Sony has performed pretty well over the past few years, with the PS4 and PS5 being big successes. First-party titles like Marvel’s Spider-Man, Ghost of Tsushima, Horizon Forbidden West, and God of War Ragnarok have also done quite well for the publisher. But while it welcomes new ideas, it also cancels several games, per Shuhei Yoshida.
Speaking to The Guardian after receiving BAFTA’s Fellowship award for 2023, Sony Interactive Entertainment’s independent developer head said, “PlayStation embraces new ideas, and many of them fail. We do a prototype, we evaluate, we decide whether to spend more time and resources, or we just stop. We cancel so many games. I usually try to convince the developer that I’m trying to save them from getting stuck with this project.
“We tend to work with people who have very strong ideas, we love these people, so trying to change or stop their project is so hard. It’s all about talent in this industry. I have tried to help them as much as I could.”
This lines up with reports of projects like Bend Studio’s Days Gone sequel being rejected. How many other pitches and prototypes probably don’t see the light of day? Interestingly, Sony’s first-party output has remained high, despite it all.
The coming year is especially interesting for Sony since its only confirmed first-party title is Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, launching in Fall. It has tied up with Square Enix for exclusivity periods on Final Fantasy 16 and Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, but time will tell what else it has in store. Stay tuned for further updates, especially with the next PlayStation Showcase rumored for next month.