NCsoft CEO Robert Garriott has written an article describing the nature of NCsoft's partnership with Sony and their plans to create titles not only for the PC, but for the Playstation 3 and PSP. Unfortunately, no specific titles were named in the article.

One of the most exciting things that we have to talk about this year is our new relationship with Sony, a deal which frankly gives us an unprecedented opportunity to bring our online portfolio of games to a suite of highly popular console gaming systems, including the PlayStation 3. Many in the industry and the press have asked me why we have chosen this path, and what kind of games they can expect to see on their favorite console--not to mention when. Here I hope to provide some insight into this relationship and how it fits into the vision for our products in the coming years.

It has been one of our business strategies to bring customers to a catalog of games where the customer has the choice to play a variety of different products. However, we don't want to limit ourselves to the PC, especially while the console market continues to grow by leaps and bounds with every new generation...and console makers want to get into the online space. The ideal system would be an extremely capable, stable platform, with the best Internet connectivity and greatest freedom of web access and interaction available to the user. This combination of access, openness and ability to bring NCsoft to the console market is very attractive. In this case, we felt like Sony fit the bill. We like their vision of where they are going and we believe Sony complements our strategy moving forward (this is not to say we are going to stop developing on the PC, far from it).

Specifically, this relationship allows NCsoft to develop titles across all of Sony's console hardware platforms--the focus being on the PlayStation 3 and perhaps the PSP. This long-term relationship will allow us to start developing console products, as well as build our growing catalog beyond just massively multiplayer games for the PC.

I am sure you are all interested to know what we will be developing. Unfortunately, for now, I can’t tell you, as we’re still keeping that under wraps. We are hoping, but can’t promise, to have the first of our products available for the holiday season in 2008. Yes, it’s a bit of a short time frame. One thing is certain, however. We won’t just be porting our games over to the PS3. We want to make new products using our current, popular Intellectual Properties (IPs) that will take advantage of the console, specifically in terms of user interface, connectivity, and play styles. This tends to take a lot longer than a normal port. We are also looking at all sorts of new, original IPs that we can use for the console games we create. That process, however, will take two to three years at a minimum.

So where will these console games be developed? We currently follow a distributed model of development for the PC, and the same type of system will be in place for console game development. While we are exploring the idea of starting a new studio solely for console games, outside of Austin, we are also looking at specific projects that we may house in other studios. This includes our Austin offices or our other currently existing studios. Console game development won’t just be at one single location.

Finally, you may be curious about what kind of business models we plan on using. Currently our plan is to utilize all of our business models with our anticipated Sony products. There will be the traditional subscription models, micropayment systems and free-to-play games with membership options.

While I still cannot go into much detail, I hope to have provided you with a glimpse into our strategy and plans regarding our expansion into the console world. It is an exhilarating time for NCsoft, and in the future we hope to have more information for you regarding our upcoming console products.

Stay tuned! There’s more to come.

Robert Garriott, Chief Executive Officer

Read the full article here.

This can only be bad news.

I guess we will find out.

Can't wait for Auto Assault on PS3.

Originally posted by boinged

Can't wait for Auto Assault on PS3.

I wonder if this means Sony is trying to establish the PS3 as a MMORPG platform to counteract the other consoles.

The X360 seems to be the prime standalone console for shooters and 1-4 player games. The Wii is the casual/party console. Does that leave the PS3 to be the RPG/MMO console constantly asking for more tokens? :p

I guess it is a reasonable thought, as RPGs have typically platformed on the PlayStations.

Summer 2008...if you ask me, that article has Aion written all over it.

Originally posted by xPaladin

I wonder if this means Sony is trying to establish the PS3 as a MMORPG platform to counteract the other consoles.

The X360 seems to be the prime standalone console for shooters and 1-4 player games. The Wii is the casual/party console. Does that leave the PS3 to be the RPG/MMO console constantly asking for more tokens? :p

I guess it is a reasonable thought, as RPGs have typically platformed on the PlayStations.

Do you think that has anything to do with extensive third-party support and regionalization?

1.) Microsoft is American. Microsoft has deemed that Americans are more interested in shooting stuff and sports than level-grinding and quest-completing.

2.) Nintendo's 3rd party support.. well.. it's pretty ill right now.

3.) Sony has great 3rd party support, plus the 3rd parties seem to be concentrating on RPGs (FinalFantasy, NIS come to mind immediately).

I think what we're lookign at is that a lot of publishers/developers would rather work with Sony than a  gaijin or a company with a bad reputation.

"Robert" Garriott?

Robert who?

(edit for clarification: His name is Richard)

Originally posted by Mordeo

"Robert" Garriott?

Robert who?

 

 

(edit for clarification: His name is Richard)

No it's not. Robert Garriott is Richard Garriott's brother, and is the CEO of NCSoft America.

Uhh... you folks know the Auto Assault MMO closed down on Aug 31st, right?

Szark, please provide a source when providing news, whether it's from an official press release or an exclusive interview. Thanks!

Edit: Here it is.  http://www.plaync.com/us/news/2007/09/dev_corner_ncso.html

Originally posted by Gameloading

Summer 2008...if you ask me, that article has Aion written all over it.

Bayfia

OMG! All you have to do is think of what Sony did to Star Wars Galaxies and realize they'll now have a hand in NCSoft's projects (most of which have been pretty solid).

Sony: KEEP YOUR DAMN HANDS OFF GUILD WARS 2!!!

Originally posted by Serling

OMG! All you have to do is think of what Sony did to Star Wars Galaxies and realize they'll now have a hand in NCSoft's projects (most of which have been pretty solid).

Sony: KEEP YOUR DAMN HANDS OFF GUILD WARS 2!!!

They have a deal with Sony for the Playstation 3, not SOE.

Originally posted by LordKyellan

Originally posted by Mordeo

"Robert" Garriott?

Robert who?

 

 

(edit for clarification: His name is Richard)

No it's not. Robert Garriott is Richard Garriott's brother, and is the CEO of NCSoft America.

Ah, I didn't even know he had a brother...

Thanks for clearing that up - I was convinced they just had his name wrong

Originally posted by Gameloading

Originally posted by Serling

OMG! All you have to do is think of what Sony did to Star Wars Galaxies and realize they'll now have a hand in NCSoft's projects (most of which have been pretty solid).

Sony: KEEP YOUR DAMN HANDS OFF GUILD WARS 2!!!

They have a deal with Sony for the Playstation 3, not SOE.

I agree. He mentioned " A deal with Sony to bring NCSoft to the PS3 and PSP". With this deal however, I'll be watching closely for mention of SOE. Considering SOE's bad rep with alot of the gaming community, I doubt NC will let them encroach on any of thier titles. At least I hope.

Actually, this is a pretty blatant hit AGAINST SOE. The deal revolves around Sony's hardware running games made by NCsoft. Sony could have easily reached the same deal with SOE, but instead chose to go with a more competent software developer in NCsoft.

Originally posted by Itanius

Actually, this is a pretty blatant hit AGAINST SOE. The deal revolves around Sony's hardware running games made by NCsoft. Sony could have easily reached the same deal with SOE, but instead chose to go with a more competent software developer in NCsoft.

I don't think that really is the case. SOE is already developing MMO's for the Playstation 3. I think Sony just figured you can never have enough MMO's for your system.

And for further clarification...Sony and SOE is two different entities (under same ownership of course)