Sony's acquisition of Destiny developer Bungie will aid the company in the production of future live service games, boss Jim Ryan has said. In a post on the official SIE website, the bigwig said: "This is a strategic step towards continuing to evolve the gaming experiences that we build. Bungie’s expertise in delivering a world-class service approach and long-term community engagement is extremely compelling and will support the development of several future live services titles from PlayStation Studios."
Ryan then goes on to explain that PlayStation Studios will also help bolster Bungies own IP, both in the present and the future. "During the extensive conversations that have taken place over the past few months, it is apparent that Bungie’s management is incredibly excited at the prospect of collaborating with the PlayStation Studios teams."
Of course, we've heard word about multiplayer games coming out of Sony for a while now. Naughty Dog is still plugging away at its own multiplayer project based on The Last of Us universe, there's a Twisted Metal reboot in the works at Firesprite Games, and then there are the collaborations with the likes of Deviation Games, which could well be doing something online based. It sounds like there could be even more on the way beyond that.
[source sie.com]
Comments 56
Yay. Live Service…… 😅
… and all ‘free’ on Spartacus (mtx terms and contains will apply). The arms race is now official. Nobody wanted it… but you were naive if you thought burying your head in the sand would make everything okay I’m afraid.
And the bad news keeps coming for those of us that prefer traditional games with a traditional amount of content at a traditional price.
Well, apparently they needed to stop making third person AAA SP games according to a few on here and elsewhere.
Sounds like they got their wish!
Live service games = death of gaming.
The Jim Ryan effect...he wants to eventually have every game Sony publishes be a another Fortnite. This clown will be the end of Playstation as we know it.
***** live service games. If that’s all this was for, I’d rather you didn’t bother Jim.
This as pretty much expected, no? Factions will be one. Twisted Metal too. I bet the game from Jade Raymond will be as well.
At least so far looks like Sony isn't moving their "traditional" studios to do that (besides Naughty Dog, but even they already confirmed that multiple projects are in the works)
This doesn't excite me all that much since I primarily play single player games.
That being said live service games can work well, but they need to be done correctly right out of the gate otherwise they risk falling flat on their face. (i.e. Anthem, Battlefield 2042)
You guys realise that Sony's first-party single-player games probably aren't going anywhere, right?
The company has always relied on third-party publishers for live service income (think Call of Duty, Fortnite, etc.). This is a move that makes sense for Sony — live service is where the mega bucks are, and a developer like Bungie has invaluable experience in that sector.
Sony's model is to sell systems with AAA first-party games and then make a fortune from PSN. That isn't going to change anytime soon.
From Bungie’s perspective, I get the feeling they have big plans on expanding Destiny’s reach into television and/or film. I wonder if that’s a big part of what made this deal attractive to them.
Bungie was so good at making Destiny 2 a live service that I stopped playing Destiny 2.
@ShogunRok The voice of reason. If Sony stopped making the single-player experiences people have come to love they'd be shooting themselves in the foot. They aren't that stupid.
No. Not interest in any of that b******s.
So they're going to start releasing unfinished games lacking in content filled with microtransactions and battle passes? Great...just great.
@Medic_Alert True, not saying it will never happen, but at this moment in time, PlayStation's identity relies on the AAA 'premium' output of its first-party studios.
You would hope that companies like Sony watched as Nintendo and Microsoft pursued the casual crowds (and failed to varying degrees with the Wii U and Kinect). Obviously that was a very different time, but no doubt lessons were learned.
The next decade in gaming is going to be mental.
Not interested in live services, they can keep them.
@Medic_Alert "the live service thing is where the money is" - partly true.
Where the money is, is being the store owner and taking 30% on ALL sales of all those live services. Or even more if you own the live service titles too.
In order for Sony to keep that store they have to keep making compelling content on their platform. People go to PlayStation for their AAA. I just think this is sensible diversification rather than a strategy shift.
Well you all kept saying "PlayStation needs more Multiplayer Games", you only have yourselves to blame for this.
This is why I kept saying PlayStation doesn't need Multiplayer Games and should stick to delivering those high-quality Single-Player Story-Driven experiences, but instead of demanding Third-Party Developers to step up their Single-Player game, it was always 'PlayStation should do what every other Tom, Dick & Harry are doing and make another Copy-and-Paste Multiplayer Game in an industry oversaturated by Copy-and-Paste Multiplayer Games'.
This is what ya'll wanted remember? Don't be mad now, ya'll getting what you asked for...
@ShogunRok Exactly this.
This move does two things;
i)
Starts them on a path where they don't have to rely as much on revenue from third party service games. If they have their own, it's not as large a blow when a third party franchise is pulled.
ii)
Gives them massive capability in relation to online games. Bungie have already made most of the mistakes. Sony will learn tonnes from them.
This kind of talk gives me hope that Factions when it comes will be big, rather than just a nice 4v4 game with different modes.
The singleplayer games are going nowhere, and online worlds can be fun.
win/win
Not a fan but I guess they need it
If this helps improve the quality and support of their live service games, then Im interested.
Regardless though, Sony should better off focus on singleplayer games with multiplayer elements/modes. I'd much rather have Bungie work on a new Resistance or Killzone game than to have them make another live service game.
@Medic_Alert Also an old man gamer who doesn't care for live services (except Genshin Impact, I got suckered and can't stop! lol)
But I'm also aware of how big these are for OTHER players. I don't think Sony is going to do anything to upset their golden goose which is their platform.
I've been around long enough to here people ringing the death knell often enough. It very rarely happens. happy gaming!
Jim Ryan really wants to follow Phil Spencer to the gates of hell here. Soon enough Nintendo will be the only company left making high quality traditional single-player games while Microsoft and now Sony will chase the online, microtransaction audience.
I hope all those whiners complaining about Sony's 3rd person cinematic GOTY calibre games come to regret it when we see an influx of trashy, incomplete, free-to-play, MTX filled looters, battle royales and survival games. The games we've come to expect from 1st party will be so few and far between now. You never realise how good you have it until it's gone.
I still don't understand why Sony (clearly) overpaid for Bungie when they will continue to do exactly what they were doing before the purchase but maybe not! they might get to work on a much needed multiplat live service game 🙄
Yuck! Thank god I have a huge backlog that will keep me busy till my life’s end. Don’t know that I’ll be investing much in the future of gaming.
Now yes Guerilla and Insomniac have made shooters in the past, but this definitely fills Playstation's void for a premiere FPS studio. The talent coming over can move off Destiny and maybe develop the next Resistance, Killzone, new IP, etc. Let Bungie do what they want to do.
The near future sounds like a streaming subscription based always online live service multiplayer with a choice of playing star wars or marvel games whilst hooked up to a psvr2 and everytime you blink you agree to pay for a microtransaction.
This is really underwhelming. Personally one of the reasons why I have stuck to PlayStation consoles all these years have been because of their quality single player IPs. I hope there isn't too much focus on this type of games going forward that cause a drop off in said singleplayer IPs, cause I can't say I care much for it.
I’m just thinking … how about VR?
That would be fascinating with Bungie helping.
Live service and Co op online games having been coming to gamepass way too frequently and it looks like this is the future of gaming for the two big boys.
Luckily if that's the case il still have Nintendo for my gaming
Sony has said for a while they wanted to expand multi-player offerings. It may not be our cup of tea but games like COD, FIFA, Destiny and GTA online are bigger than any single player games, first party or other wise. The age of Consoles leading gaming is coming to a end. Not tomorrow but they will decline in relevance over the coming decade. Mobile is already the largest in pure money terms, although a lot of that is not the same market as consoles. But soon, every laptop will have the power to game on and every TV will have game streaming built in. PS is the biggest earner for Sony and they have to leverage that for future markets.
This does not mean they will stop making single player games. Why would they stop doing what they are best at just at the time when they need to expand
Killzone live service game in coming
I can see the writing on the wall with this and it looks like there's no turning back. Just gonna enjoy the single player ride while I can and pray Nintendo doesn't follow these fools to the dark pits.
@colonelkilgore NOOOOO. Not day 1! please!
@OmegaStriver They are burying the hardcore!!!
@Col_McCafferty They don't need to stop. They shouldn't. They just need other things to complement the library.
Good times have gone dead and it's sad to see this happening like this 😒😒
@ShogunRok ty
@Ken_Kaniff Lets calm down lmao. Single player games aren't going anywhere. It's not like those devs make better MP than they make SP.
@Arkham24601 so services?
@RevGaming that’s my current theory about PonyGAAS (… and it’s okay, I’m a PlayStation player and don’t even own an Xbox… it’s just my funny term for whatever Spartacus will eventually be called) that all 1st Party Multiplayer titles will be on the sub-service day and date… while the 1st Party single player stuff will still require a purchase. Don’t think anything is off the table though.
@JustPlainLoco They do need multiplayer games!
Some people here are way too selfish that only want all of sony studios to make games for them.
Wake up. Sony needs multiplayer, FPS, fighting games ASAP, even if they aren't for you. You will still get the games you love.
Not everything is about you.
@colonelkilgore Oh. Destruction all stars should've been on a service. for sure. If single player games are not on the service day 1 and only MP ones, I can manage that, but then again, the games would have crazy no life grinds and mtx for those multiplayer ones.
I still don't get why people luuuv gamepass. Xbox is still in the honeymoon phase. All will be reveal within time.
@RevGaming yeah Gamepass just doesn’t appeal to me neither… thing is Sony are swimming against the current in terms of public opinion lately, and they have to rebrand (and retool) their own sub-service in an effort to curry favour with the masses.
I've not heard many good things about live service games. Thanks.
SONY has the banging AAA Single player Exclusives and if they can have a few banging AAA Multiplayer Exclusives that would be perfect and that should keep the evil(Microsoft) away
@colonelkilgore Only if you go on twitter.
@RevGaming Personally I get insane value out of GamePass. I pay $0 for it because I use MS rewards program.
I played 10-15 games on it in the last year including three large AAA games, I’d say four but I don’t think Psychonauts 2 is technically AAA. Even I had paid the $180 for the year with zero discounts I easily got my monies worth.
I think it all just comes down to two things, do you really wanna? Do you really wanna taste it? Peacemaker reference aside, do you like the games GP and do you not care about having them sit on a shelf when done it trade them in. If you don’t care about trading or keeping it’s great value.
When they talked about Bungie helping I thought it was to help make Resistance and Killzone BETTER. Not to make mediocre live service lol
@FatalBubbles I do care about keeping games.
Well. Look at the third party AAA games that come there. DnD, Outriders, Back 4 Blood, Rainbow Six Siege Extraction, I think the Alien Co-op shooter too... even Halo, they all had problems. I think after a while, most games will be ones that they aren't as good as, but since you didn't pay that much you won't mind. I am not liking that mentality from the xbox camp.
I think the discount is a good way to use it, but nobody uses it like that. Most don't buy the game (or finish them). Especially single player games. That's -4 motivation to make good games in my book.
@RevGaming Ya the service is not for you if you want to hang on to games.
I never ever keep games so it’s been great for me. I’m excited to see what Sony offers in that same vein.
That's the last thing I want, especially if Bungie is hoping out. They've totally botched D2, and their pricing structure is abhorrent.
Pass!
@colonelkilgore Yeah, I’m looking at this purchase in the context of Project Spartacus and thinking it all makes sense now. The big AAA Sony games won’t be coming to Spartacus day one, but a new stable of live service, multiplayer, Halo clones, and perhaps proprietary DLC for Destiny will be the day 1 releases that they will try to compete with GamePass’s day one first party stuff.
Honestly, it’s an outcome that I’m semi-okay with, as an alternative to the awesome single player IP like Horizon, GoW, Spider-Man, TLoU, etc. being diluted down for release on a streaming service. I don’t play these Halo/Destiny/Online/Live Service games, but a lot of people do. Am I being naïve to think that the live service and multiplatform games will help fund all the other Sony first party SP content? 😄
I won't be playing any of them, but I hope the audience they're aiming at do enjoy the games they pump out!
What a waste of human resources on live service crap...
@Th3solution I’m hoping that’s the case (in regards that the money generated from Spartacus these GAAS will be the ‘insurance’ that maintains the AAA single player blockbusters that we love) but… it could very easily go a couple of other directions too. Namely, the Gamepass charm offensive continues to work overtime and the general populace will scoff at Sony’s attempted ‘answer’ to the multifaceted day and date ‘wonders’ on Microsoft’s sub-service. Conversely, it could be a roaring success and Sony just see through all the development hours and creative drama (and huge budgets) that the huge single player exclusives need for what turns out to be meagre recompense in comparison to these quick-to-market, patch-as-you-go GAAS filled to the brim with mtx.
I obviously hope it’s the ‘future’ that you envisioned… but who knows, these are the craziest of times.
What like anthem? Yeah that's going to work out well. I'm more interested in the millions they're going to lose next week. Selling ps4 horizon forbidden west for £52 and ps5 version for £70. Yet the ps4 version has a free upgrade to ps5. Who is stupid enough to buy the ps5 version?
Tap here to load 56 comments
Leave A Comment
Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...