Sony Interactive Entertainment aims for a Metacritic score of 90% for its first-party games, according to a former developer.
Speaking during the latest episode of Flow Games L.A, former Santa Monica Studio art director, Rafael Grassetti, stated that Sony first-party studios, Naughty Dog and Santa Monica Studio in particular, target a Metacritic score of 90% for their games.
Grassetti revealed that Sony sets a high standard for its major studios like Santa Monica and Naughty Dog. To ensure the achievement of such scores, the console maker has established a dedicated division that focuses on this matter. Games undergo thorough analysis to attain higher ratings, according to Grassetti. He emphasized the significance of reviews to first-party studios and expressed his disapproval of random reviewers having the ability to influence Metacritic scores. Furthermore, he dispelled the notion of any additional payments based on performance ratings, clarifying that bonuses are primarily tied to sales figures.
He also mentioned that Sony does not impose strict deadlines on its studios. The developers themselves are committed to meeting the set release dates and have the freedom to request additional time to refine their titles. Grassetti elaborated that this flexibility depends on the specific phase of game production. For instance, in the case of God of War Ragnarok, certain elements required meticulous attention, not due to pressure from PlayStation, but to adhere to the studio’s predetermined deadlines for the game’s launch. Consequently, some developers willingly put in extra hours to ensure that their creative ideas for the game were fully realized in the final product, minimizing the risk of leaving anything unfinished.
In related new, it was previously reported that Sony had held back multiple game announcements at the recent PlayStation Showcase, including the announcement regarding a PC port of a first-party title. The latter turned out to be none other than Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart, which is headed over to PC with brand new features.
