PlayStation: Our live-service games will target different genres, release schedules and audiences
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In under 18 months, PlayStation has announced three studio acquisitions all dedicated to live-service games.
It started with a big one in January last year – Destiny developer Bungie. It followed that with Haven Studios in March. And just last week it revealed it would be picking up Firewalk Studios.
It's all part of Sony's aim to broaden out from the single-player, narrative adventure games that it's best known for (although don't worry, they're still being made, too). In fact, the company says it has ten live-service games in the work.
Yet live-service games, typically, take up a huge amount of time and attention. Surely Sony can't expect all ten products to be successful? The cynic in me can't help but feel that the company is hedging its bets, knowing that the majority of those ten won't make it, but hoping one or two strike it big.
Yet PlayStation Studios head Hermen Hulst was keen to remind me that 'live-service' doesn't automatically mean the company is making ten Fortnites or Destinys.
"We understand the competitive environment that is out there, and the time investment from players that live services offer," Hulst tells us. "And we want to deliver the highest quality games.
"There is a risk that we talk about 'live service' in generic terms – as if it is a single genre, or even a single business model. PlayStation Studios are making a variety of games that could be referred to as 'live services', targeting different genres, different release schedules, and at different scales. We are also creating games for different audiences, and I take confidence from our track record in creating worlds and stories that PlayStation fans love."
Read more on gamesindustry.biz
