State of Gaming - PlayStation 2025
What 2025 is looking like for the PlayStation
Where We Are…
In 2024, Sony celebrated the 30th anniversary of the PlayStation brand. It ended up being a year with more downs than ups. The year started fine with the surprise success of Helldivers II, but then Concord happened. It was one of PlayStation’s live service projects, and it became one of the biggest flops in video game history. Luckily, they had Astro Bot, which not only celebrated the brand but was also a platformer that was as good as a mainline Mario game. We also got the launch of the PS5 Pro, although it’s necessity is still being debated. Astro Bot went on to win awards and has won most game of the year categories. So overall, 2024 wasn’t great, but Sony still had a high-selling console, and Astro Bot kept them in the awards talk.
Unknown Territory
One thing we don’t know about PlayStation this year is their exclusives lineup. The company has been tight-lipped, and they warned gamers before 2024 that it would be a silent year, but many felt that 2025 would be better. So far, the company has kept its cards close, and we can only speculate what’s coming. It doesn’t help that their Live Service push has been cut off, and games are canceled left and right. We do have Sucker Punch’s Ghost of Yotei coming and that’s going to be big. Still, we have rumors and reports that Sony Santa Monica will finally show their new game soon, apparently a new IP. Naughty Dog announced Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet, which seems to be a return to their more adventurous roots over the depressing world of The Last of Us. We should get an update on Insomniac’s Wolverine game as well. Outside of that, everything else is speculation; hopefully, we will get answers soon.
Is PS5 an Xbox?
One thing a hardcore PlayStation fan can look forward to is the coming onslaught of Xbox Games Studios ports coming to PlayStation 5. Forza Horizon 5 was just announced for the system, and there are rumors that Gears of War, Fable, and even Halo will all come over eventually. In my opinion, Starfield and Microsoft Flight Simulator are coming over before the summer ends. With Sony's first party lacking in the middle of the PS5 thanks to their struggling live service ambitions, it's ironic that their rival, Xbox, is helping PS5 owners get some great games. As discussed many times, Microsoft will use the PS5 for extra revenue to fund their games and Game Pass. Add these games to the many exciting third-party titles, including the massive Grand Theft Auto VI, and PS5 owners have plenty to play even if the first-party side has been slipping.
So does this make the PS5 an Xbox? Jokes aside, in some ways, yes, but also no. Microsoft wants Xbox to be about multiple devices around an ecosystem. Technically, PlayStation is its own ecosystem; this is a case of games being put on that ecosystem to get extra revenue. Still, this is uncharted territory and its’s going to be interesting to see all the major names of Xbox’s past come over to the blue brand and even potentially gain new fans and sell relatively well. Interesting times ahead.
Leadership Shakeup
Sony did a weird thing last year: it created CO-CEO roles for the heads of PlayStation. They seemed to realize how weird that was and shifted roles to just one head honcho in Hideaki Nishino. Nishono will be the top guy at Sony Interactive Entertainment and will inherit more of a mess than gamers may see on the surface. While the console sales are fine, he has to navigate decreasing revenue and big decisions on what to do with PC gaming. Nishino also needs to put up or shut up on the live service ambitions, and he’ll bear the fallout of the many canceled projects and how many potential titles were held back from consumers. Lastly, this will be the man who will spearhead the PlayStation 6, which in itself has its challenges as consoles become more complicated to sell. We will see how he handles the role as the year goes on.
The State of PlayStation is… Shaky
While it’s true that PS5s are selling fine, the business side of the PlayStation is lacking. The company is seeing one of its weaker first-party offerings lately, and with the news of canceled games and their live service push failing, the brand is on shaky grounds. You can sell millions of hardware thanks to your name, but the name of the game is games, and that’s an area that can eventually catch up to bite you in the ass if you don’t deliver. PlayStation can still have a great year, but right now, it's looking a bit shaky, and when your rival is helping you out by putting games on your system as you lack major first-party content, that looks bad. There’s a real consumer decline in the brand's trust, and Sony needs to work on that.
Be Nice to All!
I'm also wondering how the announcemed price drop on the VR2 will help move the hardware/adoption rates.