PlayStation Icon Yoshida on Live Service Strategy

Former PlayStation executive Shuhei Yoshida reveals he would have resisted Sony's controversial push into live-service gaming. Yoshida, SIE Worldwide Studios president from 2008 to 2019, expressed concerns to Kinda Funny Games about the inherent risks Sony acknowledged in this investment.

This statement comes amidst a period of significant challenges for PlayStation's live-service titles. While Helldivers 2 achieved remarkable success, becoming the fastest-selling PlayStation Studios game ever (12 million copies in 12 weeks), other ventures have faltered.

Concord, a notable failure, lasted mere weeks before being shut down due to extremely low player numbers, resulting in the closure of its developer and significant financial losses (estimated at around $200 million according to Kotaku, a figure that reportedly didn't cover full development or IP rights). This followed the cancellation of Naughty Dog's The Last of Us multiplayer project and, recently, two unannounced live-service games (a God of War title from Bluepoint and another from Bend Studio).

Yoshida, departing Sony after 31 years, stated that if he were in Hermen Hulst's (current SIE Studio Business Group CEO) position, he would have resisted the live-service strategy. He highlighted the resource allocation dilemma: diverting funds from established single-player franchises like God of War to a high-risk genre. While acknowledging Sony's increased investment in live-service games post-his departure, Yoshida emphasized the inherent risk and low probability of success in a fiercely competitive market. He cited Helldivers 2's unexpected success as evidence of the unpredictability of the industry, expressing hope for the overall strategy's eventual success.

Sony's financial call provided further insight. Hiroki Totoki (president, COO, and CFO) acknowledged lessons learned from both Helldivers 2's triumph and Concord's failure, specifically highlighting the need for earlier user testing and internal evaluations in the development process. He also pointed to Sony's "siloed organization" and Concord's unfortunate release window (close to Black Myth: Wukong) as contributing factors.

Sadahiko Hayakawa (senior vice president for finance and IR) further emphasized the contrasting outcomes of Helldivers 2 and Concord, stressing the importance of sharing these lessons across studios to improve development management and post-launch content support. He highlighted the company's intention to maintain a balanced portfolio, combining their successful single-player titles with calculated risks in the live-service arena.

Despite these setbacks, several PlayStation live-service games are still under development, including Bungie's Marathon, Guerrilla's Horizon Online, and Haven Studio's Fairgame$.