The PS5 will soon be entitled to no less than 10 exclusive service games developed by PlayStation Studios. Sony really wants to assert itself in the market. Despite the players’ concerns, the company wants to reassure them.
We now know that Sony has invested and will continue to invest in service games to expand its PS5 catalogue. Games with particularly juicy potential as they can generate large revenues in the medium and long term. For a few years, this type of games has been growing exponentially, especially since the explosion of free AAA games like Fortnite or Warzone, just to name the biggest ones that are still active. But overall, the longer it takes, the longer the games are built to last.
Sony is developing on the gaming services side
Destiny 2, now under the PlayStation umbrella since the giant Bungie took over, is a good example. The game is paid at launch, as are the DLCs, but the updates are sequential, as is the free and event content, giving the game a colossal lifespan. However, games that at first glance do not appear to be made for this purpose ultimately become service games. This is the case, for example, with Gran Turismo 7, Assassin’s Creed or a multitude of other titles of the genre available on PS5 or elsewhere. Players stay, come and go, and revenue follows.
Sony therefore wants to keep its players in its games as much as possible by offering them exclusive titles that are built to last. For this reason, the company has also turned to experts like Bungie, who will have the difficult task of carrying the banner of this new strategy. Sony even recently acquired Firewalk studio, which is currently developing one of those famous big service games.
Almost 10 games in development on PS5, but not only
But a whole range of other studios are also on the warpath, including some historical ones like Naugthy Dog or London Studio. Altogether there are currently a dozen games in development. Note that most of these games will be exclusive to PS5 (as far as consoles are concerned) but will also be available on PC. The Dogs, for example, are currently in the process of releasing one of their strongest licenses, The Last of Us, for a multiplayer game-type game service. Which makes the blood run cold for the fans of the first hour, although they might love the Factions mode of the The last of us
In particular due to the many excesses of certain titles, service games have been perceived very poorly for years. Empty game at launch, uninviting, repetitive structure, abusive microtransactions, etc. The image of this type is not the most attractive. And yet they are everywhere. If we tend to only think of games like Fourteen days, determination or war zone When it comes to service games, the spectrum has now expanded. And that’s what Sony wants to assure gamers.
PlayStation wants to calm down and promises beautiful things
In an interview for game industryHermen Hulst, director of PlayStation Studios, has clearly stated that 10 service games are currently in development on PS5, but not all determination or Fourteen days– like not at all. For Hulst, the umbrella term is sometimes used as an umbrella term, more focused on a single genre or even a single business model. However, he claims that “PlayStation Studios develops all kinds of games that can be described as ‘service games’ that target different genres, different release schedules and different sizes”. He states that all these games will appeal to different audiences. In any case, Hulst is confident. He knows PlayStation Studios knows what they’re doing and “have always been able to create worlds and stories that fans love”.
So if we should have games that more or less resemble the structure of Destiny, it will not be standard. The director of PlayStation Studios confirms here that we should therefore expect different experiences and that will benefit from constant monitoring. We’re waiting for that now.
And you, what kind of game do you prefer?