Sony recently announced that due to the impact of COVID-19, Part 2 of Our Last Part will be delayed indefinitely.
The main reason given is logistics-as recently demonstrated in Final Fantasy 7 Remastered Edition, it is almost impossible to ensure that everyone gets the game at the same time. People have been playing for more than a week, and digital buyers are waiting for the official release tomorrow.
Now, due to government-imposed restrictions, many retailers have been closed, and the physical version is unlikely to be completely customer-facing. Then there is the impact on the delivery company, which is likely to cause a shortage of personnel because people take sick leave to isolate themselves.
Nonetheless, there are still some gamers who have asked Sony to stick to the date of the release of Part 2 of "The Last Us" on May 29, and only make digital releases. After all, everyone is trapped indoors. Is it definitely the perfect time to release a game everyone wants to play? Unfortunately, this is not that simple.
I spoke with Chris Dring, a colleague of GamesIndustry.Biz, to learn more about the business aspects of Sony ’s decision. First, the impact of loss of physical sales.
Physical sales
Dring said: "Overall, the physical game market accounts for about 50% of all AAA game sales in 2019 (accounting for GSD data)." "Actually, when releasing new games, this number may be as high as 60% to 70 %. In some specific cases, even higher. Most new versions are still sold in boxed form.
"The second part of" Our Last Part "is PlayStation's largest game since Marvel's" Spider-Man ". Understandably, Sony hopes to reach the widest crowd through all available distribution channels. It is right to lose a physical retail store A blow to this type of major product will almost certainly hurt its sales. "
theme
In addition, there is obviously the game itself. Our final part, Part 2 is set in a world where a deadly fungus has evolved to infect humans. Society collapsed and humanity was desperate.
"In the current crisis, Sony will carefully market such games," Delin explained. "Especially when you think about content. Therefore, from a business perspective, this is not a good time to release a game of this importance."
pre order
Our pre-order of Part 2 of "Last of Us" is another thing Sony will consider. After deleting the game from the PS4 store, the publisher is already refunding the digital reservation form, and this process may be much simpler than other methods.
"From a gamer's perspective, there will be thousands of game subscriptions worldwide, including special editions," Delin said. "Converting these pre-orders to digital reservations is a complex task that has never been tried before. Another option is that those who want the game most are forced to wait for the store to reopen and distribute the game to them.
Internet speed
Another consideration is Internet pressure. After all, Sony has announced that it will limit the download speed of PSN.
Dring admitted: "Sony tried to take responsibility for its impact on the global Internet speed, and millions of people may have problems downloading" The Last of Us Part 2 "on May 29."
retail
In addition, Sony may also try its best to maintain a relationship with retailers in order to return to normal life.
Dring said: "The second part of" Our Last Part "is a major release for Sony, as well as GAME and GameStop." "These retailers, whether they like or dislike them, are all for PlayStation Very important. They sell game consoles, sell controllers, and trade in old ones so that people can afford the latest game consoles.
"PlayStation will need these stores between the end of this year and the release of PS5, and it will do everything it can to ensure that they survive in the current situation. Making our last part, Part 2 digitally exclusive content will be immediately available to those who need it. All helping the retail industry is harmful.
"Of course, if you really want to, PlayStation can launch the second part of" Our Last Part "on May 29. But some fans will miss their physical copy, sales will decrease, and retailers will be hurt. This is almost not suitable for the main Naughty Dog version. "
