Jim Ryan says he’s ‘frustrated’ PlayStation games can’t reach more gamers



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Sony Interactive Entertainment boss Jim Ryan said he was frustrated with the way that proprietary PlayStation games are “turned off” by their current console model audience of tens of millions of players.

Speaking during a speech at GI Live: London, the boss of PlayStation said he aspires to reach hundreds of millions of gamers and rival the reach of movies and music.

“I hope PlayStation 5, and I truly believe PlayStation 5 will be Sony’s biggest, best and most beloved PlayStation to date. I hope that will happen, ”Ryan said when asked about his hopes for the future.

“I would also like to see a world where the games we make on PlayStation can be enjoyed by tens of millions of people. Maybe hundreds of millions of people. Right now, the success with the current console model, a very big PlayStation success, you’re talking about ten or 20 million people who can play this game.

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He continued, “We’re talking games stacking up against music, we’re talking about games stacking up against movies. Music and movies, they can be enjoyed by almost unlimited audiences. And I think some of the art that our studios do is some of the best entertainment ever in the world.

“And kind of attracting audiences for the wonderful art, the wonderful entertainment that our studios do… I would love to see a world where hundreds of millions of people can enjoy these games.

Ryan’s comments are surprising given Sony’s public commitment to console exclusives. Over the past year, it has relaxed its approach to the PC, with some notable games already released on PC and more on the way, but it’s also strongly suggested that this will be limited to titles in the earlier catalog.

PlayStation is also not pushing streaming as strongly as its console competitor Microsoft, which allows its users to play Xbox games streamed to mobile devices, PCs, or older consoles via the cloud.

The company hasn’t released many mobile games either, although Ryan said PlayStation plans to bring some of its “iconic IP” to mobile during its current fiscal year ending in March 2022.

Speaking to VGC after the GI Live: London session, reporter Christopher Dring – the man who interviewed Jim Ryan – said he was also intrigued by the executive’s comments and speculated it could signal a increase in PC versions in the future.

“Our conversation with Jim Ryan this week was about his time working with Sony, to give an idea of ​​who the person is running PlayStation. It was a different kind of interview, but there were some interesting little glimpses of what might come next, ”he said.

Jim Ryan says he's 'frustrated' PlayStation games can't reach more gamers
PlayStation may release more PC titles in the future.

“I, too, was interested in his comments at the end of transforming a successful PlayStation game from a $ 20 million or $ 30 million seller to something that could potentially reach $ 100 million. really different from what a lot of gaming bosses are talking about today, Xbox is also eager to reach the next billion gamers.

“The question is, how are they going to do it? With Microsoft, the focus is on subscriptions and streaming. PlayStation does these things as well, but focuses more on selling consoles and entering new markets. The two are also releasing more PC games in an effort to reach more fans, and are having a lot of success as a result.

“Making games more accessible and inclusive, in every sense of the word, can be something that defines this generation. It will probably mean different games, it could mean increasing PS Now or PS Plus. It could mean bringing more titles to PC.

“We’ll have to wait and see how that plays out, and I can’t wait to chat again with the Sony team on how they plan to turn future games into something that can make the kind of numbers that Jim is hoping for. day struck. “

Speaking in a PlayStation blog interview published in June, Herman Hulst, director of PlayStation Studios, said the platform owner was “still in the early stages of our planning for PC”, but his PlayStation consoles would be always the priority for new versions.

For several years, Microsoft has released its Xbox Games Studios titles simultaneously on the PC and console platforms.

This summer, Xbox boss Phil Spencer slammed PlayStation’s PC release strategy in a rare dig at the rival platform’s owner.

Speaking at a media and analyst briefing, the executive criticized “others” who bring console games to PC, saying they are releasing PC versions “years later” and ” loaded [players] a second time”.