Sony execs claims the company isn’t creating enough original franchises

Sony, purveyor of original franchises like The Last of Us, Uncharted, Horizon, Killzone, Ratchet and Clank, LittleBigPlanet, Resistance, God of War, LocoRoco, and Astro Bot, feels it could be doing more to develop homegrown IP. 

Speaking to the Financial Times about the company’s place in the world of entertainment, Sony chief financial officer Hiroki Totoki said it needs start building new original franchises. “Whether it’s for games, films or anime, we don’t have that much IP that we fostered from the beginning,” said Totoki. “We’re lacking the early phase (of IP) and that’s an issue for us.”

He added Sony has found success in delivering established properties to a global audience, but suggested the company needs to be more proactive during the early stages of original IP development.

Sony chief executive Kenichiro Yoshida echoed those remarks and said the company needs to prioritize IP creation over distribution, suggesting it will be able to “contribute the most” in that specific area.

The comments come after Sony Interactive Entertainment’s latest attempt to birth a new franchise fell short. Concord, a new shooter from Sony-owned Firewalk Studios, is being pulled from sale and taken offline after just two weeks.

Game director Ryan Ellis said the title “didn’t land the way we’d intended,” and SteamDB estimates indicate the shooter struggled to attract more than a few hundred concurrent players on PC.

The company, however, does have plenty of established franchises that continue to thrive. The Last of Us spawned a high-profile HBO adaptation that has already been renewed for a second season. The PlayStation 5 era has also delivered notable sequels including God of War: Ragnarok, Horizon: Forbidden West, and Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart.

Upcoming platformer Astro Bot also leans heavily on the company’s franchise slate to whisk players on a nostalgia-soaked adventure. It’ll be interesting to see how that fares when it touches down on September 6.