How Sony always makes some huge hits
Megaton numbers indeed
It's a fascinating story of how Sony became a big name publisher in this business.
I think the thing I'll give them the most credit for is their ability to adapt to situations.
During the N64/PS1 and Gamecube/PS2 days, all the talk was about how much better Nintendo was than Sony. You had comparisons of Dark Cloud vs Majora's Mask, Halo vs Killzone. Syphon Filter vs Metal Gear Solid and Splinter Cell. Sony obviously wasn't coming out on top in these comparisons.
They made significant investments in their first party studios and not all of these studios worked out. I think they learned a lot of lessons from success but maybe more importantly from failure.
Maybe had they given Zipper Interactive more time, they'd be a powerhouse studio today (though V1 interactive didn't last either).
I think this is why they're not as quick now to shutdown studios like Bend. Maybe with better engine and tools like Decima. There's probably some level of regret that they shutdown Evolution Studios. Basically, all studios should have been given a pass for the PS3.
Their ability to create hits from LittleBigPlanet, to Ghost of Tsushima, to Helldivers 2 is absolutely staggering.
Not sure a company in the industry has a better track record of IP creation in the last 20 years.