Former PlayStation executive Shuhei Yoshida has expressed his reservations about Sony's push into live service video games, which he considers a risky venture. Yoshida, who served as President of SIE Worldwide Studios from 2008 to 2019, shared his insights in an interview with Kinda Funny Games, reflecting on Sony's recent experiences with live service titles.
Sony's foray into live service games has been marked by significant highs and lows. While Arrowhead's Helldivers 2 achieved unprecedented success, becoming the fastest-selling PlayStation Studios game with 12 million copies sold in just 12 weeks, other titles have faced severe challenges. Sony's Concord, for instance, experienced a disastrous launch, lasting only a few weeks due to extremely low player engagement. The game was eventually canceled, and its developer was shut down. According to a report by Kotaku, the initial development budget for Concord was around $200 million, which did not cover the full development costs or the acquisition of the Concord IP rights and Firewalk Studios.
Sony's struggles with live service games continued with the cancellation of Naughty Dog's The Last of Us multiplayer project and two other unannounced titles, including a God of War game in development at Bluepoint and another at Bend Studio, the team behind Days Gone.
Yoshida, who recently left Sony after 31 years, discussed the company's strategy in his interview. He noted that during his tenure, he managed the budget and allocated resources to various game types. He suggested that if he had been in the position of Hermen Hulst, the current CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment Studio Business Group, he would have resisted the shift towards live service games.
Yoshida explained that Sony provided Hulst with additional resources to explore live service games while continuing to support single-player titles. He acknowledged the risk involved, given the competitive nature of the live service genre, but praised Sony's willingness to take chances, hoping that some of these games would succeed. He highlighted Helldivers 2 as an unexpected success, underscoring the unpredictable nature of the gaming industry.
In a recent financial call, Sony president, COO, and CFO Hiroki Totoki reflected on the lessons learned from Helldivers 2 and Concord. He emphasized the need for earlier development gates, such as user testing and internal evaluations, to identify and address issues before a game's launch. Totoki also criticized Sony's "siloed organization" and the timing of Concord's release, which may have led to market cannibalization due to its proximity to the successful launch of Black Myth: Wukong.
Sadahiko Hayakawa, Sony's senior vice president for finance and IR, further discussed the contrasting outcomes of Helldivers 2 and Concord, stating that the company aims to apply these lessons across its studios. The focus will be on enhancing development management and ensuring continuous content updates post-launch. Sony plans to maintain a balanced portfolio, combining its strength in single-player games with the potential upside of live service titles, despite the inherent risks.
Looking ahead, Sony has several live service projects in the pipeline, including Marathon by Bungie, Horizon Online by Guerrilla, and Fairgame$ by Haven Studio. These developments signal Sony's ongoing commitment to exploring the live service model, despite the challenges encountered thus far.
