Sony admits PS4’s first-party lineup is ‘a little sparse’

Sony Computer Entertainment's (SCE) president and CEO Andrew House revealed that the first-party line-up for PlayStation 4 games is "a little sparce," during a presentation at Sony's 2015 Inventor Relations Day.

After acknowledging that Sony didn't have much to offer, House detailed that the company would be supporting third-party publishers and developers to help aid them in their shortcomings.

“We are working very hard to continue very strong support from third-party pubs and devs,” said House during his presentation. “Our first-party line-up is a little sparse this year, so I think this places even greater emphasis on getting good third-party support.” Third-part support in this context doesn't begin and end with games, it includes things like SharePlay, early-access, DLC or exclusive PS4 game content.

“I will admit that these [third-party exclusives] are, in the current publishing landscape, few and far between. but we were able to announce a full exclusive around a franchise like Street Fighter so that Street Fighter 5 is a complete exclusive for PlayStation 4." An exclusive PS4 game isn't easy to come by, the costs for an exclusive game aren't easy to "secure."

“Although given publishing dynamics and development costs, those are increasingly difficult to secure.”

With both Uncharted 4 and the new Ratchet & Clank both on track for a 2016 release, it's likely that we will be seeing less first-party titles from Sony at E3 this year. Of course, they could always surprise us!

[GamesIndustry.biz]