It’s bad news, walking sim fans: Sony revealed plans to release 10 live service titles by 2026 during the company’s Q3 earnings investor call.
The news follows Sony’s acquisition of Halo and Destiny developer Bungie, itself quite the specialist in live service titles. It’s expected the studio’s next release will account for one of the 10 in Sony’s plan.
CFO Hiroki Totoki told investors that PlayStation studios “will learn from Bungie,” a studio which “has a proven track record in delivering blockbuster titles”. It hasn’t shelled out all that money to task Bungie with a charming little indie single-player jaunt, then.
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The Last of Us Part II’s delayed multiplayer component, Factions, probably accounts for another. The online play in the first game proved surprisingly popular and enduring, given the title’s emphasis on single-player storytelling, but it released in a pre-Destiny world, not to mention a pre-Fortnite one. There was no season pass and no epic skins to unlock. Expect that to change this time.
As for the other eight multiplayer projects the platform holder wants to roll out in the next four years, candidates are less easy to predict.
PS5 sales have been fewer than expected, due to the ongoing semiconductor shortage, and that puts Sony in the position of adapting and looking to find profits elsewhere. It’s no secret that the games-as-a-service model is an effective way to generate just that.
That doesn’t mean Sony’s turning its back on great, big-budget single-player, though. God of War’s positive critical reception on PC was a point of emphasis on the call, and many of the company’s first-party studios are specced very specifically for delivering that kind of game. As several industry analysts have pointed out, this objective for live service market acquisition is probably intended to bankroll the next wave of great solo games.
Maybe it is good news for walking sim fans after all.
Written by Phil Iwaniuk on behalf of GLHF.
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