14 DAY TRIAL // Sony Worldwide Studios boss Shuhei Yoshida has talked a bit about the recent delays affecting quite a lot of PS4 exclusive titles but also multi-platform games, saying that, while the PS4 is easy to develop for, the studios have much more ambitious projects that need extra time to figure out.
The PS4 was released last year and Sony immediately emphasized how easy the new PC-like architecture was for developers, which means better-performing titles produced in a shorter amount of time.
However, at E3 2014 last week, as well as in recent months, quite a few games have been delayed until 2015, ranging from exclusives like The Order: 1886, to multi-platform releases like The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, The Division, and other such games.
While talking with PSLS, Sony's Shuhei Yoshida has addressed these delays in particular and mentioned that it's not due to the complex platforms, like the PS4, but instead it's because the games are much more ambitious, as developers want to take advantage of everything the new consoles offer.
"I apologize for some of the games we pushed back, but when people ask me 'We’ve been saying the PS4 is very easy to develop for, why are teams taking time?' The reason is, it’s very easy to develop games on the PS4, except that PS4 can do so much, that a team’s ambition is much higher."
Because the PS4 has great hardware and plenty of power, studios, according to Yoshida, want to provide lots of great features, from seamless online and offline gameplay to other such things.
"What they are trying to achieve, they are challenging, you know, something new. More realistic graphics, social connectivity, or seamless integration of single-player and multiplayer. And they are encountering new kinds of challenges, so they have to take more time than they anticipated."
As such, delays happen and gamers shouldn't criticize the teams for such a thing, as ultimately the decision is taken so that customers have a better experience when the game comes out.
"But luckily, more people are now more understanding and more accommodating for the needs of the development team. And they (gamers) say they’d rather wait to play the best game the team can make rather than play a rushed title; because each development is such a big effort."
At E3 2014 quite a few games have been delayed until early 2015 and, considering there are still some with loose fall 2014 release periods, it's possible that more will be pushed back until next year.