One of the people who worked on God of War Laufey recently addressed Sony’s decision to kill physical discs, suggesting that the company was well-prepared for the resulting backlash against PlayStation. Sony is, of course, still dealing with ongoing criticism on social media, which has affected nearly every PlayStation post.
There are rumors that the online backlash against PlayStation is starting to frustrate third-party developers and publishers. The claim is that PlayStation charges a fee for certain social media features and posts, meaning devs are not happy that the posts they paid for are flooded with negative comments. However, looking at the recent comments from a God of War Laufey dev, the Japanese company seemingly knew this was going to happen.
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‘They Knew It Was Going to Be an Enormous PR Issue,’ Says GoW Laufey Dev
In one of her recent video commentaries, Alanah Pearce said, “People working at PlayStation First-Party Studios told me that Sony had the strictest social media guidelines for this particular thing that they’ve ever seen issued.” Pearce, who worked as one of the writers on the upcoming God of War Laufey game, explained that providing guidelines to devs and creators before a major event is nothing new. However, she said, “in this instance, it is apparently the strictest the employees I spoke to have ever seen regarding public communications.”
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Pearce concludes that “[Sony] knew it was going to be an enormous PR issue.” Her comments suggest that the Japanese company had already prepared for a massive community backlash against PlayStation, likely by restricting its employees from commenting on the matter in any way. After all, Sony has been radio silent since the announcement, and no executive or high-level employee has publicly addressed the end of physical media for PlayStation as of this writing.
Image via Sony
Image via Sony
Image via PlayStation
Sony’s Potential Plan to Combat Criticism
Sony’s strategy has been to continue its regular agenda on social media platforms and its official PlayStation blog as if nothing has happened. Many people, including prominent creators who previously advocated for the brand, have found this approach to be disrespectful, to say the least. However, if Sony is already restricting its employees’ comments as Pearce suggested, that strategy is unlikely to change.
Pearce isn’t the first prominent name in the gaming industry to comment on Sony’s controversial decision. Recently, for example, Doki Doki Literature Club’s creator addressed the PlayStation situation, drawing attention to the importance of physical discs. That said, most major publishers and studios have avoided discussing the matter, likely because they don’t want to burn bridges with Sony or because digital sales are simply better for their businesses.
PlayStation Could Face Lawsuits
Judging by the consistency of the online backlash against PlayStation, Sony will likely need to find a way out of the situation. It will be interesting to see whether it continues brushing the negative comments under the rug for as long as possible or changes its PR strategy and addresses the criticism. Sony might also have to deal with legal battles and lawsuits filed against PlayStation in the near future, which could affect how it handles the transition to an all-digital future.
