Despite a long series of failures and cancellations, Sony continues to push its live-service strategy, even while acknowledging that the initiative, which began several years ago, hasn't exactly gone according to plan. This was made clear by CFO Lin Tao during a Q&A following the company's latest financial report, where he said:
"Not entirely going smoothly. Last year Concord was shut down, and this year Marathon was postponed, so somewhat negative news has been coming out."
Still, Tao pointed out that Sony remains optimistic in the long term, saying the initiative has had both its highs and lows. Helldivers 2 was a surprise smash hit, while Concord became a historic flop, shut down only weeks after release due to abysmal player engagement. Meanwhile, there are still major question marks surrounding Fairgame$, which has reportedly faced development trouble and saw its studio head, Jade Raymond, leave earlier this year. The Last of Us: Factions was another major casualty, a project scrapped entirely after years of costly development.
Despite all this, Tao emphasised that live-service now makes up 20-40% of PlayStation Studios' revenue, with MLB The Show, Gran Turismo 7, and Destiny 2 serving as stable earners. Sony's plan moving forward? Learn from its missteps. As Tao put it:
"We recognise that there are still many issues, so we should learn the lessons from mistakes and make sure that we introduce live service content where there's less waste and it's more smooth."
Perhaps one solution is bringing more live-service titles to other platforms. Helldivers 2 is coming to Xbox on August 26, and Sony has already hinted that more of its live-service titles may follow suit.
Is Sony right to double down on live-service, or is it time to pivot back toward the single-player storytelling legacy that once defined PlayStation Studios?