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In what was supposed to be a nostalgia-filled celebration, Sony’s 25th anniversary post for the PlayStation 2 turned out to be a controversial one.
After the company posted a trailer on its official accounts to honor the console that changed the gaming industry, gamers discovered that the video was nothing more than a disguised advertisement for the PlayStation Plus Premium service that allows you to play some of the games of previous generations.
In principle, promoting the service through an event like this might make marketing sense, but gamers felt that Sony turned a nostalgic moment into a lackluster marketing campaign, as the footage featured in the ad focused on games like Jak & Daxter: The Precursor Legacy, Mister Mosquito, and Sly Cooper
Legendary PS2 titles such as God of War, ICO, Ratchet & Clank, and Twisted Metal: Black were absent.
So far, Sony has only added SoulCalibur 3 and Tomb Raider Anniversary as upcoming titles to its Premium service, leaving many wondering if the company truly understands the value of its classic heritage. Gamers have also criticized Sony’s slowness in updating its library of older games compared to competitors like Nintendo and Microsoft, arguing that the company keeps its historical titles for purely marketing reasons.
The 25th anniversary celebration could have been a historic moment to bring gamers together around the legacy of a console that sold more than 155 million units globally, but it turned into a debate about Sony’s marketing priorities.
Sony may be on the right track in supporting classic games, but if it really wants to honor its history, it needs to listen to the voice of its audience first, the audience that made the PS2 legend in the first place.
Do you agree that Sony has turned the anniversary into a marketing campaign? Which game do you think should make a return from the PS2 library?
