Former PlayStation executive Shuhei Yoshida reveals he would have resisted Sony's controversial live service game push, citing inherent risks. Yoshida, SIE Worldwide Studios president from 2008-2019, voiced concerns to Kinda Funny Games about Sony's live service investments.
This statement comes amidst significant challenges for PlayStation's live service titles. While Helldivers 2 achieved remarkable success, becoming the fastest-selling PlayStation Studios game ever, other ventures faltered. Concord, a particularly notable failure, was shut down after a short lifespan due to extremely low player numbers, representing a substantial financial loss (estimated at around $200 million by Kotaku, excluding IP rights and studio acquisition costs). This followed the cancellation of Naughty Dog's The Last of Us multiplayer project and, more recently, two unannounced live service games.
Yoshida, departing Sony after 31 years, hypothetically positioned himself as current CEO Hermen Hulst, suggesting he would have resisted the live service strategy. He highlighted the resource allocation dilemma: diverting funds from established franchises like God of War to potentially unsuccessful live service ventures. While acknowledging Sony provided additional resources for live service development alongside continued single-player game support, Yoshida maintains the inherent risk in the highly competitive live service market. Helldivers 2's unexpected success underscores the unpredictable nature of the industry.
Sony's financial reports reflect this learning curve. President, COO, and CFO Hiroki Totoki attributed Concord's failure to delayed user testing and internal evaluation, advocating for earlier implementation of these development gates. Totoki also cited Sony's "siloed organization" and Concord's unfortunate release window near Black Myth: Wukong, potentially leading to market cannibalization, as contributing factors.
Senior vice president Sadahiko Hayakawa emphasized the contrasting outcomes of Helldivers 2 and Concord, highlighting the valuable lessons learned regarding development management, post-launch content, and service scaling. Sony intends to balance its portfolio, leveraging successful single-player titles with calculated risks in the live service space.
Despite setbacks, several PlayStation live service games remain in development, including Bungie's Marathon, Guerrilla's Horizon Online, and Haven Studio's Fairgame$.
