Despite the Failure, Sony Still Hasn’t Overlooked Its Live Service

In the games industry, it’s only natural for publishers with triple-A titles under their belt to move some of their in-house projects to larger market trends in search of a steady, long-term revenue stream.

We see it all too well all the time: if a new brand proves that it can attract millions of active users around the world, the big players in the business will inevitably shift their resources to get a piece of the pie. And for Sony Interactive Entertainmentthe last few years have shown that they strongly believe that the live service model is their ticket to that success.

While this strategy had a major impact on the flow of first-party studio projects during the PlayStation 5 generation, it also brought some serious challenges along with it. However, despite the obvious obstacles, it looks like PlayStation leadership is making it clear that they have no intention of abandoning their multiplayer ambitions anytime soon.

Doubling down on multiplayer despite recent setbacks

This strong case was made recently Hideaki Nishinois the current CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment’s Studio Business Group. In a recent, extensive interview with Famitsu, Nishino-san confirmed that live service projects remain a priority for the company moving forward.

Although fans have been expressing disappointment with recent disappointments, such as the sudden closure of the Concord from Firewalk Studios and the tumultuous reception surrounding it Bungie‘s Marathon, the executive insists that the genre’s global reach is too great for Sony to ignore. Instead of treating this failure as a sign of a return to their single-player roots, the executive sees it as a learning curve for a very small market.

“We believe that live service games are content that attracts users around the world, so we want to continue to innovate the market by using both third-party and third-party content,” Hideaki Nishino shared during the interview. “With live service games, it’s important to provide something continuously. The genre itself is new, and I think a lot of people are trying different things, so we want to continue to face challenges in that context.”

Interestingly, this strategy won’t focus on pushing a completely new release out the door. Nishino-san pointed out that PlayStation is actively looking at what they can do with their old, existing franchises in the medium to long term. In addition, he confirmed that Sony is still moving forward with its fast pipeline, planning to launch their live service title developed in-house, MARVEL Tōkon: Fighting Soulslater this year.

Also, the executive laid out how the company plans to manage the platform’s diversity going forward. Basically, in order to survive, multiplayer games inherently need as many active users as humanly possible, which means the publisher’s multi-platform approach is going nowhere. So yes, live service titles from PlayStation will continue to see simultaneous launches, day after day on both PlayStation 5 and PC. “If releasing on PC can enhance the gaming experience of the title, we will continue to consider it,” Nishino-san confirmed firmly. However, if you’re a true fan of cinematic, story-driven adventures, you’ve got a warning for you: single-player games will always stick to home consoles to preserve the core value of owning a PlayStation, even if delayed PC ports eventually happen down the line.

Finally, the executive also commented on this PlayStation Portal and its great success in providing a diverse lifestyle among its players. It certainly sounds like the brand will continue to focus on this strategy, which is consistent with recent industry speculation that the company may already be working PlayStation 6 hand held.