Why don't the console makers produce Rpgs anymore?

Microsoft and Sony used to put out First-Party RPGS, and a few sold quite well in fact. But now they practically don't exist. But why? Are the big franchises, like Elder Scrolls, Mass effect, Final Fantasy etc. taking to big of a market share to be profitable?

If I'm not mistaken, the last Sony Rpg on PS3 was White Knight Chronicles II, and for Microsoft and the 360 Fable 3 Legends, a remake. But now Rpgs don't even exist anymore for eithers First-Party. It would be referencing to get a new dragoon or Lost odyssey.

Scalebound anyone?

You are correct though. There should be more.

Didn't Nintendo put out Xenoblade Chronicles in 2012? And Xenoblade Chronicles X is coming out this december.

Development focus has shifted for the big two, Sony and Microsoft. First Person Shooters show the most market penetration, as RPGs used to back in the PSONE, N64 era.

You also neglect to mention Bloodborne which is co developed by Sony. Also Nintendo puts out Pokemon games almost every year and those are rpgs.

Because FPS.

Because that market went mobile.

Cover based shooters' and Modern Military Shooters' popularity

Action games sell more, an would argue that technically speaking are easier to make than the more open world nature of RPGs, at least the open world that is sort of expected with modern rpgs.

Personally I don't mind the genres they work on necessarily, as much as the lack of new and quality of said games.

ATM neither company has many of those FP wise. That wouldn't apply int this case.

Halo and Killzone are the only FPS each console maker still releases FP.

Rpgs on the PSX/N64 didn't have that high market penetration it was limited, and has never gotten to that point again.

Also Sony and MS combined have 2 active FPS games, so how is that a reason they aren't making more rpgs?

Because RPGs are not appealing to the masses.

There is little to no money in single player games on consoles anymore.

say what?

Well outside those multi-million selling SP games.

How many first party RPG's has there been this generation? Bloodborne? And that's not really an RPG.

They are becoming more and more uncommon. The only real money for SP RPG's these days is in multiplatform.

There should be more variety. MS is sitting on Lost Odyssey, Age of Empires, and Jade Empire. I would like to see one of those return.

Because they believe there are juicier markets elsewhere to spend valuable resources on.

Microsoft is helping with Scalebound I believe. Sony helped with Bloodborne? They do exist, but the market isn't as focused on them as it was in the 90s.

There's only two active FPS games from these two first party devs, correct, but that doesn't mean that they're not selling like hotcakes.

I can't wait for people to get over that over saturated genre......

The market has a ton of RPG's on the market. There doesn't need to be any first party RPG's when there are a shit ton of them out there.

it was Ni nu Kuni by the same devs - Level 5.

And Japan Studio made some RPGs on the Vita , but i guess we can't count a dead system , can we?

But you've also said "Single Player games" aren't profitable.

Which they are because the Witcher 3 and Batman Arkham Knight sold a shit ton.

Witcher 3 just happens to be an RPG. Not Exclusive to one system, not made by a First Party Studio, but still an RPG.

But it's not like the Exclusive RPGs don't exists anymore. Sony systems get a ton of them with the Tales Franchise and Persona. Nintendo has a strange love with Atlus and they give them Etrian Odyssey Games like crazy on the 3DS.

But honestly I don't think OP knows there wasn't a whole lot of 1st party rpgs to begin with. Lost Odyssey wasn't even made by a Microsoft 1st party studio. It was made by Mistwalker who after Lost Odyssey worked on The Last Story, a Wii (and Nintendo Owned IP) exclusive title. And even during the PS1 era most of the exclusive RPGs that were well known on the console were not made by Sony's internal teams. They were made by Capcom, Enix, Square Soft, and Konami. Although back then Sega, Nintendo, and Sony did pump out their own RPGs like Earthbound, Skies of Arcadia and Legend of Dragoon, but the more well known RPG games back in the day were also 3rd Party.

I actually think we are to blame for this one.

If a game doesn't have a fully immersive world, like a Dragon Age or a Witcher 3, we are quick to call it shallow. (Western) RPGs are a huge undertaking these days, not many can pull it off successfully.

I'm not surprised most RPG makers have migrated to platforms like Android or iOS (or making stuff for Steam on RPG Maker). Games there can be kept simple, more like the console titles of old.

I would do the same.

It's constantly being reinvigorated with new ideas, mostly from PC developers. There is nothing to "get over". People just need to stop supporting the crap.

I'm hoping for a return to the WWII era, with new ideas, new technology and brand new theatres of war that nobody has seen before.

Yes, and considering that's all they have, there's room to invest in rpgs.

Ni No Kuni was not created by Sony. Also vita is not PS3.

over 20 years too late.

Uh Lost Odyssey is a FP IP, why do you think I keep using the term FP> I know what I'm talking about. And a lot of those rpgs sold whther created by MS (Fable) and Sony (Dragoon) to other projects like Lost Odyssey and Bloodborne.

With the abundance of 3rd party RPG's, is this really an issue? What can a 1st party RPG offer that a 3rd party can't?

yeah, first party owned, not first party made. There is a difference.

@kingstablewar:

Did you even read my post?

Level 5 made WK2 , not Sony.

And you said Console makers , last time i checked my Vita says Sony on it.

Not enough profit.

Wolfenstein: The New Order was sort of like that. Technically in the '60s, but it still has much to do with the WWII era.

Don't they take much more money to create, thus they would need much more sales of the game to turn profitable. So it would be smarter to make it available on multiple platforms, since Sony, and Microsoft don't want to spend that kind of money

Cause they where starting to cost too much and not sell as good. Only certain franchises where selling good. Companies decided to sell games that would maybe equal more profit. Nintendo still makes some good ones though.

A proper RPG needs at least 3 years to be made. Console makers would have to hire more first party studios or hire 3rd parties to make first party RPG IPs and to have more than one it would be very costly and the overall exclusive count would be lackluster.

variety? I guess we can have another witcher/skyrim. or we can have some rpg about souls being downloaded to your bandwidth, or a game with a light comedic tone.

They are too busy trying to cash in on mobile crap... It will come back with a fury though.. just watch. Just like the fighting game scene. Just give it some time. After the new DQ releases and kills it in sales, we will start seeing more attempts, and that isn't a bad thing.

And Old Blood is set in 46 and has a WWII feel. Both amazing games.

Changes in the market. Barring a few heavy-hitters, RPG's have migrated pretty heavily over to handhelds/mobile. It's nice to at least see some JRPG's getting some cross-platform treatment between the PS4/Vita, rather than just launching for the Vita.

Well they still do, just barely. But yeah they need to ramp it up. Out of the 3 Sony does the most obviously.

I've been waiting for a sequel to TTYD (or paper Luigi) since 2005! Nintendo's really kicking me in the jewels with that franchise. :<

Your genre obsession is amusing.

Nevertheless, your opening post is laughably incorrect, and that is without considering your exclusion of Nintendo from the discussion (who are the one company who could easily disprove your hypothesis).

MICROSOFT: Scalebound
SONY: Bloodborne, Soul Sacrifice, Oreshika, Freedom Wars
NINTENDO: Fire Emblem, Pokemon, Xenoblade Chronicles, The Last Story, Pandora's Tower

M$ : Scalebound, Fable Legends

$ony: Bloodborne, Horizon: Zero Dawn

Nint€ndo: Xenoblade Chronicles X

RPGs are coming from PC devs, Square Enix, SEGA(Atlus)....

I dunno.....but there should be more.

Probably a number of reasons.

Because most gamers suffer from ADD these days, and rather have games that you can jump in and out of quickly (FPS, MOBAS, F2P). It's true, I read it in a fortune cookie...

I think it's a combination of factors. There are already several established, high-profile RPG series like some mentioned in the OP. I think that overall, they are a much bigger gamble for developers, they cost more and are harder to produce overall.

I mean, when you look at a game like The Witcher 3 or Dragon Age Inquisition, it's not just about solid gameplay or storylines. You have a shitload of great voice acting, interconnecting storylines that can be affected by many of the various choices you can make. That's another thing.....the bar for great RPGs has been raised significantly in recent years. People want to embark on this sensational journey that blows their minds away, where they can make the decisions. And everything has to make sense. Must be a nightmare for developers......it reminds me of the Mass Effect 3 ending fiasco, that didn't help the rpg genre. A great number of fans flipped out on BioWare and went to great lengths to make their complaints heard. I don't think many devs have the stomach or resources to enter a scene like that. Of course I am mostly referring to Wrpgs, Jrpgs are a bit of a different story, they are niche as far as I'm concerned these days.

First party.

A game not from MS that doesn't come out in 2015.

A game not made from Sony and was worked with a TP. Portable games don't count, portable games were never mentioned when the media was saying Jrpgs are dead. Nor do portable rpgs have any impact on the market.

Same with Nintendo. Also you included 3 old games. Also I am not talking about Nintendo, but either way, you could have at least said Chronicles X if you wanted an argument.

When I look at my PS4/X1, I see virtually zero FP rpgs. There's Fable Legends, and well that's it. I mean I suppose Horizon will be one, but that's in 2016. It's also only one game.

I'm sorry how many Sony studio created Rpgs are currently on the PS4? 0?