Departing Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO and President, Jim Ryan, left many developers within PlayStation Studios uneasy with his pivot towards live service games.
While Sony is well-known for pushing out single-player blockbusters like Marvel’s Spider-Man and Horizon Forbidden West, Ryan pushed heavily for games-as-a-service during his tenure, and it didn’t go down too well with all involved. That’s at least according to Bloomberg, which claims that the live service shift was “an uncomfortable pivot” for some companies under the PlayStation Studios umbrella.
One of the major studios that Sony has under its belt is Bungie, the former Halo developer who is still supporting Destiny 2 and obviously has ample experience in live service games, hence why Sony was so interesting in snapping them up. Having said that, last October, PlayStation Worldwide Studios boss Hermen Hulst assured fans that Sony isn’t abandoning single-player games.
As previously reported, Ryan is going to leave his position at Sony in March 2024, so it’s currently unclear just how far his live service pivot will reach under new leadership. The format holder had previously confirmed plans to release 12 live service games by the end of the 2026 financial year.
[Source – Bloomberg]