Quality first part content and exclusive content from third party developers has been one of the primary drivers for the incredible success PlayStation has enjoyed for a long time, and obviously, that’s not going to suddenly change with the PS5. If anything, by all accounts, that’s something Sony is going to emphasize even further in the coming months and years. PlayStation CEO Jim Ryan recently made comments to that effect, and in Sony’s recent quarterly earnings call (via VGC), Sony’s chief financial officer Hiroki Totoki did the same.
According to Totoki, Sony is going to continue to make aggressive investments in first party development, and spending on the same is even going to see a 20 billion yen (or $184 million) jump year-over-year in the current fiscal year. Additionally, Sony is also going to be investing in partnerships with external studios. As far as the latter is concerned, we’ve already started seeing some of that quite prominently, such as Jade Raymond’s new studio Haven Entertainment, or a new multiplayer game from the newly formed Firewalk Studios.
“We intend to increase development personnel and other in-house costs by approximately 20bn yen [$184m] year-on-year, as we further strengthen our in-house software,” he said. “To enhance our software offering, we intend to continue investing in partnering with external studios, in addition to aggressively investing in our in-house studios.
“As I just mentioned, we aim to strengthen the PlayStation platform through actions such as the recently announced partnership with Haven Entertainment, which was established by Jade Raymond, creator of the famous game Assassin’s Creed.”
Sony’s 2021 first party lineup is already looking stacked. The likes of Returnal, Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart, and Horizon Forbidden West are all confirmed for this year. Other first party games like Gran Turismo 7 and God of War: Ragnarok are also in development. Reports have also suggested that a remake of The Last of Us is being developed by Naughty Dog, and that SIE Bend Studio is developing a new IP. A multiplayer The Last of Us game also seems to be in the pipeline.
