Sony and Bungie have 10 live service games planned — and that’s too many
Sony and Bungie take 10 live service games planned — and that's likewise many
By now, you've probably heard that Sony purchased Bungie for a cool $3.six billion. The game programmer behind the Destiny series and the original Halo games volition at present work aslope PlayStation Studios, further refining Destiny 2 and helping develop new IPs, while nonetheless maintaining its creative independence.
What you may not have heard, all the same, is that the Bungie purchase isn't primarily nearly Destiny, or the company's upcoming unannounced IP. Instead, it's primarily well-nigh live-service games — and we tin can expect to encounter a whole lot of them from Sony in the not-too-distant futurity.
Why Sony wanted Bungie
If you haven't read the GamesIndustry.biz interview with Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO Jim Ryan, it's worth your time. Ryan made information technology clear that Sony wanted Bungie's expertise, get-go and foremost, every bit a purveyor of live-service games. Destiny ii, while not exactly an afterthought, almost seems like more of a proof-of-concept for Ryan.
"Pete [Parsons, Bungie CEO] and I have spent a lot of time talking, and we were struck by how similarly we see the globe. And just how complementary our two organizations are," Ryan said. "They make massive, immersive games that have no end.
"I've been on record talking about increasing the size of the PlayStation community, and expanding beyond our historic panel heartland … We have an ambitious route map with live services. And the opportunity to work with, and particularly larn from, the brilliant and talented people from Bungie … that is going to considerably advance the journey we find ourselves on."
It'southward non necessary to rehash the entire interview here, simply Ryan fabricated similar comments throughout. It'southward articulate that Ryan has respect for the Destiny IP, only he's much more interested in leveraging Bungie'south power to build and maintain both ongoing games and passionate communities.
We learned from a Sony investor phone call today (Feb. two), as reported past The Verge, that Ryan speaks for the whole company when he says this.
"The strategic significance of this acquisition lies not only in obtaining the highly successfully Destiny franchise … merely as well incorporating into the Sony group the expertise and technologies Bungie has developed in the live game services space," said Hiroki Totoki, Sony's principal fiscal officer. "Through close collaboration between Bungie and PlayStation Studios we aim to launch more than 10 live service games by the fiscal twelvemonth ending March 2026."
Naturally, this doesn't mean that Sony expects Bungie to develop x new live-service games by itself. And, like many gaming projects, we wait some of these games to disappear or go delayed forth the fashion. But yet: 10 alive-service games within the side by side four years is an awful lot. Arguably, it's more than Sony's intended audience can handle.
The limits of live service
Starting time off: Tom's Guide has no special insight into Sony'south plans, or how the video gaming landscape might change over the next four years. Perhaps Ryan and Totoki know something the residue of us don't — and, frankly, given how influential their positions are, maybe they should. But every bit things stand right now, ten new live-service games from a single publisher is aggressive, at best, and potentially disastrous, at worst.
Before we go farther, it'south worth trying to smash downwardly exactly what constitutes a alive-service game, since the definition can be a little slippery. In its broadest sense, a alive-service game simply ways a game that the developers program to back up with new content for an unspecified corporeality of time. Something like Assassin'southward Creed Valhalla, with its never-ending stream of rotating events, probably counts every bit a live-service game; Assassin's Creed Syndicate, with its robust just finite set of DLC adventures, probably doesn't count as a live-service game.
However, it's probably fair to say Sony has its eye on multiplayer live-service games, since those are Bungie'due south expanse of expertise. Massively multiplayer online RPGs, such as Final Fantasy 14, are live-service games, equally are competitive online shooters, such equally Halo Space. Bungie's own Destiny 2 occupies a foreign space in the heart. This cooperative and competitive first-person shooter is ostensibly story-driven, but most new narrative events are available for just a limited amount of time.
It's understandable why Sony would want to have a big swing on alive-service games. Based on Steam analytics, all of this week's top ten games have alive-service components, from the new characters and maps in Noon Legends, to the endless boodle box microtransactions in FIFA 22. Battle royale game PUBG: Battlegrounds is one of the near popular games always released on Steam, while MMORPG New World is not far behind. In that location are a lot of players in the live service space — and, consequently, a lot of money.
Ironically, because live-service games are then popular, it'due south actually quite difficult to launch a new one. Unlike traditional narrative games, in that location'south no fixed endpoint — and unlike traditional multiplayer games, you lot may non be able to simply frazzle the content, then wait for the sequel. As such, each live-service game demands a great bargain of a player's time and attention, often requiring daily logins to maximize their rewards or stay competitive.
Suppose every potential thespian has enough bandwidth for 1 live-service game, and a few hardcore players accept plenty bandwidth for ii. (I do not personally know anyone who stays abreast of more than two at a fourth dimension. They may exist, but probably non in sufficient numbers to maintain a whole ecosystem.) Live-service game audiences take to come up from somewhere. Either in that location'southward a huge untapped audience who merely oasis't found the right game yet, or Sony expects that existing live-service players volition abandon other games in droves to play their new titles. Neither scenario sounds ironclad.
Alive-service games tin can nonetheless dice
Allow's talk about the enormous pinkish llama in the room. While Fortnite is not the only live-service game in existence, it is arguably the most popular. Between 2018 and 2020, Fortnite'south active player population grew from 78.3 million to fourscore.4 million. Ane has to imagine that the pandemic has driven those numbers fifty-fifty higher since then.
And still, one game'south success doesn't dictate a whole game pattern philosophy's fortunes. Fortnite itself arguably siphoned a lot of players abroad from PUBG, and the colorful multiplayer shooter is now just as much of an all-purpose social platform as it is a game. I take no trouble believing that with a killer game design and a little luck on their side, Sony and Bungie could pull off a Fortnite-fashion success. I simply don't think the company could then proceed to do it nine more times.
Game publishers dearest to focus on the Fortnites of the industry — the Rocket Leagues, the FIFAs, the Grand Theft Car Onlines, the Final Fantasy XIVs, the League of Legends and and so forth. Merely for every Call of Duty: Warzone, we've had a Crucible, or a Lawbreakers, or a Hyper Scape, or an Anthem, or an Age of Empires Online, or, or, or. Live-service games demand a constant stream of resources and players, or else they die off. The fact that so many coexist today is impressive, but I don't think that every popular live-service game in 2022 will however be around in 2026. I also don't think that every alive-service game that launches betwixt at present and 2026 will survive.
Granted, Sony is a storied company with top talent working for this, and the leadership at SIE and Bungie have almost certainly considered every potential pitfall discussed hither. But the fact remains that information technology's tough enough to launch and manage a single live-service game. Pulling off x successful projects in four years would exist even more than unprecedented than Sony buying Bungie out of the blue.
Source: https://www.tomsguide.com/features/sony-bungie-live-service-games
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