With PlayStation's acquisition of Haven earlier this week, the platform holder is pushing deeper into the live-service space. But PlayStation reiterates that it will continue to create the premier single-player games that it has been known for these last few years.
In an interview with GamesIndustry.biz, head of PlayStation Studios Herman Hulst says, "Obviously we will always carry on making these single-player narrative-based games such as Ghost of Tsushima, The Last of Us, and Horizon Forbidden West."
He continued, explaining, "But you've spotted correctly that we have invested in live service games, because that's incredibly exciting for us. It allows us to build larger worlds, it allows us to create really meaningful social connections between players."
Hulst also notes that PlayStation still has plenty of single-player games in development or in conceptualism, but the Haven acquisition provides an opportunity to add a studio that specializes in live service games to the overall portfolio.
Haven Studio head Jade Raymond says that she's excited to make a PS5 exclusive game, considering PlayStation's track record with high-scoring first-party titles. "PlayStation has its own unique secret sauce to getting to those amazing games. It's not by chance that you see so many 90+ blockbusters [from Sony]," she explains. "It's because they do something a little differently, and that's been the thing that we've experienced over the last year."
While PlayStation is still committed to creating single-player games, it's also hoping to put out at least 10 live-service ones by March 2026. Sony's surprise acquisition of Bungie last month is also a step towards that goal.
George Yang is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow him on
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