Sony Jim Ryan has commented on the development cost of blockbuster games and how it is risky to release a new IP on a console.
Ghost of Tsushima was released at the end of the PS4 lifecycle. It is a brand new IP that has become one of the best-selling games on the PS4 and the fastest-selling new IP for PlayStation. The success of the game was a surprise even for Sony as it smashed their expectations.
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Sony released a total of four new IPs last generation as per Jim Ryan in an interview with GQ, who called it a “very risky” maneuver citing the large development cost that is now associated with blockbuster games.
“That’s certainly the strategy with which we launch when it comes to the games that we make ourselves from Worldwide Studios. I humbly submit that we’ve never been in better shape than we are now. The studios over the course of the PS4 generation have really come on. It’s a real point of difference for us and we intend to continue to grow that capability, ” says Jim Ryan.
“We’ve invested a lot organically over the course of the PS4 generation, more than people realise. We’ve added Insomniac Games [Spider-Man Miles Morales’ developer] through acquisition. We’re making great games now and we certainly plan to continue making great games.”
“The thing with those blockbuster games is that they need a box office release. They cost more than $100m dollars to make these days and in order to be able to do that and bring new IP to the market – which is a very risky thing and and we did four times in the PS4 generation – you’ve got to have a box office release.”
Jim Ryan gave the example of Ghost of Tsushima as a poster child for organic growth saying it outperformed their expectations.
Jim Ryan also talked about PS Plus Collection which is a curated list of games available for PS5 users. While they haven’t decided on how to expand it, they are looking into how it is being utilized by the new PS5 owners and will decide about it later. He calls it a “great user acquisition tool.”
