Managing director of Sony Computer Entertainment Australia, Michael Ephraim, thinks the PlayStation 4 could have had stronger releases and could have offered more first-party exclusives this year.
“Games that have been released this year, from Destiny, Call of Duty, Star Wars—most of them we have a collaboration with for additional content if you play on PlayStation 4, so we’re pretty confident with the way Christmas is going. The demand is strong,” Ephraim said. “We have worked very closely with third parties this year because our first party lineup was not as a strong as we would have liked.”
Sony’s biggest exclusives this year were Bloodborne, The Order: 1886, and Until Dawn. Bloodborne was a success, but The Order: 1886 got disappointing reviews. Until Dawn, which is fantastic, didn’t come out till long after the first two games.
Meanwhile, over on the Xbox One, Rise of the Tomb Raider reigns as an exclusive until late next year when it will come out for PlayStation 4. Sony’s 2016 schedule is looking stronger, though.
Street Fighter, Uncharted 4, No Man’s Sky, The Last Guardian, and Gran Turismo are all being released as PlayStation 4 exclusives next year.
With PlayStation VR coming up as well, Sony has another avenue to set the PS4 apart.
“We’re still in the planning stages of PlayStation VR, and clearly based on the responses we’re getting so far: it’s very solid,” Ephraim says. “But our core business right now is PlayStation 4 and the offerings we have on there. Disc, digital, downloadable season passes, and endless entertainment. So, it’ll be another component.”
Ephraim concluded with a hopeful look to the future. “What we’re doing is we’re saying: How do you want to play games? What kind of games do you want to play? Indie games? Big games? Do you want to play online? Do you want to stream older back catalog games? And next year, do you want to play games in VR? It’s the evolution of PlayStation 4 morphing into where the trends are, and to how people want to ingest content now.”
None of this has stopped the PlayStation 4 from dominating the market. The console is on track to outsell the PlayStation 2.
