PlayStation boss says Sony doesn't have 'much IP that we've fostered from the beginning'

Sony executive Hiroki Totoki briefly discusses the company's lack of carefully-curated and nurtured intellectual property across its full portfolio of multimedia.

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Sony, unlike Microsoft or Nintendo, is somewhat lacking in the IP department. That is, across the full spectrum of anime, TV, film, and video games. To its credit, Sony is making substantial strides to find efficiencies and synergies among these different branches, e.g. using its gaming IP to create a swath of television shows like The Last of Us on HBO and the Uncharted film starring Tom Holland.

In a recent interview with The Financial Times, company CFO and SIE CEO Hiroki Totoki said something interesting about Sony's IP: "Whether it's for games, films or anime, we don't have that much IP that we fostered from the beginning," he said.

At first glance, this seems like an odd thing to say, especially considering Sony's wide array of video games IP. After all, the company has created a variety of high-profile franchises, series, and IPs throughout its 30 years on the games market.

Here's a quick checklist of some of Sony Interactive Entertainment's most beloved and enduring franchises:

1. Gran Turismo
2. The Last of Us
3. God of War
4. Ghost of Tsushima
5. Uncharted
6. Ratchet & Clank
7. Horizon
8. Killzone
9. Bloodborne
10. Infamous
11. Twisted Metal

The reality is that, however, Sony hasn't really kept up with all of these franchises. Some of them, like Horizon, are relatively new. The full context of Totoki's words also apply to the variety of Sony's entertainment segments, so he's not just talking about video games.

That being said, there is room for growth here, and some level of adaptation of its franchises across segments of gaming and anime. For example, Sony could license its games IP to make anime or TV shows, as it has done and as it is currently doing, while also trying to ship new games in the franchises--maybe AA or even big AAA experiences.

There's also the possibility of adapting some of these games into live service titles, including games like Killzone and even its own Resistance franchise, or perhaps Twisted Metal--all of which have a better visibility and track among gamers than new IPs like Concord.