PlayStation boss says investing in new IPs is “very risky”

“They cost more than $100m dollars to make these days.”

Jim Ryan, CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment, has opened up about the risks of developing brand new IPs, calling it “very risky”.

In an interview with GQ, Ryan talked candidly about Sony’s recent acquisitions and the risks involved in committing to a brand new project.

“We’ve invested a lot organically over the course of the PS4 generation, more than people realise. We’ve added Insomniac Games [Spider-Man Miles Morales’ developer] through acquisition. We’re making great games now and we certainly plan to continue making great games,” Ryan said (thanks, VG24/7).

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“The thing with those blockbuster games is that they need a box office release. They cost more than $100 million to make these days and in order to be able to do that and bring new IP to the market – which is a very risky thing and we did four times in the PS4 generation – you’ve got to have a box office release.”

Ryan also reflected on how PlayStation manages to balance fresh IPs with new instalments of already-established franchises, stating Sony thinks “very deeply and very carefully” when it comes to balancing its portfolio.

“We have a management organisation that sits over the individual studios and one of the things that we look at a lot is the portfolio and we look at is the balance between new iterations of much-loved series such as God Of War or Uncharted and shaking things up with new IP such as Horizon Zero Dawn or Ghost Of Tsushima. We think about this very deeply and very carefully.”

Sony recently confirmed that $70 PlayStation 5 games reflect increased development costs. A spokesperson for Sony said the price hike for some of its PS5 games is “reflective of the growing development resources needed for these ambitious games”, but that Sony is selling some PS5 launch titles for less than that, with the “biggest games” set at $70.

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