I'm sure by now most people would've heard about Concord, even if it's just that it flopped on a spectacular scale. Somehow, it spent 8 years in development, with Sony Interactive Entertainment acquiring developer Firewalk Studios last year. Sony wanted it to be the next Overwatch, instead, it was more like their answer to Microsoft & Bethesda's Redfall. It was a mid hero shooter nobody asked for and nobody looked forward to since it was announced. It had unappealing character designs, a boring art direction, bad map design and the gameplay didn't do enough to differentiate itself from other games in the genre. No wonder it was practically DOA.

Anyway, in the midst of Concord getting terminated in record time for a first-party title, Sony Chief Financial Officer Hiroki Totoki said in an interview with Financial Times that he thinks Sony don't have as many properties as he'd like. He said “Whether it’s for games, films or anime, we don’t have that much IP that we fostered from the beginning."

Come on, even casual gamers know that's bullshit. The PlayStation family of consoles have been a major force in the gaming industry for about 30 years now, and has introduced a myriad of recognizable characters and iconic games that go back to the days of the PS1. I'm not gonna turn this into a listicle, but I mean, Crash Bandicoot? Even if Crash later went to other consoles (and is now owned by Microsoft, oof), he was to the PS1 what Super Mario was to the Nintendo 64. But then the PS2 had the holy trinity of Jak and Daxter, Ratchet & Clank and Sly Cooper. Ratchet & Clank is the only one of those to still make it to PS5. 

Speaking of original Sony IPs that spanned generations, does God of War ring a bell, Totoki? How about Uncharted, which much like Ratchet & Clank, had a shitty movie adaptation from Sony Pictures? Then there's The Last of Us, and its critically acclaimed live-action adaptation, and Twisted Metal, which had a decent series based on it recently even though we haven't seen a Twisted Metal game since the PS3. Then there's Killzone, which lasted from the PS2 to the PS4, and hasn't recieved a new game only because the developers are known busy with one of Sony's biggest IPs in the form of Horizon.

Hell, even if one of Sony's top guys forgot about what the company's made over the years, Sony games haven't. We recently saw Astro Bot, a rare true PS5 exclusive and the sequel to the  platformer Astro's Playroom that went exceptionally hard for what was meant to be a tech demo for the PS5's rendering capability and controller functions. Both games are loaded with fun references and callbacks to gaming icons that are a part of PlayStation history, exclusives or not. And let's not forget when Sony tried to muscle in on Smash Bros' turf with PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale.

Those are just the games, cos I'd be here all day if I were to go into what they've done with movies when they're not giving us Marvel runoff slop like Morbius and Madame Web. All I'll say is it's pretty concerning if one of the highest paid individuals at the company is unaware of said company's history.

What do you guys make of this? What are some of your favorite Sony IPs? Drop your thoughts in the comments!