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Sony's Indie Love-in: Why their Gamescom Strategy was Legit

Great OP. in addition I think Sony realizes the game industry is transitioning in a way like the movie. Not every movie is going to be $200m budgets. You need the small movies and as a studio you only get a couple of the mega hits. You can't survive just on mega hits anymore. Games start to take way too long and the industry will collapse just moving forward as is.

The biggest crux I think from the backlash is Sony at gamescom didn't feed the HYPE machine. The presses have changed to be only about HYPE games and people's attention span at these things are reduced to seconds on topics. So Sony is disrupting the tradition a bit. They're showing a bunch of cool games, but they're not the MEGA HYPE games. Like people hype the avengers or batman movie. They enjoy an Eternal sunshine film, but you don't feed the Hype train with that type of content. Games are moving in a similar way. What's funnier is people were later even clamoring for just a title page or something knowing its not out soon. So why bother seeing it? Did anyone really care when we saw the Halo teaser? It didn't seem to move the needle. Why not wait until you have something worthwhile to show. You know the studios will be there.

And I think it strengthens their cross buy concept which is an esentive for me over XBLA and Steam ecosystems. Buy once play it in the PS family is a great feature i want to support. Plus the indies smooth out content in between mega hits and in the traditional launch drought. Why launch 30 games and then nothing for 6 months. Infamous is Feb, indies fill the gap with constant weekly content from launch to there
 

admartian

Member
Excellent post, OP.


The way I see it is, drawing comparisons to football. is that indies are like drafting your own players from college. Some may be busts, others are solid gems, and the few are stars - all of which have the potential to contribute. The majority of "AAA games" these days are like spending bucks on some free agent name, which may or not turn out to be a bust. Though usually, with the amount of money spent on these 'names', it's hard to live up to expectations (cost of bringing them in) and usually fall short anyway.

Usually, the best teams draft well/grow their own talent; and supplement that with the odd signing.
 

ascii42

Member
This is the most relevant bit I think. Not only a AAA dev, but potentially a dev sitting under the Sony umbrella with access to all the best technology and support.

The other side of the coin is todays AAA dev, is tomorrow's indie dev. Companies like EA don't make games, the talented people who work there do. Once they leave and want to do their own thing? They'll know they have a viable place to do it.

Yep. For example, Naughty Dog started out as 2 people. I think they only had 5 or 6 people when they made Crash Bandicoot. Now look at them.
 

Usobuko

Banned
●Resogun
● Shadow of the Beast
● Rime
● Everybody's Gone to the Rapture
● Helldivers

I'll probably play Resogun, Shadow of the Beast and Helldivers when I buy a PS4 eventually. It's not bad for what they announced but nothing truly gets me excited. Still, there's TGS.
 

Amir0x

Banned
PS4 has no games. It has negative games. It'll be better the sooner we all accept this.

Demon Soul's 2 by itself is going to create a blackhole so powerful that it'll by itself be all of the games simultaneously. All of them

I saw your post Marty Chinn, I'm just cooking dinner for my little niece right now.
 

Verendus

Banned
You take Killzone, Knack, Drive Club, Infamous and The Order, then add Resogun, Shadow of the Beast, Rime, Everybody's Gone to the Rapture, Helldivers; this has the affect of cancelling everything so you're left with nothing. Add in the Indie games which aren't really games, and you end up beneath even zero. PS4 is at, like, -15 right now in terms of games.

I have to say though, even though it isn't a real game, that Rime looked real nice.

Great OP.
 

BigDug13

Member
the opposite.

come out guns blazing and, in the 2nd or 3rd years, slowly faze out the big releases and introduce more in-house indie games.

So swallow up any chance for indie devs early by flooding the market then later on give them a chance and have a trickle of AAA content at a time when devs are learning the most about the hardware? Terrible strategy. Front loading means you miss out on taking advantage of the hardware with your AAA games.

It would also mean pulling all your teams off PS3 years in advance to gear up.
 

Bundy

Banned
Demon Soul's 2 by itself is going to create a blackhole so powerful that it'll by itself be all of the games simultaneously. All of them
I'm so afraid that the "Demon Souls 2 / PS4" story could just be a pipe dream ;-(
I really really want it!
 

Kaako

Felium Defensor
Reading this thread was worth my time; well done Ami & everyone who contributed. I agree wholeheartedly with what was said in the OP and am damn glad they put Indies in the spotlight. Don't have much else to add so I'll continue watching thread for further posts.
 

Rhindle

Member
I look at it this way:

X1: Major AAA titles

PS4: Same major AAA titles, but a boatload of smaller indie games as well.
But again, that really isn't true. Both platform holders are constrained in what their first party studios can deliver in the first 6 or 12 months. MS is filling teh gap by funding Ryse, DR3, Titanfall, Sunset Overdrive, Quantum Break etc. That's an expensive strategy that Sony can't/won't match. Instead they're rolling out the We Luv Indies "strategy". I'm skeptical that it will sell a lot of consoles.

Don't get me wrong, I think Sony has a massive upper hand right now. But their "indie strategy" is not the reason for it.
 
the opposite.

come out guns blazing and, in the 2nd or 3rd years, slowly faze out the big releases and introduce more in-house indie games.

Good in theory, poor in practice. Actually poor in theory...The big guns at launch? They last 20 hours and then you have nothing to play for a year whilst big games are being made. Nobody is going to do their best stuff on a console with no install base and probably new engines.

Small games fill the gap until titles like TLOU are viable.
 

Biker19

Banned
I am getting tired of a lot of AAA games. A lot tend to be either the same or copying each other. I hate how all shooters are COD clones now.

And we are severely missing games on certain genres. I miss games like Raiden X or top down beat em ups. Indie games tend to cover more of the genres we rarely have.

I think Indies will be the return of the mid tier, but much stronger.

I agree. Most AAA games are so shallow nowadays. And I'm not even a big fan of shooters or sports games.
 

noobasuar

Banned
Demon Soul's 2 by itself is going to create a blackhole so powerful that it'll by itself be all of the games simultaneously. All of them

I saw your post Marty Chinn, I'm just cooking dinner for my little niece right now.

Oh please stop. Demon Souls 2 is never going to happen. From isn't going to ever wan't to cannibalize sales of the Dark Souls series.
 

Verendus

Banned
Oh please stop. Demon Souls 2 is never going to happen. From isn't going to ever wan't to cannibalize sales of the Dark Souls series.
Maybe not Demon Souls 2, but a 'Demon's Souls 2' thingy-majigy is happening.

It's okay though, that doesn't count as a game either in my eyes. As far as I'm concerned, it's like a quarter of a game, so if anything, the PS4 only moves up to -8 if we count it. That's still a long way to go.
 

Niks

Member
I really like this direction Sony is taking.

I also think this is sony speaking to a more mature audience? People that are tired of same old shooters and want something different for a change maybe? I mean people that like shooters will get their shooters, but they will also get the OPTION to try new experiences.

I think its a win for everybody.
 
I really like this direction Sony is taking.

I also think this is sony speaking to a more mature audience? People that are tired of same old shooters and want something different for a change maybe? I mean people that like shooters will get their shooters, but they will also get the OPTION to try new experiences.

I think its a win for everybody.

Yeah it does go a bit above and beyond "console A has 13 shooters and console B only has 9 so it has no games".

But the most important part of the indie games listed is the quality. Not much point doing a focus if the games are crap. Similarly AAA titles rushed and incomplete for marketing wins isn't helping anybody either.
 

Amir0x

Banned
Source? I know the director is working on a new game but I've never heard of it being exclusive to the PS4.

Well I've heard it from an additional source I can't mention here, but Verendus and I think famousmortimer both have also heard the same info on this. And if you add into the mix that the director is unaccounted for, it's an awful lot of smoke.

Edit:

I didn't know PS4 could do this:

Shuhei Yoshida ‏@yosp 3h

@SyriasSerj When you buy a PS4 game on smartphone, it will wake your PS4 up to start downloading the game. PS4 goes back to sleep after that

I thought only XBO could, that's cool.
 
Demon Soul's 2 by itself is going to create a blackhole so powerful that it'll by itself be all of the games simultaneously. All of them

I saw your post Marty Chinn, I'm just cooking dinner for my little niece right now.
No worries. I'm picking up my girl now and will be doing the usual evening parent routine.
 
But again, that really isn't true. Both platform holders are constrained in what their first party studios can deliver in the first 6 or 12 months. MS is filling teh gap by funding Ryse, DR3, Titanfall, Sunset Overdrive, Quantum Break etc. That's an expensive strategy that Sony can't/won't match. Instead they're rolling out the We Luv Indies "strategy". I'm skeptical that it will sell a lot of consoles.

Don't get me wrong, I think Sony has a massive upper hand right now. But their "indie strategy" is not the reason for it.

Hmm, I didn't realise Grand Turismo 6, God of War : Ascension, The Last of Us, Puppeteer, Beyond : Two Souls, The Order : 1886, Killzone : SF & inFamous : Second Son were cheap games.

And that whatever Sony is funding for Guerilla's 2nd team, SSM's 2nd team, Media Molecule's 2nd team and ND's 2nd team are also cheap.

Sarcasm aside, Sony is constrained because many major 1st-party teams are still releasing PS3 titles in 2013, whereas the only 1st-party studios working on X360 titles at MS are working on a Fable port. ( not to mention 3 of MS's XB1 games were originally 360 games turned XB1 exclusive )

Yes, strategically this puts Sony's first push out-of-the-gate a little weak, but this notion that they're somehow investing less is foolish.

If Sony was being jerks towards PS3 owners, all of their 2013 titles would had been PS4 launch or launch window titles. (Except GT6) That would've added 5 extra games to their PS4 line-up.
 
As others have already said, both consoles are going to sell out this holiday. The fact is, Sony will probably achieve this goal with a lower number of retail exclusives than MS. So actually this is a positive for Sony, achieving the same goal just with price advantage and mindshare. In 2014 when it matters they will bring their big games and MS won't have anything to fill the empty voids, while Sony has a lot of smaller Indie stuff. Halo is huge, but I'm sure Sony will counter with Uncharted or something similar.

Let's be realistic here, Sony knows how pre-orders are looking. They have games in development right now ready to be shown. These are facts. So if they don't show them right now they likely have a good reason for it, similar to how MS had a good reason to announce everything at E3. In case something bad happens Sony can still go ahead and announce more games immediately, it's not like they have to wait for a tradeshow.

I assume they know what they are doing and are more interested in numbers than what people on internet forums are thinking.
 

spwolf

Member
I only said it was a negative in how they strategically convey the message to the masses. I wouldn't call it a complete wash either since I feel the launch line up favors Microsoft, but even ignoring that, it still is about the message which has been obviously a big deal with how Microsoft dropped the ball early on in that regard. But things change quick and Sony needs to keep the advantage for as long as they can.

So basically, MS completely disregarded indies, forgot about them and now they are spinning that into somehow being positive because they are "focusing" on retail games, and you are buying it... despite Sony actually investing more money into retail by owning all these studios that are making games.

Message from Sony is that they will have a ton of indies to compliment ton of first party games.

In reality, Sony is focusing more on indies and more on exclusives than Microsoft.

How can that be spun into something bad?

I mean if Sony now comes out and says - we are developing Gran Turismo 7, Uncharted 4, Beyond, God of War, LBP, The Last of Us 2, MLB, etc, then you will somehow feel that Sony obliterates whatever MS has coming for XB1 in next 3 years, right?

Besides, right now PS4 has Killzone and Infamous coming from their big titles, as well as Knack and Driveclub as their new IPs... thats pretty nice set of first party titles for first 3 months of console life, two of which will likely sell over anything that MS has for XB1 at that time.
 

Mifune

Mehmber
Well I've heard it from an additional source I can't mention here, but Verendus and I think famousmortimer both have also heard the same info on this. And if you add into the mix that the director is unaccounted for, it's an awful lot of smoke.

Also, not that this is necessarily connected, but Aram Jabbari (Atlus PR Manager) moved to Sony last year. You might remember him as one of the biggest boosters of Demon's Souls in North America. If you wanted to release a new Demon's Souls, you could do worse than hire the guy who promoted it in the region in which you decided not to publish last time around.
 

TheHater

Member
I'm happy Sony used Gamecom as a stage to showcase indie games. Give indie games the spotlight on a big stage and let them showcase to the world that they can compete with the AAA games in terms of innovation, gameplay, store, etc. In fact, more of the innovation in gameplay and game ideas are coming from the indie guys.

We know the AAA games are coming and those games will get the spotlight. Just give the "little" guys their too.
 

Paz

Member
One thing people seem to be forgetting in all of this is the resurgence of niche genres, do you really think Sega or EA would green light a game like Assault Android Cactus? Our market is small, our potential profit is tiny, this is why certain genres simply didn't exist on consoles last generation and why the PC had a major resurgence with the depth & breadth of games available on Steam/GoG/Desura.
 

Amir0x

Banned
Maybe I'm wrong on this but I was under the impression they were. Apologies if I misrepresented those games. You're right though, we barely got any info so it's hard to say.

I don't know, you may be right. I am actively searching the internet for a reference to the fact it's digital-only, but have come up short. Maybe someone else can find a link on the status of Rime and Shadow of the Beast, and whether they could possibly be retail or if they're digital only?


It kinda does change the importance. That's not to take away anything from Minecraft, but that's more of a unique situation rather than the norm. It would be like pointing out Angry Birds as an example of why everyone should instead be focusing on mobile games. Sure there can be some big success, but what's the typical situation like?

You now just listed two games from small teams that could only be classified as "indie" when they came out, which blew up into literal worldwide phenomenons. And they are certainly not the only examples.

Obviously, such examples are going to be the exception. Such remarkably successful titles are the exception amongst ALL games, let alone AAA titles. But my point is that we have no way to predict this one way or the other. In this day and age, there's really no particular reason to give a leg up to retail games over digital games in terms of their potential impact... in both cases, we have examples where they fail and they succeed beyond anyone's wildest imagination.

And more centrally, to separate our argument real quick about the potential market impact versus the impact on a gamer-by-gamer basis, to me it shouldn't matter whether something is AAA or not. That's part of the reason for this discussion. We as gamers are - whether subconsciously or not - segmenting indie titles into some form of 'lesser tier' game, and the only true distinguishing fact is that they cost less to develop and that most are not retail releases. But does having a physical disc upgrade the game's quality? I don't think that should matter when assessing a system's library. Just the quality of the game itself.


We are still unfortunately, at this time, have a market that plays much bigger emphasis on a regular major release over a digital indie release. It even showed at that conference where they would point out games and names, and there was very little reaction because those people didn't really know who they were. So the importance really comes from who does it speak out to, how many people does it speak out to, and what is to be gained from it. Focusing on the bigger picture, Sony needs to be constantly talking to the larger number of people and not just the niche. Certainly still focus on the niche to some degree, but not at the expense of the larger audience.

Well as I said, they still did reveal one or two bigger budget games at Gamescom. So the conversation didn't just stop at pure indies. But, I feel right now is the perfect opportunity for indie devs to take the spotlight and demonstrate how important it is to the "healthy ecosystem" - which is a killer app for me and others - to allow the widest and most diverse range of possible tastes to be satiated. For me, this is integral to what I want out of a platform, and I feel whether the average consumer would list this outright as a reason, subconsciously many consumers choose on this basis as well: whether they think the system is a good investment because of the gaming ecosystem. These indie games help create such a healthy ecosystem.

And since we know Sony ALSO has a huge number of unannounced AAA products, and that they already have announced some big ones that are further down the line (inFamous and The Order, and potentially Shadow of the Beast and Rime), the ecosystem could only be described as very healthy indeed early on. Especially when, like the XBO, third party support is extremely vibrant.


I think a variety of games is a good thing. I think it's healthy and helps attract the widest audience possible. My feeling with the Gamescom announcement is it felt too much like it focused on Indie games which meant it talked to a smaller audience and somewhat ignored the bigger one.

I think it's great that Indie devs are getting some of the spotlight. God knows many of them deserve it. I just think from a strategic standpoint, too much focus is not a good thing for the bigger picture.

I said this somewhere in another thread, but another problem with the focus on these other games is often, they don't warrant a new system. They could easily be done on the current gen and at this time, especially with the talk that consoles might be on their way out, you need good reason to get people excited about justifying the upgrade to a new hardware platform. That's another reason why something that shows off the system is beneficial at this point in time.

I just don't know why we keep thinking Knack, Killzone, DriveClub, inFamous, The Order, Rime and Shadow of the Beast is not currently enough to tell these people that those AAA experiences are coming as well, while not putting Sony at a strategic disadvantage by letting them play their most important cards when they're going to need them?

What # of AAA games do you think would meet the requirement that Sony is adequately doing both? To say nothing of the fact that they're ALSO supporting the PS3 with some of the most astonishingly impressive end of life support I've ever seen for a console. This is a company that means serious business. I don't know why anyone would doubt that given they already announced a ton of AAA PS4 games, we know they have tons more in the pipe, and they're supplementing that with exclusive indie games and non-exclusive indie games.

In fact I think they have struck a rather perfect balance at the moment.
 

Amir0x

Banned
One thing people seem to be forgetting in all of this is the resurgence of niche genres, do you really think Sega or EA would green light a game like Assault Android Cactus? Our market is small, our potential profit is tiny, this is why certain genres simply didn't exist on consoles last generation and why the PC had a major resurgence with the depth & breadth of games available on Steam/GoG/Desura.

The other thing to consider is that say your game is successful and gets a lot of positive buzz. Sony has already demonstrated they have no problem coming in and giving support, funds or even more to ensure your bigger ideas may get made too. Just look at Everybody's Gone to the Rapture, which the devs said are specifically being made as exclusive for PS4 because Sony is providing support for the full scope of their vision. And that team is only 8 people large at best!

Look at Rime... from developer TequilaWorks, who previously simply made one game with Microsoft's help. Now Rime is getting a bigger budget and is exclusive to PS4 because Sony is providing integral support to allow them to realize their bigger vision.

There are so many upsides to this for Sony, for gamers, for the industry... I am so excited for where things are headed if this focus can continue from MS, Nintendo and Sony.
 

JP

Member
This is a really big thing, that doesn't mean that I don't want the "major" games too but a steady stream of interesting games that aren't too expensive to take a chance on are going to be massive for me.
 

Amir0x

Banned
This is a really big thing, that doesn't mean that I don't want the "major" games too but a steady stream of interesting games that aren't too expensive to take a chance on are going to be massive for me.

Yeah, this goes to the heart of my pricing argument. Games are expensive; indie games frequently are not. This is a good way to lower the barrier of entry for everyone :)
 

Zeth

Member
Great thread. If I can get 4-5 games as good as Rogue Legacy (or Hotline, or Guacamelee, etc) a year, I would be so incredibly content. Sony's leaning into indies synchronizes beautifully with my growing disinterest in blockbuster, franchise gaming.
 
This is a really big thing, that doesn't mean that I don't want the "major" games too but a steady stream of interesting games that aren't too expensive to take a chance on are going to be massive for me.

Agreed. Xbox Live Arcade made 360 such a strong platform early on. Having those smaller titles really complemented the bigger 1st/3rd party games. To me a system seller is not one or two big titles, but a platform having a strong ecosystem with a wealth of titles.
 

LiquidMetal14

hide your water-based mammals
When PS4 hits and has a steady flow of games, us owners will be very happy.

I've said this for months, there will not be a shortage of amazing games coming out on PS4. That means retail and PSN.
 

psrock

Member
This is not the same Sony from 2006. That Sony announced huge AAA games that to this day have never been released. I expect most PS4 games announced will be released within a year. And plus, Good luck getting a PS4 at launch.
 

Amir0x

Banned
This is not the same Sony from 2006. That Sony announced huge AAA games that to this day have never been released. I expect most PS4 games announced will be released within a year. And plus, Good luck getting a PS4 at launch.

According to Sony, they are actually holding onto some stock and not allowing them to go to pre-orders, so they can keep shelves stocked even if their competitor runs out. In this way, customers who might have purchased an XBO will see a Ps4 on the shelf and choose that instead.

Or so Sony believes it will work out. If demand is so large it sucks up those units too fast as well, Sony is in for the biggest first few months in industry history I think :p

Can they maintain that momentum, though?

When PS4 hits and has a steady flow of games, us owners will be very happy.

I've said this for months, there will not be a shortage of amazing games coming out on PS4. That means retail and PSN.

There really are so many games to be excited about, no matter what your approach to gaming. Putting aside indie games and AAA games, there are also the myriad of free-to-play games that are releasing on PS4. Truly, there is something for absolutely everybody, except perhaps those who loved motion controls. There's not a good move showcase yet, I don't think. Unless people are using Playroom as an example :p
 

Draft

Member
Smaller games like these are great. That's why I've done most of my gaming on a PC the last few years, and it's why I'll continue to do so :)
 
That was a great OP, Amir0x.

Note: Minecraft is included because, although not exclusive, it is published by Microsoft Game Studios.

Today in things: Minecraft has been announced as a launch title for PS4. It's a 2014 title for Microsoft. So even though it's being published by MGS, it's coming to PS4 before Xbox One.
 
I just don't get how anyone can be doubting Sony's first-party output for ps4. When counting ps3 and ps4 first-party games together just for 2013 you have:

God of War: Ascension
TLOU
Beyond: Two Souls
Rain
Puppeteer
R&C: Into the Nexus
GT6
K:SF
Driveclub
Knack

Even if most of these are ps3 games, the first-party support for Sony platforms this year is absolutely stellar. Why would you expect ps4 to be any different, especially when it has been made clear that these studios are all already well underway on ps4 projects.
 

Amir0x

Banned
Wait a darn tick here, what's all this about Demons Souls 2?! First time I'm hearing anything of the sort.

Verendus and I believe famousmortimer - two of our leakers with fairly good track records - have said it's coming. It may not be called DS2, but it'll be in the vein of that game, potentially directed by the guy who did the original DS and DarkS since he is currently basically unaccounted for as I understand it working on something secret.
 

prwxv3

Member
Verendus and I believe famousmortimer - two of our leakers with fairly good track records - have said it's coming. It may not be called DS2, but it'll be in the vein of that game, potentially directed by the guy who did the original DS and DarkS since he is currently basically unaccounted for as I understand it working on something secret.

It seems legit. Miyazaki has to be working on something. I could be wrong.
 

badb0y

Member
A lot of the great first party studios that Sony has were once Indies.

I think this strategy of pulling all developers regardless of their size is a smart strategy. Who knows maybe they will end up buying up some of these small developers to be tomorrows Naughty Dog.
 

LiquidMetal14

hide your water-based mammals
According to Sony, they are actually holding onto some stock and not allowing them to go to pre-orders, so they can keep shelves stocked even if their competitor runs out. In this way, customers who might have purchased an XBO will see a Ps4 on the shelf and choose that instead.

Or so Sony believes it will work out. If demand is so large it sucks up those units too fast as well, Sony is in for the biggest first few months in industry history I think :p

Can they maintain that momentum, though?



There really are so many games to be excited about, no matter what your approach to gaming. Putting aside indie games and AAA games, there are also the myriad of free-to-play games that are releasing on PS4. Truly, there is something for absolutely everybody, except perhaps those who loved motion controls. There's not a good move showcase yet, I don't think. Unless people are using Playroom as an example :p

I've got Killzone and the PS4 Eye pre-ordered. The kids are going to love it and the spec of the camera is actually quite decent. 720p @60fps is a huge step up from the PS3 Eye.

I plan on getting Minecraft and a few PSN games day 1 alongside the free Plus freebies.
 

Bundy

Banned
A lot of the great first party studios that Sony has were once Indies.

I think this strategy of pulling all developers regardless of their size is a smart strategy. Who knows maybe they will end up buying up some of these small developers to be tomorrows Naughty Dog.
Well, I hope "Ready at Dawn" is next.
They're so damn good and talented + co-developing with SCEA Santa Monica = awesomeness (just look at their PSP games, etc.)
I hope Sony acquires them :)
 
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