Sony has seen massive success in the industry over the last decade with its first party output. The likes of The Last of Us, Uncharted, God of War, and Horizon Zero Dawn in particular have enjoyed widespread critical and commercial success, and it’s become abundantly clear that Sony’s first party developers now have a template that they follow for their releases. In a new report by Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier, more light has been shed on that, and apparently, it’s a lot more than just a template- it seems to be a focused drive coming from the higher ups at PlayStation.

According to Schreier’s report, Sony has shifted its development focus to prioritize blockbuster AAA releases from studios such as Guerrilla Games, Naughty Dog, and SIE Santa Monica Studio. Those games can cost tens of millions of dollars, but their success proves to be well worth the investment. That, however, has come at a cost, with the report explaining that Sony is no longer greenlighting smaller, more experimental projects at all, with their full focus being on the more large-scale blockbuster releases.

Sure enough, the recent closure of SIE Japan Studio is an example of that. Last year’s Dreams, Schreier points out, was a game with immense potential (as its widespread positive reception would tell you as well), but fell by the wayside thanks to a clear lack of marketing and focus by Sony (though it’s worth mentioning that Sony does seem to be investing more heavily in Media Molecule right now). What’s more, it seems even a Days Gone sequel was cancelled as a result of Sony wanting to focus on the sureshot successes.

Sony’s “fixation” on AAA projects has allegedly also caused unrest at many first party studios, including at SIE Bend Studio, who were initially assigned to work on a new Uncharted project under Naughty Dog’s supervision. Many at the studio who were unhappy with the arrangement ended up leaving, and the studio was eventually taken off the project, and now seems to be working on a new game.

In the same report, Schreier also talked about a remake of The Last of Us, which is in development at Naughty Dog, with Sony’s Visual Arts Service Group (VASG) in San Diego having started out as lead developers before being relegated to a support studio. Read more on that through here.

Black Cat is in Insomniac’s Spider-Man, which just launched today, and now we know who is voicing her- it’s none other than Erica Lindbeck, whom you have previously heard as Futaba Sakura in Persona 5, Celica in Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia, and Sophitia in Soulcalibur 6. Not only has she provided the voice, however, but she also provided the motion capture performance that was used.

According to Insomniac Games, Lindbeck was perfect for the part, and facilitated Insomniac’s attempt to be able to modernize all these classic and iconic characters for their interpretation of the Marvel mythos, while also being able to retain their distinctive look and essence, so that long time fans would be able to identify their favorite characters right away, should they happen upon them while playing the game.

Given how well Black Cat has been received so far, I think it is a very safe conclusion to state that Lindbeck has done a wonderful job in the role.

Spider-Man is out now, only on the PS4. Be sure to read our review.

https://twitter.com/ericalindbeck/status/1037905789434847232

Spider-Man recently finished development over at Insomniac Games, and the title is now just a little less than a month away from launch. Ahead of its release, the ESRB (that is, the Entertainment Software Rating Board) have confirmed the age rating for the game.

Unsurprisingly, Spider-Man has been given a “T” for “Teen” rating. That does, of course, coincide with the kind of property Spider-Man is in general, so that part isn’t really surprising at all. That said, ESRB’s rating summary shares some interesting details on the game’s content and the stuff that has warranted a “T” rating for it. We’ve shared it below, but do note that there might be some light and vague spoilers in there, so if you want to go into the game completely blind, you might want to close this tab.

“This is an action game in which players assume the role of Peter Parker/Spider-Man in a fictional version of New York City,” the rating summary reads. “From a third-person perspective, players fight crime, swing around buildings, and engage in melee combat with various thugs. Characters mostly punch, kick, and throw each other during fights; some enemy characters also use pistols and machine guns. Combat is highlighted by realistic gunfire, screams of pain, impact sounds, and occasional slow-motion sequences. One cutscene depicts a character in the background shooting himself in the head; another cutscene depicts a mugger shooting an innocent character (just out of frame). Some missions/plotlines involve drug deals and “designer narcotics”; one scene briefly shows a duffel bag full of white packages of the drug. The word “sh*t” appears in the dialogue.”

So yeah, the mention of the on-screen suicide is certainly interesting, and it should be interesting to see how that fits into the game. Also interesting- “designer narcotics”. Is it perhaps referring to Grave Dust and the inclusion of the villain Tombstone? We recently wrote a report on this– it certainly seems to fit.

Spider-Man launches on September 7 exclusively for the PS4. Here’s 15 important things you need to know about the game.