Game news PlayStation made a mistake in its strategy? We explain why!
PlayStation has decided to change course since in 2025, the company says goodbye to big single-player games.
The PlayStation team has announced that until April 2025, there will be no major single-player games based on the console’s historic saga. Added to this are falling PS5 sales targets – which gives a loss of $10 billion in capitalization. For three years, Sony has completely changed its strategy regarding its in-house titles. The choice fell on so-called “service” games (Genshin Impact, Fortnite) whose aim is to bring in money in the very long term. A logical decision, insofar as development costs are always higher, and returns on investment, always riskier.
And the firm is not laughing since no less than 6 service games (double previously) are planned before 2026. To do this, Bungie, the developers of Destiny, one of the biggest games of the genre, were bought out to take care of things internally. Bad luck, the campaign begins with the cancellation of The Last of Us Online, but no one is being discouraged, several other titles have already been announced: Marathon by Bungie, Fairgames by Haven and Concorde by Firewalk. But since then radio silence. If you would like to find out more, do not hesitate to watch our new column.
Choices not without consequences
Beyond the financial benefits of a game service, there is a direct impact on the studios. If the game is a success, then the developers are doomed to work on a single game for several years, which can be exhausting. This is also what cooled Naughty Dog for The Last of Us Online. If it’s a failure, then months and months of development go down the drain. Sometimes a failure can damage the reputation of a group that has already proven itself. Other times, the base game is sold at a premium from the start, and it’s a tough pill for players to swallow. If you want to know all the reasons that can complicate the development of a “service” game, we invite you to watch our column.