Everything seems to indicate that 2024 will be an uninspiring year for fans of PlayStation. Today, Sony shared its financial report for the most recent quarter of the current fiscal year, where it noted that They do not plan to launch any new games in the franchises at their disposal during the next fiscal yearthat is, between April 1, 2024 and March 31, 2025.
As part of the financial report, Hiroki Totoki, president, director of operations and financial director of the Sony Group, pointed out that, although at the moment there are multiple projects in development, there are no plans to release games in the most popular PlayStation franchises during the next fiscal year. This is what was said about it:
“As for our own software, our goal is to continue focusing on producing high-quality work and developing games as a service. Although major projects are currently in development, we do not plan to release any new titles in major franchises in the next fiscal year, such as God of War Ragnarok and Marvel's Spider-Man 2.”
It is important to mention that this shortage that we will see on the PS5 refers to already known series, so, for example, we would not see a Returnal 2. However, This doesn't mean that entirely new properties won't be part of PlayStation's plans for the next fiscal year.as they can be concord. Along with this, this does not mean that exclusives will not be available on this console, only that they will come from third-party developers, as will be Rise of the Ronin.
However, this decision is expected to substantially affect PlayStation sales for the next fiscal year. Not only is a drop in software sales within financial expectations, but the hardware performance will also be severely affected. This is what Totoki commented on the matter:
“While the burden of acquisition-related costs will ease next fiscal year, we expect first-party software earnings to decline slightly from this fiscal year due to the impact of declining sales. Because of this, operating income for the next fiscal year is currently expected to increase slightly from this fiscal year. However, while this is our baseline, we are reviewing measures to further improve profitability ahead of the announcement of expected annual results in May.”
In this way, it is clear that 2024 will be a dry year for the PlayStation 5. Despite the fact that titles like Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, Stellar Blade and Rise of the Ronin They are third party experiences exclusive to this console for the first half of the year, not We know what will happen in the last six months of 2024. Although the possibility of seeing completely new properties, or even DLC for titles already available, is not ruled out, it is clear that the performance of the console will not be as great as many surely expected.
This, as already mentioned, is the result of an extensive and expensive AAA development process. PlayStation productions have been characterized by taking multiple years to create, and needing millions of dollars, something that many have pointed out is unsustainable. Although in the past we had seen a couple of launches a year, 2024 is a clear example of the problems that this model represents.
One of the tactics that have been used to mitigate the lack of games, has been an increased focus on games as a service. This allows PlayStation to have a constant flow of money, and offer players a series of evolving experiences. However, this has not worked as expected either. Yes ok Helldivers II has proven to be a success, and many are looking forward to the next Marathon, The Last of Us Online has been cancelled, and interest in the Horizon MMO is little, if any.
In comparison, Nintendo, which constantly delivers new games through medium and large developments, has managed to remain at the top of hardware and software sales for much of the last seven years. We can only wait for PlayStation to deliver worthwhile experiences in the future. On related topics, this would be the next PlayStation exclusive. Similarly, starfield It would not reach the PS5.
Editor's Note:
2024 will be a very complicated year for PlayStation, to the extent that seeing Xbox titles, such as HiFi Rush and starfield It sounds like something that could be very positive for them. If third-party developers fail to deliver substantial experiences during the second half of the year, it will be time to complete the Switch backlog.
Via: Gematsu
#PlayStation #launches #Atomix
