Sony made a name for itself during the PS4 generation with an amazing comeback, after the previous generation was mostly dominated by the Xbox 360. The biggest reason for the company dominating the previous generation was the high quality, narrative-driven, single-player games.
This era was all about great storytelling, deep characters, and beautiful worlds. First-party games like Uncharted 4, Horizon Zero Dawn, Ghost of Tsushima, God of War, The Last of Us Part II, and Spider-Man were extremely massive hits, and they became rather iconic pretty quickly and set a gold standard for the industry.
After Concord, Sony’s Strategy Needs a Rethink
But recently, it feels like Sony’s starting to lose sight of what made them stand out in the first place. Their shift towards live service games has left a lot of people scratching their heads and extremely confused, especially when looking at their recent offerings like Concord.
The game was introduced with big expectations, but instead of excitement, it left a lot of players feeling disappointed. The reveal was bland, and the lack of innovation in an oversaturated market only made things worse.
Players weren’t too thrilled about another live service hero-shooter game especially when it cost $40, and looked rather generic. The game exhibited little reason to pick it up over other great free-to-play multiplayer games.
On the other side, Black Myth: Wukong had been grabbing attention for all the right reasons. Ever since its first gameplay trailer dropped, people have been buzzing with excitement, mostly due to its next-gen visuals, crisp combat, and amazing enemy design.
The game was a purely single-player experience that looked amazing, with its detailed environments and a story that draws from rich Chinese mythology. It was immediately clear that this is the kind of game players are usually looking forward to.
It has a lot of what made Sony’s single-player games successful during the PS4 generation, and that’s something it should be paying close attention to, and doubling down on, in order to go back to its roots and not chase trends any longer.
Live-Service Games is a Risky Business
Sony’s recent obsession with live service games is a bit puzzling, especially considering their past successes. While live service games can be cash cows if they hit it big, they’re also incredibly risky.
Most of these games have a short shelf life, with player numbers dropping off sharply just a few months after launch. Even the games that manage to hang on often require constant updates, content drops, and community management to stay relevant, which can be a massive drain on resources, like with Helldivers 2.
Sony’s been chasing this market with mixed results, and it’s clear from recent examples that they might be better off sticking to what they know best.
The success of Black Myth: Wukong would hopefully serve as a wake-up call for the publisher. Players are still hungry for rich, narrative-driven single-player games which are something the audience never gets tired of, unlike multiplayer and live-service games.
The excitement around Wukong shows that there’s a huge market for these types of games that transport you to cool new locations and let you explore the world and really take everything in, and Sony’s portfolio is already full of titles that fit this void.
The question then becomes: why not double down on what’s already working? A need to branch out and diversify their portfolio is understandable, but not when it simply doesn’t work, as with Concord which is set to lose anywhere between $100-200 million.
Sony should go back to exclusively focusing on creating more of the games that put them on the map in the first place, as the live-service market is now riskier than ever, and the returns just aren’t worth it.
Do you think there’s a need for a shift in strategy for Sony? Let us know in the comments!
