They were never Sony's to lose. The three-game contract was announced shortly after the studio was founded.
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thatgamecompany's Contract with Sony's Up; "Exploring Bigger Audience".
- Thread starter Saty
- Start date
They were never Sony's to lose. The three-game contract was announced shortly after the studio was founded.
Not that we know of.
It has a wider audience than being a downloadable game on one platform.
BlazingDarkness
Member
Well as long as their stuff is still on PS3/Vita then I don't mind this, it'll be a big loss if they pull some iOS exclusive shit though
Sony need to invest in more unique talent, Ueda gone and Jenova moving on, it's not looking good
Sony need to invest in more unique talent, Ueda gone and Jenova moving on, it's not looking good
And thatgamecompany love them some accessible control inputs.
Resistance 3's marketing was fairly minimal.
So is Journey really. The only advantage Sony really have is they can justify more creative freedom as platform portfolio enrichment, a third party can't. But if they care about money, exclusive isn't ideal.
Has it? The PS3 install base is much larger than Kinect's.
Callibretto
Member
I cant picture any of the big publisher making tgc kind of games...sony has always been the weird one out making these weird artsy games
It's the logical decision for them right now. Sony got 3 great games and TGC strengthen their recognition enough to sell decently on many platforms.
I wonder how well/bad a proper retail game from them will do, if it's anything like Flow, Flower and Journey. Would be interesting to see.
I wonder how well/bad a proper retail game from them will do, if it's anything like Flow, Flower and Journey. Would be interesting to see.
On the one hand true but on the other how successful have thatgamecompany's sales been?
Ueda is awesome and all but has made Sony $0 this entire gen.
How does Kinect have a wider audience than PS3? Or am I misunderstanding you?
Amish_Gramish
Member
Yes.
Okay, OFFICIAL word from thatgamecompany:
flOw, Flower, and Journey are all owned by Sony. We won't be porting them over to iOS, Steam, other consoles, etc. If Sony wants to do any of that, they can.
As for what we'll work on next, we aren't going to announce what will happen until we announce it, so you'll just have to play the waiting game.
We are very excited about this new game, just like with flOw, Flower, and Journey.
We are also looking for a new Feel Engineer and a Scalability Engineer (to build larger online infrastructures):
http://thatgamecompany.com/jobs/
lunchwithyuzo
Banned
PS3 intall base =/= PSN install base
BlazingDarkness
Member
It's not about being successful, it's about Sony having a varied portfolio and distinguished exclusives - Team Ico/TGC create that type of game, without this we're left with Uncharted sequels and average FPS games
I'm not saying they're the same, I'm asking. Kinect is closing in on twenty million, I imagine more people use PSN, but I don't know.
FlyingTeacup
Member
how's the sale of the ico/sotc hd?
Indeed, marketing for the game is fairly minimal. Yet it got a lot of publicity because it is an exclusive.
A distinguished exclusive that has still not come out now that we are approaching the end of the generation? I love Ico/SoTC but this is all kinds of stupid, for Sony as an investor in this project and me as a huge fan of the team Ico games. Last gen I got to experience 2, this gen zero.
LiquidSolid
Member
Flow was one of the best selling PSN games in its first few years. It ended up selling well over 500k. And Flower did great as well.
And uh, you realise the Ico/SotC Collection came out last year, right? You think that wouldn't have existed without Ueda?
Honestly, as much as I'd like to be unbiased, this news just sucks. They were easily the most notable PSN developer and while I wish them success, I also can't help but feel selfish because I've been a big supporter of theirs. It's a huge blow for the PSN.
However much it is, Sony could have sold exactly as many without paying Ueda for seven years.
Sapphire Dreams
Member
Good luck to them, such a great studio.
Pretty unfortunate that they won't retain ownership. Guess that's the downside of these exclusivity deals.
Thankfully the more open environment on Steam and iOS these days makes room for successes without having to make that sacrifice.
As big of a fan I am of Team ICO, it's been over six years and we've seen nothing from them. For some reason, the workflow process of the Japanese studio (they aren't the only ones however, SE and PD are two other big names that come to mind). Plus, my image of Ueda has slightly been tainted after his comments on why a girl could not be featured in TLG.
Anyway, this was inevitable and I don't know why is this news since it was a 3 game deal with Sony from the beginning. I wish them all the best and it'll be a great thing that other people on other platforms can also enjoy their imaginative games.
"God's Beard!"
Member
Playing flower on a projector is mind-blowing.
Sho_Nuff82
Member
It took 35 posts?
DC/DC2 and KS/KS2 have probably outsold every game ever released for PSN (individually, of course).
Callibretto
Member
Sony have dedicated program and budget to attract fresh indie developer, ps camp from scej, and scea also have similar program (I think that was shane mangod's position now isn't it). They have upcoming soundshapes, papo &yo, tokyo jungle, and I'm sure there's more.
Shane is working on the pub-fund yeah.
BlazingDarkness
Member
That's not really my point, I was just saying it's a bad trend where Sony risks losing some valuable aspects of their portfolio in their future, they need to be acquiring new talent instead of relying solely on sequels to their higher selling franchises
lunchwithyuzo
Banned
I don't know what PS3's connection rate is. Xbox 360 and Nintendo 3DS are both around 60% iirc, so that's probably close.
MiniBossBattle
Member
I don't think they should be locked up, but they shouldn't go crazy on multiplatform.
If anyone thinks they can be a self-funded indie, it's going to be new world for them. thatgamecompany built a reputation, but whether they can publish their own game is another thing. With Sony's funding, they had both creative freedom and money to make whatever. If they self-publish, they're stuck with a low budget project.
BlazingDarkness
Member
Hopefully they find a publisher who's happy to give them freedom and the funds to continue their work
Mention of online on that job posting makes me (hope) think it'll be some sort of PSN/XBL/Steam crossover.
Mention of online on that job posting makes me (hope) think it'll be some sort of PSN/XBL/Steam crossover.
Callibretto
Member
I've been curious with that ueda girl comment, is the interviewer ask Ueda why the main character is a boy? That seems like a very random question. Most of game's protagonist is male by default, it's only female if they want to exploit it or have some statement to make or need a female for the story they want to tell.
People dont ask epic why marcus isn't a woman for example.
XBOX HIVES
Banned
I personally bought a PS3 just recently for the TGC trifecta. While it sucks because I want to justify my investment, I have both PS3 and 360 consoles and hopefully they won't abandon the console space altogether.
Good for thatgamecompany, bad for Sony. Probably thatgamecompany games (and Pixeljunk games for that matter) are not huge money makers, but they are critically acclaimed. So loosing them to Steam or iOS is a huge blow for Sony.
I am not sure thatgamecompany would make more money on iOS than on PSN, how did Sword&Sorcery do? I suspect they go multiplatform (Steam, XBLA, PSN, possibly iOS and Android as well, maybe even Vita and 3DS)
I am not sure thatgamecompany would make more money on iOS than on PSN, how did Sword&Sorcery do? I suspect they go multiplatform (Steam, XBLA, PSN, possibly iOS and Android as well, maybe even Vita and 3DS)
lunchwithyuzo
Banned
Leaving Sony doesn't inherently mean they have to self publish/fund or even go multiplatform. I'm sure either Microsoft or Nintendo would be interested in doing something with TGC, and both can provide a larger audience and larger budget off the bat really.
I don't really understand why they would own that stuff though. It's not like TGC would be making a Flower 2 or anything anyway.
You think they would leave the 60m PS3 audience for 65m 360s? No. They're going multi.
lunchwithyuzo
Banned
Not always. Sony doesn't own Heavy Rain or PixelJunk for example.
I think it generally works this way with most publishers though. Microsoft is really the loosest, with high profile deals like Blue Dragon, Gears of War, Alan Wake or Dance Central where the developer holds or at least co-owns IP rights. Nintendo only seems to go for deals with already established 3rd party IP (Fatal Frame, Culdcept, LEGO, etc) so they're even worse than Sony in this regard.
Kinect and iOS talk...ugh.
C'mon Kaz, re-upping these guys should be high priority.
15 more days.
C'mon Kaz, re-upping these guys should be high priority.
15 more days.
BlazingDarkness
Member
In this instance it would have to be a budget issue because I don't see any guarantee either MS or Nintendo could provide a bigger audience. It'll definitely either be multiplatform or move to something like Steam/iOS.
Going from one space with an established audience to a largely similar space (MS) - albeit with more consumers doesn't make much sense, especially considering MS demographic is typically 'hardcore' heavy
Then there's Nintendo, who's online space has been wholly under developed up until recently - not the best place to go if you're investing in an online title
Definitely multiplatform
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