Sony, supplier of original franchises such as The Last of Us, Uncharted, Horizon, Killzone, Ratchet and Clank, LittleBigPlanet, Resistance, God of War, LocoRoco, and Astro Bot believes it could do more to develop domestic IPs.
Speaking to the Financial Times Regarding the company's place in the entertainment world, Sony CFO Hiroki Totoki said it needs to start building new original franchises. “Whether it's games, movies, or anime, we don't have that much intellectual property that we've cultivated from the beginning,” Totoki said. “We're lacking the initial stage (of intellectual property), and that's a problem for us.”
He added that Sony has been successful in distributing established properties to a global audience, but suggested that the company needs to be more proactive during the early stages of development of original intellectual property.
Sony CEO Kenichiro Yoshida reiterated these statements and said that the company must prioritize the creation of intellectual property over distribution, suggesting that it will be able to “contribute best” in that specific area.
The comments come after Sony Interactive Entertainment's last attempt at a new franchise failed. Concorda new shooter from Sony-owned Firewalk Studios is in development withdrawn from sale and taken offline after only two weeks.
Game director Ryan Ellis said the title “didn't do as well as we anticipated,” and SteamDB estimates suggest the shooter struggled to attract more than a few hundred concurrent players on PC.
However, the company has several established franchises that continue to thrive. The Last of Us spawned a high-profile HBO adaptation that has already been renewed for a second season. The PlayStation 5 era has also produced noteworthy sequels, including God of War: Ragnarok, Horizon: Forbidden WestAND Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart.
Next platformer Astrobot It also leans heavily on the company's franchise series to take players on a nostalgia-filled adventure. It'll be interesting to see how it fares when it arrives on September 6.