Sony announced in early 2022 that it plans to release ten live service games by March 2026, and this was after the company acquired Bungie, the developer behind Destiny. It later increased the number of games to twelve.
However, there hasn’t been a single game announced, and 2023 is about to end. Sony has now confirmed the delay in half of its live service games, likely due to setbacks in the development of these games.
Sony Confirms Delay to Its Live Service Games
Sony announced that half of its planned games are delayed, and only six of these games will now be released by fiscal year 2025, as reported by VGC. This was revealed by Sony president, COO, and CFO, Hiroki Totoki, during an earnings call on Thursday, November 9.
Totoki stated that Sony is reviewing its live service games, and the review has resulted in half of the games being delayed to ensure quality. There are several live-service games currently under development, but Sony’s chief did not name which games will be released or are delayed. Totoki said:
We are reviewing this… we are trying as much as possible to ensure [the games] are enjoyed and liked by gamers for a long time. [Of] the 12 titles, six titles will be released by FY25 – that’s our current plan. [As for] the remaining six titles, we are still working on that.
That’s the total number of live service and multiplayer titles [and] mid-to-long-term we want to [push] this kind of service and that’s the unchanged policy of the company. It’s not like we stick to certain titles, but game quality should be the most important [thing].
Sony acquired Bungie due to its expertise with the Destiny series, and Bungie’s review of Sony’s live service games is likely why these games have been pushed. Earlier in 2022, PlayStation Studios chief Hermen Hulst also mentioned that Bungie is involved in the development of its live-service games, mentioning the “rigorous review process” and what it has learned from the developer. Hulst said:
The learnings from Bungie have been very substantial in many areas. Of course, when you’re developing live service titles, you [require] capabilities that you don’t have when you’re working on single-player, narrative-driven games.
He further added:
We also work with Bungie on a pretty rigorous portfolio review process that we apply to all 12 live service titles that we have in production, and these are just brief examples of some of the learnings that we have gained from working with Bungie.
Hermen Hulst had also acknowledged earlier in the year that Sony sees fierce competition between live service games and how much time they take from players. PlayStation boss Jim Ryan has also been an advocate of the live service games at the company and even said that live service games are the future.
There are twelve live-service games that are under development for Sony. These are Bungie’s Marathon, which is a PvP extraction shooter, and Haven Studios is working on Fairgame$, which is a heist-based game where you rob the rich. Firewalk Studios is also working on a sci-fi PvP multiplayer game called Concord.
Guerrilla is also working on a Horizon multiplayer game, and an original IP from PlayStation-owned London Studios is also in development.
Among these projects, The Last of Us multiplayer is also in development at Naughty Dog, but nothing concrete is known about the game so far other than that it needs more time.
It was earlier reported that the game was put on hold after the contracts of several Naughty Dog staff were cut. However, the director of The Last of Us multiplayer game, Vinit Agarwal, dropped a subtle hint that he is still working on the game.
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