WEBVTT 1 00:00:08.679 --> 00:00:11.800 Hey, everybody, welcome to Game Mess Mornings with Me Jeff Grub, 2 00:00:11.839 --> 00:00:14.759 your host from giant bomb dot com. Thank you for 3 00:00:14.800 --> 00:00:16.920 tuning in. In this episode, we're gonna be talking about 4 00:00:16.960 --> 00:00:20.879 PlayStation making more money while selling fewer consoles, and it's 5 00:00:20.960 --> 00:00:23.640 not backing down from its disc lists of future. It's 6 00:00:23.719 --> 00:00:25.359 gonna be a good one though, because we have Jason 7 00:00:25.359 --> 00:00:28.039 Finelli on the show. Jason, how are you doing? I 8 00:00:28.079 --> 00:00:31.120 am feeling good on a Finelle Friday. I feel like 9 00:00:32.560 --> 00:00:34.600 we did it. We made it, we did it together. 10 00:00:35.119 --> 00:00:37.119 I feel like it's like this we kind of dragged 11 00:00:37.119 --> 00:00:38.759 a little bit, like in the middle. I don't know 12 00:00:38.759 --> 00:00:39.200 about you. 13 00:00:40.039 --> 00:00:40.280 I had. 14 00:00:40.359 --> 00:00:43.320 I had both feelings like like it feels like it 15 00:00:43.399 --> 00:00:45.719 flew by, and then when I stopped to think, like wait, was. 16 00:00:45.679 --> 00:00:49.560 I just traveling on last Sunday? And like, god, that 17 00:00:49.600 --> 00:00:51.079 feels like forever agoing it. 18 00:00:51.119 --> 00:00:52.920 We're only just now getting to a point where like 19 00:00:52.960 --> 00:00:55.079 I won't be working on a weekend. When I think 20 00:00:55.079 --> 00:00:56.920 about it that way, it's like, oh, it's it really 21 00:00:56.920 --> 00:00:57.560 has dragged. 22 00:00:57.600 --> 00:00:59.479 So yeah, I'm glad we made it. 23 00:01:00.000 --> 00:01:02.159 We are almost there, and that I have to say 24 00:01:02.159 --> 00:01:06.400 that road trip was very entertaining anytime now I go 25 00:01:06.439 --> 00:01:09.000 to visit my sister's chicken farm, I will think of 26 00:01:09.079 --> 00:01:10.599 Mike Manati and. 27 00:01:10.519 --> 00:01:15.280 That with chickens. Yes, uh huh, Well it's better. 28 00:01:15.079 --> 00:01:18.239 That than apples, I guess, yeah, but yes, but yeah, 29 00:01:18.280 --> 00:01:19.840 that that looks like a lot of fun. You guys 30 00:01:19.840 --> 00:01:23.959 are your nuts in the best way, and it's very entertaining. 31 00:01:23.959 --> 00:01:25.599 I have not watched the panel yet. I do have 32 00:01:25.640 --> 00:01:29.719 to watch the Mysterium panel still, but definitely had a 33 00:01:29.719 --> 00:01:31.000 lot of fun watching that road trip. 34 00:01:31.040 --> 00:01:33.120 That was a good time. Thank you. Yeah, yeah, we'll 35 00:01:33.120 --> 00:01:34.319 have the travelog. 36 00:01:34.480 --> 00:01:37.799 Dan's working on it right now, so yeah, there'll there'll 37 00:01:37.840 --> 00:01:40.519 be a lot more from it because we we sent 38 00:01:40.640 --> 00:01:43.200 him a lot of footage and he's chopping and screwing 39 00:01:43.200 --> 00:01:44.319 that up right now. 40 00:01:45.000 --> 00:01:47.799 All right, so you know what, let's let's get into things. 41 00:01:47.799 --> 00:01:48.319 It's Friday. 42 00:01:48.319 --> 00:01:50.599 There's no point in dragging it along any further. Let's 43 00:01:50.599 --> 00:01:53.400 just get on with the damn show. Thank you for watching, everybody. 44 00:01:53.439 --> 00:01:57.799 We're a giant bomb. We're internet video game dufices. I 45 00:01:57.799 --> 00:02:00.640 I appreciate everyone who supports us. When you do that, 46 00:02:00.680 --> 00:02:03.959 you're supporting independent games and media. It ensures we can 47 00:02:04.040 --> 00:02:08.080 keep doing stupid silly things. Like the road trip, or 48 00:02:08.120 --> 00:02:10.080 like when we do Summer Game Fest and we do 49 00:02:10.159 --> 00:02:12.280 GB at Night and all that stuff. Oh that's possible 50 00:02:12.319 --> 00:02:14.520 because you all are at our backs and ensuring we 51 00:02:14.520 --> 00:02:16.639 can keep doing things the way we like. So thank 52 00:02:16.639 --> 00:02:18.599 you everybody who has supported us. If you want to 53 00:02:18.599 --> 00:02:20.280 support us, you can go to giant bomb dot com 54 00:02:20.319 --> 00:02:24.000 slash join become a premium member. That is it really 55 00:02:24.000 --> 00:02:25.800 does make a big difference, and it gets you access 56 00:02:25.840 --> 00:02:28.000 to ad free versions of our shows, gets you access 57 00:02:28.039 --> 00:02:32.120 to premium exclusives, like like I keep saying, we continue 58 00:02:32.159 --> 00:02:34.599 to work on Cat Jurffman, which is our first premium 59 00:02:34.599 --> 00:02:36.919 blight where we're we're gonna start bringing in some of 60 00:02:36.960 --> 00:02:40.199 our our other friends to be blighted and keep those 61 00:02:40.280 --> 00:02:45.680 things pretty special. Starting with Jeff playing Catwoman for the GameCube. 62 00:02:46.560 --> 00:02:49.680 We're keeping that under wraps a reason. You need to 63 00:02:49.719 --> 00:02:52.159 earn the right to see this man playing this game 64 00:02:52.319 --> 00:02:57.039 in that costume. It's it's quite a beautiful thing. Oh wow, Yeah, 65 00:02:57.400 --> 00:03:00.000 so that's happening right now. Of course, there's this is 66 00:03:00.080 --> 00:03:02.280 the run Sewer Shark. New episodes of that are going 67 00:03:02.360 --> 00:03:04.840 up a couple times per week most of the time 68 00:03:04.879 --> 00:03:07.159 unless we have something else special like Nine Lives. There's 69 00:03:07.159 --> 00:03:09.319 a new episode of Nine Lives happening, one of the 70 00:03:09.319 --> 00:03:11.960 best edits Will's done so far. But people should go 71 00:03:12.080 --> 00:03:13.800 Just go watch that episode if you haven't, if you 72 00:03:13.960 --> 00:03:15.800 haven't caught up, just go watch this one right now. 73 00:03:15.800 --> 00:03:16.879 It's really worth it. 74 00:03:17.680 --> 00:03:19.879 As far as this show goes though, most weekdays, I 75 00:03:20.000 --> 00:03:22.599 Jeff Grubb, will help piece your gaming life back together. 76 00:03:22.719 --> 00:03:25.280 That includes breaking news and maybe even some of our 77 00:03:25.319 --> 00:03:27.840 own original reporting. For all these topics, I'll get the 78 00:03:27.840 --> 00:03:30.560 input of a bona fide expert who will make me 79 00:03:30.599 --> 00:03:33.400 look smart. If you are watching live on Twitch welcome. 80 00:03:33.439 --> 00:03:35.479 You can always listen to the show later on podcast 81 00:03:35.479 --> 00:03:38.039 feeds by searching for Game Mess Mornings, or find the 82 00:03:38.319 --> 00:03:42.000 RSS feed on giant bomb dot com. You can also 83 00:03:42.039 --> 00:03:44.800 catch the show later with chapters and timestamps on YouTube. 84 00:03:45.120 --> 00:03:46.599 Hello YouTube. 85 00:03:46.719 --> 00:03:48.039 All right, we have a lot to get into, so 86 00:03:48.159 --> 00:03:52.319 let's start the Morning Mess with PlayStation's profits jump despite 87 00:03:52.360 --> 00:03:56.879 declining PS five shipments and playtime, Sony's gaming revenue barely removed, 88 00:03:56.960 --> 00:04:00.840 barely moved during its latest quarter, but operating income increased 89 00:04:00.960 --> 00:04:03.479 thirty seven percent. That sounds great until you look a 90 00:04:03.520 --> 00:04:06.879 little bit closer. PS five shipments dropped sharply. Third party 91 00:04:06.919 --> 00:04:12.000 software weekend and total PlayStation playtime declined. Sony's game and 92 00:04:12.080 --> 00:04:15.560 network services sales essentially were flat at nine hundred and 93 00:04:15.599 --> 00:04:19.879 seventy three point one billion yen, while operating income increase 94 00:04:20.000 --> 00:04:22.360 from one hundred and forty eight billion yen to two 95 00:04:22.439 --> 00:04:27.360 hundred two billion yen. Sony attributed the profit improvement principally 96 00:04:27.360 --> 00:04:31.199 to favorable exchange rates and refunds of US tariffs. So 97 00:04:31.240 --> 00:04:36.199 both things that are are temporary ephemeral, especially the exchange rates, 98 00:04:36.199 --> 00:04:37.920 and then well, especially on top of that the tariffs 99 00:04:37.959 --> 00:04:40.160 that's going to be like a one time payment. Those 100 00:04:40.199 --> 00:04:45.519 benefits outweighed restructuring cost, next generation platform investment, reduced hardware 101 00:04:45.600 --> 00:04:49.800 sales and weaker non first party software. Sony shipped one 102 00:04:49.800 --> 00:04:52.920 point six million ps fives, down from two point five 103 00:04:53.000 --> 00:04:55.920 million one year earlier, so they really are kind of 104 00:04:55.920 --> 00:04:59.040 getting hit by that those price increases. You're dropping it 105 00:04:59.120 --> 00:05:00.879 by almost a million in the lead up to Grand 106 00:05:00.879 --> 00:05:03.160 Theft Auto six, although I guess we could probably expect 107 00:05:03.160 --> 00:05:06.040 those numbers to jump back up once that game's actually here. 108 00:05:06.959 --> 00:05:11.000 This does bring lifetime shipments of PlayStation five to ninety 109 00:05:11.000 --> 00:05:14.360 five point three million PS four and PS four and 110 00:05:14.399 --> 00:05:17.680 PS five software sales. Meanwhile, we're virtually flat at sixty 111 00:05:17.680 --> 00:05:21.199 six point one million units. First party sales, however, did 112 00:05:21.240 --> 00:05:24.519 fall six million units, and eighty two percent of full 113 00:05:24.560 --> 00:05:27.639 game sales were digital. As always worth playing out that 114 00:05:27.680 --> 00:05:30.000 does the full game in sales include games that are 115 00:05:30.040 --> 00:05:33.120 digital only, So it's kind of little applest Oranges there. 116 00:05:34.160 --> 00:05:36.920 PlayStation reached a June record of one hundred and twenty 117 00:05:36.920 --> 00:05:43.680 five million active users, although quarterly playtime declined four percent. Yeah, 118 00:05:43.759 --> 00:05:47.399 so their full year they're up or whatever they're they're 119 00:05:47.399 --> 00:05:49.279 they're making a lot of money over at PlayStation. That 120 00:05:49.279 --> 00:05:51.600 continues to be the story. They've found ways to make 121 00:05:51.639 --> 00:05:54.839 a lot of money. This most recent one. It's like, oh, 122 00:05:54.839 --> 00:05:58.360 there's a lot of indicators here, Jason of maybe they 123 00:05:58.480 --> 00:06:00.959 maybe there's maybe it's dead, there's a downturn or something, 124 00:06:00.959 --> 00:06:03.759 and there people are playing fewer games. Maybe there's more 125 00:06:03.800 --> 00:06:06.720 people online, but they're spending less time playing games. Although 126 00:06:06.759 --> 00:06:08.360 a lot of times those two factors do you go 127 00:06:08.439 --> 00:06:10.680 hand in hand. When you have more players, the average 128 00:06:10.680 --> 00:06:13.600 playtime goes down. But this is, yeah, this is something 129 00:06:13.639 --> 00:06:15.639 where it's like, Okay, there's a lot of you know, 130 00:06:15.839 --> 00:06:18.319 signals here that maybe things are slowing down, but PlayStation 131 00:06:18.439 --> 00:06:21.720 finds a way to make more money. That has been 132 00:06:21.759 --> 00:06:24.480 their stated goal recently. They were like, hey, we want 133 00:06:24.519 --> 00:06:26.879 to make more money from the same users, or maybe 134 00:06:26.920 --> 00:06:28.920 even fewer users, but we want to make more money 135 00:06:28.920 --> 00:06:31.839 from them, and they're doing that. But it seems to 136 00:06:31.879 --> 00:06:34.000 be the way that they're doing that is the luck 137 00:06:34.040 --> 00:06:38.959 of a favorable exchange rate and tariffs. Probably not sustainable, right, 138 00:06:39.000 --> 00:06:40.560 They probably got to get back to like putting out 139 00:06:40.600 --> 00:06:41.240 video games. 140 00:06:41.720 --> 00:06:45.600 No, it's a it's a it's a foundation built on 141 00:06:45.680 --> 00:06:48.680 stroll or built on sticks instead of a full instead 142 00:06:48.680 --> 00:06:51.879 of a solid foundation of the money they're trying to make. 143 00:06:51.920 --> 00:06:56.079 The fact that you read all those financial statististic statistics 144 00:06:56.120 --> 00:06:58.680 out and had to keep saying, yes, it says this, 145 00:06:58.800 --> 00:07:02.759 but this is the thing. However, the fact that you 146 00:07:02.759 --> 00:07:05.040 have to keep throwing those caveats in there should tell 147 00:07:05.079 --> 00:07:08.279 you everything you need to know about the sort of 148 00:07:08.319 --> 00:07:11.800 precarious situation they find themselves in, whether they want to 149 00:07:11.920 --> 00:07:14.959 admit it or not. A lot of this just seems 150 00:07:15.000 --> 00:07:17.480 like smoke and mirrors, like hey, look we're up. Look 151 00:07:17.519 --> 00:07:20.120 at this operating income. We're good we're doing the right thing. 152 00:07:20.240 --> 00:07:23.120 Everything we want to do makes perfect sense, as we'll 153 00:07:23.160 --> 00:07:26.199 see in our next story. But I don't think that 154 00:07:26.279 --> 00:07:30.319 it's quite the solid foundation that the betting that they 155 00:07:30.360 --> 00:07:34.600 want it to be. And when you don't have a 156 00:07:34.680 --> 00:07:38.360 quarter where you're getting a massive payment in tariff refunds, 157 00:07:38.800 --> 00:07:44.040 or you don't have a full game sales, if that 158 00:07:44.079 --> 00:07:47.639 full game sales continues to drop out of protest, maybe 159 00:07:47.680 --> 00:07:50.360 a percentage point here and there, but still enough to notice. 160 00:07:50.759 --> 00:07:53.759 Then again, as you said, it also includes all digital games, 161 00:07:53.800 --> 00:07:58.120 So how much does that stat really matter. It's a 162 00:07:58.160 --> 00:08:01.519 way too many questions here to be full confident in 163 00:08:01.959 --> 00:08:05.839 PlayStation's overall position. That being said, they are very good 164 00:08:05.959 --> 00:08:08.480 at getting money out of the people who already support them. 165 00:08:08.879 --> 00:08:11.399 I'm curious how many of those one point six million 166 00:08:11.439 --> 00:08:16.000 ps fives were upgrades or even replacements of broken ones 167 00:08:16.040 --> 00:08:18.920 to prepare for the grand theft auto onslaught early. 168 00:08:21.000 --> 00:08:24.360 Yeah, I it's there are a lot of impressive, big. 169 00:08:24.240 --> 00:08:27.759 Numbers, but none that I'm like, yeah, they are doing 170 00:08:27.800 --> 00:08:29.160 the right thing right. 171 00:08:29.240 --> 00:08:31.360 Nothing that like goes like, oh they've found the cure 172 00:08:31.360 --> 00:08:33.480 to what ails them or whatever. You know, we talk 173 00:08:33.519 --> 00:08:38.759 about these companies desperately needing growth, big returns and uh, 174 00:08:39.039 --> 00:08:42.000 and that is nowhere in these numbers. For the most part, 175 00:08:42.240 --> 00:08:44.639 I guess you could say PlayStation reached the June record 176 00:08:44.679 --> 00:08:46.759 of one hundred and twenty five monthly active users. Okay, 177 00:08:46.759 --> 00:08:49.399 that is that's growing. That's that is a record for 178 00:08:49.440 --> 00:08:52.320 a June Uh. And that does suggest that they have 179 00:08:52.960 --> 00:08:56.720 a foundation they're there to build on. Can you get 180 00:08:56.720 --> 00:08:59.440 those people to be spending more money? Kind of feels 181 00:08:59.440 --> 00:09:02.120 like everyone's happed out already. So that's the suspicion I 182 00:09:02.120 --> 00:09:04.360 think most people have that we have as consumers, right, 183 00:09:04.559 --> 00:09:08.159 we feel that way. And does that extrapolate across the 184 00:09:08.279 --> 00:09:10.519 entire user base? I think most of us would put 185 00:09:10.519 --> 00:09:13.320 our money on. Yes, that does extrapolate pretty well to 186 00:09:13.360 --> 00:09:15.759 the rest of the user base. That everyone's feeling pretty 187 00:09:15.759 --> 00:09:18.440 tapped out, and that when PlayStation is looking for an 188 00:09:18.519 --> 00:09:21.320 extra dollar here or there, that that's going to be 189 00:09:21.360 --> 00:09:25.440 harder and harder to come by. So like, okay, if 190 00:09:25.480 --> 00:09:27.679 that's the case, then the growth does kind of have 191 00:09:27.720 --> 00:09:31.440 to return back to finding more people to buy PlayStations, 192 00:09:32.240 --> 00:09:34.840 and they're more expensive than ever as grand Theft Auto 193 00:09:34.879 --> 00:09:37.440 six come out is coming out, which was going to 194 00:09:37.480 --> 00:09:40.000 be the sort of inciting event that was going to 195 00:09:40.120 --> 00:09:43.679 lead to that return to growth. They'll probably still hit that, 196 00:09:43.919 --> 00:09:46.600 but does it feel like long term sustainable. I think 197 00:09:46.600 --> 00:09:48.440 we're all kind of just sitting around go waiting to 198 00:09:48.440 --> 00:09:51.559 find out if this is something they can take the 199 00:09:51.600 --> 00:09:53.600 momentum of and build on going forward. 200 00:09:54.000 --> 00:09:57.919 And I don't I if I had to guess right now, 201 00:09:57.960 --> 00:10:00.840 sitting in my chair two months before or four months before, 202 00:10:00.879 --> 00:10:03.879 whatever it is, I am not confident. I think it's 203 00:10:03.879 --> 00:10:05.360 just going to be like a flash in the pan 204 00:10:05.519 --> 00:10:09.360 and once because because runs Grand Theft Auto. Once it 205 00:10:09.360 --> 00:10:11.799 comes out and people play it, and then they have 206 00:10:11.879 --> 00:10:14.639 that moment where they sit down and they go, okay, 207 00:10:14.639 --> 00:10:17.960 what next after every big release that now, granted, Grand 208 00:10:17.960 --> 00:10:21.159 theftot is probably going to be huge, if Rockstar games 209 00:10:21.200 --> 00:10:25.240 are any indication, but they're not infinite. They're not making 210 00:10:25.360 --> 00:10:27.679 They may say that there's going to be some things 211 00:10:27.759 --> 00:10:31.600 that you can do forever, but until online also hits, 212 00:10:32.159 --> 00:10:35.919 I don't think you can really say that with full confidence. 213 00:10:35.919 --> 00:10:38.919 So eventually, the majority of people playing Grand Theft Auto 214 00:10:39.000 --> 00:10:42.279 are going to be done and either look for the 215 00:10:42.320 --> 00:10:45.440 next game or go back to their normal lives because 216 00:10:45.440 --> 00:10:47.639 Grand Theft Auto is the only game that they play, 217 00:10:48.200 --> 00:10:51.799 right or the sports games or what have you. So 218 00:10:51.960 --> 00:10:54.039 I think they're putting a lot of eggs into a 219 00:10:54.080 --> 00:10:56.679 basket that already has a hole in it, and the 220 00:10:56.720 --> 00:10:59.679 eggs are slowly falling out of the bottom, and they're 221 00:10:59.759 --> 00:11:02.559 just loading eggs on the top and they think that 222 00:11:02.559 --> 00:11:04.360 they still have a full basket, but they're really just 223 00:11:04.360 --> 00:11:06.159 circulating the same shit over and over again. 224 00:11:06.000 --> 00:11:08.279 Or they do like ignore like maybe at some point, 225 00:11:08.279 --> 00:11:10.600 like putting more eggs in to fix the basket or whatever. 226 00:11:10.600 --> 00:11:12.240 And that does seem to be like the current strategy 227 00:11:12.240 --> 00:11:14.200 of like let's make as much as we can from 228 00:11:14.240 --> 00:11:17.120 what we have right now, and it's at some point 229 00:11:17.159 --> 00:11:18.720 you're gonna have to return to like finding ways to 230 00:11:18.840 --> 00:11:19.440 replenish that. 231 00:11:20.080 --> 00:11:23.879 But you say people being tapped out or being tired. 232 00:11:24.120 --> 00:11:26.039 It was kind of having a conversation with a very 233 00:11:26.039 --> 00:11:29.759 good friend of mine who right now, even though they 234 00:11:30.399 --> 00:11:32.360 they're a fellow writer an editor, so they have to 235 00:11:32.360 --> 00:11:34.360 stay on top of things, they're reviewing things or whatever, 236 00:11:34.600 --> 00:11:37.240 but when it comes to their downtime, they're not thinking 237 00:11:37.279 --> 00:11:40.519 Sony and Microsoft. They're not even really thinking Nintendo at 238 00:11:40.519 --> 00:11:44.600 the moment. They're thinking Amberniic and i Ayn and all 239 00:11:44.639 --> 00:11:48.559 of those people, because for all the worries that we 240 00:11:48.720 --> 00:11:51.039 have of the future of video games, there is an 241 00:11:51.320 --> 00:11:55.960 infinite backlog of retro games from previous consoles that none 242 00:11:56.000 --> 00:11:57.759 of us had the time to play when we were 243 00:11:57.840 --> 00:12:00.360 kids or when we were adults, that we could just side. 244 00:12:00.360 --> 00:12:03.039 You know what, let's pick a year, let's pick a game, 245 00:12:03.200 --> 00:12:05.000 and let's sit down and play that on this cool 246 00:12:05.039 --> 00:12:06.639 device from China. 247 00:12:06.679 --> 00:12:07.559 And I don't I. 248 00:12:07.480 --> 00:12:11.279 Don't know that the the big players are really putting 249 00:12:11.320 --> 00:12:14.200 as much stock into that as a potential competitor as 250 00:12:14.240 --> 00:12:18.240 they should be, because that would be technically acknowledging the 251 00:12:18.320 --> 00:12:20.159 high seas for lack of a better term. 252 00:12:20.519 --> 00:12:23.720 But I don't know, it seems to be a legitimately 253 00:12:23.879 --> 00:12:25.720 growing thing, right, Yeah. 254 00:12:25.879 --> 00:12:30.120 I think that the big companies would feel like if 255 00:12:30.159 --> 00:12:34.639 we are suddenly competing with those upstart Chinese companies that 256 00:12:34.639 --> 00:12:38.039 are putting out emulation handhelds, it's like they're like, that's 257 00:12:38.080 --> 00:12:39.720 not a business we even want to be because that 258 00:12:39.879 --> 00:12:45.799 is a hardware business about about retro And I think 259 00:12:45.799 --> 00:12:48.720 they're like, we're we're doing something bigger and different over here. 260 00:12:48.759 --> 00:12:50.799 And I think many of us are excuse men. 261 00:12:51.000 --> 00:12:53.399 Many of us are feeling like, that's not how we feel, 262 00:12:53.440 --> 00:12:55.159 and we kind of don't care what you're doing. We 263 00:12:55.279 --> 00:12:58.159 just want to play some games and one of like, 264 00:12:58.200 --> 00:13:00.000 there's one way to do that right now. That feel 265 00:13:00.120 --> 00:13:05.120 sort of divorced from this insane march toward capitalism's inevitable end. 266 00:13:06.080 --> 00:13:06.960 And so yeah, I. 267 00:13:06.919 --> 00:13:09.879 Think you know, not that the Chinese companies aren't trying 268 00:13:09.879 --> 00:13:10.440 to make money. 269 00:13:10.559 --> 00:13:11.519 They are, but they are. 270 00:13:11.639 --> 00:13:14.960 They're just putting out a product and instead of trying 271 00:13:15.000 --> 00:13:17.960 to get us in the endless service treadmill. And I 272 00:13:17.960 --> 00:13:20.919 think that is a distinguishable difference. That is something that 273 00:13:20.960 --> 00:13:23.559 people notice and even if they can't put it in words, 274 00:13:23.879 --> 00:13:27.279 they feel it. And there's just something that feels nicely 275 00:13:27.360 --> 00:13:30.120 removed from that march when you kind of get into 276 00:13:30.120 --> 00:13:34.679 the handheld game real quick. There's another tidbit here. Sony 277 00:13:34.720 --> 00:13:38.480 had an interesting warning about adjustments to its fiscal year 278 00:13:38.519 --> 00:13:41.679 twenty twenty six first party roadmap, and that was included 279 00:13:41.720 --> 00:13:46.120 as a negative factor, so basically meaning, hey, we have 280 00:13:46.240 --> 00:13:50.440 removed a big first party game or something from our 281 00:13:50.519 --> 00:13:54.320 roadmap that we had internally, and this is having a 282 00:13:54.360 --> 00:13:56.679 negative impact on our outlook. 283 00:13:56.159 --> 00:13:57.240 For the rest of the year. 284 00:13:57.759 --> 00:14:00.879 They did not specify what that was or what it 285 00:14:01.360 --> 00:14:03.720 could have been, And I'm not really sure. Do we 286 00:14:03.759 --> 00:14:06.080 have any idea, Jason, I'm not. I really don't know 287 00:14:06.120 --> 00:14:06.919 where to begin with this. 288 00:14:07.519 --> 00:14:10.039 I don't know. 289 00:14:10.759 --> 00:14:16.000 My first thought would be Marathon fans fair Games? Is 290 00:14:16.039 --> 00:14:19.799 it fair Games? Could be fair Games? Is Marathon starting 291 00:14:19.799 --> 00:14:23.879 to lag? Could it be something in there? I imagine 292 00:14:23.879 --> 00:14:26.879 it's live service, right, because they don't have any first 293 00:14:26.960 --> 00:14:31.320 party unless it's fiscal year twenty twenty six and they 294 00:14:31.559 --> 00:14:34.559 just announced lal Fay as February. 295 00:14:34.600 --> 00:14:38.200 Maybe that already has to be bumped. That would be crazy. Yeah, 296 00:14:38.320 --> 00:14:40.600 that'd be nuts. Right. Did they announce it and in 297 00:14:40.600 --> 00:14:41.919 the next week they have to bump it. 298 00:14:41.960 --> 00:14:43.480 I don't think that's what it is, but I'm just 299 00:14:43.600 --> 00:14:44.799 I'm just prognosticating. 300 00:14:45.000 --> 00:14:48.039 Probably is fair Games. It probably is something Horizon game. 301 00:14:48.080 --> 00:14:52.879 That's an interesting uh point as well. Yes, the Horizon gatherers. 302 00:14:52.919 --> 00:14:55.919 Is that what it's called gathering grounds or whatever? Whatever 303 00:14:55.960 --> 00:14:58.159 the live service Horizon is. That's an interesting point too. 304 00:14:58.200 --> 00:15:01.000 I hadn't thought of that it could be something like that. 305 00:15:01.000 --> 00:15:02.759 It's one of those I think, probably more. 306 00:15:02.639 --> 00:15:05.960 Than as someone else puts up in chat. Maybe there 307 00:15:06.080 --> 00:15:09.200 was intended DLC follow up for Sorrows that is not 308 00:15:09.919 --> 00:15:11.559 Maybe they're they're a low one sorrows. 309 00:15:11.559 --> 00:15:11.960 I don't know. 310 00:15:12.279 --> 00:15:14.360 It could be, it could be, it could be one 311 00:15:14.360 --> 00:15:17.399 of many things. But that is an interesting little caveat 312 00:15:17.399 --> 00:15:18.840 to kind of just run at the end of this 313 00:15:18.879 --> 00:15:19.519 report here. 314 00:15:21.039 --> 00:15:23.879 I don't think people are saying heretic as an intergalactic 315 00:15:23.919 --> 00:15:26.440 the heretic prophet. I think it's like, I don't think 316 00:15:26.480 --> 00:15:29.120 that one was ever gonna come out. 317 00:15:30.360 --> 00:15:31.240 I don't think it was ever. 318 00:15:31.399 --> 00:15:34.039 I don't that one strikes me as a PS six 319 00:15:34.080 --> 00:15:35.039 if I'm being honest. 320 00:15:35.440 --> 00:15:39.559 So it's very it's gonna be late PS five for sure. Yeah, Okay, 321 00:15:39.759 --> 00:15:41.440 so I don't know. Maybe we get more word on 322 00:15:41.480 --> 00:15:45.440 what that is, but I would lean towards Horizon or 323 00:15:45.480 --> 00:15:46.759 Fair Games for that for sure. 324 00:15:48.080 --> 00:15:49.480 Okay, let's get to the next one. 325 00:15:49.559 --> 00:15:52.919 Sony, as part of this UH did acknowledge the disc 326 00:15:53.000 --> 00:15:55.919 backlash finally, but it says it will continue its plans. 327 00:15:57.080 --> 00:15:59.960 This comes from Chris going in at VGC. Sony is 328 00:16:00.080 --> 00:16:02.480 broken its silence on the backlash to its decision to 329 00:16:02.480 --> 00:16:05.559 stop making PlayStation discs. The company announced a month ago 330 00:16:05.600 --> 00:16:09.080 that physical disc games will be discontinued for PlayStation consoles 331 00:16:09.679 --> 00:16:13.679 starting from January twenty twenty eight, and the decision continues 332 00:16:13.720 --> 00:16:16.120 to see fierce debate online now. During a Q and 333 00:16:16.159 --> 00:16:19.559 A session following its Q one twenty twenty six earnings announcement, 334 00:16:20.720 --> 00:16:24.480 Sony CFO Lentau has addressed the situation, stating that Sony 335 00:16:24.480 --> 00:16:27.639 has been had been given, had been given the decision 336 00:16:27.919 --> 00:16:31.360 to go digital, only some thought for a while before 337 00:16:31.360 --> 00:16:34.080 announcing it, and that it doesn't plan to change its mind. 338 00:16:34.480 --> 00:16:37.039 We announced that from January twenty twenty eight onwards, we 339 00:16:37.080 --> 00:16:39.720 will no longer be manufacturing game discs, so we announced 340 00:16:39.759 --> 00:16:41.000 it one and a half years ahead. 341 00:16:41.080 --> 00:16:44.080 She said, this was interpreted by Sony for us. 342 00:16:44.240 --> 00:16:47.159 There are various reasons we made this decision, the biggest 343 00:16:47.200 --> 00:16:51.879 being that digitalization of contents overall has been progressing. That's 344 00:16:51.879 --> 00:16:54.000 the big factor. It's not just for PlayStation before all 345 00:16:54.039 --> 00:16:57.279 kinds of content. Digitalization is progressing. And so when we 346 00:16:57.320 --> 00:16:58.840 think about the future, who put in a lot of 347 00:16:58.879 --> 00:17:01.480 thought about a thought of thought and time and we 348 00:17:01.559 --> 00:17:04.400 cautiously considered this and we came to this conclusion, and 349 00:17:04.440 --> 00:17:07.640 we're going to cautiously move this forward to how also 350 00:17:07.680 --> 00:17:10.440 acknowledged the backlash to their decision on social media for 351 00:17:10.480 --> 00:17:13.440 the first time, stating that while Sony was aware of 352 00:17:13.480 --> 00:17:16.079 players reaction to the news, its focus was on how 353 00:17:16.119 --> 00:17:18.319 to keep them interested in PlayStation games when it does 354 00:17:18.359 --> 00:17:21.400 go all digital. To this decision, we have received various 355 00:17:21.400 --> 00:17:24.319 opinions and people have strong views. When we understand that 356 00:17:24.319 --> 00:17:27.119 the community has put forward those views to us, games 357 00:17:27.160 --> 00:17:29.319 are loved by many people. It's a form of entertainment 358 00:17:29.319 --> 00:17:31.519 that's loved by people, and it's connected to people's fond 359 00:17:31.599 --> 00:17:34.200 memories in many cases, and so we understand those emotions. 360 00:17:34.359 --> 00:17:37.400 We want to consider that and in the future digital ecosystem, 361 00:17:37.440 --> 00:17:39.680 how do we engage the gamers is something that we 362 00:17:39.720 --> 00:17:41.240 would like to continue to explore. 363 00:17:41.839 --> 00:17:43.119 So a couple things here. 364 00:17:44.599 --> 00:17:47.119 First of all, the fact that they did even acknowledge 365 00:17:47.119 --> 00:17:50.720 it to me is like they recognized they had to 366 00:17:50.759 --> 00:17:54.359 say something to the investors and the analysts who were 367 00:17:54.400 --> 00:17:57.599 going to be asking questions because they were very likely 368 00:17:58.000 --> 00:17:59.880 like going to bring it up. So that is so 369 00:18:00.160 --> 00:18:03.720 sort of acknowledging that the backlash is too big to ignore, right, 370 00:18:03.799 --> 00:18:05.279 But of course they're stall they're saying they're going to 371 00:18:05.359 --> 00:18:08.079 move ahead with it. I will point out that you know, 372 00:18:08.279 --> 00:18:11.799 Sony CFO Lintau is the person who said their goal 373 00:18:11.880 --> 00:18:14.519 right now is to make more money from the people 374 00:18:14.519 --> 00:18:18.720 they already have, and this, this choice, this decision is 375 00:18:18.759 --> 00:18:21.720 a million percent in line with that, where it's like, 376 00:18:21.759 --> 00:18:24.799 how can we improve our profit margins? Well, there's one 377 00:18:24.799 --> 00:18:26.519 thing we can do, and that is cut out the 378 00:18:26.559 --> 00:18:29.599 profit that we share with retail when we put out 379 00:18:29.599 --> 00:18:32.279 a physical disc. If we are putting out digital codes, 380 00:18:32.319 --> 00:18:35.119 we can we can sort of renegotiate that side of things. 381 00:18:35.119 --> 00:18:37.000 If we are still going to sell codes in stores, 382 00:18:37.480 --> 00:18:39.839 we can get a much That's part of the line 383 00:18:39.839 --> 00:18:41.680 here is they're going to get a much bigger percentage 384 00:18:41.720 --> 00:18:45.559 cut Sony is if they're selling codes on or codes 385 00:18:45.599 --> 00:18:48.440 in a box, and then they also expect more people 386 00:18:48.480 --> 00:18:51.240 just to go to the PlayStation store instead. Since essentially 387 00:18:51.319 --> 00:18:53.960 there's no difference now between getting a code in a 388 00:18:54.000 --> 00:18:55.680 box and getting a code on the store, it's going 389 00:18:55.720 --> 00:18:58.359 to function the exact same way. So they're going to 390 00:18:58.400 --> 00:19:01.039 be able to cut out a huge percentage of profit 391 00:19:01.119 --> 00:19:04.640 that was once going to retail stores, and that is something. 392 00:19:04.319 --> 00:19:05.440 They don't want to give up. 393 00:19:05.480 --> 00:19:08.440 So that is like where their narrow focuses at this moment, 394 00:19:09.279 --> 00:19:12.519 and so Jason like, do you feel like, is there 395 00:19:12.559 --> 00:19:14.440 any crack in this right here where it's like it 396 00:19:14.440 --> 00:19:17.079 feels like there's a chance for people to help convince 397 00:19:17.079 --> 00:19:19.799 Sony to reverse this, or it's the momentum too strong. 398 00:19:20.759 --> 00:19:23.680 I think the fact that they are acknowledging it at 399 00:19:23.720 --> 00:19:29.440 all is a sign that there may be a slight 400 00:19:30.400 --> 00:19:33.799 crack in the armor. I do agree that their tunnel 401 00:19:33.839 --> 00:19:36.519