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Just yesterday, Sony announced they were making “several” live service games but now we have a figure to add to that statement. During a conference call to accompany their latest financial results, Sony CFO Hiroki Totoki confirmed they’re aiming to launch more than ten live service games by 2026 with the help of Bungie, their most recently acquired studio.
Why Sony acquired Bungie
One of the main reasons for Sony acquiring Bungie was so they could use “the expertise and technology that Bungie has developed in the live game services space”. While PlayStation Studios will not move away from single-player titles, at least for now, they are intending to break into the world of live service games. The aim is to release more than 10 live service games before the end of fiscal year 2025, which is on March 31, 2026.
Another reason for acquiring Bungie was so Sony could acquire the Destiny franchise and “major new IP that Bungie is currently developing“. However, Sony has previously said that Bungie will decide whether their games will be exclusive to PlayStation or whether they go for the more likely scenario of keeping their games on multiple platforms. Totoki said Sony now views “the deployment of our game IP on multiple platforms as a major growth opportunity for Sony”, a theory buoyed by the success of games like Horizon Zero Dawn, Days Gone and God of War on PC. Bungie will help Sony to reach new players on platforms like Xbox that were previously unreachable.
Opinion: This isn’t the end of single-player exclusives
A move into live service games doesn’t mean Sony will forget all about their first-party single-player PlayStation exclusives. Horizon Forbidden West and Gran Turismo 7 are due to be released imminently, and there are plenty more games in development: God of War Ragnarok, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, Marvel’s Wolverine, Horizon Call of the Mountain, and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic Remake to name a few. There are also third-party exclusives like Ghostwire: Tokyo. With live service proving to be incredibly lucrative for companies like EA and Ubisoft, I don’t blame Sony for expanding their options.