Sony bought Bungie as part of its push into the live-service game genre. But, it appears that not every executive is all-in on the idea.
Speaking to The Guardian, PlayStation boss, Shuhei Yoshida, explained his personal thoughts about the gaming industry’s fascination with live service titles, saying:
The games industry will never cease to be a fun place. The industry keeps growing and growing, and I hope it keeps supporting and chasing creative ideas and people who try to work on new things. You don’t want to see the Top 10 games every year being almost the same, all games becoming service games. That would be a bit boring, for me.
PlayStation has expanded its horizon in recent years, changing its stance on exclusivity as it ports a growing number of its best-selling titles to other platforms, specifically, the PC. More importantly, Sony is targeting at least 10 live-service games by 2026 and it has acquired several studios in recent years to make it happen. But, single-player games are still the brand’s bread and better, as evidenced by the success of Horizon Forbidden West, God of War: Ragnarok, and Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart, in the past two years.
It’s interesting to hear Shuhei Yoshida sharing what many could perceive as a negative view about live-service titles when PlayStation has invested heavily in it.
For now, it’s safe to say that Sony isn’t slowing down anytime soon. In the same interview, Yoshida revealed that while the production pipeline contains a staggering amount of games, the world’s leading console manufacturer cancels “so many games” behind closed doors. Yoshida shares that one of his biggest struggles is working with developers that are “getting stuck” with particular projects. However, because these studios have “very strong ideas,” it makes it “so hard” to suggest changes and cancel games.
Shuhei Yoshida is a prominent figure in the gaming industry, having worked with the PlayStation brand since 1993. Yoshida is currently the Head of Independent Developer Initiative over at Sony Interactive Entertainment following his tenure as the President of SIE Worldwide Studios from 2008 to 2019. ‘
As one of the “old guards” in the gaming industry, Yoshida has seen everything and he knows very well how important it is for PlayStation to put its eggs in different baskets.
For what it’s worth, Sony’s plan to launch 12 live-service games through 2015 isn’t that many. If anything, it would match its current output of PlayStation exclusives on an annual basis. After Forspoken earlier this year, Sony will welcome the release of Final Fantasy XVI on June 22 followed by Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 in September and Final Fantasy VII Rebirth at any time between December and March of next year.
This isn’t counting the several other “smaller” exclusives that are added to the growing PS5 library consistently. So, while others might be quick to jump on the live-service game hate bandwagon, it’s safe to say that Sony only wants to spread its wealth.
