Today Sony revealed that it’s shifting its strategy with live service games. The company is scaling back the number of live service games it plans by fiscal year 2025 to launch by half.
In case you didn’t remember, just last May Sony announced ambitious plans to release a total of 12 live service games by the end of its fiscal 2025. In theory, having a deep catalog of live service titles would give Sony a steady stream of income from players who fully bought into their favorite games. Now, Sony seems to be acknowledging that creating that deep catalog is easier said than done.
In a November 9 earnings call, Hiroki Totoki, COO, CFO, and President of Sony, elaborated on what led to this change in plans. Totoki said that after Sony acquired Bungie last July, the company had the developer help refine its plan for live service games. Ultimately, Totoki said that Sony realized it’s previous plan wouldn’t be able to produce satisfactory games.
“We have not been able to meet the gamers’ expectations,” Totoki said, “But we are trying as much as possible [to ensure these games will] be played by gamers and liked by gamers for a long time.” To make that happen, Totoki said, “six titles will be released by FY25. That’s our current plan.”
The other six live service games aren’t going anywhere just yet. Totoki said that the company is still deciding when those games will be released, but for now it will focus on making sure the first six games are as good as possible. He didn’t mention which games made the cut for the initial six, so the fate of specific titles like The Last of Us multiplayer, which was delayed earlier this year, is still up in the air.
