Offering PS5 exclusives when they release in PlayStation Plus would be a bad plan. Sony CFO Hikori Totoki went along with the PlayStation CEO.
The PS5 exclusives in the PS Plus Premium on their respective releases are still not on the agenda for one simple reason. By doing this, Sony Interactive Entertainment would downgrade the quality of its PlayStation Studios games.
PS5 games offered in PS Plus in day one? Negative
During a previous interview with Gamesindustry, Jim Ryan, CEO and President of Sony Interactive Entertainment, shared his views on how to distribute PlayStation 5 games in PlayStation Plus. For him, to date, it is not possible to offer the big PlayStation Studios excluded when they are released.
An opinion shared by Hikori Totoki, financial director of the Japanese firm, who agreed with Jim Ryan.
I will refrain from commenting on competitor strategy. We believe that currently, development costs and R&D investments need to be aligned with product quality, to improve the platform and the business over the long term.
If we offer the AAA PS5s in a subscription service, then we’ll probably have to reduce the investment we put into those games. This will deteriorate the quality of first-party titles and that’s what worries us.. So we want to make sure that the development costs are aligned with this desire to have solid products and titles, to distribute in the right way.
It won’t be like Xbox Game Pass
As we could have said, Sony’s strategy for its PS5 games is specific to its situation. With all the critical and commercial successes of PlayStation Studios software, the manufacturer does not need to change its formula.
Hikori Totoki and Jim Ryan raise an important point: doing AAA is expensive. Very expensive. As a result, financing them with ten-euro subscription systems would jeopardize this balance. Without taking into account that whatever the service, it is without commitment. As a result, a player can very well wait for long months, spend ten euros for a month, and do several exclusives without additional cost other than that of the basic subscription. These are therefore hundreds of euros that would not go into Sony’s pocket to amortize its investments and continue them.
As for quality, there again, questioning and fear can go hand in hand. In the case of Netflix, for example, the primary goal is above all to do quantity. Content available in large numbers in order to recruit more subscribers, and keep them captive as much as possible. The SVOD giant should finally be in the positive this year, but is losing subscribers and stagnating due to rising prices. To get out of it, he would plan to implement ads, perhaps lowering the prices. Advertisements, a possible track for PlayStation and Xbox.
Keep in mind, however, that Jim Ryan had not completely closed the door to an evolution of the PS+. If PS5 game sales decline and/or subscription services become very important, Sony may reconsider its position. Who knows.
