Could Sony and Microsoft Survive Without 3rd Party Developers?

[Ugea]

Editing note: when talking about microsoft im only referring to their X-Box branch. not Microsoft as a whole.

this is just a what if question. I know 3rd party Developers enjoy creating games for them, but in this thread im going to turn the tables on them.

what if something so bad were to happen to the relationship between Sony/ Microsoft and thouse developers ( EA, Ubisoft, Rockstar games ETC) were to jump ship and only develop Only for the all mighty it-does-everything-possible PC, could they stay afloat like Nintendo can?

Are they prepared for this event if it does happen? i dont know if one can prepare for a plan B. it would be very hard for them to stay afloat and would probably put them out of business. Sony may have a chance because of their 1st party games. and they can bring back old franchises to help them keep afloat, for some time. till they have to make new IPs and new ideas to keep people interested int heir console.

as for Microsoft they will have a major up hill battle. they dont have that menny exclusives for that console, probably take their losses and start developing for the PC and abandon the X box brand.

so what is your take on this question. in your opinion Do you think they can survive with NO 3rd party support?

Sony and Microsoft's ( the X-box division) fate is just teetering on the finger of 3rd party games.

 

[Mercedes]

Sony, maybe. Microsoft, yes.

For Microsoft money is a non-issue, they regularly do what big companies do and happily lose a lot of money just to break into a new market, so the only issue would be if they think it'd be fruitful enough in the long-term to do so. If they wanted to stay in the industry they would stay in the industry and, considering them very happily paying $2 billion for Mojang without their bank breaking a sweat, they'd have no problem with more acquisitions and create a very extensive team if they thought it would end up being worth it. Do I think they would however? It's hard to say, but Nadella has sung Xbox's praise and shot down rumours of MS spinning it off, and they arguably have the best man for the job in the head position right now, so they might, but then that isn't the question. 2 years ago I'd have said hell no though, funny how much has changed on the Xbox front. Also I think your comments about the lack of Xbox exclusives has came about a year or two late, they've been doing a good job under Philly.

Sony, on the other hand, would have a money issue, so they'd be the one much more effected by it I would say. They have more of a back-bone when it comes to exclusives than Microsoft immediately does right now, though that is debatable of course, but I'd definitely see them falter more without the income stream from third-party sales. The Playstation division alone would not be able to sustain itself, and the money from Poppa Sony might not always be there with how things are continuing to go for them, despite some positive improvements recently. They're a lot more dependant on third-party sales than Nintendo and Microsoft are, the former relying on first-party and the latter having a very large bank account, and it's not possible to continue pushing out exclusive titles, or even hardware, without the money coming from somewhere.

So that would be my answer. Sony would financially be in trouble should this have happened and could be kicked out based on it, though with the current success of the PS4 they'd definitely have some legs to them, whereas Microsoft's future would be entirely on if their executives see potential long-term success, they would not be forced out because of financial implications.

Also,

Are they prepared for this event if it does happen?

Of course they aren't, because it would never happen. I think your post underestimates how much money Microsoft actually has, while also underestimating how much **** Sony's in financially, but a fun hypothetical question to answer nevertheless.

 

[JuicieJ]

Sony, no. They don't have nearly enough money at the moment.

Microsoft, yes. They have substantially more money than Nintendo does, and Ninty still gets by just fine without 3rd parties. Granted, the Xbox brand wouldn't be nearly as successful due to having such a small amount of exclusive IPs (and only one that's truly iconic), but they'd do alright regardless. Halo sells like hotcakes, after all.

 

[Justac00lguy]

Survive as in just stay afloat? Sure. Be as profitable as they are currently? No of course not.

From the stand point of 3rd party content, do I think Sony and Microsoft are more reliant than, let's say, Nintendo? Yeah they are and is hard on really argue against that. 3rd party is their bread and butter. I'd argue that Sony is a lot better when it comes to 1st party over their existence, but both are still pretty reliant on the mainstream 3rd party games that do keep the gaming industry alive really.

Nintendo is an odd one, in that the same 3rd party games that do so well for Microsoft and Sony, don't really have that much impact on their consoles (either no interest, or they just don't have it). However they have had a lot of mediocre 3rd party titles each giving their collective contribution. The Wii was a perfect example with the motion gimmick, where you essentially had a ton of titles (some good, some bad, some really bad) collectively having a rather large impact. Then again though, Nintendo is always associated with its 1st party titles; they sell the best and they are the best. Sony's and Microsoft's also contribute a lot (there's no denying that) but they don't really rely on them as much as Nintendo.

It's a nice hypothetical thing to discuss, but it's hard to put into reality. 3rd party development is needed in the gaming industry. Would Sony and Microsoft do as well without it? Obviously not, but it doesn't really demerit them. Having a console where 3rd party games can be showcased to their full potential is just as important as that company making their own successful title. Maybe Nintendo wouldn't suffer as much, but we're talking two different entities here.

Edit: Oh and by the way, I'm eliminating any external business outside of gaming. That way all three are put in the same light instead of bringing on external finances and businesses that don't really apply to the gaming side of things. Because even though MS can't exactly "go out of business" with gaming alone, they can still be pushed out of the gaming industry.

 

[Ugea]

Sony, maybe. Microsoft, yes.

Of course they aren't, because it would never happen. I think your post underestimates how much money Microsoft actually.

im just referring to their X-box division and not the whole company. i fixed that explanation to what i wrote, because i forgot to add that in. i know Microsoft as a whole wont go under because of their console.

 

[Djinn]

A lot of people on fan forums like this one do not think about it very much but the loss of EA and all the sports titles would actually hurt a lot. There is a whole other aspect of the gaming community that is very dedicated to sports titles and they are dedicated enough to buy the new upcoming version each and every year while keeping a huge population going with online play. Especially when it comes to Xbox, that is actually a large amount of their fanbase.

Of the two I would expect Microsoft to go on a buying spree and start grabbing random companies for more first party titles like they did with Rare and 343. They have been trying to build up a main first party base for a while now and I think they might be able to pull it off if they find suitable replacements for Activision and EA in time.

Sony I would have to say no at this point, were this question asked at any time between 2001 and 2008 I would say yes but they seem to have squandered what they had and lost a lot of their clout in the gaming world in recent years. Sony is not exactly the giant it once was, neither is their main developer SquareEnix. Sony owns a percentage of SquareEnix but not enough to keep a control over their releasing games for other consoles. Outside of that they have closed the doors on a lot of their own first party projects over the last 15 years in favor of more third party developers.

 

[Emma]

Why do people keep thinking Sony is hurting for money? They're not. Just because their other electronics are not doing well doesn't mean that the company as a whole is in trouble. They have a massive movie division. And as the recent hacks revealed, they're not really hurting for money, they are doing very, very well. They can afford losses.

 

[Justac00lguy]

Why do people keep thinking Sony is hurting for money? They're not. Just because their other electronics are not doing well doesn't mean that the company as a whole is in trouble. They have a massive movie division. And as the recent hacks revealed, they're not really hurting for money, they are doing very, very well. They can afford losses.

Yeah it's not as bad as many people make it out to be. I guess everyone just thinks it now since a few people have mentioned it, so all of a sudden it's a well known "fact" among the gaming community. The big problem, from the business side of things, is Sony dipping into too many markets among the tech industry. They've failed to really keep a grip on everything and are often behind on the innovation side of things. But yeah, off topic really, withing gaming, they're currently doing the best when it comes to sales/profit etc.

 

[the8thark]

The answer is no. Well the companies would live on but their console devisions would die. Sony and MS themselves make very few games at all. Certainly not enough to justify buying their consoles. Nintendo is the only console hardware maker, that is making games of any quantity and quality these days. The last one to also do this was Sega but they died (as a 1st party developer) after the Saturn tanked. Nintendo are the lone wolf still making games for their own console.

The main difference is if sony and MS take a loss on their console devisions, their other devisions take up the slack. If Nintendo take a loss on their console devisions, they have nothing else to absorb this loss. Sure Nintendo have a healthy cash hoard but it will not last forever.