Sony Executive Admits Company Needs To Work On Having More Original IPs

Speaking to Financial Times (registration required) in an interview, Sony CFO Hiroki Totoki has let out a fairly interesting statement that has fans and followers of the gaming platform perplexed. While generally recognized for its swath of first-party titles, Totoki says that having enough original IP is a department where the company remains lackluster. 

Whether it’s for games, films or anime, we don’t have that much IP that we fostered from the beginning. We’re lacking the early phase (of IP) and that’s an issue for us.” 

This clearly makes you think if nothing else. If Sony does not have enough new IPs in the making, they’re definitely sitting on a tremendous number of them either way, especially if you wind back time to the PlayStation 2 and PlayStation 3 eras. Some names I could think of right off the bat are Sly Cooper, Banjo Kazooie, Jak and Daxter, Infamous, and Killzone, among others. 

All of these IPs are barely used years later, considering the times and tech of today. 

However, the latter only concerns Sony’s gaming division, which is mainly concerned with Sony Interactive Entertainment. The quote is referencing the parent company Sony’s overall IP distribution, which spans other spheres, including anime, television, and films. In these areas, the industry giant attempted to up the ante when it tried bidding for Paramount’s assets. It unfortunately couldn’t work out too well for Sony.

Astro Bot’s Timely Launch Makes The Affair Quite Ironic

Team Asobi’s upcoming platformer Astro Bot is loaded to the brim with cameos of other characters, with many of them pertaining to original PlayStation franchises. It’s a clear depiction of the sheer number of IPs that Sony’s gaming sector currently comprises, should the company ever choose to go down that route and start bringing their old IPs back.  

But then again, the focus of Hirotoki isn’t entirely on gaming. There’s Sony Pictures as well, the company that handles Sony’s films, so it’s understandable in the grand scheme of things where the statement is coming from. 

Let me know what you think about this in the comments ahead.