PlayStation Legend Shuhei Yoshida 'Would've Tried to Resist' Sony's Live Service Push

Former PlayStation executive Shuhei Yoshida reveals he would have resisted Sony's controversial live-service game push, citing inherent risks. Yoshida, SIE Worldwide Studios President (2008-2019), expressed concerns to Kinda Funny Games about Sony's substantial investment in a genre known for its unpredictable outcomes.

This statement comes amidst a period of 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, a particularly notable failure, was shut down after a brief period due to extremely low player numbers, representing a substantial financial loss (approximately $200 million according to Kotaku, a figure that didn't cover the full development cost or IP rights). This followed the cancellation of Naughty Dog's The Last of Us multiplayer game and, recently, two further unannounced live-service titles.

Yoshida, departing Sony after 31 years, hypothetically placed himself in CEO Hermen Hulst's shoes, suggesting he would have advocated against the aggressive live-service strategy. He highlighted the resource allocation dilemma: diverting funds from established single-player franchises like God of War to potentially unsuccessful live-service projects. However, he acknowledged that Sony provided additional resources for live-service development alongside continued support for single-player titles, recognizing the inherent risk involved.

Sony's financial reports reflect this learning process. President, COO, and CFO Hiroki Totoki attributed Concord's failure to insufficient early-stage user testing and internal evaluation, advocating for earlier implementation of these development gates. He also pointed to Sony's "siloed organization" and Concord's unfortunate release window, close to the highly successful Black Myth: Wukong, as contributing factors.

Senior Vice President Sadahiko Hayakawa emphasized the contrasting outcomes of Helldivers 2 and Concord, highlighting the valuable lessons learned regarding development management, post-launch content, and scaling services. He affirmed Sony's intention to balance its portfolio, leveraging its proven single-player IP while strategically pursuing higher-risk, higher-reward live-service opportunities.

Despite these setbacks, several PlayStation live-service games remain under development, including Bungie's Marathon, Guerrilla's Horizon Online, and Haven Studio's Fairgame$. The future success of this strategy remains to be seen.