Even though PlayStation has had far more losses than wins when it comes to live-service games, CEO Hideaki Nishino has confirmed that it still has plans to "continue revitalising the market".

Over the past two console generations, the massive success of games like Fortnite, Apex Legends, Warzone, and many more have pushed pretty much every publisher and developer towards the live-service golden goose. Some have managed to capture it fairly successfully, while countless others have quickly crashed and burned.

PlayStation is definitely closer to the latter when it comes to its live-service releases. While Helldivers 2 was a massive win (ignoring the constant community controversies), and its regularly updated games like Gran Turismo are faring well, pretty much every other live-service game has either been cancelled or performed poorly. Despite this, PlayStation isn't giving up any time soon.

PlayStation CEO Says Live-Service Games "Attract Users On A Global Scale"

Try Telling That To Concord

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As reported by VGC, Sony CEO Hideaki Nishino recently spoke to Famitsu as part of its 40th anniversary celebration. Nishino was asked about the reception to PlayStation's live-service outings so far and whether the team plans to continue investing in them. Nishino confirmed that it was the case, noting that "it's important to provide something on an ongoing basis" when it comes to live-service games.

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The PlayStation boss also said that the company views live-service games as "content that attracts users on a global scale", and that it plans to keep "revitalising the market through both first-party and third-party content". Essentially, PlayStation isn't giving up on live-service games and still thinks they're an important part of its business.

We already know that PlayStation has a few live-service games on the horizon, including Horizon: The Gathering, Fairgames, and Bungie's rumoured Gummy Bears project.

While you could admire PlayStation's never-say-die attitude when it comes to live-service games, the reality of is that the studios stuck focusing on these projects are the ones that pay the price in the end. Just look at Bungie's recent mass layoffs after the somehow disappointing result from Destiny 2 after nearly a decade, and it's clear even massive games can struggle to make it long-term.

As we know from Concord (which shut down in literally two weeks) and The Last of Us Online, live-service games are incredibly expensive and time-consuming. That's if they even end up being released, as PlayStation has cancelled far more live-service projects than it has released, with notable losses including Twisted Metal, a God of War project, and even multiplayer Spider-Man.

Live-service games are an undeniably big part of the current gaming ecosystem but, as Highguard undoubtedly proved, they simply aren't sustainable most of the time. PlayStation has already had an incredibly tough time getting a handle on the concept and suffered some historic losses from it, so it's a little concerning to hear that it's still as interested as ever in pursuing live-service releases.

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FPS Systems 3.0/5 OpenCritic Reviews Top Critic Avg: 64/100 Critics Rec: 22% Released August 23, 2024 ESRB t Developer(s) Firewalk Studios Publisher(s) Sony Interactive Entertainment
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