The PlayStation 3 era showcased the talent of first-party developers in terms of content, they came out swinging right out of the gate and put out some genre-defining hits.
Developers such as Naughty Dog and Santa Monica Studios were able to utilize the hardware to the absolute limit, and fueled by talent and passion, they have given us the Uncharted trilogy that spanned across the console’s lifecycle, capping the Greek saga of the God of War franchise with God of War III.
PlayStation Taking Time Away from Franchise Exclusives isn’t the Worst Thing
Last generation, the PS4 did incredibly well and was a huge success. After it was given a mid-generation bump to replace the launch models in the form of the PS4 Slim and Pro in 2016, it was also accompanied by a flurry of first-party titles.
These included Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End, Horizon Zero Dawn, Marvel’s Spider-Man, God of War, Death Stranding, The Last of Us Part II, and Ghost of Tsushima towards the end of the console lifecycle and the launch of the next-gen successor: the PlayStation 5.
The streak of great exclusive titles on the PlayStation has caught the attention of every gamer across the world, and the thrill of always having something to look forward to in the coming years has established Sony’s relevance in the gaming space. Unfortunately, game development takes billions of dollars and years to perfect, which is why a hiatus is upon the community. Rumors suggest that Sony will not be releasing any new entries for established PlayStation franchises before April 2025.
It is easy to forget that the victory march pretty much started near the end of the last generation, so it would be unwise to take this news in a negative light, as PlayStation Studios is committed to putting out excellent games that are rich in quality, story, and gameplay, as has been evident throughout the years.
PlayStation Eyes Set Exclusively for the Future
The obvious reason is that they are giving developers the right amount of time and investment to create the best games possible. In recent years, we had Horizon: Forbidden West, God of War: Ragnarök, and Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, which were sequels to previous generation titles and took nearly 5 years to complete, an ample amount of time to develop large games with a comfortable release window.
Now, this may all seem grim, especially now that the PS5 has entered the latter stage of its lifecycle, but it also allows new studios to create new and fresh IP such as Rise of the Ronin and Stellar Blade from Team Ninja and Shift Up Second EVE Studio, respectively.
Multiple signs are pointing towards a more diverse focus within PlayStation Studios, especially when they began to acquire other studios to help improve the quality of life and other aspects of their new multiplayer titles, such as Helldivers 2, where thousands of players across Steam and PSN are active.
Not to mention the release of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, the next installment of the Final Fantasy VII Remake series by Square Enix, will be released exclusively on the PS5. It may be timed exclusive, but it goes to show how much faith other developers have in Sony’s commitment to giving the best gaming experience.
