Even before the fall season rolled around, Sony candidly acknowledged that its holiday lineup of PlayStation 4 exclusives was shaping up to be a little sparse when compared to Microsoft and Xbox One.
And though it didn’t have a marked effect on sales, Managing Director of Sony Computer Entertainment Australia Michael Ephraim believes that the system’s first-party slate for 2016 “looks incredible,” pointing to console exclusives such as Street Fighter V and No Man’s Sky, along with the heavy-hitters like Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End and Guerrilla’s Horizon: Zero Dawn.
Speaking with GameSpot, Ephraim acknowledged that the end of 2015 witnessed many third-party partnerships for PS4 owners, what with Call of Duty: Black Ops III and Star Wars Battlefront each having some form of exclusive content with Sony’s system. However, he then pointed to next year’s lineup as a means of generating excitement.
Next year, our first party lineup looks incredible. You’ve got Street Fighter, Uncharted 4, No Man’s Sky, The Last Guardian, Gran Turismo. These are all exclusives, and two of them are new franchises.
Further in the interview, the Sony executive touched base with the imminent launch of PlayStation VR, and why he doesn’t believe it will impact the PlayStation 4’s status as the publisher’s flagship device.
In 12 months time, PlayStation 4 is still the primary business because it’s the foundational device. PlayStation 4 will still be our primary objective to grow the install base. PlayStation VR is new, everyone wants it, there are a lot of publishers developing for it. But whether it’s going to just go completely nuts early, or if it’s a slow build, time will tell.
Tell us, what do you make of PlayStation 4‘s slate going into 2016?
