Summary
It’s been explained bySonygeneral manager Sadahiko Hayakawa that PlayStation has become much more concerned about “platform playtime” over the past couple of console generations, rather than software sales.
It’s an odd time for the big boys of the games industry at the moment, with bothPlayStationandXboxfacing various different challenges to keep their fans happy, their consoles relevant, and their games selling well. It feels like a big change is on the horizon, whether that be due to the ballooning costs of video game development,Xbox looking increasingly likely to ditch its hardware altogether, or Square Enix essentiallyscrapping the idea of console exclusive releases due to poor sales.
Things have changed dramatically over the past decade, whether it be good or bad, and PlayStation is no exception when it comes to companies looking to do business differently. In a recent call with investors (thanksWccftech), Sony general manager Sadahiko Hayakawa explained that PlayStation has been slowly changing its business model since the release of the PS4, as the company focuses more on “platform playtime” over software sales as a metric of success.
After a transition period during the PS4 generation, the PS5 model has shifted to where playtime on platform has increased due to expansion of the user community beyond console generations.
PlayStation Cares More About “Platform Playtime” Than Sales
It’s not all that surprising that PlayStation would rather you play its games more than buy them all, especially when you look at the company’s recent strategies in game development. We know that there are a quite franklyabsurd number of service games headed to the platform in the future, and it’s clear that PlayStation would rather people get extremely deep into one or two titles than paddle around in a dozen. It just makes more money.
We also know that games are taking longer and longer to make these days, so we’re going to start seeing fewer big releases year after year from the likes of PlayStation and Xbox. If you’re releasing fewer games, it makes sense for sheer numbers to matter less in the grand scheme, andPlayStation’s rather barren lineup of big first party titles for 2024and the future attests to that.
PlayStation could spend a decade creating four or five heavy hitters, or it could make a few service games that get people on board and see a constant flow of cash while it works on fewerGod of WarsorHorizon Forbidden Wests. With that in mind, it makes sense for the company to value playtime more than sales. Still, at leastReturnalexists, and for that we should be grateful.
