Sony wants to make PlayStation the best place to play third-party games

Third-party exclusives are becoming less common these days, which means platform holders like Sony need to find smarter ways to lure players into their ecosystem. By making PlayStation the best place to play, one executive says it can be done.

in one Interview with GamesIndustry.bizShawn Benson, head of third-party portfolios and acquisitions, discussed some of the reasons why such arrangements are less common today, saying, “There’s room for niches where it makes sense, obviously, but really focus — specific Because with a digital distribution model is more prevalent than in previous generations – are there different types of gameplay.”

As the industry grows, so does the breadth of experiences available to gamers, and a one-size-fits-all approach won’t work for everything. “For example, the business model of a free-to-play game is most successful when it’s on as many platforms as possible and brings in the largest audience,” Benson explains.

Still, when the opportunity comes, Benson says what’s more important than any exclusive deal is making the PlayStation version of a game stand out as the best, and that’s the skillful use of existing technology. can be obtained by Benson asks the question, “What kind of innovation can they implement with haptics in DullSense or adaptive triggers? What can they do with 3D audio in a game’s sound design, etc.? So there’s a lot of things we can do.” Can. And then build marketing stories around that, and that’s where some of these partnerships for multiplatform games really focus.”

The situation is a little different for the firm’s most recent piece of tech, the fantastic PSVR2, because, as Benson describes it, “we’re definitely still in the ‘blessing wave’ mindset for the VR ecosystem.” helps, so it’s not. The same competitive landscape as it is in the console space, kind of a ‘flat’ gaming experience.”

Instead, Sony wants to support PSVR2 by keeping the development community healthy, with studios looking to bring their titles to the platform, as Benson notes, “It’s around the corner where we’re going to be.” How can we best support you to be able to bring content to PSVR2, and that could be development funding support for marketing support because a lot of these studios don’t necessarily have the same marketing infrastructure. As much as a major publisher would.”

Finally, on the subject of the PC’s relatively new frontier (for Sony), Benson says she doesn’t see it as such a controversial place for third-party deals, but that could change, stating that “my perspective From, it really is. It’s important for gamers to have choice and variety of places to play, and the PC isn’t really in the same competitive space for us, at least right now.”

Do you agree with Benson’s strategy, that making PlayStation the best place to play third-party games is more effective than an exclusive deal? Let us know in the comments section below.