PlayStation’s live service push is an overwhelming failure – it’s time to get back to what works
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Continued cancelled live service projects paint a worrying picture for PlayStation's strategy going forward, unless the platform refocuses on what it does best. When I woke up this morning I expected to wax lyrical about all things Nintendo Switch 2. Why I’m excited that Nintendo’s next console looks to be continuing the strengths of its predecessor; why a new Mario Kart will be the perfect launch title; and why I don’t think the launch model will come packing an OLED screen (despite my ill-fated hopes it would). But I’m afraid this is no longer possible. Why? Because not too long after the Nintendo Switch successor was revealed, another story broke via Bloomberg explaining that PlayStation had decided to cancel not one, but two more unannounced live service games it had in development. In the grand scheme of things, it’s absolutely the right decision, but indicative of what has already been obvious to players for years now: PlayStation’s live service game strategy was deluded from the start.
The two unannounced live service games in question were being developed by Bend, most known for its so-so open-world zombie game Days Gone; and Bluepoint, the remake specialist studio behind the PS5’s utterly excellent version of Demon’s Souls. The cancellation particularly stings in the case of the latter, since fans had been hoping Bluepoint was busy working on another remake of an exceptional PlayStation classic – perhaps, dare I say, Bloodborne. We now know this not to be true, however, since journalist Jason Schreier explained in a Bluesky post that what the studio has actually working on since 2022 was “a live service God of War game”. God of War. The over-the-shoulder action epic lauded for its in-depth characters and emotional storytelling. Dear lord.
