Revisiting the state of Playstation Studios in 2025 - Live service damage

LavitzSlambert

LavitzSlambert

Member
Let's talk about the state of Playstation Studios, ahead of Sony's upcoming FY25 business segment presentation scheduled for the end of this month. First off, let's take a look at recent history. I went back to last year's presentation and looked at the metacritic scores (reviewer and user) most recent original game each studio released. When you view these in the context of Sony's business segments and how they view their development teams, it paints a striking picture of what most on GAF already know.


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dont-worry-sonys-most-recognisable-studios-are-still-focused-on-single-player-ps5-games-2.large.jpg

Single Player Narrative Focus

  • Firesprite - Horizon: Call of the Mountain (2023) 79 / 7.3
  • Housemarque - Returnal (2021) 86 / 7.4
  • Insomniac Games - Spiderman 2 (2023) 90 / 8.7
  • Naughty Dog - The Last of Us Part II (2020) 93 / 5.8
  • Santa Monica Studio - God of War: Ragnarok (2022) 94 / 8.2
  • Sucker Punch - Ghost of Tsushima (2020) 83 / 9.2
  • Team ASOBI - Astro Bot (2024) 94 / 9.2

Partner Studios

  • Bluepoint - Demons Souls (2020) 92 / 8.4
  • Nixxes - N/A, PC ports
  • Valkyrie Entertainment - N/A, most recently supported Concorde and God of War: Ragnarok

Evolving and Multi-Genre

  • Bend Studio - Days Gone (2019) 71 / 8.5
  • Guerrilla Games - Horizon Forbidden West (2022) 88 / 8.0
  • Media Molecule - Dreams (2020) 89 / 8.6
  • Polyphony Digital - Gran Turismo 7 (2022) 87 / 2.5

Live Service Focus

  • Bungie - Destiny 2 (2017) 85 / 5.1
  • Firewalk (closed) - Concord (2024) 62 / 1.7
  • Haven - TBD (Fairgame$)
  • Neon Koi (closed) - N/A
  • San Diego Studio - MLB The Show 25 (2025) 83 / 5.2



Services is suffering immensely with the closure of 2 studios, and major changes at the others. Marathon is at risk to fail (amongst other legal issues at Bungie), Jade Raymond just left Haven which is not boding well for Fairgame$, which leaves San Diego Studio, and two new additions (Dark Outlaw Games and TeamLFG) have no chance of significant output any time soon.

This is concerning, because according to Sony's own three year strategic plan, the growth they are looking for is supposed to come from the live service segment, subscriptions, and tie-ins of existing franchises in other forms of media. Playstation is dropping the ball here compared to Sony's other business segments, and it's going to take time to correct course both in results, and also strategy. That is time Sony doesn't have, since the failures did not just underperform, they completely flopped altogether and future prospects are no longer as appealing as when they first made this strategic plan.

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So what does this mean for Playstation, and the rest of us who are hoping for a turnaround within the PS5 generation? Let's look at the upcoming release schedule, excluding studios who just released a large game within the last 2 to 3 years.

Single Player Narrative Focus

  • Firesprite - Until Dawn 2
  • Housemarque - Saros
  • Insomniac Games - Wolverine
  • Naughty Dog - Intergalactic
  • Santa Monica Studio - Unknown
  • Sucker Punch - Ghost of Yotei

Partner Studios

  • Bluepoint - Unknown
  • Nixxes - More PC ports
  • Valkyrie Entertainment - Uknown

Evolving and Multi-Genre

  • Bend Studio - Unknown
  • Guerrilla Games - Horizon: Hunter's Gathering (Horizon Online)
  • Media Molecule - Uknown
  • Polyphony Digital - Gran Turismo 8

Live Service Focus

  • Bungie - Marathon
  • Haven - Fairgame$
  • San Diego Studio - MLB The Show 26


Ghost of Yotei is imminent, Saros is 2026, we don't know about Intergalactic and Wolverine hasn't even been seen. Marathon and Fairgames$ are not looking promising. We are years away from basically everything else except maybe for Bluepoint's original game. This lineup IS the cavalry, and we probably are not seeing many surprised from Playstation first party until late 2026 or 2027 at the earliest. We are approaching cross-gen territory, or an extended PS5 generation that will be extremely back heavy when it comes to first party releases. People wonders why Sony is pushing these unnecessary remakes so hard, it's because of this huge gaffe in expectations.


There is some silver lining in that third parties are not overshadowed and smaller games like Expedition 33 are getting the attention they deserve. We can also look to Sony's partnerships and more "second party" games like Helldivers 2 and Stellar Blade, but when it comes to the AAA releases Playstation fans have come to expect, there is no getting around the immense damage in Sony's pipeline caused by the failed shift to live service games. I expect more PC ports, remakes/remasters, and other "quick win" initiatives to fill in the gaps of revenue left by Playstation live services missteps. Many will view this as Jim Ryan's legacy, and the damage caused by his management team is going to take a long time to repair.


Edit: I also want to point out explicitly, since I didn't think I needed to above, that this shows a clear commitment to single player games, in contrast to criticisms I see on GAF frequently. Yes, Sony has been focusing on live service more, but they are certainly not abandoning their core single player fanbase. It just seems like that due to the release cadence and all of these "quick wins" that are being churned out as supplemental income to control damage done by the live service flops and to tie into the movies/shows. We got so used to a deluge of Sony's big hits, but when you look back you'll see we got several entries in their biggest franchises from 2020 to 2022.

Edit 2: Updated a few of the upcoming releases based on Perrott's post.
 
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I predict they'll add a new category for the upcoming briefing which should help explain their upcoming plans.

Devolving and Multi-Genre

  • Haven - Fairgames
  • Bungie -Marathon
  • Insomniac - Wolverine
  • Media Molecule - Media Molecule
  • Bluepoint - "still plans on creating cool shit"
 
LavitzSlambert said:
but when it comes to the AAA releases Playstation fans have come to expect
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Time to set better expectations. I don't know how many times I've seen fans let down over not seeing that Santa Monica Studio project, despite the studio releasing God of War Ragnarok in November 2022.
 
nial said:
Time to set better expectations. I don't know how many times I've seen fans let down over not seeing that Santa Monica Studio project, despite the studio releasing God of War Ragnarok in November 2022.
Click to expand...
I was definitely way off on that one. I really expected that one sooner. I've laid out posts in the past with guesses for all the Sony Studios and that was one of the only ones I expected, along with stuff like Venom that seemingly was abandoned.
 
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Punished Miku said:
I was definitely way off on that one. I really expected that one sooner. I've laid out posts in the past with guesses for all the Sony Studios and that was one of the only ones I expected, along with stuff like Venom that seemingly was abandoned.
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Venom was already pushed back to 2027 from the leaks, my best guess is that Insomniac wanted to have a small scale project ready for the PS6 launch, just like Miles Morales was for the PS5 launch.
 
Bends multiplayer game got cancelled, what they're working on is unknown now.

Here's hoping for Days Gone 2 since they just released the remaster for the first.
 
Eh......metacritic user scores are a joke.

But anyway, the problem with Sony first party is this:

rWig9Q8.png


Except for San Diego and Polyphony which exist for MLB and Gran Turismo, exclusively. The rest.....either I have no idea what they are doing or what they are doing looks like shit.
 
Topher said:
Eh......metacritic user scores are a joke.

But anyway, the problem with Sony first party is this:

rWig9Q8.png


Except for San Diego and Polyphony which exist for MLB and Gran Turismo, exclusively. The rest.....either I have no idea what they are doing or what they are doing looks like shit.
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Media Molecule shifted to a new non-UGC game in late 2022, IIRC. John Beech was appointed as a new creative director in May 2023:
www.eurogamer.net

Media Molecule appoints its new creative director

Media Molecule has appointed former lead designer John Beech as its new creative director.
www.eurogamer.net www.eurogamer.net
Mm was set on supporting Dreams for an entire decade before the GAAS initiative started being pushed from late 2017.
 
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nial said:
Media Molecule shifted to a new non-UGC game in late 2022, IIRC. John Beech was appointed as a new creative director in May 2023:
www.eurogamer.net

Media Molecule appoints its new creative director

Media Molecule has appointed former lead designer John Beech as its new creative director.
www.eurogamer.net www.eurogamer.net
Mm was set on supporting Dreams for an entire decade before the GAAS initiative started being pushed from late 2017.
Click to expand...

What is a " non-UGC game"?
 
SILKYSMOOTH30FPS said:
Bluepoint having wasted half a decade on bullshit is annoying the shit outta me.
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2 years, they worked on God of War Ragnarok for 2 years prior to that.
Before anyone brings out the 'support studio!!!!!' thing, they did exactly the same thing on GOWR as Demon's Souls; engineering and art. It's just more reflected on the latter due to its scope.
Topher said:
What is a " non-UGC game"?
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User-generated content game.
Topher said:
That might be what it takes for Sony's upper leadership to take note of the problems.
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Eh, Sony doesn't have much say on Bungie's activities, it's one reason they're not part of PSS. If anything, it's what will take for SIE to take control of Bungie.
 
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Topher said:
Eh......metacritic user scores are a joke.

But anyway, the problem with Sony first party is this:

rWig9Q8.png


Except for San Diego and Polyphony which exist for MLB and Gran Turismo, exclusively. The rest.....either I have no idea what they are doing or what they are doing looks like shit.
Click to expand...

If i was in charge i'd close them all down

Bit upset about losing guerrila but they they bred hulst so fuck em

No severance pay. Fuck the law
 
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DeepEnigma said:
And what are "Partner Studios" when they own them?
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Partners for other internal studios. Bluepoint and Valkyrie work on Santa Monica Studio's games, for instance. Nixxes co-developed Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered with Guerrilla.
Topher said:
And "evolving / multi-genre". Sounds like "miscellaneous" to me.
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I think this is for going from GaaS to SP / doing both. Mm went from GaaS to SP, Bend Studio went from SP to GaaS, Polyphony Digital and Guerrilla do both.
 
nial said:
Partners for other internal studios. Bluepoint and Valkyrie work on Santa Monica Studio's games, for instance. Nixxes co-developed Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered with Guerrilla.

I think this is for going from GaaS to SP / doing both. Mm went from GaaS to SP, Bend Studio went from SP to GaaS, Polyphony Digital and Guerrilla do both.
Click to expand...
img GIF
 
While I have enjoyed the games I have played from Sony this console generation, I think it's hard to argue this isn't their worst ever console generation. Besides Team Asobi and the Astro-bot games (maybe Returnal, if you like roguelikes) what have they done? Everything has been sequels and remakes/remasters. I also have very little hype for upcoming releases. They really shot themselves in the foot with their GAAS pivot.
 
LavitzSlambert said:

Single Player Narrative Focus

  • Firesprite - Project Heartbreak
  • Housemarque - Saros
  • Insomniac Games - Wolverine
  • Naughty Dog - Intergalactic
  • Santa Monica Studio - Unknown
  • Sucker Punch - Ghost of Yotei

Partner Studios

  • Bluepoint - Unknown original IP
  • Nixxes - More PC ports
  • Valkyrie Entertainment - Uknown

Evolving and Multi-Genre

  • Bend Studio - Uknown, rumored multiplayer game
  • Guerrilla Games - Uknown, rumors of online Horizon game
  • Media Molecule - Uknown
  • Polyphony Digital - Gran Turismo 8

Live Service Focus

  • Bungie - Marathon
  • Haven - Fairgame$
  • San Diego Studio - MLB The Show 26
Click to expand...
Some corrections:
  • Firesprite's Project Heartbreak is Until Dawn 2.
  • There's no guarantee that Intergalatic, which is coming out in 2027, might be Naughty Dog's next project.
  • Bluepoint's "original content" (not to confuse with an original IP) was their work on the canned God of War live-service project. There's no indication whatsoever about what the future may hold for them as of now.
  • Same is true of Bend Studio, their live-service open-world new IP was cancelled a few months back. We have no idea about what might be next for them, especially in light of their inability from a staff standpoint to revert to story-driven, singleplayer titles. They're either going down this FY or becoming a support operation, if you ask me.
  • Guerrilla Games' next title is Horizon: Hunters Gathering, aka Horizon Online (not to confuse with the Korean-developed MMORPG, also in the works), there's no uncertainty about it.
  • I see that you're missing Dark Outlaw Games and teamLFG, both new internal teams working on new IP, plus the Team Asobi.
Out of the 13 non-support studios you've listed, plus the 3 that I've reminded you of, there are:
  • 8 of them that will certainly have an original game out within the next 18 months.
  • 4 of them will also have their next games out within 24 months.
  • And I'm confident in that teamLFG will have their Gummy Bears project out by late 2027, which is 30 months from now.
  • Leaving only Dark Outlaw Games and Team Asobi for, likely, 2028 and Bend Studio, if ever allowed to pursur another original title of their own, for later than that.
That's a remarkable level of output for the internal teams, not counting that Guerrilla, Insomniac, Naughty Dog, Santa Monica and Bungie will certainly have more than one upcoming project out before the end of the generation.
 
Can't say I've ever been less interested in Sony first party.

Topher said:
Eh......metacritic user scores are a joke.

But anyway, the problem with Sony first party is this:

rWig9Q8.png


Except for San Diego and Polyphony which exist for MLB and Gran Turismo, exclusively. The rest.....either I have no idea what they are doing or what they are doing looks like shit.
Click to expand...

On paper I liked the idea of Sony investing in new studios to work on live service. I thought it was a good strategy because it would allow them to pursue a piece of the GAAS cake without burdening their established studios with it.

But then ND, Bluepoint and Bend go and waste a bunch of time on live service crap anyway. Guerilla might be in the process of doing the same for all we know.
 
Perrott said:
Some corrections:
  • Firesprite's Project Heartbreak is Until Dawn 2.
  • There's no guarantee that Intergalatic, which is coming out in 2027, might be Naughty Dog's next project.
  • Bluepoint's "original content" (not to confuse with an original IP) was their work on the canned God of War live-service project. There's no indication whatsoever about what the future may hold for them as of now.
  • Same is true of Bend Studio, their live-service open-world new IP was cancelled a few months back. We have no idea about what might be next for them, especially in light of their inability from a staff standpoint to revert to story-driven, singleplayer titles. They're either going down this FY or becoming a support operation, if you ask me.
  • Guerrilla Games' next title is Horizon: Hunters Gathering, aka Horizon Online (not to confuse with the Korean-developed MMORPG, also in the works), there's no uncertainty about it.
  • I see that you're missing Dark Outlaw Games and teamLFG, both new internal teams working on new IP, plus the Team Asobi.
Out of the 13 non-support studios you've listed, plus the 3 that I've reminded you of, there are:
  • 8 of them that will certainly have an original game out within the next 18 months.
  • 4 of them will also have their next games out within 24 months.
  • And I'm confident in that teamLFG will have their Gummy Bears project out by late 2027, which is 30 months from now.
  • Leaving only Dark Outlaw Games and Team Asobi for, likely, 2028 and Bend Studio, if ever allowed to pursur another original title of their own, for later than that.
That's a remarkable level of output for the internal teams, not counting that Guerrilla, Insomniac, Naughty Dog, Santa Monica and Bungie will certainly have more than one upcoming project out before the end of the generation.
Click to expand...
Thank GIF


This should have been included in the OP.
We also know ND is working on two games.
Hopefully a new Uncharted as I am beginning to miss that franchise.
 
Perrott said:
[*]Same is true of Bend Studio, their live-service open-world new IP was cancelled a few months back. We have no idea about what might be next for them, especially in light of their inability from a staff standpoint to revert to story-driven, singleplayer titles. They're either going down this FY or becoming a support operation, if you ask me.
Click to expand...
They deserve it then. And John Garvin was right to be pissed off at their studio clown-shift all along.

bitbydeath said:
Hopefully a new Uncharted as I am beginning to miss that franchise.
Click to expand...
Same.
 
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DeepEnigma said:
Should've been the Cyberpunk release and a myriad of other examples prior and present.
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Difference being Cyberpunk being an amazing game with a rocky and buggy launch and console versions being essentially broken. To a rather limp GoW release.
 
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hinch7 said:
Difference being Cyberpunk being an amazing game with an some awful launch; with consoles being essentially broken. To a rather limp GoW release.
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A broken game where they passed off the PC reviews as console game reviews in their scoring.

Far more sinister than ones opinions of a non-broken high production value game in GoWR. Which still retained great gameplay & graphics.

It wasn't until 2.0 for the real Cyberpunk to appear. They all got cool gamer chair merch, however.
 
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GT7 is way better than its user Metascore (which only reflects certain policies and content art launch which were addressed within a few weeks right after) would suggest tbh

Anyway, interesting thread OP. Hope some good discussions come out of it.
 
DeepEnigma said:
A broken game where they passed off the PC reviews as console game reviews in their scoring.

Far more sinister than ones opinions of a non-broken high production value game in GoWR. Which still retained great gameplay.

It wasn't until 2.0 for the real Cyberpunk to appear. They all got cool gamer chair merch, however.
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Not defending shitty launches but you can fix bugs and performance issues with time. But you can't fix a game that's fundamentally a bore to play. While bad launches are bad for consumers people got their money back on consoles and CDPR did a course correction in making good for their user base.

Fyi I enjoyed playing the 2077 at launch on PC so I never got the hate for the game, other than it being a bit buggy and it being broken for a while on console.
 
hinch7 said:
Fyi I enjoyed playing the 2077 at launch on PC so I never got the hate for the game, other than it being a bit buggy and it being broken for a while on console.
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I just explained it to you. They facilitated in hiding the console issues behind the PC reviews, instead of being good "journalists" and spilling the beans about the state of those ports.

Far more sinister and untrustworthy than opinions on a well-polished game which show in this very thread and abroad that opinions vary in that respect.
 
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GOW Ragnarok is a fantastic game that absolutely deserves the critical reception it got

Cyberpunk's scores at release were an embarrassment, particularly for the console versions.

Cyberpunk as it is right now is underscored given how GOATed it is

I Have Spoken GIF by IMDb
 
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