PlayStation's live-service ambitions have experienced setbacks, leading to the cancellation of two unannounced projects. This decision reflects a reevaluation of their strategy following the challenges faced with the Concord project. While the company remains committed to live-service gaming, they are prioritizing quality and making difficult choices to ensure the long-term health of their studios.
Despite its best efforts, PlayStation’s live-service strategy hasn’t achieved the desired results. The company initially aimed to aggressively enter the market with plans for 12 live-service games within a few years, following its acquisition of Bungie to guide this endeavor. However, since that announcement, PlayStation has gradually scaled back its ambitious plans.
The latest news from Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier reveals the cancellation of two unannounced live-service projects under development at Bluepoint and Sony Bend. While the exact impact on employment is unclear, a spokesperson confirmed that neither studio will be shut down. \It’s evident that PlayStation’s new leadership team carefully reevaluated its live-service strategy after the significant setback with Concord. Although they won’t abandon live-service gaming entirely, it appears that they are making tough decisions now for the long-term health of their brand and studios. Only time will tell if these decisions prove to be the right ones.\Game cancellations are rarely positive news. Video games are born from the creative passion and dedication of teams, both large and small, who make significant sacrifices to bring them to life. It would be insensitive to celebrate a game’s cancellation, especially when it’s not something we personally desired. Based on Schreier’s report, both Bluepoint and Sony Bend invested years into these projects and now face the daunting task of starting anew with no tangible results from their previous work. It seems PlayStation views this as the lesser of two evils. They have witnessed firsthand the catastrophic consequences of a failed live-service game and have raised their standards for projects deemed worthy of completion, accepting a short-term loss by canceling others. \While losing years of hard work on a project is painful, it’s even more devastating to see an entire studio shut down after a major failure. This move, though regrettable, is a necessary growing pain in PlayStation’s evolving live-service plans. It’s distinct from Naughty Dog’s decision to discontinue development on The Last of Us Online, which was a studio making its own choices. These cancellations appear to originate from higher-level decisions. The full story behind Concord’s development may remain unknown, but its implications are clear. That one major misstep cast a shadow of doubt over every PlayStation live-service project, both internally and externally. Despite being independent projects, gamers often associate all PlayStation games with each other. A successful game from one studio elevates expectations for the next, while a failure can lead to hesitation.\While this may not be fair to each individual team and project, PlayStation has cultivated a reputation for creating high-quality games over the past decade. One misstep can significantly shake consumer confidence, which is notoriously challenging to regain. However, this situation could be interpreted as a positive sign for games like Fairgames and Marathon. They might be too close to completion to be canceled, or perhaps this is merely a pause before further announcements. If PlayStation is truly willing to drop projects it lacks confidence in, it implies a greater level of assurance for those still in development. \It’s important to note that this situation is still evolving as PlayStation grapples with communicating a clear direction for the future, particularly heading into 2025. While PlayStation hasn’t provided substantial updates beyond reaffirming its commitment to both live-service and single-player games, as CEO Herman Hulst stated to Famitsu in December, they are still navigating this trend and the studios are bearing the consequences. A silver lining is that PlayStation appears to be learning and mitigating losses before they escalate to a point where entire studios are at risk. These lessons are being drawn not only from their own mistakes but also from the broader landscape of live-service game development. While this isn’t a gaming approach I personally endorse, I recognize its importance for PlayStation’s survival as a business. If the best outcome we can hope for is a less aggressive and all-in approach that minimizes the risk to PlayStation’s studios, it is at least a step in the right direction
Playstation Live-Service Game Cancellations Studios Strategy Concord Bungie Bluepoint Sony Bend
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