Back at PSX 2016, Sony Worldwide Studios President Shuhei Yoshida said the company has learned from their mistakes of announcing release dates too early, and dates will only be given when they’re confident about hitting them. In a new interview with Kinda Funny Games at E3 2017, Yoshida expanded upon this strategy.
Asked about the lack of hard release dates for first-party games during their E3 2017 showcase (Gran Turismo Sport is fall 2017, God of War is early 2018, etc), Yoshida replied:
That was really intentional… We had announced release dates of many games that we had to apologize and push back in the past, so we got together and discussed seriously. Because the PS4 games are so big and all the teams – very veteran teams making games for the last 20 years – still miscalculate how much work is done at the very last part of the development, being polishing or debugging. So we agreed not to announce the release dates until very, very, very, very close to the release date.
So that puts a lot of challenge to our marketing and sales team, but they understood and agreed and allowed us to just say the [release] windows, like seasons – like a fall or a spring or early – until we are so close to like a beta, finished [stage]. So that’s the reason that we didn’t announce the actual date.
After talking about how Sony has a portfolio of games in development, and they have to strategize on where to put each game at the various events throughout the year, Shuhei briefly touched on Sucker Punch’s next game, which he himself played two years ago.
“I think I have played many, many more times [since then]… every time I play… I shouldn’t be talking anymore,” he said with a laugh. “It’s a game… they are not making movies.”
Do you like that Sony is saving PS4 release date announcements until they’re confident in them?
[Source: GameSpot via Push Square]
