To end the year in style and celebrate PlayStation’s 30th anniversary, Herman Hulst, co-CEO of PlayStation, answered questions from Japanese magazine Famitsu to talk about strategies and objectives in the years to come. Several themes were discussed such as the future of consoles, the return of major licenses, but also the future of service games after the success ofHelldivers II and the interstellar flop of Concord. For Sony, there is no doubt, the service games will continue to be released on PlayStation and the PS5.
PS5: other service games in development
The strategy of betting everything on service games dates back a few years. A brilliant idea (or not) from Jim Ryan, the former CEO of Sony who left office last year. Since then, there have been quite a few changes with many projects canceleddont The Last Of Us Factionsthe multiplayer mode of The Last Of Us Part II which was developed by Naughty Dog. Other unannounced games were also canceled internally.
On the other hand, other games have been maintained and titles have even arrived this year like Helldivers II who was a huge success critical and commercial. On the other hand, other projects were not so lucky as Concordannounced in May 2024, released in August and closed in September.
Despite this, Herman Hulst is confident and confirms that the strategy has not changed: “The video games industry is constantly evolving due to a variety of factors, including technological advancements, new genres and new ways of playing. However, one thing remains constant: people’s desire for great entertainment experiences, and the attention paid to games continues to grow. However, this has also created competition and, like many companies in the sector, we have had to make changes to our business to consolidate a more sustainable operating base”.
Herman Hulst continues by confirming that Sony was indeed planning “focus on developing live service titles as well as the story-driven single-player titles our players want”. To put it simply, the strategy stays the samebut she will be more balanced with fewer projects focused on service games. Sony wants to offer games that will appeal to the entire community, both new players who like this new way of playing, and old players who are attached to solo experiences. And ultimately, this may well be the best strategy to adopt!
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