Its like they saw how much Xbox has been sucking and thought “hold on, instead of building on this market lead, I bet we could beat Xbox in enshittifying!”
End of an era?
Submitted 3 weeks ago by VetOfTheSeas@discuss.online to games@lemmy.world
https://discuss.online/pictrs/image/648f1ce9-5c52-446b-add1-a635341f6c40.jpeg
Comments
scrubbles@poptalk.scrubbles.tech 3 weeks ago
madowlx@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Ever since the PS3 and Xbox 360, it’s like the console wars have just been about them trading whose turn it was for the next PR disaster. Racing to the top was too expensive so they race to the bottom instead.
djdarren@piefed.social 3 weeks ago
It helps when you get that their goals and ours are not really the same. They want to earn more money, and don’t need to provide a perfect service to achieve that. They just need to be (slightly) less shitty than Xbox.
Tollana1234567@lemmy.today 2 weeks ago
probably going to complain when steam/valve is the only competitor making bank. MS wasted all thier money on trying to make AI work.
allidoislietomyself@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Don’t forget they also paid $3.6 Billion for Bungie just to shut down their most popular game and put all their hope in their new extraction shooter that’s been struggling. No new games in dev or even green lit. Also they just layed off a bunch of people.
VitoRobles@lemmy.today 3 weeks ago
This one is more on the Bungie side of things. Bungie got a few lifelines and STILL fumbled.
Zahille7@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Imagine if Bungie never “vaulted” (read: deleted) any part of Destiny 2 and we were still able to play the original campaign it shipped with? More people would still be playing Destiny 2 and you’d get plenty more new players without them having to use a guide or YouTube lore videos to get caught up on the story.
Instead of mArathon they’d probably be making a Destiny 3
allidoislietomyself@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Oh yeah don’t get me started on Bungie. The are a shell of their former selves. When they split from Activison and it all came out that the mircotransactions was all Bungie’s idea that was my first WTF moment with these guys. They let us believe it was the Corp overlords ruining our game but they did it themselves. Then they did everything they could do to make themselves look profitable for Sony’s acquisition. Just horrible decision after horrible decision.
ParlimentOfDoom@piefed.zip 2 weeks ago
Yeah Bungie management has been atrocious since at least the first Halo. Possibly from their beginning. It’s honestly a miracle they’ve managed to release so many decently sized hits despite being mismanaged to hell and back for each and every single one.
Doc_Crankenstein@slrpnk.net 3 weeks ago
What really sucks is that Marathon is actually pretty fun.
They just completely fumbled the marketing and launch, the UI needs to be cleaned up, and it doesn’t feel worth it at $40. IDC if it’s a AAA developer, it’s still a pretty small game content wise even if it is fun to play.
Telodzrum@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
I’m a diehard Marathon fan, I dumpster dived for an Apple to play the first two on when I was a kid. I can’t even try the new one because they purposefully broke it on Linux.
GoatSynagogue@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Don’t blame Sony for bungies mess. Sony got absolutely scammed by Bungie because they were desperately and panicking after MS accounted they were buying ABK.
Bungie have been a terrible studio for a decade at least. Microsoft turned them down when Bungie attempted to sell themselves back to them for a fraction of what Sony paid them only a few months later.
dreamkeeper@literature.cafe 2 weeks ago
Destiny got what it deserved. I can’t believe it lasted as long as it did. I noped after they started charging $40 for a couple maps and a raid labeled as “expansions”. And that was destiny 1. The game was an unbelievable ripoff.
allidoislietomyself@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
I agree I don’t blame Sony at all. Also I hate myself for it but for me no FPS I’ve played comes close to the fluid gunplay in Destiny and Destiny 2. That is where Bungie always shined for me above everyone else. The rebooted Doom games are a close 2nd. and there are a few indie titles like Turbo Overkill that get close as well. Everything else just doesn’t match up when I get that FPS itch.
shinratdr@lemmy.ca 3 weeks ago
I can’t speak to market trends, but I can say this 100% makes my PS5 my last Sony console. I’ve bought every one, and the only reason I continue to buy them is so I can collect exclusives on disc for my collection.
A digital only console is just a bad, expensive gaming PC. I already have a good expensive gaming PC, so I’ll just buy games digitally there.
Dzheyk@sh.itjust.works 3 weeks ago
Yep. Same. I’ve been a PlayStation guy since my teens and could start buying my own stuff. If that’s the move they want to go with then I have zero issues in dropping them as a whole.
Itsamelemmy@lemmy.zip 3 weeks ago
After the recent Sony is deleting your movies you bought crap, I decided I’m never buying a digital game from them ever again. So sounds like it’s my last as well. And I was already 90% digital.
Especially seeing as they tried to do the same thing before and reversed course due to the backlash, but I guess they just don’t care anymore.
GoatSynagogue@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
While I applaud your decision, the market has spoken - 85%+ of all console game sales are digital. The overwhelming majority of people don’t care about physical games, especially in a time when the physical copies don’t even contain the full game due to storage constraints.
I’ve been digital-only since the day they made all games available digitally on the Xbox 360, because I don’t trade or re-sell games, ever, and I much prefer the benefits of digital. Most people are like me these days. It sucks for the people that aren’t, but they’re going to have to just move on or abandon their hobby.
shinratdr@lemmy.ca 2 weeks ago
I do buy digital and have for decades, but primarily for PC. I don’t for console because that’s the last thing I wanted a console for. I have no intention of abandoning the hobby, but this is my last reason to buy a PlayStation. They offer nothing that isn’t done better on a gaming PC.
I saw the 85% stat they are pushing. I honestly don’t believe it. I strongly believe they are pumping that number up by counting PlayStation Plus redemptions and smaller games in that total. I would be much more interested to see what the actual Physical vs. Digital sales are for a single new release title on day one. I would guess the split is much closer to 70/30. That might be higher in markets where internet access is less robust. This will also piss off retailers and distributors, which now are expected to sell low-margin consoles without high margin games. They chose such a far off date in purpose, to see the feedback and test the waters. I doubt this will come to fruition. Physical media is seeing a resurgence as trust for these companies to maintain services is at an all time low.
On that note, companies need to be careful taking industry wide trends and extrapolating from them with no nuance. That’s why I worded my first comment carefully. I am not anti-Digital at all, but I buy a console for collecting exclusives. I have hundreds of digital Steam games and some digital PS5 games. You know how many digital PS6 games I’ll have? Zero, because I won’t own one. Like backwards compatibility, the benefit of it can’t be quantified by how much time people use it vs. cost of development. Physical media is a draw, even if it is not always taken advantage of. I’m not boycotting, I’m genuinely no longer interested.
This is the kind of decision that looks great on a balance sheet when you have no competition. But when your hardcore audience stops buying, collectors that buy extra releases and collectors editions stop collecting, retailers stop pushing because they can only sell one low margin box, and your competitors see your weakness and double down on it, it might not turn out so great.
SpaceNoodle@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Don’t forget that they’ve halted PC ports for their games, including shitcanning nearly-complete work on Ghost of Yōtei.
samus12345@sh.itjust.works 3 weeks ago
They’ll probably keep releasing for the PS5 for years into the PS6’s lifespan, so as long as that happens I’ll get their games if they look good, but once they shift over to PS6 completely, I’m done.
SpaceNoodle@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
PS4 is my last PlayStation. Can’t even recall the last time I powered it up on purpose.
Danitos@reddthat.com 3 weeks ago
They are also lobbying to make hosting you own videogame server illegal: pcgamer.com/…/esa-bafflingly-declares-private-min…
Sony is part of ESA.
SnotFlickerman@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 weeks ago
So is Microsoft who owns Minecraft who definitely presents private servers as dangerous (which for children may very well be true).
a4ng3l@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Having the possibility to setup a server allowed me to setup one for my sons and I. I’d rather have that then them going online…
rollerbang@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
So are bicycles and kitchen knives. Ffs
mavu@discuss.tchncs.de 3 weeks ago
definitely end of an era.
I’m not buying a console without physical media.Sony can kill the second hand market if they want, but that was the last thing that differentiated them from Steam. Good bye Playstation, i’ll remember you fondly.
SaharaMaleikuhm@feddit.org 3 weeks ago
Rest in piss
InFerNo@lemmy.ml 3 weeks ago
To reduce costs on printing and to reflect Sony’s vision, they are dropping the L from the name of the console.
ms_lane@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
They’re not dropping it, they’re hoping you take it.
But leave them with the L.
LordCrom@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
By not including the extra plastic L on the console, Sony realized it could save 7 cents per console.
ILikeBoobies@lemmy.ca 2 weeks ago
You joke but that’s why stick drift is an issue now.
KaChilde@sh.itjust.works 2 weeks ago
And with projected sales of 14 consoles after these decisions, that’s almost a whole buck of savings!
Appoxo@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 weeks ago
lol
brucethemoose@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
A funny anecdote from outside gaming land:
Sony mirrorless cameras, even MEGA expensive ones, have this quirk where they can’t shoot 30P HEVC.
The A6700 for instance, can record 24, 30, 60 h.264, but only 24 or 60 h.265. The A7C II is particularly handicapped, with only 24 h.265.
It doesn’t make sense. Why?
Well, people kept asking Sony, and someone finally got a response:
…sony.com/…/why-sony-a7s-iii-doesnt-support-25-or…
Hello, Sony’s commitment to customer satisfaction is our top priority. The reason for that is that we determined the current product specifications from our analyses of target users and available technologies. For XAVC HS, we envision users enjoying HLG movies by connecting the camera to an HDR (HLG) compatible BRAVIA TV over HDMI, and 60p is what we view as the default setting for playback with it. To record movies in higher quality in 4K/30p, we would recommend selecting XAVC S and XAVC S-I, 10-bit 4:2:2 sampling, either Long GoP and All-I codec. Could you tell us how creators such as yourself want to use HEVC at 30p so we can provide feedback to our design team?
I found that oddly enlightening.
“Well, it’s not optimal for BRAVIA TVs, so why would users want this?” Sony cannot fathom such a thing.
It makes that whole list in OP’s post make total sense. It’s not even cynicism on their part; they literally cannot understand why their PlayStation users would want any of those things. What would they need a disk play for? What value is Bluepoint is a business review?
floquant@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 weeks ago
Could you tell us how creators such as yourself want to use HEVC at 30p so we can provide feedback to our design team?
I just want to fucking choose what I want without having to provide a “user story”!! I HATE uber-market-optimized software and products, give me fucking settings instead of trying to guess for me!
zebidiah@lemmy.ca 3 weeks ago
I am jacks complete lack of surprise…
This should be expected from the people who brought us memory sticks and betamax
SnotFlickerman@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 weeks ago
Essentially suits who don’t and have never gamed making decisions on gaming. They have no idea what the players want and don’t actually care because caring costs money.
owenfromcanada@lemmy.ca 3 weeks ago
Why are people still buying shit from Sony? It would be less work to just flush your cash directly down the shitter.
yaroto98@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Right? I’m still pissed off about the PS3. I owned a PS1 and a PS2. PS3 launched and before I could save up enough money, two awesome features that the PS3 launched with they pulled support for. At launch you could boot to linux and you could play PS2 games. They disabled both before I could buy one. Huge class action lawsuit if I remember correctly. But they keep pulling the same shit.
jordanlund@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
In fairness, the Linux feature was half baked. I got YellowDog running on it, but because of the goodfball CPU, you had to recompile everything to get it to run, which it did poorly.
64bithero@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Time to double down on retro gaming and buying second hand. Industry wants to burn I say let it.
marighost@piefed.social 3 weeks ago
Plenty of old, cheap games and consoles to pick up second hand. Don’t need PlayStation’s slop.
samus12345@sh.itjust.works 3 weeks ago
The carts, discs, and hardware will unfortunately eventually stop working, but fortunately most of them can also be emulated on PC really well, sometimes better looking than on original hardware.
carotte@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 weeks ago
that’s what i hate the most about this. “retro gaming and second hand” works now because everything was physical back then, and could be preserved. what will the people of the future have of us? nothing but memories of what will then be a digital graveyard. most of it unpreserved, even through piracy, because consoles are getting harder and harder to hack and emulate and companies are getting more and more litigious.
Strawberry@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 weeks ago
They’ll get to read the plot synopsis on wikipedia
GoatSynagogue@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Eh, everything PS3/360 generation and earlier is basically available at perfect emulation, or definitely will be soon because of the existing emulators and their development.
95% of all games from the PS/Xbox generations since then have been on PC from day 1. Almost all of the Xbox first party games have been on PC since then as well. The switch has been emulated perfectly for ages.
This realistically leaves only a handful of Sony first party PS4 and PS5 games left, and the switch 2 which only just came out.
Aneorthisio@lemmy.ml 3 weeks ago
So, this means mandatory proprietary hardware just to play the four or five true permanent exclusives that will be on the PS6 throughout its entire lifetime, given that everything else will eventually come to PC, and you don’t actually own any of your digital content, meaning that they can revoke your access to your purchases without notice at any point if they choose to do so.
People will still buy it though, that’s the saddest part.
GoatSynagogue@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Good thing Sony’s first party output is easy to ignore. Just go watch Wolverine and all the rest of their games on YouTube since they’re basically interactive movies.
Aneorthisio@lemmy.ml 3 weeks ago
Right, the only PS5 exclusive I would love to have on PC is Astro Bot.
jackal@feddit.uk 3 weeks ago
They’ve already said they’ve stopped porting to PC
Squizzy@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
They have but others have not. GTA will come to PC. GoW Faye likely wont.
I’d rather wait and emulate the next spiderman and Wolverine game tbh.
Aneorthisio@lemmy.ml 3 weeks ago
Actually, the 2026 strategy and business environment report from Sony simply removed the line “Will continue its efforts to deploy its first-party titles to multiple platforms such as PC” from their priorities list, but did not outright state that they won’t port games to PC anymore, as many journalists misinterpreted, the report simply states that it isn’t a priority anymore due to mitigated revenue. The main concern within the report seems to be that near simultaneous releases on PC are effectively cannibalizing PS5 hardware sales, so you might still expect PC releases but further down the line compared to the current 1-2 years window, maybe previous generation games released on PC, not current generation.
KssioAug@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 weeks ago
For now, yes. But these companies change their strategies all the fucking time. As soon as they see their “only on Playstation” strategy is not giving them the expected return, I am sure they’re gonna get back to PC once more.
Microsoft and Sony (and pretty much any other big corporation in the game business) are not reliable at all. I find it both amusing and shocking that we still have ‘fanboys’ up to this day, when these companies themselves can’t even maintain a solid long term strategy. All they care about is making maximum profit at the cost of literally everything else, so their ‘promises’ hold no weight at all.
samus12345@sh.itjust.works 3 weeks ago
It warms my heart to see that EVERY comment on Sony’s blog post about it is negative. Hope the decision ends up biting Sony in the ass, but even if not, at least people weren’t silent about it.
thezeesystem@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 weeks ago
Just get a console they said. Console just works they said. Why get a PC when it won’t work in a year they said.
This is why I don’t buy consoles. I can use a controller on my computer which is upgradable and not subject to one individual company dictating what I can and can’t do.
SnotFlickerman@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 weeks ago
Why get a PC when it won’t work in a year they said.
Interesting because my Steam digital purchases go back to 2007 and I can still play them all.
My first digital purchase was the Orange Box and my second purchase was Psychonauts.
I had purchased Half Life 2 as a physical copy and it still works, too.
Sure they’re all just licenses, but a lot of effort has been put into me being able to continue playing them, including on Linux.
Yes, Valve is a different story because they’re a private company, but 20 years of license when I could play on any computer I owned at any time I think is showing that digital licensing isn’t inherently evil as much as it is widely abused for control.
limer@lemmy.ml 3 weeks ago
If steam changed ownership and control, there is nothing stopping the new people from doing things similar to other big companies.
Many games are potentially a heart attack away from loss of access
Vipsu@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
They’re actually not just licenses. When you download a game from steam you get the game data. You can back up this gamedata if you wish. Sure it will have steam DRM but thats something onrme may get around one way or another.
This is the power of open platform like PC
JoeBigelow@lemmy.ca 3 weeks ago
Orange Box was my first digital purchase too!
ritsku@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Yeah, that’s the end of PlayStation for me. Hopefully someone else will come out with something decent.
SupraMario@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Sega needs to return now
forzanature@lemmy.zip 3 weeks ago
I feel like defending consoles is a lost cause at this point. We can’t trust any of the big 3 anymore.
VitoRobles@lemmy.today 3 weeks ago
This was me a decade ago when Xbox suggested something like this. Nintendo was shutting down their old eshops and making purchased games in playable and Playstation was selling shovelware on their online store.
In a dystopia like that… Suddenly, Steam’s digital only didn’t look so bad.
GoatSynagogue@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Xbox’s digital future was actually incredibly user friendly - it was all digital, but it allowed people to re-sell and loan their digital games. People were just too dumb to understand what was so good about it.
The alternative is what Sony are now doing - all digital with zero of the perks of physical.
lemmydividebyzero@reddthat.com 3 weeks ago
I don’t pay $70 for a game I can’t even sell after using it.
LemmyTellYou@lemmy.cafe 3 weeks ago
I’m not one of those people who pretends they will play a physical disc game for the rest of their life
I do however like physical for two reasons. Firstly, the price, how tf can you justify charging more when you are cutting out all of the middlemen and listing on your own online store. Secondly, resale. I can buy a game, play it and resell.
If the tradeoff on going digital was that games were 50% cheaper, then I’d be happy. I wouldn’t have to hoard games and I’d have the convenience of digital.
shweddy@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Yea the era of giving the “big 3” any of my money
CaptainHowdy@lemmy.zip 2 weeks ago
The entire reason I’ve ever bought consoles and games was because I could get used games at a bargain and also sell my old consoles and game collections when I’m done with them. I can’t imagine that I’m the only person who looked at it this way.
Now console producers pull shit like this when they can’t even claim to be more user friendly than PC because SteamOS is a real competitor.
Well I guess it was good while it lasted, at least until the last few years when greed fully took over. Microsoft is already on it’s last leg and Sony and Nintendo are going to follow eventually.
renrenPDX@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 weeks ago
melfie@lemmy.zip 3 weeks ago
Meh, I’m done with consoles. The exclusives will come to emulators eventually, and there will be plenty of PC games in the meantime.
meltycat@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
If buying does not equal owning something, piracy can’t equal theft. At this rate, what’s the point of consoles?
VexLogic@feddit.online 3 weeks ago
Really scary to see where the industry is headed! I’ve started purchasing games on GOG whenever possible so as to put my money towards an actually good source in the industry but it doesn’t feel like enough.
These companies are constantly pushing the boundaries of what they can get away with and it feels like we just gotta take it at this point.
I especially feel bad for the console gamers as they have very little options to get around this and switching to PC is unfortunately more expensive than ever.
MushuChupacabra@piefed.world 3 weeks ago
I was an XBox guy, and didn’t get into Playstation at all. But it was always clear that they were excellent consoles. At a certain income level back in the day, you’d get an XBox or a Playstation, but not both. If you had a smidgen more money to spend, Nintendo had you covered.
I have no emotional fealty to Playstation in any way, but what a shame to see all three formerly awesome systems now competing to see who can enshitify more effectively.
demizerone@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
I bought every PlayStation ever released. I will not be buying this one. Consoles are supposed to get cheaper over time. The gaming sector is going to go tits up and I hope it does.
Prove_your_argument@piefed.social 3 weeks ago
I’ve been picking up game consoles for my whole life. I decided before the NS2 was announced that I was done picking up game consoles. Now there is absolutely zero chance of me picking up a ps6, it’s just not acceptable to do this.
They all want you to go to digital storefronts because they get a bigger cut of the pie and you cannot use anyone else’s copy. Soon we’ll see them remove activating two consoles on one account entirely and possibly the offline capability as well. They want to make sure you drink your verification cans to keep playing, they just haven’t gotten there yet.
13igTyme@piefed.social 3 weeks ago
The price increase part is sort of out of their hands. They are a small player in the chip game.
Other parts are all them all shit.
MystValkyrie@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 weeks ago
I don’t think this is a world-ending catastrophe per se, but I don’t understand why anyone would choose to buy a console after this. The only draws of consoles was the turnkey hardware, which you can generally get with Proton now, and access to physical games, which won’t be a thing soon. Now it’s just a locked-down PC with a DRM storefront that makes you pay a subscription to pay online games.
Maybe that’s just the PC gamer in me talking. Are there any advantages to console anymore? Like, a single benefit?
prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 weeks ago
Can anyone come up with a single example of an industry that’s not getting simultaneously worse (and/or smaller), and more expensive?
kat_angstrom@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
It’s like corporations don’t know how to do anything but enshittify anymore
Action_Bastid@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
It’s the ultimate push to turn everything into the perfect Capitalist (not market-oriented) business solution: Getting paid for nothing
If your goal is to accumulate capital, and there are not outside forces regulating your worst impulses, you ultimately will create a class of legal-protected thieves, since the absolutely best and most risk free way to accumulate capital is to be given it in exchange for quite literally nothing.
Gambling is about as close to the platonic ideal as you can, but conquest by military force of political capture is also a very, viable route. Use the law to force people to buy your nothing and be protected for it, rather than being lynched when you steal someone’s products.
iocase@lemmy.zip 3 weeks ago
Mandate insurance that isn’t a crown corporation beholden to ratepayers is a perfect example. If you have mandated insurance for something, and that private insurance has a shareholder requirement to see growth every quarter, and the same amount of things are being insured, only one thing can happen:
Rates go up with denials
Payouts go down
Eventually you’re paying for insurance you know is worthless but it’s mandated by law.
HarkMahlberg@kbin.earth 3 weeks ago
I agree with you, but then isn't it strange that AI does a whole lot of something instead of nothing? Like, the high amount of effort they put into making AI a big thing runs counter to the laziness of getting paid to do nothing.
Though I guess they ARE getting paid doing nothing, with how many data centers are getting cancelled.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/economy/nearly-half-of-us-data-centers-planned-for-2026-canceled-or-delayed-and-it-s-expected-to-get-worse/ar-AA20sl2J
carotte@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 weeks ago
any company born after 1993 can’t make good products… all they know is exploitation, fire their workers, enshittify, be pink capitalist, eat hot cash & lie
(yes i know sony was founded before 1993 thank you)
HarkMahlberg@kbin.earth 3 weeks ago
So was Enron? I'm not sure why you chose 1993, companies have been shitty across all of time and space.
lechekaflan@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Ever since fucking Trump came to power, he basically defanged the agencies that were supposed to curb corporate abuses and enforce laws and regulations, and allowed corporations to do a lot more anything they want to make more profit.
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fyzzlefry@retrolemmy.com 2 weeks ago
Yeah but until their bullshit hits their bottom line they won’t change, and most people are on autopilot through life and either don’t notice or don’t care.