Jim Ryan: PS5 is Easier to Develop For Than Previous PlayStation Consoles - News
by William D'Angelo , posted on 04 May 2020 / 4,735 Views
PlayStation CEO Jim Ryan speaking with GamesIndustry in a recent interview revealed that he has heard from developers and publishers saying the PlayStation 5 is the easiest PlayStation console to develop for.
"These are gamers who are networked and sticky and engaged and passionate about PlayStation to an extent that we've not seen in previous generations," said Ryan. "As we move towards the next-generation in 2020, one of our tasks -- probably our main task -- is to take that community and transition it from PlayStation 4 to PlayStation 5, and at a scale and pace that we've never delivered on before.
"One thing that makes me particularly optimistic that what we're hearing from developers and publishers, is the ease in which they are able to get code running on PlayStation 5 is way beyond any experience they've had on any other PlayStation platform."
Ryan added that he is focused on the games that are in development for the PlayStation 5 as games are what sell gaming consoles.
"When we look at this transition and the ambition to do things at a scale and pace that we haven't seen, we have to look at ourselves and make certain changes. Some of which are in the ways we work, and some in the way we organise. You picked up on some of this in the article you wrote. I just wanted to clarify, or explain, some of the things that we are doing.
"If we are to be successful, we really have to leverage the opportunities that globalisation brings. I am going to give you some examples. One is around the productisation of PlayStation 5, the definition of the feature set, of the development and the implementation of those features. That process, this time around, has been massively more streamlined compared to anything we've done in the past.
"The product planners are now having one conversation instead of three different regional conversations, where they needed to reconcile positions that were often conflicting or contradictory, with an endless process of iteration and consensus. That's not happening anymore. We have one conversation and we get on and do stuff.
"The second area is in our marketing. The first global campaign that we ran was around Spider-Man. It's a great game obviously, but it also ended up as PlayStation's bestselling first party game. It was one global campaign conceived and executed in an outstanding manner, as opposed to three different regional campaigns that are often executed very well, but the same thing in essence done three times.
"You see that again with the new global brand campaign. It's slightly different here because it uses a global framework, but with regional applications. The European execution showcases FIFA principally, the US execution showcases Fortnite, and the Japanese execution showcases Final Fantasy VII. Again, this is one campaign with tailored regional executions, but the campaign is just done once. These are areas where we see having a global approach as being logical -- necessary perhaps -- and certainly beneficial to the gaming community."
Jim Ryan added that the goal of AAA games on the PS4 and upcoming console, the PS5, are not to make a game for specific country in Europe, but to be successful worldwide.
"The nature of AAA PlayStation 4 and certainly PlayStation 5 development... We're obviously not going to have Worldwide Studios make a game for one specific European country," Ryan said. "And that might have been the case back in the PSP times with Invizimals [which was popular in Spain]. I think this will be where Shuhei Yoshida's new task [of working with indies] will come in. If we are nimble, flexible and global, we can work with smaller developers to allow those countries' specific needs to be met."
"I would say that our organisations and the way that we work will, by definition, need to evolve to keep pace with the change in how people play games, how games are distributed, how games are made, and the way games are consumed. I think that process of change is inexorable.
"The cloud is probably the most visible and topical manifestation of that. Because if you foresee a world in five years time where a significant amount of gaming content is distributed via the cloud, and games are made in a way that takes advantage of the cloud, then clearly organisational models that support that distribution scenario are going to be different to the organisation models that support physical products or digital downloads. Everybody, not just PlayStation, is in for a rollercoaster ride of constant evolution.
"It's human nature to view change as a risk, but change is every bit an opportunity. I would point to the fact that the transition from physical distribution to a networked world has led to PlayStation being able to build this amazing community of 100 million people within this generation, and at the same time enjoy considerable business success. That shift from physical to digital, five or six years ago, was viewed with great nervousness and trepidation. But, as far as I can tell from those who play games and for us, the impact of that transition has been entirely divine."
The PlayStation 5 will launch in Holiday 2020.
A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel dedicated to gaming Let's Plays and tutorials. You can contact the author at wdangelo@vgchartz.com or on Twitter @TrunksWD.
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The main goal being to transition PS4 players to PS5 at a scale and pace never delivered on before. So, either PS5 is going to be $399 at launch, or we're getting two SKU's, like $399 and $499, or maybe $299 and $499. A single $499 SKU, or a base $499 SKU, won't lead to a faster transition.
Then again his use of the terms scale and pace might be him looking at the transition from the point of view of more units at launch and less wait time for a second wave of deliveries, combined with a more streamlined pipeline for first year PS5 games, helping to push that transition rather than just rely on pricing.
I disagree. He uses the word "community". He's talking about everyone, and moving them to PS5 as fast as possible. Having an even better launch year than PS4, and then stagnating because of price, won't allow many to transition. It has to mean a low price of some sort. He could even be saying they will subsidize the console all gen long. A reasonable price at launch, and maybe $50 price drop every year. That would consistently move units much faster than PS4 did.
We will have to agree to disagree,the statement is focusing on a more globalised outlook toward distribution and game production and in the second part he's looking toward the cloud , it's obvious that he seems this model allowing for a smoother transition than the last gen, this big picture talk tells me they are fine with following the PS4 playbook and that means no unwarranted aggressive pricing .
This could mean a better start due to more sufficient hardware availability, and more options for gaming, but that certainly doesn't solve transitioning everyone over asap. If PS really thinks it was just the solid launch that led to PS4 selling as it has, then they are going to get an unpleasant wake up call with PS5, unless it's $399 again. Even if they launch at $499, and drop $50 every year, they won't move PS5's faster than they did PS4's, which means a similar transition pace at best, if not slower, which is not what he says they are focused on accomplishing. A cheaper PS5 for 1080p gaming and cloud streaming, and a more expensive 4k model, that also can stream, would offer the cheaper pricing necessary, while catering to a larger audience, and would allow for a quicker transition.
I think you may be misreading what he's saying, when he talks about the task of transitioning at a faster pace , he then talks about leveraging the recent improvements in synergy resulting from their globalization efforts , he then gives examples, also talks about Sony gamers becoming more sticky and talks about change in the form of networks , and the cloud , so rather than talking about specifics related to the launch this is him looking further down the road.
Yes he says a lot, but how do all those other changes lead to a faster transition at a scale and pace never delivered on before? Just offering more games or services or streaming, won't be enough to entice someone to pay $499, who's not going to pay $499, whatever the reason. The main way to make a quicker transition happen, if you really do want that, is to offer the hardware for a price that many will pay, and drop the price as quickly as possible. Unless they wanna do something like $499 late 2020, then $399 already for BF 2021. That might get them to where they want to be transitionally if they offer enough units during the sales, maybe.
No shit. I'm also sure that it's easier for developers in general as the industry, excluding Nintendo to some extent, moves in the direction of PCs in horizontal boxes. fewer differences between consoles, and fewer differences between consoles and PC means less problem solving to do. That should mean lower costs of development, and more resources to spend on making games great, as opposed to making them work.
Since the PS3 with 'teh cell' and its difficulty to develop games for it, it seems Sony is now making sure to let everyone know that their future consoles are much easier to develop for.
They are still sore about PS3 cell problem lol
Partially sore, sure, but mostly vigilant about never letting anything like that happen again. They see how much better things have gone with PS4 due to it's more dev friendly design, and so it only makes sense to keep PS5 on that same track, or make it even easier to work with. With people wondering about PS4's wild success, and whether or not it will lead to arrogant PS3 SNY again, SNY is is just making sure to let people know they are remaining grounded.
All good news although I would prefer several devs commenting it instead of just Jim Ryan but if it is easier than PS4 that all said is easy then that is great.
On a new there is that Spider-Man outsold TLOUR (unless we consider spin due to not being exclusive by showing in PS3).
I think he's right about gamers being sticky.
Still PC isn't really a very easy to develop for platform with all the variants and needs high level APIs.
We will see how modern this CPU is when the console is 6 years old.
