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Sony is rumoured to be readjusting the development of its first-party titles to focus on its next-gen system.
According to Daniel Ahmad, a Niko Partners analyst who administers the ResetEra message board, Sony’s internal first-party studios are already working on games for the "PlayStation 5", and while it would appear some studios were originally targeting a PlayStation 4 release, it seems Sony is now looking to either make them cross-gen compatible, or move them exclusively to its next-gen console.
"2019 will be another solid year for the platform due to the large install base, growing network sales, strong third-party software, first-party software and back catalog," Ahmad wrote. "Lineup for the first half of the year is set but second half is still in flux."
"Sony also has a couple of unannounced games (already existing IP) with PS4 in mind but I’m conscious that there have been discussions around making them cross gen/next gen titles," Ahmad added. "In general, most of the focus for Sony 1P is on PS5 right now. It is still early to talk about next gen but I imagine we’ll hear some whispers come out of GDC."
While Ahmad’s statement talks about "unannounced" titles, it’ll be interesting to see what Sony decides to do with the first-party exclusives already announced, such as Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us 2 and Hideo Kojima’s Death Stranding. And with no Sony presence at E3 later this year, it might be some time until we hear formally from Sony on its upcoming plans.
"Sony are on track to have an extremely strong fiscal year," Ahmad concluded. "In fact, this year will yield the best results for the Game and Network Services division in the company’s history. Once again growth is being driven by the network services segment with full game downloads, add on content and subscription services boosting the bottom line."
