Over 50% of PlayStation’s Live Service Projects Either Failed Or Were Canceled

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The following list shows PlayStation's biggest live service projects over the last few years.

  • MLB The Show – Succeeded
  • Helldivers 2 – Succeeded
  • Foamstars – Failed
  • Destruction All-Stars – Failed
  • Concord – Failed
  • Last of Us 2 Multiplayer – Canceled
  • Payback From Bungie – Canceled
  • Twisted Metal – Canceled
  • New IP From Deviation Games – Canceled
  • New IP From London Studio – Canceled
  • Spider-Man: The Great Web – Canceled
  • Marathon
  • Fairgame$
  • New IP From Bend Studio
  • Horizon multiplayer
  • Horizon MMO

Most of these projects are still in development or have been canceled. Looking at the list, six major games have been canceled so far. Among these, Spider-Man: The Great Web made the most sense since it was canceled very early on.

Naughty Dog's live-service ambitions were thwarted quite late into development, while the entirety of London Studio went down recently. Another team impacted by layoffs was Deviation Games, leading to yet another canceled project

Leaks also suggest that Twisted Metal is no longer in the works. Similarly, Bungie's Destiny spin-off Payback seems to have been canceled early in development. In terms of the launched games, both Concord and Destruction All-Stars have failed after release.

Foamstars
, while technically not a PlayStation first-party release, was marketed and released as a console PlayStation exclusive. Following a lukewarm reception, Square Enix has gone free-to-play with this title.

This means that 9 of the 16 games have been failures.

Looking at the next projects, Bungie's Marathon is reportedly in trouble. Fairgame$ also looks like it could follow in Concord's footsteps, but PlayStation still has time to make changes after facing challenges navigating the live-service landscape.


 
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A bit unfair to add cancelled games. It's not like single player games aren't cancelled. Should only compare releases( it will still paint a bad picture, imo)

Edit: also, you should gt 7 to the list, along with gt sport. Both were gaas.
 
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Fairgames$ (it has Saints Row reboot energy) and Horizon MMO do not inspire confidence either. Marathon has a chance though.
 
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So now we're adding canceled games and 3rd party games to the list?

Here's the actual list:

  • MLB The Show – Succeeded
  • Helldivers 2 – Succeeded
  • Gran Turismo 7 - Succeeded
  • Destruction All-Stars – Failed
  • Concord – Failed
  • Marathon
  • Fairgame$
  • New IP From Bend Studio
  • Horizon multiplayer
  • Horizon MMO
You even added a Spider-Man pitch that wasn't even in development. Amazing, LMAO
 
So now we're adding canceled games and 3rd party games to the list?

Here's the actual list:

  • MLB The Show – Succeeded
  • Helldivers 2 – Succeeded
  • Gran Turismo 7 - Succeeded
  • Destruction All-Stars – Failed
  • Concord – Failed
  • Marathon
  • Fairgame$
  • New IP From Bend Studio
  • Horizon multiplayer
  • Horizon MMO
You even added a Spider-Man pitch that wasn't even in development. Amazing, LMAO

Pretty sure actual trailers leaked from that multiplayer Spiderman game.
 
Doesn't sound fair to include unannounced cancelled projects. The single player games list would also look much worse if we added them.
 
Pretty sure actual trailers leaked from that multiplayer Spiderman game.
Pitch trailer using assets from Spiderman 2. Pretty sure a alchemist game from sucker punch had also leaked a few years back, but we also that suckers punch game after infamous 2 was GoT which wasn't a steam punk alchemy game
 
So now we're adding canceled games and 3rd party games to the list?

Here's the actual list:

  • MLB The Show – Succeeded
  • Helldivers 2 – Succeeded
  • Gran Turismo 7 - Succeeded
  • Destruction All-Stars – Failed
  • Concord – Failed
  • Marathon
  • Fairgame$
  • New IP From Bend Studio
  • Horizon multiplayer
  • Horizon MMO
You even added a Spider-Man pitch that wasn't even in development. Amazing, LMAO
You should also add gt sport
 
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Pretty sure actual trailers leaked from that multiplayer Spiderman game.

They come across as pitch trailers to me, reused Spiderman assets with some animation rigging to make it look like MP footage. Given how much leaked from the Insomniac hack (fully playable SM2/Wolverine source code) surely something for that game would've leaked too if it was somewhat advanced in development.

Wait a second, sony CONFIRMED both horizon multy AND horizon mmo? Sound like bullshit.

Both exist. The Horizon GaaS game by Guerilla (some sort of survival thing or MH clone, leaked screenshots are out there) and the MMO game by NCSoft.
 
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Pretty sure actual trailers leaked from that multiplayer Spiderman game.
There's internal pitch trailers released every day. That's typical in the industry.

I'm also sure plenty of single player games get internally cancelled. It's nothing new. Not only GaaS titles.
 
If you are including Foamstars then you should include Rocket League and Fall Guys, they are nothing to do with Sony first party, but helped by PlayStation (and PS+)
 
They come across as pitch trailers to me, reused Spiderman assets with some animation rigging to make it look like MP footage. Given how much leaked from the Insomniac hack (fully playable SM2/Wolverine source code) surely something for that game would've leaked too if it was somewhat advanced in development.



Both exist. The Horizon GaaS game by Guerilla (some sort of survival thing or MH clone, leaked screenshots are out there) and the MMO game by NCSoft.
They are both officially announced without any chance of mistake? Or just projects like factions 2 that can be cancelled any day?
 
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Didn't fornite initially take off because it was the only way to play a battle royale game on ps4?
Yes I think you're correct, PUBG wasn't available at the time on PS and Fortnite pivoted to fill the void. It's the reason I first played it. Playstation has proved to be a great ecosystem to let these games flourish.
 
? yea this list makes zero fucking sense.

You don't have Destiny 2 listed, yet you list a 3rd party game that failed with Foamstars and other titles that we don't even have any real confirmation that they ever even existed.

Might as well add Fortnite, APEX, COD lol I mean, if we just fucking adding shit to add it, why are you not adding those juggernauts?

You added a Square title for Foamstars....why isn't FFXIV listed?

Soooooo this list sounds really forced and reeks of seeking to spread a false narrative.

Even more odd, why isn't GT7 or GT Sport listed? lol


So it sounds to me like this list was created solely to bash something, as you even ignored first party PlayStation games to list shit that was never confirmed to exist and to list games not even made by the company, but hey...lets leave out the successful ones not made by the publisher lol I mean, you wanted to talk about a Horizon MMO that never existed, to ignore FFXIV, but hey...Square made Foamstars so we gotta list that instead?

Does this sound like some real, objective truthful list to you? lol
 
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sony needs to fail harder to realize that.
ps3 took a huge dive, and they still succeeded. ps4 was good, because they focused on games, but with ps5 we have the same situation again: no games, and barely anything from sony.
but this time, they are even more successful than ps3.

can someone explain why?
 
The amount of bias in this thread is hilarious. You know your argument isn't sound when you're adding Foamstars to Sony's list of failed GaaS games...
 
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sony needs to fail harder to realize that.
ps3 took a huge dive, and they still succeeded. ps4 was good, because they focused on games, but with ps5 we have the same situation again: no games, and barely anything from sony.
but this time, they are even more successful than ps3.

can someone explain why?
People buy the PS5 to play third-party games.
 
So now we're adding canceled games and 3rd party games to the list?

Here's the actual list:

  • MLB The Show – Succeeded
  • Helldivers 2 – Succeeded
  • Gran Turismo 7 - Succeeded
  • Destruction All-Stars – Failed
  • Concord – Failed
  • Marathon
  • Fairgame$
  • New IP From Bend Studio
  • Horizon multiplayer
  • Horizon MMO
You even added a Spider-Man pitch that wasn't even in development. Amazing, LMAO

You can see a somewhat hole in their line up because of all the cancelled games. So op mentioning them seems fair.
 
  • MLB The Show – Succeeded
  • Helldivers 2 – Succeeded
  • Foamstars – Failed (Not a Sony game)
  • Destruction All-Stars – Failed (Not a live service game)
  • Concord – Failed
  • Last of Us 2 Multiplayer – Canceled
  • Payback From Bungie – Canceled (never announced)
  • Twisted Metal – Canceled (development never started)
  • New IP From Deviation Games – Canceled (may have been revived by Blundell working internally at sony)
  • New IP From London Studio – Canceled (never confirmed to be live service to my knowledge at least no game was announced)
  • Spider-Man: The Great Web – Canceled (never announced)
  • Marathon
  • Fairgame$
  • New IP From Bend Studio (never announced as live service)
  • Horizon multiplayer
  • Horizon MMO

Yeah, this is a low quality post.
 
Isn't development of Payback carried over to the new PS studio they split off from Bungie?

Also, you can't diversify without investing into new titles.

This basically boils down to a bunch of nerds online whining that Sony doesn't cater to them specifically.
 
You can see a somewhat hole in their line up because of all the cancelled games. So op mentioning them seems fair.

The hole is due to delayed single-player games more than canceled live service games. Wolverine was announced in 2021, but my guess is that they've run into trouble since like Playground games doing Fable, they're not really suited for this type of game. It's a major departure from what they're good at.
 
Ironically it feels like the Concord approach has the fewest downsides and lowest opportunity cost.

I think they should continue to look for projects they believe in and then scoop up those teams on the cheaper side, instead of investing good single-player teams in what is obviously a crapshoot market.
 
I wonder if the failure of Concorde is going to affect the design of fairgames, as it seems to have a similarly lackluster design. Hopefully Sony pays head and has the design changed to be more aesthetically pleasing( although honestly I would refer a more realistic and boots to the ground design than a cartoonist or stylish one
 
Ngl Horizon Multiplayer with Monster Hunter-esque gameplay loop I'd bd hyped for especially if they made weapons and armour sets as diverse and just went crazy with the new machine designs. But with Wilds on the way they missed the chance.
Though OP putting cancelled games on that list is a little bit misleading since most if not all never even entered production, and single player games equally get cancelled too. Also missing Gran Turismo as sucesses.
Foamstars shouldnt be on there either, its not a PlayStation made game…
 
Dont forget to add a tag that Bungie stuff, Concord and Fairgames had Sony buying out the studio too. Makes it even worse.

I didnt even know Haven studios was bought out by Sony. I thought Jade Raymond's game was a partnership deal game. I didnt know until watching some Concord YT post mortem videos who brought up Fairgames is also a Sony studio.
 
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Marathon and Fairgame$

already-dead.gif


Also I feel like MLB the Show (like GT7) is a very different kind of "GAAS" games. It's not GAAS for the sake of it, or something.
 
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Back when they started talking up their expansion into live service, a lot of people here and everywhere else, including myself, said that they are just going to aim wide and try to get a few hits. Well, it's nice talk but a lot uglier as the process plays out.

Their biggest successes are the ones that they took an existing game and extended it into this world. Same thing EA did with Madden and FIFA. It makes the most sense. Apex was a Titanfall spin-off. They had that Ghost of Tsushima multiplayer mode and I don't think they really knew what they had.

A remaster of the PS3 game, with improved visuals, animations and tweaks to combat ground and air. I'm sure one of Sony's teams could take that on. The Helldivers guys perhaps ?
Warhawk was a multiplayer game, not a live service game. There is a difference. It takes a lot more than just putting out a good multiplayer game to succeed in this space and make something that can be profitable and sustainable for years and years.
 
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