Sony invests 1 billion into Epic Games Metaverse Development

[You]

Not sure if this has been posted yet, but...It kinda feels like a bit too early for an April Fool's joke.

 

https://www.gameinformer.com/2022/04/11/sony-invests-1-billion-into-epic-games-metaverse-development

 

Well, I guess we now know where all our PS+ subscription funds are going...

If Sony has that much money to burn or just throw about. I'd rather have a Playstation Plus Lite which only has online play and cloud saves.

 

I'd happily give away my "free" games in exchange for a cheaper subscription. Especially if doing so gives Sony less money and stops them making bat shit crazy business decisions like this.

[Jelly Soup]

Possibly controversial opinion, I'm interested in seeing where this will go. VR is getting better and better with each iteration and this Metaverse thing has the potential to be something uniquely special.

[Helyx]

This is all fine and dandy, but why the hell haven't we had an Unreal Tournament on consoles in 15 years?

[EDGES]

1 billion is nothing for Sony, Sony's net worth all assets is more than 137 billion in 2022, PlayStation division has been literally printing billions for them for years now, and it's not stopping

 

investing in Epic is as good as it can get as far as gaming companies to invest in, Unreal 5 is the only next gen engine out there and it's free advertisment for the PS5 hardware, there is no platform that has more to benefit than the PS5 from Unreal 5 being used as much as possible in as many things as possible

Edited April 12, 2022 by The Investigator

[jgm4789]

I really hope this is more on the line of sony creating say making a better version of PlayStation home and not wasting money on facebooks metaverse(which honestly, facebook is the last company i want to be sucessful if this whole metaverse thing takes off) because i dont want anything to do with that awful company.

[ArmoredSnowman]

20 minutes ago, jgm4789 said:

I really hope this is more on the line of sony creating say making a better version of PlayStation home and not wasting money on facebooks metaverse(which honestly, facebook is the last company i want to be sucessful if this whole metaverse thing takes off) because i dont want anything to do with that awful company.

Agreed there. Fuck Facebook. 

[Eraezr]

Does Microsoft have a stake in Epic?

[Darling Baphomet]

VR development is cool, but anything metaverse immediately makes me suspicious as that term tends to correlate to NFTs and similar bullshit.

[TJ_Solo]

29 minutes ago, Darling Baphomet said:

VR development is cool, but anything metaverse immediately makes me suspicious as that term tends to correlate to NFTs and similar bullshit.

 

The abiltity to have real ownership of digital items which means being able to re-sell items as you see fit. Maybe even use digital items between various games/metaverses. 

 

Such "bullshit"

[Dauersack]

I am getting pretty tired of gaming companies grand claims about anything bigger, better, newer, I'd be in favor of them getting their shit together first and relearn what they already knew during the PS2 era, that not every game needs to be a massive franchise, or a new genre flagship challenging the current mountain top, and that releasing a finished experience should come first before all the extra garbage that is designed to take more money out of you. I miss big companies reliably releasing finished, polished and well crafted middle shelve experiences, ones that make you glad and excited whenever they end up releasing expansions to them months later.

 

I have no interest in VR at the moment, anything VR related is quite a few years away from becoming polished and affordable enough to have any real appeal. The current Triple A gaming industry seems mostly incapable to even release satisfying non VR gaming experiences at the moment, so I have absolutely no faith in companies like Sony to lead towards that becoming any better, especially not with their more recent decision making. Words like "Metaverse" coming from companies like Sony these days sounds like a nightmare scenario to me with all the implications.

Edited April 12, 2022 by Dauersack

[steel6burgh]

You can't blame Sony because they don't really know where this metaverse thing is going they almost have to invest into it to some degree.  If it turns out to be the big deal some people think it will well then Sony has to get a piece of the pie as a gaming company to remain competitive.  However, it's up to us to Just say no to the Metaverse.  You know it's bull when no matter the backlash people have toward it they just keep trying to sell it to you.  I don't need digital ownership of something.  I'm not spending thousands of dollars buying a virtual home and virtual clothes and to make Mark Zucherbergh richer.  

 

Here we are facing the biggest inflation in over 40 years and maybe even worse than that before it's over and they want us to buy digital ownership of things when people are trying to afford real life stuff.  Metaverse=Metaflop in my opinion I hope facebook looses big on this deal.  I will not participate in the metaverse for any reason and hopefully few will. 

[AJ_Radio]

Facebook deserves to die a painful death. I blame Mark Zuckerberg for starting a lot of shit. You guys already know the story.

 

4 minutes ago, Dauersack said:

I am getting pretty tired of gaming companies grand claims about anything bigger, better, newer, I'd be in favor of them getting their shit together first and relearn what they already knew during the PS2 era, that not every game needs to be a massive franchise, or a new genre flagship challenging the current mountain top, and that releasing a finished experience should come first before all the extra garbage that is designed to take more money out of you. I miss big companies reliably releasing finished, polished and well crafted middle shelve experiences, ones that make you glad and excited whenever they end up releasing expansions to them months later.

 

Not going to happen sadly. All of the old innovators and creators that were around during the PS1/PS2 generations have pretty much retired or moved on to do other things. While there is still a lot of gamers much older than myself, it's probably safe to say we're NOT the target audience anymore.

 

The casuals and the kids growing up today make far more bank for these companies than us hardcore gamers do.

 

It's sad that games like A Bard's Tale, Splatterhouse for the PS3, Dead Space 3, Dragon's Dogma, Metal Gear Solid 2, Kingdoms of Amalar, Dante's Inferno, etc etc I look forward to playing more than any big budget modern AAA game. Just about all these games are at least a decade old, and yet, they look far more interesting and original.

[DrBloodmoney]

45 minutes ago, Darling Baphomet said:

VR development is cool, but anything metaverse immediately makes me suspicious as that term tends to correlate to NFTs and similar bullshit.

 

Thats exactly what sprung to my mind also - it seems like the Venn diagram of people who champion the whole 'Metaverse' thing, and those who try and support/ profit from the NFT scam are basically a single circle...

 

...and it's no surprise that most of the technically-minded veterans of the industry seem to collectively roll their eyes at the idea of both.

 

 

 

14 minutes ago, TJ_Solo said:

 

The abiltity to have real ownership of digital items which means being able to re-sell items as you see fit. Maybe even use digital items between various games/metaverses. 

 

Such "bullshit"

You're totally right - you've convinced me!

NFTs are not in any way a total snake-oil scam, or a buzz-word-riddled fad, designed to extract money from fools in exchange for nothing.

 

 

Also - completely unrelated, but....

...I'd like to offer you a chance to bid on my new item for sale:

 

 

 I can give you a good price... just msg me and we can make a deal!

 

 

 

 

 

On topic - Maybe a bit conspiratorial... but I doubt the real thought behind this is anything Metaverse related, or Fortnite related.

This feels more likely a back door way to give Epic a wad of cash, to ensure Sony get the level of Unreal Engine 5 support that Epic's other investment partners get, going forward.

Saying it's 'metaverse' related is probably just the easiest way to publicly justify the bribe money....

[Darling Baphomet]

5 minutes ago, TJ_Solo said:

The abiltity to have real ownership of digital items which means being able to re-sell items as you see fit. Maybe even use digital items between various games/metaverses. 

 

Such "bullshit"

 

Ah yes, the ability to have real ownership of a URL linking to an image. Truly awe inspiring. Now you can help destroy the environment to do something that TF2 let you do ten years ago without piggybacking off of crypto. Something something technological revolution.

 

So first off, no, you do not have "real ownership" of digital items. Digital items are digital. They can be reproduced freely. They do not exist in a state of scarcity unless it's artificially imposed upon them. Secondly, an NFT is not an actual item, it's a proof of ownership for said item. If your live service NFT game gets its servers shutdown... well, good luck with your "real ownership" of an item in a game you can no longer access. And thirdly, your NFTs would have to be individually implemented in every game. That takes significant work to implement, unless your NFT amounts to a TF2 service medal - one item identical to thousands with only flavor text to distinguish it from others.

 

Personally, I play games because I enjoy playing games. If I wanted to turn playing games into a job, I would just... go and get an actual job instead. Or I could just go trade items in TF2, or start up an MMO gold mine, or any other lovely, method of turning play into work that has existed for decades. But I'm not going to, because I frankly could not care less about being able to sell my pixels for real money, seeing as I am a gamer - in other words, someone who enjoys gaming - and not a cryptobro eager to make money in a medium they know nothing about by re-packaging things that have existed in games for decades and convincing people even more desperate than them that they've come up with the next big thing.

Hope this helps.

 

11 minutes ago, Dauersack said:

I have no interest in VR at the moment, anything VR related is quite a few years away from becoming polished and affordable enough to have any real appeal. The current Triple A gaming industry seems mostly incapable to even release satisfying non VR gaming experiences at the moment, so I have absolutely no faith in companies like Sony to lead towards that becoming any better, especially not with their more recent decision making. Words like "Metaverse" coming from companies like Sony these days sounds like a nightmare scenario to me with all the implications.

 

I don't think it's quite as far off as you think. Even the PSVR1, as hacked together as it is, manages to provide extremely engaging gaming experiences. Between the PS5 selling well, the PSVR2 being an add on to it, and the PSVR2 set to be far more polished and higher quality than the PSVR1, I think this generation is going to be the one where VR starts to really lift off. Keep in mind that the PSVR1 (again, a very janky experience) managed to sell upwards of 5 million units.

 

Sure, it may be a while until we start getting games with hundred million dollar budgets exclusive to VR - but you said it yourself: the AAA gaming scene isn't exactly that impressive these days.

[MidnightDragon]

Don’t get this.

[You]

14 minutes ago, Dauersack said:

I am getting pretty tired of gaming companies grand claims about anything bigger, better, newer, I'd be in favor of them getting their shit together first and relearn what they already knew during the PS2 era, that not every game needs to be a massive franchise, or a new genre flagship challenging the current mountain top, and that releasing a finished experience should come first before all the extra garbage that is designed to take more money out of you. I miss big companies reliably releasing finished, polished and well crafted middle shelve experiences, ones that make you glad and excited whenever they end up releasing expansions to them months later.

 

I have no interest in VR at the moment, anything VR related is quite a few years away from becoming polished and affordable enough to have any real appeal. The current Triple A gaming industry seems mostly incapable to even release satisfying non VR gaming experiences at the moment, so I have absolutely no faith in companies like Sony to lead towards that becoming any better, especially not with their more recent decision making. Words like "Metaverse" coming from companies like Sony these days sounds like a nightmare scenario to me with all the implications.

 

This is a great post. I miss the days of games being released and then whatever is super popular being bought and then progressing from there.

 

Now companies announce in advance the "next big thing", patronizingly telling us how much we'll love it, without even showing us what this new thing is, and often while it's still being made.

 

I think this happened around 2010 or so when companies decided that

 

"Single player games are dead"

"Horror survival games are dead"

 

I mean sure, those game genres did take a hit but of course they would when companies stopped fucking making them....

 

At one point even Square Enix stopped making traditional RPGs, you know, the things that literally they are most famous for.

 

I was excited about VR but Sony seemed lukewarm despite the fact they released a VR headset. How are they going to convince us that a Metaverse universe is suddenly going to be any better than things like VR, Eyetoy Vita etc that they support for a while, and then lose interest and don't bother.

 

I suspect all of them are just jealous of Fortnite, and Minecraft and Grand Theft Auto 5 online and are just trying to make their worlds.

 

By the way, isn't it ironic that since Elden Ring got released, not only have people been shitting on Ubisoft's "tell you everything" UI, did anyone notice? NFTs?

Nobody seems to have mentioned them in quite a while (except for slagging them off)

 

Interesting too that this "Metaverse" thing also leaves out NFTs. Maybe they're just being a bit hush hush at the moment, since 99% of people seemed dead against them.

[Abby_TheLastofUs]

29 minutes ago, TJ_Solo said:

 

The abiltity to have real ownership of digital items which means being able to re-sell items as you see fit. Maybe even use digital items between various games/metaverses. 

 

Such "bullshit"

 

Yep, sounds like total bullshit.

 

Minting NFTs is also catastrophic for the environment, so you might want to ease up on the corporate bootlicking.

[Xillynoc]

$1 billion for the Metaverse but no PS4/5 ports of inFAMOUS 1/2/Festival of Blood almost a decade after the launch of the PS4. What the fuck, guys? This is the shit you wanna put resources into?

[AJ_Radio]

Just now, Xillynoc said:

$1 billion for the Metaverse but no PS4/5 ports of inFAMOUS 1/2/Festival of Blood almost a decade after the launch of the PS4. What the fuck, guys? This is the shit you wanna put resources into?

 

I mostly feel this contributes to the constant remake/remaster trend that's basically gone mainstream these past few years. Those games would be nice, but I honestly would like to see some actual PS2 games and games from the 2005 - 2007 era get a much deserved remaster.

 

Ratchet & Clank: Tools of Destruction would be good, along with Resistance: Fall of Man. Then there's the vast library of PS2 era games that could use a much needed re-release.

[DrBloodmoney]

19 minutes ago, AJ_Radio said:

It's sad that games like A Bard's Tale, Splatterhouse for the PS3, Dead Space 3, Dragon's Dogma, Metal Gear Solid 2, Kingdoms of Amalar, Dante's Inferno, etc etc I look forward to playing more than any big budget modern AAA game. Just about all these games are at least a decade old, and yet, they look far more interesting and original.

 

I get what you're saying (don't agree, but get the gist).... but by-the-by, Dante's Inferno seems a really weird example to include on that list....

 

It's a shameless God of War clone, laid over a brainless Dude-Bro's interpretation of a book written in the year 1320... 

 

...so about as "original" as an Ikea bookshelf. ?

 

[You]

2 minutes ago, Xillynoc said:

$1 billion for the Metaverse but no PS4/5 ports of inFAMOUS 1/2/Festival of Blood almost a decade after the launch of the PS4. What the fuck, guys? This is the shit you wanna put resources into?

 

They could have given a couple of million to Shenmue III after they announced it live on their stage. It might have been less shit (might)

They could have not shut down the Team Asobi the team that made the best VR game ever made and arguably one of the best exclusives on PS5, the tech demo game that came free with the PS5. I mean it's not a million, it's a BILLION! So much could have been done with that money... Unfortunately Sony gets shit loads of money from Fortnite now. So it's in their interests to keep in Epics pockets.

[AJ_Radio]

6 minutes ago, DrBloodmoney said:

 

I get what you're saying (don't agree, but get the gist).... but by-the-by, Dante's Inferno seems a really weird example to include on that list....

 

It's a shameless God of War clone, laid over a brainless Dude-Bro's interpretation of a book written in the year 1320... 

 

...so about as "original" as an Ikea bookshelf. 

 

 

That's true, and while EA had their hands in it, I wouldn't call it outright shameless. Obviously, it was done on a much lower budget than say God of War 3, since the game borrows heavily from God of War 1 & 2.

 

The Bard's Tale (2004) was a spoof on old PC role playing games like Baldur's Gate. Splatterhouse was poorly received and is now a rare game that gaming collectors try to seek. Only two or three games I listed are actually good. Dragon's Dogma, if I ever cut my backlog down a bit and have the time, would be a game I want to play.

Edited April 12, 2022 by AJ_Radio

[DrBloodmoney]

Just now, AJ_Radio said:

A Bard's Tale was a satire on old PC role playing games like Baldur's Gate. Splatterhouse was poorly received and is now a rare game that gaming collectors try to seek. Only two or three games I listed are actually good. Dragon's Dogma, if I ever cut my backlog down a bit and have the time, would be a game I want to play.

 

True - Dragon's Dogma isn't one that really hooked me when I played it - but it certainly takes some swings, and it is nothing if not original.

 

We've done this before, and you know my stance - I disagree that originality died out - I think there is as much, if not more, originality in the current indie scene than there ever was in the big games of the PS1 / PS2 era - but I still get your point....

....it was just the Dante's Inferno example that stuck out, because trust me - I played that one... and that game is practically an antonym for the word "Original" ?

[AJ_Radio]

20 minutes ago, DrBloodmoney said:

 

True - Dragon's Dogma isn't one that really hooked me when I played it - but it certainly takes some swings, and it is nothing if not original.

 

We've done this before, and you know my stance - I disagree that originality died out - I think there is as much, if not more, originality in the current indie scene than there ever was in the big games of the PS1 / PS2 era - but I still get your point....

....it was just the Dante's Inferno example that stuck out, because trust me - I played that one... and that game is practically an antonym for the word "Original" 

 

I never said originality died out completely. It's that the big companies aren't putting out original content anymore. Even Elden Ring, as great as it looks and as fun as it looks to play, basically borrow the blueprint of the original Demon's Souls and the first Dark Souls, from 2009 and 2011 respectively.

 

If you followed me long enough then you will know that I tend to be very inconsistent and play in spurts. I just don't have the time to dedicate a number of hours every single day to a game anymore. Even Yakuza 0, which I basically no lifed, I basically couldn't play for a couple days here and there because of life commitments.

 

I can't trust Sony to provide all too original content anymore. I've been thinking of getting Cuphead on Steam, and there is more originality there than any of the first party Sony games from the past five years. Even if the game was heavily inspired by old 1930s Disney and Warner Bros cartoons.

 

Indies in general I wanted to think of as side dishes such as potatoes and green beans, while the main course were the big budget games that served you the nice hot steak. Elden Ring was that particular hot steak for many, but there shouldn't just be one good bigger budget game every now and then. They have to be consistent, and AAA companies have failed to be consistently good since the early - mid PS3 era.

[Baranov_925]

Has Sony really invested money in a social media page that has been losing popularity for several years?