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The gaming industry is becoming an innovation desert

“The most visually stunning way to play games on PlayStation.” This is how Sony advertises the PlayStation 5 Proa mid-cycle upgrade that will cost a staggering $700 and, as revealed during a sonically odd technical presentation, will largely allow owners to play upscaled versions of titles such as The Last of Us Part II – Remastered, Gran Turismo 7And Horizon Forbidden West.

It's been a few days since the console was revealed by PlayStation chief architect Mark Cerny. He had less than 10 minutes to convince consumers to part with a staggering wad of cash. After spending much of that time explaining why the base PlayStation 5 is still pretty brilliant (see, there's no reason to be jealous if you can't afford the upgrade), Cerny raved about the Pro's prestige features.

A turbocharged CPU with 45 percent faster rendering for FPS-laden gameplay. Advanced ray tracing that supposedly makes reflections and refractions look damn awesome. AI-powered upscaling that makes images sharper by adding incredible detail. Appealing? That depends on your disposition. Wild tech enthusiasts who strive for the best of the best don't need convincing, but for everyone else, this is an all-too-familiar sales ploy – and that begs the question: who Strictly speaking interested in this?

Who cares about seemingly imperceptible marginal gains when Sony hasn't even delivered on the promise of the original PlayStation 5? Where's the software? Where are the many PlayStation 5 exclusives that are going full throttle and absolutely blazing? It's worrying that Sony is still relying on PlayStation 4 compatible releases to showcase its shiny new box. Especially when that box doesn't even have a disc drive (backwards compatibility or not). That's not innovation. That's stagnation. If new hardware is a statement, then Sony is announcing that it's run out of ideas.

Presenting the “most powerful console ever” (Cerny's words, not mine) is only a success if you have the software to unleash its full potential. The PlayStation 5 is only four years old, but sales have already started to decline. The PlayStation 5 Pro seems like a pipe dream to give the console a second wind before it's even started to take off. During Gamescom, I spoke to a few executives who said the industry has a worrying tendency to look to the past for inspiration rather than trying something new.

The PS5 Pro is exactly that. Sony is going back to the last console generation and demanding a repeat, but without any real justification. The company just laid off over 1,100 employees at major studios like Naughty Dog, Insomniac, Guerrilla Games and Bungie. The recent initial release, Unitycrashed and burned within two weeks. But hey, I'm sure you'll get a solid return on your investment if you shell out $700 for a PS5 Pro.

Astro Bot dives into an overflowing treasure chest

Can the PlayStation 5 Pro make Sony rich? // Image via Team Asobi | Taken by game developer

I picked up a PlayStation 5 when it launched in 2020. Since then, I've only played two first-party titles that felt truly fresh. Astro's Playroom And Astro BotThe former is a truly wonderful showcase of the DualSense controller, translated into a small 3D platformer. The latter is the full realization of that vision. A joyful, quirky experience from Team Asobi that proves Sony has the brains to compete with the very best in the genre.

It doesn’t reinvent the wheel, but by putting mechanical nonsense and tactile silliness above everything else, Astro Bot feels incredibly unique simply because the gameplay experience is the number one priority. It's like jumping into a ball pit as a kid. It may not be as deep, but that doesn't mean it isn't absolutely great.

The irony is that Astro Bot is also depressingly reliant on nostalgia. The game sees you rescuing a variety of bots, many of which are dressed as your favorite PlayStation characters from the past. There's Jak & Daxter. PaRappa the Rapper. Those pesky primates from Ape Escape. The whole gang is here, but by putting these beloved characters front and center, Sony is also asking players to ask: What happened?

Why are so many of them limited to fleeting cameos in what is essentially a $60 ad for PlayStation (albeit a very good one)? Why have the studios that created these beloved mascots been bankrupted by layoffs or shut down entirely? There's no doubt that PlayStation has a rich history of innovation. Astro Bot makes that more than clear. It also shows that there is still room for growth. Not just room, but a desperate, feverish need.

You can't rely on nostalgia forever. At some point you have to take risks and dare to imagine what's next. What is certain is that returns will fall, franchises will die, and billions will be spent in a desperate attempt to follow trends rather than define them. The games industry needs its biggest players to make bold leaps. For now, there is only repetition.

Status report: The headlines that matter

  • Exclusive: Unity abolishes its controversial runtime fee // Unity became public enemy number one last year after it introduced a controversial “runtime fee” that essentially amounted to a per-install fee for developers using the engine. Now, nearly a year later (and a few executives down), the company has scrapped the policy and promised never to do it again. Forgive and forget? Your choice.

  • Report: Microsoft lays off another 650 gaming employees // Another week, another gut punch for anyone who values ​​their livelihood. Multiple media outlets reported that Microsoft is laying off 650 employees in its video game division in a round of cuts that will primarily impact employees who perform “corporate and support functions.” In a leaked email, Xbox CEO Phil Spencer said the layoffs would help achieve “long-term success.” I have a feeling we've heard this before.

  • Annapurna Interactive has completely resigned // In a seismic turn of events, indie publisher Annapurna Interactive has been thrown into chaos after the entire team unanimously resigned. Bloomberg reports that a failed attempt to spin off the division into an independent entity sparked the wave of resignations. It's currently unclear what this means for developers under contract with the publisher.

Feature Creep: Originals and interviews for the discerning reader

  • Atari CEO Wade Rosen says the company is no longer a “fast follower” // What a difference a few years make. When Atari CEO Wade Rosen took the helm in 2021, the company was in a tough spot. Fluctuating financial and hardware problems suggested the company's core competency was creating chaos. In a recent conversation, Rosen admitted the company lacked direction at the time, but said the company was no longer content to simply follow the crowd and hope for the best.

  • The founders of Godot had desperately hoped that Unity would not “explode” // Open targets don't come around very often, but when they do, you better not miss them. The open source engine Godot benefited enormously when Unity failed last year (the runtime fee keeps happening these days, doesn't it?), but company founders Rémi Verschelde and Juan Linietsky recently told us that it was a huge challenge.

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