As it stands, Sony currently has a number of major developers working under its banner, including the likes of Naughty Dog, Insomniac, Guerilla Games, Sucker Punch, and Sony Santa Monica. However, the major console manufacturer also makes significant deals with third-party names to bring more yearly exclusives to the screen, publishing the work of studios like Bluepoint Games, Sumo Digital, and Housemarque despite not officially owning them.
Thanks to a new quarterly securities report, players now know just how much Sony spent on third-party partnerships and publishing agreements during the last year. The figure, which spans from the beginning of the current fiscal year (April 2020) until December 31, 2020, apparently came to a total of $329 million.
According to the report, the money has been committed to establishing several "long-term contracts" ranging up to "7 years," with the parties involved expected to use the funding for "development, distribution, and publishing." Essentially, it means that a lot of the games this large sum of money has been invested into are still in development or planned for the future, indicating Sony has a lot in store for PlayStation 5 buyers. They'll eventually be released under the PlayStation Studios publishing banner, similar to recent exclusives like Sackboy: A Big Adventure, Demon's Souls, and Returnal.
There's no indicator as to what these experiences might be, but it seems players can expect some more exclusive PlayStation Studios titles from outside the company's regular stable of names. Seeing as Demon's Souls was a big draw for the company during the release of the PlayStation 5, and Sackboy: A Big Adventure managed to draw critical praise too, it seems the company's tactic of bringing in some third-party help has been successful so far. Returnal will drop in April and looks to be the next big third-party blockbuster published by PlayStation Studios, with the sci-fi roguelike seeing players battle alien monsters using an array of futuristic weapons while contending with a repeating time loop.
As for first-party titles, Sony already looks to be kicking off a strong year, launching Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart in June. It will follow Insomniac's newest take on its iconic license with Guerilla Games' highly-anticipated sequel to Horizon: Zero Dawn, with Horizon: Forbidden West seemingly scheduled for the second half of 2020. On top of that will be God of War: Ragnarok, the follow-up to the widely-revered reboot of the God of War franchise that debuted back in 2018. It definitely looks as though 2021 will be a stacked year for Sony and its playerbase.
Source: Sony