It shouldn’t be surprising that many games are still being scrapped during the concept phase. In an interview, however, Shuhei Yoshida stated that the number of canceled projects at Sony was extremely high.
Before the development of a video game even starts, there is the concept phase. Ideas are presented, basic rules are created and it is not uncommon for the project to be scrapped straight away. This is simply part of creative work, but Sony seems to be canceling an extremely large number of games. At least if Shuhei Yoshida is to be believed.
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In an interview, the Head of Independent Developer Initiative at Sony Interactive Entertainment stated that many potential PlayStation brands were rejected early on and did not survive the prototype phase. He revealed this to The Guardian after winning the BAFTA Fellowship award. As a former president of SIE Worldwide Studios, he should know.
“PlayStation encourages new ideas, but many of them fail. We prototype, we evaluate, we decide whether to invest more time and resources, or we just drop it. We cancel so many games. I usually try to support the developers to convince them that I want to save them from getting stuck with projects.”
However, it is not always easy, as Sony works with many creative minds who have great visions. Talent is the most important thing in the industry and Yoshida has encouraged it whenever possible.
Even if the number of rejected projects at Sony may be large, the PlayStation consoles really do not suffer from gaming poverty. Looking at the year 2023, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth and Final Fantasy 16 have three major exclusive titles on the launch pad.