Sony Boss Says PlayStation Doesn't Have Enough IP
Apparently, all those dormant franchises don't count.
The PlayStation brand has been going strong for nearly three decades, and Sony's consoles have played host to some of the biggest names in gaming. However, Sony CFO Hiroki Totoki feels that the company has not done enough to build up franchises that it wholly owns. In a new interview with the Financial Times, Totoki made the claim that Sony has put too much work into building up the IP of other companies, when it should have instead been doing more to grow its own franchises. Totoki is of the opinion that Sony doesn't actually own much, and needs to rectify that problem.
"Whether it's for games, films or anime, we don't have that much IP that we fostered from the beginning," Totoki told the Financial Times. "We're lacking the early phase (of IP) and that's an issue for us."
Already, that comment has been drawing a lot of jeers across social media! While Totoki isn't wrong that Sony hasn't put enough focus on its own IP, the company has outright ignored a lot of well-regarded franchises that fans have been begging to see return. Franchises like Ape Escape, Killzone, Sly Cooper, and Ratchet and Clank have been allowed to languish for years, and even Twisted Metal has been MIA for more than a decade, despite getting a fairly successful adaptation. Instead, Sony has put a lot of focus on games starring characters that Marvel owns, VR headsets that no one is buying, and a live-service strategy no one likes.
It will be interesting to see if Totoki's vision results in some of PlayStation's dust-covered franchises making a comeback. It would seem like less of a risk to build up the IP that Sony already has, rather than building something new and hoping it finds an audience. After all, Firewalk Studios spent nearly eight years developing Concord, a game that will be shut down on September 6th, after just two weeks of availability. With so many great franchises desperately waiting for a comeback, Totoki might want to take a good look at what worked in the past, rather than trying to create something new from scratch just to fill a void.
Do you think Sony has allowed too many franchises to languish? What PlayStation brands would you like to see return? Share your thoughts with me directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp, on Bluesky at @Marcdachamp, or on Instagram at @Dachampgaming!
