Former PlayStation executive Shuhei Yoshida reveals he would have resisted Sony's controversial push into live-service gaming. Yoshida, SIE Worldwide Studios president from 2008 to 2019, expressed concerns to Kinda Funny Games about the inherent risks Sony acknowledged in this venture.

This statement comes amidst significant challenges for PlayStation's live-service titles. While Helldivers 2 achieved remarkable success, becoming the fastest-selling PlayStation Studios game ever, other ventures have faltered. Concord, in particular, stands as a major setback, shutting down after a short run due to extremely low player numbers. The game, which reportedly cost around $200 million to develop (a figure that didn't cover IP rights or the acquisition of Firewalk Studios, according to Kotaku), represents a substantial financial loss for Sony. This failure follows the cancellation of Naughty Dog's The Last of Us multiplayer project and, more recently, two unannounced live-service games from Bluepoint (a God of War title) and Bend Studio (the Days Gone developer).

Yoshida, departing Sony after 31 years, hypothetically positioned himself as current CEO Hermen Hulst, suggesting he would have resisted the live-service strategy. He highlighted the resource allocation dilemma, questioning the wisdom of diverting funds from established franchises like God of War to potentially less certain live-service projects. He acknowledged Sony's increased investment in live-service games after his departure, but emphasized the inherent risk and low probability of success in such a competitive market. While Helldivers 2's unexpected success proves the unpredictability of the industry, Yoshida believes a more cautious approach would have been preferable. He speculates this differing opinion might have contributed to his departure.

Sony's financial reports reflect this internal struggle. President, COO, and CFO Hiroki Totoki acknowledged lessons learned from both Helldivers 2's triumph and Concord's failure. He criticized the delayed implementation of crucial development gates like user testing and internal evaluations, suggesting earlier intervention could have prevented Concord's downfall. Totoki also pointed to Sony's "siloed organization" and Concord's unfortunate release window, coinciding with the launch of Black Myth: Wukong, as contributing factors to the game's poor performance.

Senior vice president for finance and IR Sadahiko Hayakawa further emphasized the contrasting outcomes of Helldivers 2 and Concord, highlighting the valuable lessons learned from both successes and failures. He stressed the importance of sharing these insights across studios to improve development management and post-launch content support. Sony's future strategy involves a balanced portfolio, combining the proven success of single-player titles with the riskier, yet potentially high-reward, live-service model.

Several PlayStation live-service games are still under development, including Bungie's Marathon, Guerrilla's Horizon Online, and Haven Studio's Fairgame$.