I've heard a lot of people push that Sony should bring their classic multiplayer games back if they want to establish GaaS.
Sony has a rich history of multiplayer games, but it's also a complex one.
I don't think these people are entirely wrong, the problem still remains that none of those original teams exists or they're entirely pre-occupied with bigger and better things. Here are the franchise that Sony should probably be looking at and how they could consider bringing them back. One recommendation I would have for Sony those is that all of the games they put out whether they be MP or GaaS should have a single player campaign element, giving the option of people who don't want to play online or or play forever games to still buy in. The more people who buy in the more likely that a GaaS game is successful anyways. This should follow the GTA and Red Dead model rather than the Helldivers model which is inherently risky if the games don't separate themselves from competition and if their competition is F2P.
#1 SOCOM US Navy Seals
This one is a really difficult one, as again the studio just doesn't exist and there isn't an immediately obvious choice for who should make this or would want to make it or if this game could exist to satisfy modern demands and classic fans.
My answer for this one is that they need to create an original studio and recruit for this. Model the game after Rainbow Six Siege and Modern Warfare. With the CoD deal counting down to expiration, this should be their biggest priority anyways and potentially the game with the largest possible ceiling for them.
But again, there is a big question they have to ask themselves. Do you make this a FPS in line with what is in demand now or do you stick with the classic 3rd person view? You're not going to make everyone happy, and being able to switch isn't really an answer. People in first person mode are going to have a huge advantage.
But this is the game I'd put 250+ million dollars on.
#2 Killzone
Killzone is I think the easiest franchise to bring back. You remake the first game's campaign (remake rather than remaster) with modern controls and Guerrilla's graphics. You put this on PS5 and PC and you call it a day. Rinse and repeat for Killzone 2 and 3 or put them altogether as a collection. Keeping the multiplayer going as a live service. Sell the single player games for like 40 or 50 dollars a pop or 70 dollars as a collection and have the multiplayer be F2P or 10 bucks + MTX.
This is a somewhat similar strategy to doing the master chief collection and then halo infinite, but at the end of the day it comes down to execution. The MCC was initially released in poor condition and halo infinite was a bomb out of the gates as well.
#3 Resistance
Complicated by Spider-Man and Wolverine and X-Men, but essentially the same strategy as Killzone. Remake the games' campaign modes and make the multiplayer F2P or 10 bucks plus MTX. I would reach out to WB about buying Rocksteady, make them Insomniac UK, lead by Insomniac's leadership team, and have them take over making single player Spider-Man and other Marvel games, while Insomniac proper makes Resistance, Ratchet and Clank, and other games, which we'll discuss more later.
#4 Warhawk/Starhawk
Either Firesrpite or find a 3rd party studio and have them do a budget remaster of Warhawk and Starhawk. This would be my exception to the campaign mode rule since these games were multiplayer only to begin with. Drop these for like 40 bucks each, doing Starhawk if Warhawk was successful or maybe you combine them as separate modes. There aren't many games like it so it isn't crowded like the hero shooter genre. This is something that can follow a more similar path like Helldivers.
#5 Sunset Overdrive
This is what I'd have Insomniac do instead of Spider-Man. Sunset Overdrive could have been Fortnite before Fortnite. Insomniac has some of the best gameplay in the business. I think you just let them cook and people will come. I'd at least test the market by remastering the game for PS5 and PC, but really building out the online multiplayer would have some potential success.
Notes: It's disappointing that Twisted Metal didn't get off the ground. It strikes me how whoever was working on this couldn't modernize it, yet Nintendo has been able to make Mario Kart fun and engaging for decades. This one doesn't feel like a difficult one to me, but maybe I'm missing something.
Honorable mentions:
- Destruction Derby (not Destruction All Stars) again as a low budget project.
- Everybody's Golf/Everybody's Golf VR
- Jet Moto (again low budget project, doesn't need to be a GaaS, but could be)
- Wipeout (again low budget project, doesn't need to be a GaaS, but could be)
- Coolboarders (massive opportunity here given the lack of Coolboarders and SSX on the market right now)
- Extreme Games (massive opportunity here with the lack of Tony Hawk Pro Skater, maybe a combination with Coolboarders)
The key thing here is that most of these are low budget low risk high reward projects with the exception of SOCOM. None of these gets you in trouble if they fail. None of these are massively expensive projects and they'll all be successful even if no one buys MTX for them in the future.
General themes:
- Relatively low cost
- Aligned with PlayStation culture and history
- Can survive without selling forever
- If interest is low, it's not the end of the world
- PC players haven't had an opportunity to play most of these franchises
- Many of these franchises failed to get lift off because of the state of the PS3 or because their original developer wasn't keeping up with the industry
On a similar note. I'd further delay Marathon and build out a campaign mode and have Firewalk assist in building it, potentially saving *some* of that studio, but helping to get a campaign and the game out earlier. I understand why companies skip doing campaign modes but in this hyper-competitive environment, you have to get people to buy in and that has to include people who don't want to play online at all. Those people still recommend games to their friends and some of their friends might be into online.
I think there are a lot of people who are simply against GaaS but they don't realize that companies can't compete with just single player games or one shot multiplayer games.
