PS4 Third-Party Deals Will Only Get Better In 2016, Says Sony
Folks who religiously follow the latest gaming news will know that "Star Wars: Battlefront" and "Destiny: The Taken King" are also available for Xbox One this holiday season. On the other hand, casual gamers can't be faulted for thinking those titles are only tied to the PS4. The way they are being marketed alongside real PS4 exclusives like "Street Fighter 5" and map packs from "Call of Duty: Black Ops 3" make it seem as though Sony's library has more firepower than what Microsoft has to offer.
GameInformer reported that Sony has already sold 30 million PS4 units worldwide, outpacing its nearest rival by a significant margin. The figures are expected to skyrocket this holiday season as the PS4's price has been slashed off to make it cost the same as the Xbox One.
Despite dominating the global console market as well as taking away Microsoft's price advantage, Sony is still not letting up. Sony Computer Entertainment Europe president Jim Ryan assured that co-marketing deals will continue and even be better in 2016.
"We are going to be strong with games that we have developed and we will publish, but third-party partnerships will continue to be important to us," said Ryan in a recent interview with MCV. "The days of a platform holder working in isolation are long-gone. It is a connected ecosystem and relationships with publishers operate on many levels - they will certainly continue to be really important in 2016."
Sony already has some interesting exclusives lined up for 2016. These are "Street Fighter 5," "Uncharted 4: A Thief's End," "No Man's Sky," "Gravity Rush Remastered" and "Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness." Meanwhile, Microsoft will be releasing "Gears of War 4," "Crackdown 3" and "Scalebound." However, those titles are likely to be spread out later in the year.
PlayStation president Andrew House said in May that Sony's investment in third-party deals for this holiday season was a strategic move following the PS4's deficiency in first-party games, GameSpot reported.
Contrastingly, Microsoft's tactic has been the polar opposite. With the exception of "Rise of the Tomb Raider," Microsoft has put a lot of weight in its first-party games. The Washington tech giant has even told fans not to expect more third-party deals going forward.
"My strategy is more around our own first-party franchises, and investing in franchises that we own, and probably fewer exclusive deals for third-party content," Xbox chief Phil Spencer told Gamecore via DualShockers in August. "I want to have strong third-party relations, but paying for many third-party exclusives isn't our long-term strategy."
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