Gamers told Sony "shooters feel the same"

Reckon shooters all feel the same? You're not alone.

According to LightBox boss Dylan Jobe, Sony's own market research revealed a lot of gamers wanted something a bit different from their shooter experience.

One game that could satisfy this need is upcoming PlayStation 3 exclusive Starhawk, which Jobe is confident will stand out in the most competitive genre in gaming when it launches early next year.

"Sony, of course they want to sell games and make a lot of money," Jobe told Eurogamer. "They felt there was a place in the shooter genre for something to stand out.

"They had done market research and got feedback from a lot of players that the shooter genre feels the same. At least their data showed that.

"They feel this could be a great way to cut through the noise of the shooter genre."

The shooter genre is the most popular among home console gamers.

November 2010 FPS Call of Duty: Black Ops is the best-selling game of all time. 2011 has already seen two new shooters – Homefront and Brink – launch and find commercial success. Shooters Gears of War 3, Modern Warfare 3, Battlefield 3 and Rage are all due out later this year.

But Jobe reckons Starhawk will stand out when it launches because of its unique RTS-lite element – called "Build and Battle". As players kill enemies and other players they gather resources, spent on calling down structures from orbit and placed down on the battlefield as they see fit.

"A lot of games that have RTS elements suffered from problems because they were RTS teams that were trying to do shooters," Jobe continued. "Sony, I remember in one meeting with the executives, they said, 'You know what's interesting about your approach at LightBox is you're a shooter team trying to bring over some RTS elements, and that allows the soul of your game to still be a fast-paced shooter and not be about management."