Just months after reportedly cancelling two live service games in development, Sony announces a new PlayStation studio with a live service game in development (www.pcgamer.com)
from Agent_Karyo@lemmy.world to games@lemmy.world on 08 May 05:22
https://lemmy.world/post/29310093

#games

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LorIps@lemmy.world on 08 May 09:12 next collapse

<img alt="1000031277" src="https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/00db45f1-8501-4281-8d5c-4daacfd2ecdf.jpeg">

ms_lane@lemmy.world on 08 May 09:29 next collapse

It’s even funnier the n ^th^ time!

Merva@sh.itjust.works on 08 May 09:43 next collapse

As long as there continues to be succesful live service games, they will never stop attempting to make new ones, because the succesful ones are the most profitable forms of entertainment ever devised.

Of course there is only room for a limited amount of live service games on the market (since gamers only have one life to waste on them), so most of them will fail, and many of them even before leaving the drawing board it seems.

Kecessa@sh.itjust.works on 08 May 10:20 next collapse

Yep, they can make a bunch of games that costs them hundreds of millions to make it they manage to make one that brings in billions in profit… That’s what we call gambling.

Master167@lemmy.world on 08 May 11:47 collapse

That’s what we call gambling.

Most companies call it R&D.

Agent_Karyo@lemmy.world on 08 May 10:20 next collapse

This is an excellent point. An organisation the size of Sony is simply incapable of not attempting a live service hit as long as they have the resources to do so.

A smaller player can pursue a strategy where they gain profits from their (somewhat specialized) segement of the market. Sony lacks that flexibility due to their size.

Don_alForno@feddit.org on 08 May 15:25 collapse

But then, why do they keep canceling them before release? They don’t know if they’d have been hits or failures.

Merva@sh.itjust.works on 09 May 08:14 collapse

Of course we can’t really know what goes on behind the scenes. But obviously these kinds of games are designed by committee (namely board members). So every single detail is going to be dictated from above, and as new games are released by other publishers with new succesful features these dictates changes mid-production. I can’t but imagine that the development of live service games are a complete shitshow from start to finish.

So perhaps at some point they decide to get rid of the entire mess and start afresh, only for the process to beging again of course.

Don_alForno@feddit.org on 09 May 08:28 next collapse

I’ve seen project managment in industrial fields go in circles in similar ways, and now that you put it this way I can totally see it.

RedAggroBest@lemmy.world on 09 May 14:44 collapse

Also worth noting that getting a live service game with enough infrastructure going to immediately make them millions is a significant startup cost on its own. picking the best project of them and then putting it in its own studio seems like a very smart way to do it.

DoucheBagMcSwag@lemmy.dbzer0.com on 08 May 12:14 next collapse

For the love of god can we get another syphon filter or ape escape??

Quetzalcutlass@lemmy.world on 08 May 15:44 next collapse

*Monkey’s paw curls*

Your wish has been granted. Look forward to our upcoming Syphon: Extraction, an exciting extraction shooter with none of the gameplay you remember!

Also on the docket is Ape Escape Infinity, a gacha featuring all your favorite apes and up to several minutes of gameplay. Now supports importing NFT apes, because our execs are still pushing crypto as the next big thing for some reason!

DoucheBagMcSwag@lemmy.dbzer0.com on 08 May 15:44 collapse

Wow… Just… go fuck yourself man.

Tap for spoiler

I hate how goddamn accurate this is

Quetzalcutlass@lemmy.world on 08 May 15:55 collapse

I’m still salty they turned Marathon into an extraction shooter. Marathon, one of the all-time narrative greats!

Why make millions releasing games people want when you can potentially make billions by abusing addiction research to keep users playing long past the point they enjoy your game?

(I’m vaguely associated with the gaming industry. I knew things were about to go downhill when I started getting invites to lectures on retaining players and extracting money by using unethical psychological tricks - this was nearly fifteen years ago and targeted at mobile devs, but it’s long since infected the entire industry)

DoucheBagMcSwag@lemmy.dbzer0.com on 08 May 15:59 collapse

It’s only Marathon in name.

Wait did you get an invite to this,?? (PocketGamer Connects - Helinski)

youtu.be/xNjI03CGkb4

This video really opened my eyes to F2P manipulation and because of this I mostly avoid it now.

Quetzalcutlass@lemmy.world on 08 May 16:05 collapse

Not that video specifically, but the others were along the same vein. They were all completely open about how they abused psychology to get people hooked, and spoke about players using dehumanizing terms like assets or cash cows. It was disgusting how shameless they were.

DoucheBagMcSwag@lemmy.dbzer0.com on 08 May 16:13 collapse

Wow and that was 15 years ago. Think of how much worse it has become now

Quetzalcutlass@lemmy.world on 08 May 16:29 collapse

I don’t think it’s actually gotten much worse (things even got slightly better after a few countries threatened legislation for going after children), it’s just that those tactics have slowly made their way out of the mobile space (where post-installation monetization strategies are a result of users expecting mobile games to be free, or at most a couple of dollars) and into regular gaming.

A free-to-play gacha game on Android having a scummy monetization model is nothing new, but an $80 (soon to be $90) AAA game double- and triple-dipping into your wallet with paid season passes and FOMO banners and all that other junk, plus plastering ads on its menus? That’s still relatively new to consoles/PC, and putting that crap in games you paid for represents a new level of greed.

SkunkWorkz@lemmy.world on 08 May 20:26 collapse

Yeah the only reason I’ve have bought a PS 1 to 3 was to play Metal Gear Solid. I have bought neither the 4 nor 5, since no new MGS was released on it ( I played MGSV on ps3). A modernized Syphon Filter with improved stealth gameplay would definitely make me want to buy the PS5.

gradual@lemmings.world on 09 May 13:14 collapse

PS3 was my last console.

I stopped buying’em when they started charging for 2nd internet.

lustyargonian@lemm.ee on 08 May 20:47 next collapse

Devil’s advocate: they created a new studio with all the lessons and right core employees who understand the space the best.

newcockroach@lemmy.world on 08 May 21:02 collapse

Well atleast they are trying stuff unlike some other trillion dollar company that keeps on buying studios but still fails the make good new ip (hell! they are struggling to keep halo intact).

lustyargonian@lemm.ee on 08 May 21:04 next collapse

Word

CaptSatelliteJack@lemy.lol on 09 May 14:26 collapse

Yeah, I think they made that, too

SkunkWorkz@lemmy.world on 09 May 16:05 collapse

Funny how that almost describes several other US companies besides MS. Like Amazon keeps failing at releasing a game and when they do it’s trash. And Meta keeps losing billions in the VR space. Tech bros have no clue how the triple A gaming industry works, since games actually require creativity and you can’t simply hook people with an algorithm.

fluffykittycat@slrpnk.net on 09 May 07:58 next collapse

I still read “live service” the way it’s pronounced on the jimqusition

quack@lemmy.zip on 09 May 09:12 collapse

LiVe SeRvIcE

mrfriki@lemmy.world on 09 May 09:06 next collapse

I wish them the best flop

quack@lemmy.zip on 09 May 09:11 next collapse

The games industry desperately needs another crash.

NotKyloRen@lemmy.zip on 10 May 13:33 collapse

And the funny thing is I’d be fine with my 18 year old Steam account and 450 games (and a huge backlog).

gradual@lemmings.world on 09 May 13:12 next collapse

Just throwing shit at the wall to see what sticks.

Mallspice@lemm.ee on 09 May 14:04 collapse

You just don’t learn. How many times do we have to teach you this lesson old man?