Jetpack Interactive, a small support studio based in Vancouver, has posted job listings for a AAA live service game it is working on with Sony. The title is based on a "flagship" PlayStation IP, and will form part of the platform holder's large push into the live service games sector. The Canadian team is actively recruiting engineers in the gameplay, networking, and rendering sectors.
This appears to be the first game Jetpack Interactive will have developed on its own, with its previous work revolving around bringing other titles to market. It helped EA on the NBA Live series for a number of years before providing "engineering support" for the Steam upgrade to Dark Souls. It then did the same for Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare 2.
In recent years, though, the studio appears to have developed a relationship with Sony. It ported Orcs Must Die! Unchained to PS4, brought God of War to PC, and has also lent a helping hand on God of War Ragnarok.
With hirings still ongoing, it's unlikely this project will see the light of day with an announcement any time soon. Sony plans to launch 10 live services games by March 2026, though, so this will be just one of many. The Last of Us Multiplayer will spearhead the lineup, and it'll be joined by a Twisted Metal title from Firesprite Games. Destiny 2 developer Bungie has been acquired to help the company make all of this a success.
What "flagship" Sony IP could this game be based on? Share your prediction in the comments below.
[source linkedin.com]
Comments 42
Cries a little inside....
Just make Horizon: Monster Hunter, you cowards!
Bloodborne Royale
If this is the way we get SOCOM back I will be fuming.
@itsfoz Sony would be stupid if it were to bring back SOCOM and not make it a live service game. The two things go hand in hand.
Could be anything really, it's good to see Sony are branching out. They can't keep making single player only games forever. As long as the games are good and the business models fair then it should be fine.
@LiamCroft Oh no Liam. Don’t do this to me. I love having the whole team strategically to work with.
All of the Tom Clancy games did the same stupid thing of going this way.
@LiamCroft - Do you know what, after all this time I think I have misunderstood Live Service. I thought it automatically meant Multiplayer. Didn’t realise it was in line with the Hitman games.
I take it back, SOCOM WOULD work perfectly.
Please, please be Killzone or Resistance. They could do wonders as competition in the FPS space.
@LiamCroft SOCOM would also be a brilliant idea!
Having a live service entry in a franchise doesn't limit that IP to solely live-service/ multiplayer entries. Tbh it would likely kickstart a revival of that IP, bringing the opportunity of more single-player and focussed experiences.
@itsfoz Yep, live service can apply to single player games too. Assassin's Creed Valhalla is a perfect example.
Given the Legacy of Thieves Collection didn't include Uncharted 4's multiplayer, Uncharted perhaps? TLoU Part 1 didn't include Factions because Factions 2 is coming soon.
@itsfoz That's the thing, live service isn't a genre. It's more of a content distribution method. Like you say with Hitman, they use it to release either new maps or targets.
@itsfoz All live service really means, in layman's terms, is that they want to keep adding content to the game consistently after launch. Usually this is monetised, understandably, as otherwise who or what will pay for ongoing development. But not always.
There are loads of single player games that are live services, it doesn't have to mean multiplayer at all. It doesn't have to be a dirty thing. Though personally I generally like my games to have a beginning, middle and end, then move onto the next thing and not just go in perpetuity.
And there’s me thinking I was an older, veteran gamer. DOH!
Spice World 2 baby!!!
@themightyant well I think a big advantage of a live service game is that it keeps growing. What Fortnite was when it released is nothing close to what it is now.
I look at Destruction All stars. That game was boring as hell on release but now it’s at least entertaining for a few hours at a time. I think live service is the way to go and Sony would be shooting themselves in the foot if they didn’t invest so heavily in them
My guess is that, if it's not TLoU, it could maybe be an uncharted live service game.
Please invest in PSVR2. the whole Live Service thing will get old realy soon and die like most of those titles.
Its in response to the soapbox the other day...
WARHAWK
After the awesome God of War port, I'm surprised Sony didn't acquire Jetpack Interactive. They do as well a Nixxes.
@Futureshark I will leak out of every orifice of my body if this happened
Whenever I hear or read the term 'live service' my loins engorge.
God I hope the vast majority of these fail. Nothing would make me happier than to see the Playstation community push back against these live service games and force Sony to go back to what made them successful in the first place.
Killzone, Resistance, MAG and maybe Uncharted (co-op missions, events and new stories)
@Ken_Kaniff They will, Sony doesnt have a good track-record of MP Games and they probably still think they can sell GaaS for 79€ instead of making them F2P
@Shepherd_Tallon You better make that a real game that plan sounds way to cool.
@TheCollector316 I suspect that this is an acid test for them. To see if they can handle their own game. With Sony already owning Haven in Canada , if Jetpack do a good job I can see Sony adding to a little network of Canadian studios.
@IonMagi I hope you're right.
I'd love to see a Soul Sacrifice 2.
Who actually enjoys these live services games as they are and doesn't think that with a lot less faff and microtransactions, there's probably a good game waiting to come out?
Sorry, Sony, but you lost me at "live service". Not interested.
the term Live Service Game doesn’t inspire confidence, but if anyone can make something truly great out of it, it’s Sony. Killzone or Resistance would be really fun, but I say bring back MAG!
Premium game companies that cut their teeth on single player stuff make terrible "live service" games.
@theGoodChap Acquiring Bungie doesn't mean these live service games are a lock to be good. I played Destiny and was not super impressed with the long grind and the raids that took 4 hours and a well put together team. Not everyone has time for that. Some of us need to be able to play on our own time, and thats what Sony provided prior to this push. Now as far as the TLOU live service game im sure you're right and it will be a well made game, but most of these are not being made by ND. Plus this market is so crowded right now and to think of having to try and keep up with 10 of these over the next 3 years is nauseating. What will happen is most people will flock to the TLOU one and the majority of the rest will fail. No one has the time to keep up with all the seasons for 10 live service games in three years.
This Sony live service thing is so gonna bomb. There are corpses of the games piling up. I'm sure it's more that we need.
@IonMagi What track record? I can't think of a big MP game Sony has made in the last decade in fact they were downright hostile toward MP last gen pushing the SP games narrative ad nauseum.
@theGoodChap If they make a Destiny clone it will flop hard except on Playstation due to no Sony MP FPS to compare it to just like Destiny.
With Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl & Multiversus rising in popularity (Mostly Multiversus), Sony really should greenlight PlayStation All-Stars 2, get Insomniac Games, Santa Monica Studios, Team Asobi, Bluepoint & XDev on the case and I think we could get the dream PlayStation All-Star Battle Royale experience we should have gotten back in 2012.
Live service games can also be single player people
@Futureshark honestly I’m down for that… just hope the trophy list isn’t so brutal on another game
@Teddie-bear a game set in the Killzone universe but developed by bungie is my go-to scenario for a big MP project for PS5. Make it happen pony!
i feel like most people who hate live service games , have no idea why they are upset or have no clue what a live service game actually is. the last assassins creed game was a live service game.
@Smiffy01 multiplayer gamers have been crying the entirety of the ps4 gen , its our turn now
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