Sony still believes in live-service games despite a string of costly failures

PlayStation CEO Hideaki Nishino says Sony isn't walking away from live-service games, even after a run of high-profile flops and cancellations. In a new interview with Famitsu, he confirmed the company plans to keep pushing the format through both first-party and third-party releases.

Sony originally aimed to ship nearly a dozen live-service games by March 2026, then cut that target roughly in half. Of the titles that actually launched, Helldivers 2 was the only runaway hit. The failures are well documented — Concord, the hero shooter from Firewalk Studios, was shut down shortly after launch, and The Last of Us Online was canceled when it was reportedly around 80 percent complete. A multiplayer God of War spin-off by Bluepoint Games was also scrapped before Sony eventually closed the studio entirely. Nishino pointed to the upcoming Arc System Works-developed Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls, published by Sony, as evidence the company is still actively chasing live-service success. "We believe that live-service games are content that attracts users on a global level, so we want to continue to revitalize the market through both first-party and third-party content," he told Famitsu.

Sony's pivot toward live-service was always a high-risk bet. The appeal for publishers is obvious — a game like Fortnite can generate revenue for years, while a traditional single-player title has a finite audience. But the model is expensive to sustain, player interest can fade fast, and there's no reliable formula for recapturing momentum once it's lost. Sony also quietly removed language about PC multiplatform deployment from its latest corporate filings, suggesting its broader platform strategy may be shifting as well.

Whether Nishino's optimism translates into results remains to be seen. Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls is now the clearest test case for whether Sony has learned anything from its earlier stumbles in the space.