Sony has admitted PlayStation’s live-service strategy is «not entirely going smoothly».
Sony’s chief financial officer Lin Tao has admitted PlayStation’s live-service strategy — which has seen a string of high-profile flops, delays, and cancellations after a bullish start back in 2022 — is «not entirely going smoothly». Tao has also confirmed Destiny developer Bungie’s independence is to be reduced as it’s folded into PlayStation Studios.
Former PlayStation boss Jim Ryan infamously announced an ambitious live-service-focused future for the company in 2022, shifting many of its studios — best known for their acclaimed single-player titles — onto live-service development in order to release a planned 12 games by 2026. It also set up new live-focused studios, even acquiring Bungie for $3.6bn.
However, it didn’t take long for rumblings of discontent at the company to surface following Ryan’s decision to step down as PlayStation boss in 2023. Just days later, Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier reported Sony was «uncomfortable» about Ryan’s dramatic live-service gambit. By the end of that year, one high-profile live-service game — Naughty Dog’s standalone multiplayer The Last of Us title — had already got the chop, and other projects followed.
A live-service Twisted Metal Project was axed, alongside a live-service Spider-Man game from Insomniac, and a multiplayer project from PlayStation Studios’ London Studio. And following Concord’s dramatic flop last year, significant layoffs, studio closures, and more live-service cancellations — reportedly including a God of War game from Bluepoint and something from Days Gone developer Bend — have followed.
