost so

let's just go with a monthly

subscription to PlayStation Plus extra

which is $15 on initial purchase but

what if I or my kids are sick of playing

this multiplayer game and want to get

some kind of single player experience

well time to pick up a copy of

Spider-Man 2 to get her fix of that

which now adds another $70 to the total

however we then notice just how much

space these games are taking up and the

PS5 is shipped with only so much storage

at our disposal so it's highly advised

that we get ourselves an SSD which is

the only storage format that the PS5 can

use to play PS5 games from so picking

one up that is the recommended amount of

2 tabt is going to be around

$180 and since we're going to have two

controllers lying around we might as

well have a way to easily charge both of

them it would be annoying to remember

needing to hook up a cable for each

controller and it would absolutely suck

if one of the kids picks up a dead

controller which is a likely scenario

because the battery left for Sony

controllers absolutely sucks it might as

well include the official charging dock

for $30

more keep in mind that my scenario is

only taking into consideration just how

much all of this costs right now here in

the United States the results from my

scenario can possibly be even more

expensive whether it be the console

costing way more in other regions around

the world or Sony deciding to once again

raise the price of PlayStation Plus for

like the fifth time this generation

basically it feels like this console

only gets more and more expensive as

time goes on which is like completely

backwards to how it should be I know

this problem is incredibly subjective I

know what may seem expensive to the eyes

of one person may be seen as chump

change compared to the eyes of another

but for casual consumers the fact that

stuff like the games are now so

expensive means that the opportunity for

those people to continuously spend more

and more on games is getting smaller and

smaller and like don't you want your

consumer base to continuously and

consistently spend on your platform

isn't that like the goal for every

single game platform ever but hey at the

very least the high prices are worth it

aren't they maybe it's just an expensive

gateway to a platform of many exclusive

experiences that has to be the case

right issue number two dear Sony where

are are the games even though I said at

the beginning of the video that the PS5

having very little exclusives isn't

exactly the only problem that's going on

with PlayStation it's still nevertheless

a huge problem many people have been

noticing as of late how even though the

PS5 has been out in the market for over

3 years the quantity of exclusive

experiences to be had on the console is

still shockingly very small it's so bad

to the point that it's basically been a

giant meme to look at the Wikipedia page

of exclusive games on PS5 and look at

just how small the list is with some

people on Twitter even even adding

insult to injury by comparing the

Wikipedia page to other similar

Wikipedia pages but for other less

successful consoles and while some of

these comparisons are definitely done

hyperbole I mean the page of exclusive

Wii U games does contain more games than

the PS5 one but that's not taken into

consideration that one of those games in

the list is [ __ ] mean run the

original argument of these post still

stands for how long the console has been

out the quantity of exclusive games the

PS5 has is embarrassingly small and I

don't think you have to have a very high

IQ to understand that not a lot of

people are going to be content with

paying hundreds of dollars on a console

that doesn't offer a lot of unique

experiences and I know some of you will

argue that a big reason for why this is

the case is that Sony made the choice to

make their last couple of game releases

cross gen releases for both PS4 and PS5

and that only now are Sony finally going

to go fully in on making PS5 only games

and look I get it the PS5 is release

couldn't have been more poorly timed

even if they tried as Sony pretty much

released that console at the time when

the world pretty much ended so I will

say it wasn't morally good decision from

Sony to have their big releases from

2020 to now come out for both their

eighth gen system and their ninth gen

system but I don't know I think they

waited too long to now start making

every game A PS5 exclusive in their own

words the PS5 is now in the later half

of its life cycle which means that they

only have like four more years to make

games for the PS5 before the ps6 comes

out which I don't think is going to be

enough time to grow a large lineup of

exclusive games from Sony for reasons

that I'll get into later in this video

but you know what let's just say that

regardless if they are exclusives or

cross gen releases at the very least the

recent game releases from Sony are still

very unique

experiences is what I would say if it

weren't for issue number three where is

the variety I legitimately cannot be the

only one who feels like the variety of

games that are coming from Sony Studios

are now at an all-time low the games

that we've been getting recently from

them as well as the diversity between

IPS has all felt very semi and formulaic

here is what I mean I decided to go to

playstation.com go to the game section

then PS5 and just simply count how many

of the presented games from their

internal studios are either remaster SL

remakes sequels or originals and here

are the results I found out that out of

the 15 total first- party games that the

page had six of them were remasters or

remakes six of them were sequels and

only three of them were original games

that certainly is a ratio all right I

should stress as now that it isn't

exactly the quantity of remakes or

sequels that necessarily bother me if it

did I'd probably not be a massive fan of

Nintendo a company who pretty much have

been using the same characters over and

over and over again instead what really

irks me with these large amount of

recent PlayStation sequels and remakes

is that a grand majority of these are

from franchises nips that either

originated from the PS4 era or were very

prominent in the PS4 era Spider-Man

Horizon and the last of us are very good

examples of this it always bothered me

how certain people online would complain

about how Nintendo never focuses on

their smaller IPS in favor of only using

their big IPS but and I can't believe I

need to say this Nintendo has actually

improved a lot in resol in this issue in

this generation but more importantly

Sony is now just as guilty of this

problem if not much worse during the

switch Nintendo have made sequels

remasters and remix for games from

across a variety of their generations

with the oldest one being from the

stinking famicom meanwhile Sony can only

dig as deep as the PS3 era to create a

remake for this generation I really

think Sony choosing to pay attention to

a few select game franchises and only

those few select game franchises sort of

ended up making any new releases from

them feel much less special in a way

it's kind of sad to say but there was a

time where it was incredibly hyped to

see Spider-Man or Kratos on the screen

in game trailers but now I can't be

bothered to necessarily care that much

anymore because it feels like that's all

that we've been getting now for this

generation it especially doesn't help

that nearly all of the represented IPS

now feature games that are very similar

to each other third person action

adventure games that push for a

cinematic approach in their design with

serious and usually hard gripping

stories with overly realistic Graphics

but the only thing that really

differentiates them being their primary

gameplay Loops this isn't meant to diss

on each game that goes for this approach

I actually do like a few of them but

what made Playstation so great to me is

that they did have such a VAR lineup of

ips and franchises many generations ago

it is honestly incredible that Sony were

able to provide such a great lineup of

first party and exclusive third party

games back in the PS1 considering that

unlike Nintendo during that generation

Sony had to basically start from nothing

this very lineup of games would also be

carried over to the PS2 generation where

we would also see more IPS get

introduced really it wasn't until the

PS4 generation where Sony saw the

critical and financial success of games

like Uncharted 2 and The Last of Us from

the last generation and went hey let's

just make more games like that this

wasn't necessarily a bad thing back in

the PS4 generation since there was still

some variety when it came to the game

releases from that era but now it's just

gotten much worse in this generation and

sadly it looks like this is going to be

one of those problems that's not looking

to be resolved anytime soon especially

when by now you've all probably seen the

leaked Insomniac Games road map from a

few months ago look how lame this is

they basically been relegated to a

glorified licensed Marvel game studio

now I seriously cannot be the only one

who feels incredibly depressed just by

looking at this besides Marvel they're

also working on making another Ratchet

and Clank game which I'm certain will be

made as a PlayStation 6 technical

showcase and no actual new IPS from them

until the

2030s cool so cool but you know what I

would accept this change of variety from

Sony actually no that's a lie i' still

[ __ ] about it I would tolerate this

change a variety from Sony if it weren't

for Issue Number Four Sony you're so

slow due to the nature of Sony's current

games always pushing to use the highest

end Graphics it means that pretty much

every game from PlayStation now has

extremely long development Cycles it's

pretty common to have each game from

PlayStation's big studios now take years

on top of years to complete which plays

a huge Factor as to why the PS5 has yet

to have such a huge catalog of exclusive

games this is also why I don't think

Sony has the time now to even try to

build a large catalog of exclusive games

for the PS5 once again Sony has

confirmed themselves that the PS5 is

life cycle is already halfway done I

don't think that roughly four years is

going to be enough time for Sony to make

more exclusive games on PS5 besides the

couple of ones that they've already

announced as well as some very played

safe guesses I think Sony was hoping

that third party developers could help

and alleviate the problem by releasing

their games in the meantime that they

make their big chungus games kind of

like how they did back in the PS4

generation but now some of those studios

are also investing equally long

development times for some of their big

game releases just look at Kingdom

Hearts Mainline Persona the Final

Fantasy 7 remake or literally every

major game release from Rockstar Games

after Grand Theft Auto 5 I got some

jelly be but you know what I'll give

those third party Publishers this in the

meantime that those big game releases

get made they also released smaller and

less ambitious titles in the meantime

that those games get made Playstation

can't really say that for themselves for

god sakes even the other two major

console Publishers get this memo

Nintendo and Microsoft also produced and

released smaller skill games so they can

give something for their fans to play

while they work on their more humongous

games and these smaller games can not

only be really good but they can also

sometimes be better than the big game

releases with the long development

Cycles here's a really good example

Bethesda published three games last year

and Microsoft were betting their cards

on Starfield being the biggest success

of the three because it was in fact the

biggest game and well let's just say

that the actual best game of the three

ended up winning last year anyways going

back on topic I really think PlayStation

needs to go back and have Studios that

are in involved with making smaller

games with some kind of creative

originality in them because having all

of their Workforce make these large

scale games and only large scale games

really limits how many great exclusive

games the PS5 could have emphasis on go

back in that sense because they actually

used to have one studio in the previous

generation who did that Japan Studio

this was the studio that was responsible

for some of the most creative and

experimental games across PlayStation's

history they were also always my

personal favorite Studio from

PlayStation a studio like them can be

really beneficial in the current ERA of

PlayStation it's just unfortunate that

Sony decided that the best course of

action on handling a studio that they

needed more than ever is to shut them

down early in this

generation I also think that Sony being

incredibly slow with their game releases

also ties alongside some of their recent

questionable business decisions as well

like I remember around early on in the

PS5 generation Sony really wanted to

focus on making multiplayer games to

capitalize on the live service gaming

crates at the time but because Sony's

game releases are as consistent and as

frequent as my Youtube upload schedule

the life service cze has now crashed and

burned before Sony could even release

any major multiplayer games because of

this a good amount of online multiplayer

game projects that were in the works at

Sony have now gone cancelled including

the previously announced Last of Us

online game by Naughty Dog and also a

multiplayer game that would have been

based on Insomniac Spider-Man this one

wasn't even announced At All by the time

we found out about it the project had

already been canned so yeah cool and hey

I guess while I'm on the topic of Sony's

game releases now being only large scale

projects issue number five why are you

spending so much money Sony while I'm

definitely sure that Sony has spent

Millions on top of Millions on the

budgets of their games for years I think

now it's gone to the point where these

games are so ridiculously expensive to

make now this is mostly due to AAA games

needing much more resources to make than

ever before as well as just everything

in general being much more expensive

than ever before while the budgets given

to PlayStation's AAA game releases

aren't exactly given out as public

information from Sony we can still make

a safe guess because of that massive

insomnia games League from a while back

a ton of information about insomniac's

game releases have been made available

to the public which includes the budgets

and even the sales numbers of their

games so let's take a look at the game

entries from insaniac on PS5 so we can

take a rough guess as to how much money

Sony invests into an average PS5 game

not like this will take long though it's

only like two games it's been confirmed

that Ratchet and Clank Rift apart was

barely able to make a profit return for

PlayStation which is shocking to hear

since the game sold a total of nearly 4

million copies but it was apparently not

good enough for Sony since the game

costed them $81 million to make now that

sounds like a lot of money but like

strap in it gets worse now with

Spider-Man 2 that game would obviously

cost way more to make than Rift apart

simply because the visuals of that game

are way more intensive and the game

itself is also just way bigger with all

that being said this game had a budget

of

$315

million that's just completely

outrageous I refuse to believe that it

cost them this much money just to make

the exact same game again only was

slightly prettier visuals and a slightly

bigger map where did most of that budget

go towards did it go into Venom and all

of his 19 in that's the only answer I

will accept in all seriousness though I

feel pretty confident in saying that

Sony spending this much money on making

games like Spider-Man 2 is most likely

the big reason as to why PlayStation

stuff in general is now as expensive as

it is a game publisher and developer

choosing to make super expensive games

that require years to make isn't a

problem in it of itself but the fact of

the matter is that in the meantime those

types of games get made that publisher

developer is simply not going to be

making any money unless they have

external revenue streams Rockstar Games

is so damn lucky that so many people

have spent their life savings and

probably the grandparents inheritance on

[ __ ] Shard cards because now they're

in a position where they can focus

entirely on making big budget game

releases and not necessarily worry on

their release states which is both a

blessing and an absolute curse at the

same time in the case of PlayStation

their external Revenue sources outside

of game sales are console sales and

PlayStation Plus subscriptions and

whatever amount of money that Sony is

making from those it's clearly not not

enough for them because despite

Spider-Man 2 selling 10 million copies

in the holiday of 2023 which is really

good for any video game it still wasn't

good enough to prevent massive layoffs

within Sony interactive this all looks

even worse when you start looking at

games like power world which cost way

less to make yet sold nearly the same

amount of copies of Spider-Man 2 or how

about Super Mario Brothers Wonder a game

that sold equally well as Spider-Man 2

despite that game being released in

what's supposed to be the Twilight years

of the switch's life and once again was

much cheaper to produce than Spider-Man

2 this isn't an issue that could be

pinned onto to Consumers becoming

disinterested in the PS5 because it's

getting older this is an issue of a

business model simply being

unsustainable also why did you acquire

Bungie and why for that much money that

acquisition was nearly 2 years ago did

PlayStation fans get any benefit from

this serious question so just to reflect

on everything we covered thus far we

have a console that cost a lot of money

to purchase with accessories games and

subscriptions that also cost a lot of

money to purchase with the console

itself barely featuring any kinds of

exclusive experiences to be had on it by

the third year Mark with no signs of any

sort of consistent new game releases

happening anytime

soon well GE golly gosh I sure wonder

why sales expectations weren't met

actually you know what let's talk about

this because this has really grinded my

gears throughout this entire video I'm

going to go into issue number six Sony's

give up mentality I think it really

shows just how much Sony doesn't care

and trying to make the PS5 the best it

could possibly be when the moment that

the console has met with one

disappointed Financial year is to

basically say oh it's just the console

entering the later half of its life

people are losing interest because the

console is getting older it just means

we need to release the PS5 Pro or ps6 to

renew people's interest but that's not

the root of the problem ultimately

there's no one to put the blame on why

the PS5 isn't meeting Sony's

ridiculously high expectations besides

the higher-ups of that very company who

have been making these dumb business

choices that have negatively affected

the way people see this brand thinking

that it won't matter because they think

people will buy into the platform

regardless because it's the PS5 you love

the PS4 so you got to buy the PS5

PL honestly all of this really does

remind me of that time when Sony was

really struggling during the early era

of the PS3 both that era and this era

were bad for Sony for entirely different

context but they both started in a very

similar way Sony making dumb choices at

the beginning of the generation after

being super successful from the last

generation and not realizing the

significance of their problems until it

hits them right in their wallet but at

least with the early PS3 generation when

Sony realized that they royally screwed

up they put in the Rive effort to fix it

making the console cheaper giving it an

entire Rebrand releasing a new marketing

campaign and actually beginning to

release games that people would want to

play and buy the console over and in the

end they ended up saving themselves and

saving the PS3 from being a complete

flop you want to know what I think

modern PlayStation would do if they were

in the exact same position as they were

in the early life of the PS3 I'll tell

you what they do they would just give up

just look at what happened to the

PlayStation vaita platform receives a

report of stagnant sales once and Sony

immediately folds Sony really needs to

step back and restructure the way they

handle their business model with

PlayStation primarily try to find a way

to have players be engaged in your

platform by having consistent exclusive

releases bring something new to the

table or bring back forgotten IPS that

could really use the spotlight again

even if those games would need to be

made on a smaller budget or not fit in

that well with the AAA game releases

just give it a chance it would bring

more exclusives it would bring much

needed variety and you really wouldn't

have much to lose but possibly much to

gain if one of those smaller skills

games become successful even when it was

ultimately met with failure in the end

Nintendo still tried to make the Wii U

worth it by giving it an admittedly

pretty good and very lineup of games for

its time even when the company was in

financial troubles it was never taken

out on the employees and thanks to a

change of approach early on in the

switch generation Nintendo has now

clearly proven that you can get people

to buy and still be invested in a

console even in its Twilight gears let

alone in the middle of its life cycle

and the way they were able to do that is

providing exclusive unique and

creatively filled games consistently

throughout its entire life even if there

were some hiccups along the way and then

there's Sony who after announcing that

console sales didn't meet their

expectations last year decided that the

best idea to go with is to fire a huge

amount of their employees while also

announcing to their fans to expect no

big releases from them this year are you

seriously punishing your employees your

consumers the people who actually give

you money for not giving you more well

I'm sorry that people don't want to

invest $500 plus dollars on a platform

that has no exciting games in the

foreseeable future very little value to

it and the little value that it does

have can just be experienced on other

better platforms is this a joke do you

seriously expect me and other players to

be content waiting for two plus years

just so I can play the exact same games

again only with different most likely

shittier stories how do you expect an

increase in sales of your console when

there's nothing for people to look

forward to on it besides more of the

same [ __ ] as well as continue to invest

your money on ways that don't make your

platform any better at all hey guys

please buy our $200 glorified Wii U gam

pad and while you're added please buy

our PlayStation earbuds go watch The

Last of Us TV show and please watch our

Uncharted movie where Nathan dck is

played by MCU Peter Parker and stay

tuned for the $700 PS5 Pro where we

would release even more [ __ ]

remasters of the same two Last of Us

games for an additional price

each I I think I'm done honestly at the

end of the day it's just really

depressing to see how much PlayStation

is struggling right now I can't deny the

fact that Sony's business model in the

PS4 era was definitely a huge success in

the short term for them for making the

PS4 as successful as it was but that's

just it it was something that worked in

the short term a business model that

simply isn't built to last in this

current day of age to give Sony some

benefit of the doubt perhaps the massive

layoffs can possibly be a wakeup call

for them to finally change things up

especially since this would be the month

where Jim Ryan would step down as CEO of

Sony interactive after being in the

position since 2019 but I'm not holding

my breath I'm tired of hoping for this

brand I'm sorry if this video was much

more of a debut downer than what I

usually make but it's something that's

been frustrating me for years now the

reasons for why I fell in love with

PlayStation to begin with all those

years ago are just no longer valid in

this current ERA of the brand and that

just makes me sad I've got a feeling

that most people will just pass this

video off as me being just a hater or

being a dumb nintend drone or something

like that that's fine that won't bother

me I'm confident that anyone with actual

brains will at least know where I'm

coming from we're currently living in a

very transitional period of gaming

there's a good chance that a game

publisher that you knew for years is

possibly going to change and adapt into

something much different in only a

matter of a few years which hey maybe a

good thing or a bad thing who knows as

of now we'll just have to wait for all

of it to settle and see where all of

this goes in the meantime I'll just

continue to enjoy gaming on the

platforms that I enjoy doing it the most

all the while I occasionally remember to

look at my PS5 sitting on the floor

collecting dust constantly having its

dim orange rest mode LED light strip on

for weeks at a time and simply say to

myself I miss the old PlayStation I miss

them a

lot anyways tune in for next time where

I will be talking about a bunch of

stupid Mario Party games my endurance to

create original content truly is a

laborious

[Music]

[Applause]

[Music]

one I'm telling you now I have plans

that I cannot share with you right now

because the haters will sabotage me I

have plans that I cannot