February 23rd 2025.
As a passionate gamer, I couldn't help but feel disappointed when I saw the lukewarm reception to Sony's recent State of Play event. Upon reflection, I realized that the lack of excitement was due to the fact that Sony only announced one new game - Saros, the spiritual successor to Returnal. However, as a fan of the first game, I was more than satisfied with the showcase. In fact, I was ecstatic, even though there was no gameplay footage shown.
But then it hit me - the reason for the lack of enthusiasm was not just because of the absence of gameplay, but because many gamers were not even aware of Returnal's existence. In my opinion - and I know GameCentral agrees - Returnal is not only the best exclusive on PlayStation 5, but also one of the greatest games of the last decade. Despite its critical acclaim and numerous awards, it was not a big hit and Sony did not promote it effectively.
Returnal even won the prestigious BAFTA Game of the Year award, along with five other accolades upon its release. Yet, I was genuinely surprised when Sony allowed Housemarque to make a sequel. This led me to think about other games that Sony has not properly marketed, especially those that are not part of their major franchises.
One recent example is Astro Bot, which despite winning multiple Game of the Year awards, is not considered a major franchise by Sony. This was evident when the Sony boss stated that there were no major franchise sequels coming out last year, completely disregarding Astro Bot. And let's not forget about Bloodborne, the best exclusive on PlayStation 4 and a strong contender for the best game of the 21st century. It seems that Sony has forgotten that they even published it, as there has been no PlayStation 5 patch for it while every other game gets one.
Another example is Demon's Souls, which Sony did such a poor job of promoting that FromSoftware refused to let them publish Dark Souls. I am also not impressed by their efforts with games like LittleBigPlanet or Ape Escape, which they claim to be classic PlayStation franchises, but most gamers have never even heard of them. And don't even get me started on Puppeteer!
It's a shame because Sony releases some of the best games in the industry, but they never seem to know how to properly market them, especially if they are not straightforward story or action games. They even gave Shadow of the Colossus a remake, but failed to effectively promote it, leaving many gamers unaware of its existence.
On the other hand, Nintendo does a much better job of promoting even their minor games. They give every game the best chance possible to succeed. In contrast, it seems like Sony's marketing teams are somewhat embarrassed by their more imaginative and unconventional games. But this has been an ongoing issue for decades now.
Sony has published some of the best games of the last several years, yet they have not been big sellers and Sony has not made any significant efforts to promote them. Perhaps they only see these games as prestige products, made solely to win awards. But these games are so much more than that. They are some of the greatest games ever made, yet they are flying under the radar for many gamers.
As a final thought, I asked my cousin - an avid Call of Duty and FIFA player - if he had heard of The Last of Us and God of War. He acknowledged them, but when I mentioned these other games, he had no clue what I was talking about. This further proves that Sony needs to do a better job of promoting their fantastic games, as they have the potential to be much more than just award-winners.
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