Sony Interactive Entertainment President and CEO Jim Ryan spoke to GamesIndustry.biz about PlayStation Plus and its games alongside the announcement of the services new tiers. As part of that conversation, he went over the possibility of Sony first-party games appearing on the service at launch. He suggested the “virtuous cycle will be broken” if that happens and “doesn’t make any sense.” However, Ryan also acknowledged that his thoughts and Sony’s plans could change. [Thanks, GamesIndustry.biz!]
When discussing the possibility, Ryan initially said that it isn’t something Sony’s done in the past and there are no plans for it going forward. He then explained why Sony has the mindset of not releasing first-party games on PlayStation Plus at launch. As part of that, he claimed people who play PS4 and PS5 games wouldn’t want that.
We feel if we were to do that with the games that we make at PlayStation Studios, that virtuous cycle will be broken. The level of investment that we need to make in our studios would not be possible, and we think the knock-on effect on the quality of the games that we make would not be something that gamers want.
After that, Ryan did admit to GamesIndustry.biz that things could change. He went on to explain.
All I’m talking to today is the approach we’re taking in the short term. The way our publishing model works right now, it doesn’t make any sense. But things can change very quickly in this industry, as we all know.
One of the most recent first-party game releases on PlayStation Plus was the standalone version of Ghost of Tsushima: Legends. It appeared on the service back in March 2022.
