Sony’s PlayStation president Andrew House has addressed the dearth of first-party exclusive titles, which many observers believe is holding back the PS4 console.
Speaking at the company’s Investor Day, House admitted the line-up of games built in-house for the platform is looking “a little sparse.”
Fans of the console have been dealt numerous blows in recent months with franchise titles like Uncharted 4 and a new Ratchet & Clank game delayed until next year, while the eagerly-anticipated The Order: 1886 was considered a failure.
House said (via CNET): “We are working very hard to continue very strong support from third-party publishers and developers.
”Our first-party lineup is a little sparse this year so I think this places an even greater emphasis on getting good third-party support.”
The lack of first-party titles for Sony comes at a time when the Xbox One continues to work towards console sales parity after a slower start out of the gate.
Microsoft’s platform will continue to seize the momentum in the next-gen console wars, thanks to two giant exclusives before the year is out. New Halo and Tomb Raider games will both launch later this year, surely giving the Xbox One the best chance to win the Christmas 2015 battle.
One saving grace for Sony is next month’s E3 2015 event in Los Angeles, where the company should announce more first-party titles for its flagship gaming device.
House said E3 will reveal a PS4 platform that is coming of age and realising more of its immense potential.
He said: “
Read more: E3 2015 Predictions
House also played down the importance of the exclusive titles, claiming the PS4’s sharing tools are enough to give it the edge over the Xbox One for gamers choosing between platforms for the biggest cross-platform games.
The PlayStation president added: “Rather than seeking for complete exclusives, we have looked to publishers to really try to maximize the use of the feature-set on PlayStation 4 versus the competition. And I think that the use of Share and SharePlay functionality, those have been sort of defining platform features which can be seen not just in first-party content but across the whole range of titles.”
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
