PlayStation is not what it used to be; some of that, of course, is for good reason. You'd be hard-pressed to argue that Cloud Strife looked better when he was a pile of polygons, or that stealth-game controls peaked with 1998's Metal Gear Solid. Technology has evolved, bringing us not necessarily better games but games offering visuals and overall experiences that were previously unfathomable. And just as technology has changed, so have the companies implementing it--companies like Sony.
Originally a home for RPGs and platforming mascots, PlayStation has spent the past few decades intensely focused on cinematic single-player games, with narratives that eschew early-aughts whimsy in favor of morally conflicted anti-heroes. Despite the incongruity between those two styles, both were hugely successful for the company. But now, PlayStation is changing its focus yet again, only this time into an arena so competitive that there's no guarantee even this titan of video games will see any measure of success: live-service games. So far, the company's path to success has been bumpy, but it quietly might have just taken a big step in the right direction towards achieving its goal.
Back in 2022, Sony decided to be up front about its vision for the future of PlayStation, revealing to investors that PlayStation Studios has "an aggressive road map with live services" and was aiming to launch "more than 10 live-service games by the fiscal year ending March 31, 2026." Sony executive deputy president and interim CEO Hiroku Totoki stated that this was part of the company's overall plan to "expand into the live-game services area," which was yielding success for studios like Epic, MiHoYo, and Bungie, the latter of which was already in the process of being acquired by Sony.
Yet things haven't been going quite as planned at the company. For starters, it's been reported that a number of employees were upset by former PlayStation boss Jim Ryan's mandated pivot towards live-service games--a fact that is not all that surprising considering developers' concerns regarding live-service stability. According to former PlayStation developer David Jaffe, the creator of Twisted Metal and co-creator of God of War, this was part of the reason that long-time PlayStation developer Connie Booth was reportedly fired. Jaffe claimed that multiple sources told him that Booth "was somehow blamed" for the initiative. Though the truth behind Booth's departure is not entirely clear, the outcome was the end of her 30-year career at Sony, during which she played a key role in producing Crash Bandicoot, Spyro, Jak & Daxter, Ratchet & Clank, Sly, Marvel's Spider-Man, Resistance, Uncharted, Infamous, and The Last of Us.
A month later, Totoki informed investors that only half of the promised live-service titles would be ready by Spring 2026. This was followed by the news that two of its live-service titles--a The Last of Us multiplayer game and an unannounced Twisted Metal project--we're being scrapped entirely. Though the reason the Twisted Metal title was scrapped is not clear, The Last of Us developer Naughty Dog was quick to release a statement following the news, writing:
"To release and support The Last of Us Online we'd have to put all our studio resources behind supporting post-launch content for years to come, severely impacting development on future single-player games. So, we had two paths in front of us: Become a solely live-service-games studio or continue to focus on single-player narrative games that have defined Naughty Dog's heritage."
In February 2024, Sony announced it was laying off 900 employees in a move that would eliminate its VR-focused London studio and affect production at Firesprite, Insomniac Games, Naughty Dog, and Guerrilla. Layoffs continued later that summer, when the Sony-owned studio Bungie laid off 17% of its workforce, and then migrated 12% of its remaining staff to other departments at PlayStation. Despite this news, however, Totoki reaffirmed that Sony would continue to go all-in on live-service titles.
In that same briefing, Sony stated it had been unable to meet its goal of selling 25 million PS5s during the current financial year--causing it to revise its projection to 21 million sales and lose $10 billion in market value--and that the PS5 was now in the "latter stage" of its life cycle. Fortunately, one of Sony's promised live-service titles, Concord, was almost ready to launch.
Yet when Concord finally launched in August 2024, it was met with little fanfare. Upon release, the game peaked at a dismal 697 concurrent users on Steam. And while PlayStation 5 player numbers are not publicly available, Tweaktown discovered that Concord ranked at No. 50 on the PlayStation Store's PS5 best-sellers chart. Two weeks after launch, Sony announced it was removing the game from sale and shutting down its servers. The game may return in the future, but this was not the new foothold in the live-service space that Sony was surely hoping for.
Despite all of this, Sony recently revealed the PS5 is getting an upgraded model, the PS5 Pro. However, the upcoming console's $700 price tag--and that's without the $80 disc drive you can purchase separately, mind you-- the lack of dramatic technical differences between the PS5 and PS5 Pro, and Sony's overall lack of PS5 exclusive titles, means this announcement was largely met with scorn.
However, I think Sony has an opportunity to course correct.
On September 6, PlayStation released Astro Bot, a charming platformer with a ton of heart and absolutely glowing reviews. On the surface, the game is a celebration of PlayStation and its history, as throughout it, you unlock bots that are made to look like some of the consoles' greatest characters--both from exclusive titles and third-party games notably associated with the company--all while piloting a PS5 controller. Yet to dismiss the game as pure Sony nostalgia, or reduce it as an ode to the unfortunate IP collectathon currently happening in the games industry, discredits what makes it truly special.
As GameSpot's Mark Delaney put so eloquently, Astro Bot is "a platformer whose incredible ambition is matched by its brilliant execution." It feels fantastic to play, offers bountiful exciting mechanics that--while different--never feel disparate, and creates gorgeous worlds that feel natural to explore yet constantly surprise and delight. It's a game that rivals the likes of Super Mario Odyssey and beyond that, it's fun. Pure, wondrous fun.
In recent years, Sony has proven it can tell a great story. Their exclusive titles are known for their complex characters, emotional narratives, and well-conceived worlds. But in the midst of all that, it feels like Sony forgot about the joy of simple fun. It forgot about all the different kinds of players that exist, and what they long to see. And it forgot about all the series that, while heralded in Astro Bot, have effectively disappeared.
Though folks online love to call me a Sony Pony anytime I throw any sort of criticism at Xbox--here's hoping this piece clears that up a bit!--the only time I truly felt like a Sony fangirl was when I was a child. I remember the transition from the Nintendo 64 to the PlayStation--it absolutely blew my mind. I remember the variety of games my family obtained over the course of a few years: Tomb Raider, Spider-Man, Time Crisis, Spyro the Dragon, Crash Bandicoot, Silent Hill, Tekken, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, Resident Evil, Metal Gear Solid, and a small mountain of Final Fantasy games, my family's favorite. When the Xbox launched in 2001, I saw zero reason I would ever need it. I already had my portal to every world I could ever want to visit.
Of course, I'd eventually find a lot of value in Xbox and return to Nintendo, and these days, I don't feel a closeness to PlayStation anymore. I'm sure this is partially due to my age and how the years inevitably come with a loss of childlike whimsy, but I know there are other factors, too. I'm not jaded, I still love games, and I could easily list dozens that have come out even in the last few years that I think are phenomenal. But to me, PlayStation just doesn't quite feel special anymore. But Astro Bot does. And it also reminds me of how it used to feel.
Astro Bot feels like a chance to reignite the brand's charm and perhaps even alter what live-service means for PlayStation, if that's the path it intends to walk down. Whereas it seems like Sony is sticking to a very particular type of live-service game--one that is oversaturated and that it can't seem to quite find an audience for, as Concord's lack of success would indicate--the company has already revealed a plan to add more characters and levels to Astro Bot, and it could easily add more. It'd certainly make sense; it's a game that feels simple to expand upon and has a foundation sturdy enough to cradle that expansion. Why continue to toil over creating a fun live-service title that sticks when you have a game that is proven to be fun and whose structure lends itself to being expanded?"
Sure, this doesn't fit the bill when it comes to satisfying PlayStation's desire to create a Forever Game--one that incentivizes players to log in daily, participate in seasonal content, and, to put it plainly, fork over cash on things like battle passes, skins, and loot boxes. But why is this well-established (and increasingly criticized) model the only way forward? Players have begun to see the vast majority of them for what they are: a somewhat predatory way to continuously rake in money. Games, and the amount of money companies are willing to spend making them, are growing monstrous in size yet it feels as if developers are forced to work in the confines of a narrow, short-sighted scope. It's easy to see where this leads, and it's not a place I want to see the industry go.
Yet at my most cynical and business-minded, Astro Bot still feels like a revenue booster, as it is a fantastic marketing opportunity for the company. Much like how Super Smash Bros. is said to have contributed to Fire Emblem's success in the West, Sony now has a great avenue to introduce new characters, showcase indies, reignite interest in previous titles, and gauge what audiences are responding to or demand more of. When I played through Astro Bot, there were certain characters I didn't know and was compelled to learn more about, as well as others that I had simply forgotten about but was delighted to see again. It made me want to buy and install games I hadn't thought about in years. And it goes beyond the generation who grew up with these characters; my two-year-old son was fascinated by Spyro, which led to me redownloading the Reignited Trilogy and spending an hour introducing him to the feisty little dragon. This is the power that game currently wields, and it's not a small one.
But beyond that, Astro Bot also proves that Sony can still do different types of games exceptionally well. It proves that Sony is still innovative, and its games still fun. Before Astro Bot, I couldn't tell you the last time a PlayStation platformer truly gave a Nintendo platformer a run for its money, but here we are. I wish Sony knew it doesn't necessarily need to pursue live-service. In fact, I'd argue it shouldn't. There are other paths to success--paths that invest in studios' unique visions, foster creativity, and delight players.
I can't claim to know if the live-service bubble has truly burst or if the market is grossly oversaturated to the point where no room remains, but I do know that myself and many others are certainly fatigued by it all. The money-grabbing is as transparent as the stagnation, and something needs to change. Here's hoping that Sony can sense that too.
