Did Sony’s E3 keep them on the right track?

GameCentral speaks to Sony Europe’s president about the fate of the PS Vita, new IP on the PlayStation 4, and microtransactions…

We’ve spoken to Jim Ryan, the president and CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, four times now. At the unveiling of the PlayStation 4, at E3 2013, Gamescom 2013, and now again at this year’s E3. Each time we’ve found him to be impressively honest and open about Sony and its policies, and despite his position perfectly willing to discuss even difficult subjects in detail.

After another strong E3 there may not seem to be much for him to defend at the moment, but we still took the opportunity to quiz him on the future of the PS Vita, the PlayStation 4’s lack of new IP, and the dangers of microtransactions. And as usual he gave as good as he got in the ensuing arguments…



CLICK HERE FOR OUR INTERVIEW WITH XBOX BOSS PHIL SPENCER


GC: I remember the first time I spoke to you was at the unveiling of the PlayStation 4, a year ago last February.

JR: Yeah, it seems like a hundred years ago now.

GC: It certainly does. So, some of the stuff I’m going to talk about today is not specific to Sony at all, it applies to Microsoft and Nintendo just as much. Because unfortunately you haven’t done badly enough on your own, so I have to put all of the evils of the games industry on your plate…

All: [sustained laughter]

GC: But back in February last year I was worried that the 3DS, Wii U, and PS Vita had all suffered from weak launches, and all because of the same basic reasons. And I asked if you were confident that the PS4 would not suffer from the same issues, that it wouldn’t have that awkward half there/half not first year where there are no significant exclusives or games that take advantage of the format. And of course you said it wouldn’t be an issue, as anyone in your position would. But I think that, while it’s not been a worse case scenario, it’s been another weak, largely uninteresting launch – for both the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.

JR: Well, you know. You say we got off to this terrible start but I’d say it was outstanding. If you look at the level of penetration we’ve achieved, it’s like double – across the patch I manage, across Europe – it’s like double anything any other console has ever done. And we met on February 20th, a year ago, if you’d said, ‘What do you think about double what anybody’s done before?’ I’d be over the moon.

GC: But all those people buying all those consoles were probably under the impression they were going to be playing some next gen games on them. I know obviously it would never happen but I can’t help but wish you and Microsoft had just had a gentleman’s agreement and decided to delay everything for a year. Because clearly neither of you were ready.



JR: Well, putting aside the legality of such a conversation.

GC: I’m sure there’s been worse.

All: [laughs]

JR: Putting aside the legality of such a conversation, I’ll say it again for the recorder. [laughs] Do you think if we’d offered those consumers, who you claim are so bitterly unhappy with their PS4 experience, the choice between getting their console in time for Christmas 2014 or waiting an additional 12 months, what do you think they would’ve said?

GC: If you’d said it was so you could ensure some groundbreaking killer apps at launch, or at least within the first six months, I’d like to think they’d be all for it. And then maybe I wouldn’t be receiving endless letters saying, ‘I wish I’d waited until next year to get a PS4’. It’s not that they are dissatisfied with the console or Sony; it’s just this tedious first year of treading water, waiting for anything interesting to come out.

JR: You’re always on my case about this, and in that sense you’re very consistent. [laughs] The launch line-up we had for the PS4 way exceeded anything we’ve had in the past, both in terms of quantity and quality. We’ll probably, because I suspect we’re both quiet stubborn people, never manage to agree on this.

GC: I think that’s probably true. [laughs] But the thing that I think is indefensible, and again this is Microsoft and Nintendo as well, is the lack of new IP. In terms of new first party IP you had one new announcement last night, in Bloodborne, and that was it.


JR: I’d say there’s also Driveclub, which you’re conveniently forgetting.

GC: I’m conveniently forgetting it?! It wasn’t mentioned once at your event!

JR: You only have an hour and a half, and one tries to focus on stuff that is new and hasn’t been spoken about before – to address the sort of concerns that you’re so eloquently raising.

GC: [laughs] But again I’m really not picking on Sony, you’re probably better at pushing new IP than anyone. But the start of a new console generation is traditionally when you see the biggest influx of new franchises, and for the very good reason that it also means creating new games from the ground-up that take full advantage of the new machines; that aren’t held back by being cross-generational.

JR: You know, it’s all about a balance though isn’t it? Because you know, much as it’s very easy to sit here and say new IPs are what’s needed when you analyse the charts the amount of new IP that breaks in any given year, in the top 20, over the full calendar year, typically is one.

GC: But typically there is very little new IP, and what there is often tends to be low budget.

JR: No, not necessarily.

GC: As soon as someone puts some effort into it, Ubisoft with Watch Dogs for example, bam! It’s a huge hit. And it’s not even that great a game, most of that is just from the marketing.


JR: Well, some of that marketing money is ours. And I should say there seem to be a lot of people who are very happy with Watch Dogs.

GC: [shrugs] It’s all right.

JR: [laughs] I’ll tell them you said that.

GC: Refer them to my review, by all means.

JR: [laughs] What you wrote overnight, about our event, was quite cheerful. But now you’re being all grumpy.

GC: I don’t mean to be grumpy! I thought you did perfectly well, that you’re doing pretty well in general. But I can’t just have a 20 minute sycophantic interview about how great Sony is. And besides ‘pretty good’ is still room for improvement, especially given how poisonous some of these issues can be over the long term.

JR: OK.

GC: In fact another issue that concerns me is all these exclusive deals with DLC and betas and what-not, that are increasing in number and randomness.

JR: You’re talking about carefully thought through business strategy. The word random… [laughs]

GC: From a consumer’s point of view it’s completely random. I mean look at Ubisoft today, Assassin’s Creed Unity has an exclusivity deal on DLC with Microsoft, Far Cry 4 has an exclusivity deal with you over it’s co-op options. What did gamers do to deserve those games from the same publisher being treated completely differently on the two big consoles?

JR: This is about providing additional stuff that is going to make the PlayStation consumer happy. But basically this is how markets operate, on the basis of competition and differentiation.

GC: But if a game is an exclusive then okay, that’s clear cut and obvious. But all these minor deals, where one version of a game is slightly better on one format or another… it’s just irritating and confusing to the customer. If a game is exclusive at least you get the benefit of the developer taking full advantage of the console, with these smaller deals it’s just a straight marketing exercise with zero benefit to the customer.

JR: I think you do the majority of gamers a disservice, in terms of assuming whether they know about which deals are where. And what about the point about early access? That’s a different form of differentiation.

GC: Yes, that’s more reasonable, because the other side isn’t losing out on anything in the final game. But, for example, this Far Cry 4 deal with not needing to own the game to play co-op. Why should Xbox One owners miss out on that just because you happened to do a deal with Ubisoft over that and not Assassin’s Creed? You might buy a console to get an exclusive game but you’re not going to over one of these smaller deals, especially as both of you have an equal number of them across all the various publishers.

JR: …

GC: Well, I don’t think you’re going to like this question either: are you ever going to make another PS Vita game?

JR: Well, you must not have been paying all that much attention last night because it was stated that over a 100 are in production right now.

GC: 100 in production? Uh huh, so what happened last year then? You must’ve had zero in production then given how many have come out recently. What was the last big Sony first party title for PS Vita?

PR guy: PlayStation Pets.

GC: PlayStation Pets?! [laughs] Oh boy, who could forget that one.

JR: My seven-year-old loves it, please don’t be disrespectful about PlayStation Pets.

GC: Has Sony given up on the PS Vita?

JR: No!

GC: Don’t get me wrong, it’s a great console. Remote Play is great and the indie support is excellent. But you didn’t announce any first party titles last night, and you didn’t last year either. Apart from a vague hint about Gravity Rush 2 I can’t think of any other way in which you’re supporting the system with your own games. I mean it’s a difficult market, everyone knows that…

JR: It is a difficult market.

PR guy: Last night Entwined was announced for PS Vita.

GC: [Luigi death stare] You know what I’m getting at.

JR: I do.

GC: I’m not gloating over the PS Vita’s failure here. I’m trying to see if there’s any hope for a turnaround for it, as a platform for new mainstream games. Because it’s a great console and I want to see it succeed. I want to see all consoles being successful.

JR: Well, you can define success in a number of ways.

GC: I think how many you’ve sold is the traditional method.

All: [laughs]

JR: Are you going to see huge, mega budget PS Vita games that we have developed and we publish? I think that’s unlikely. That said, does Vita play an increasingly important role in our overall ecosystem… the old vertical silos where nothing ever talked to each other, that’s all breaking down now.

Whether it’s PlayStation Now, whether it’s Remote Play… where the statistics are really surprising in terms of the number of people who use the Remote Play functionality and the extent to which they use it. It’s not like they use it once and then they say, ‘OK, that’s great’ and then they put the PS Vita back in the draw.

GC: Do you have a percentage for that at all?

PR guy: No, we were going to do it last night but we didn’t. It ended up not being included.

JR: It’s double digits, so it does work. It will be a client device for PlayStation Now, and even potentially quite an important one. So in the sense it was initially intended – having huge, portable, exclusively-designed portable games – is that it’s future? Probably not. But does it have a future? Yes.

GC: OK, great. Good answer. But just on PlayStation Now, is there any indication of when and if that’s coming to Europe?

JR: We’ll have a chat at Gamescom [in late August] and we might be able to talk about that some more then.

GC: The Xbox One’s situation is obviously very different this E3 compared to last year’s. After the early problems I think they’ve started to make all the right choices recently. Those U-turns were executed perfectly, Phil Spencer has passed his driving test with flying colours.

JR: [laughs]

GC: So as a result of that, and I know this isn’t strictly your area, but do you think you can hold onto America, in terms of being ahead of the Xbox One?

JR: I think we’re pretty confident. You know we look at share, obviously, but we’re just kind of focused on doing our numbers. And we have certain, rather stringent targets. The US guys, following yesterday, are in good heart. Good heart. And certainly for Europe I’m pretty confident.

GC: Yes, I would imagine so. But the situation could affect Europe in the sense that Sony may feel it has to concentrate on games more specifically aimed at the American market, which I think would be a shame.

JR: Well, the approach will probably be a little bit of everything. And given you’ve been banging on ad nauseum about new IP…

GC: I’ll stop when you release some!

JR: Well, what about September 9th, eh? When we get Destiny? We’re all loved up with Activision and there is all this sort of stuff that you find so reprehensible…

GC: I do, but Destiny’s not first party. You didn’t make it, it isn’t an exclusive, and it’s not next gen-only.

JR: It doesn’t matter, it doesn’t matter!

GC: Sony, indeed every console manufacturer, should be leading by example on taking full advantage of the new consoles.

JR: There’s a number of ways you can do that, right? And providing a huge installed base for other people to publish profitably on is probably, in my opinion, the best way you can lead by example.

GC: So another thing that disturbs and repulses me…

JR: [laughs]

GC: …is microtransactions and free-to-play gaming, which you had a little section on in your media briefing. I worry greatly that these games are created and balanced, not for gameplay but for monetisation. What is Sony’s policy on all this, especially in terms of using them with full-price games?

JR: Well, it’s a very subjective value judgement that you’re making there. Is monetising a game through a series of microtransactions less abusive than asking somebody to pay €70 all-in-one go for what might not necessarily be a great gaming experience?

GC: It’s absolutely more abusive. Because they can read up on and know exactly what a retail game is and what it contains, and they can make a very accurate estimate of what its future sell-on value will be. They can rent or borrow it, or simply wait until it’s cheaper. And they can know that its gameplay and difficulty has not been artificially altered in order to encourage them to pay out microtransactions every few hours.

JR: Hmm…

GC: Gran Turismo 6 was the first example of a full price Sony game with added microtransactions, but I’m not sure there’s been one since. Does that imply it’s something you’ve pulled back from now?

JR: I think whether it’s the traditional model or the free-to-play model it comes down to providing proper value for money. I think whatever the model is it’s incumbent on publishers to provide value. To provide proper value. And you know what? Ultimately if they don’t they’ll go bust, because people won’t buy their games.

GC: Do you think it’s part of the platform holders remit to monitor that, and police that to some degree? To make sure it’s not abusive. That doesn’t seem too far from enforcing things like QA polices.

JR: [takes a long time considering his answer] I think ultimately the consumer has to decide.

GC: And if they decide a particular game is being unfair, would you step in then?

JR: No, because then nobody would buy it and the publisher would go bankrupt, ultimately.

GC: We can but hope.

JR: [laughs]

GC: Sorry, and just the last thing… The Last Guardian. This is already the second E3 I’ve asked you about it.

JR: [laughs]

GC: Is there an official statement on it?

PR guy: It’s still in production.

GC: OK, well. We wouldn’t want them to rush it.

JR: [laughs]

GC: Look, you’ve been great as usual. Thanks very much for your time.

JR: Not at all.

CLICK HERE FOR OUR INTERVIEW WITH XBOX BOSS PHIL SPENCER

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