If there’s one thing that video game studio executives dream about and salivate over, it’s a hit live-service title. Between the millions of players on Fortnite, and the half a billion dollars GTA Online makes annually, it’s no wonder some studios invest heavily in conjuring a hit that, like the Federal Reserve, prints money. But the temptation often proves treacherous, leading developers to invest years of effort into a game that dies in the first few weeks of launch. Arguably, no one has had more spectacular blunders in live-service than Sony, and some in the industry aren’t shy with their criticism.
One such person (someone close to home to boot) is former PlayStation Studios boss Shawn Layden, who recently spoke with Lewis Gordon at The Ringer. The interview was one part of an extensive piece on Sony’s history with online games, and their recent troubles with live-service titles.
“…a mirage on the top of a sand dune.”
Layden is no slouch when it comes to producing hit games. During his tenure during the PS4 era, he helped launch some of the console’s most iconic titles. Horizon Zero Dawn, Ghost of Tsushima, and God of War are among the games he oversaw, all of which enjoyed high sales and produced anticipated sequels. But one other game he greenlit before leaving PlayStation Studios in 2019 was Arrowhead’s Helldivers 2. A decision that he has mixed feelings about, even going as far as to say, “that’s on me.”
While Helldivers has been a smash hit for Sony, Layden doesn’t approve of the company’s pivot towards live-service titles. To him, gaming executives are obsessed with getting that one live-service hit they can coast on. “It’s like a mirage on the top of a sand dune. You pursue it. You can’t quite get there. Or if you do get there, what you brought to the party no one wants to play anyway.”
It’s not just a matter of money or corporate decision making. Layden doesn’t shy away from his preference for single-player titles, viewing it as a way of differentiating from the competition. “…my view at the time was, ‘We’re super strong on single-player. We have the best narrative in the business.’ It was a case of, ‘I’m doing The Last of Us—that’s where we swim. I’m gonna do Spider-Man.’”
He also points out that many of the live-service juggernauts spent years building themselves up after lukewarm launches, even the aforementioned Fortnite and GTA. “Either you are dozens of years in the making, or you get one lucky dip.”
Changes at Sony
The heightened profile of live-service successes in the 2010s began a strategic shift at Sony. Despite the success of Layden’s projects (two titles he oversaw won Game of the Year at the VGAs), the company began to pivot away from single-player. In fact, it was the reason Layden decided to leave Sony in 2019. While he does say live-service isn’t his area of expertise, there’s a deeper reason for the departure.
“For me, a game—because of where I come from—means I need three things. I need a story, I need a character, and I need a world. And Horizon, God of War, and Uncharted have all three of those things. If you’re doing a live-service game, you just need a repetitive action that most people can get their head around, an ability to communicate in that world with other like-minded people, and [the player’s] desire to do it again and again and again.”
‘Some’ Brakes on the Live-Service Train
Time seems to have vindicated Layden’s position. Concord launched in late summer 2024, to less than a thousand players after spending a production budget of $400 million. The game was delisted a few weeks later, now surviving only as a Secret Level short on Prime Video. And after Sony’s purchase of Bungie, enthusiasm for Marathon gave way to gamer rage after a cataclysmic alpha test and an art theft scandal. The game is now delayed indefinitely as Bungie works to salvage the extraction shooter’s damaged reputation.
“The highway is littered with people wanting to take on Fortnite, with people trying to do Overwatch with different skins,” said Layden. “If you’re trying to go into that space because you have this illusion in your mind of big sacks of money coming every day for the rest of your life, for most it doesn’t happen.”
But despite these failures, Sony isn’t calling it quits. Marathon is due for a technical test soon, and Helldivers II still sits comfortably on Steam’s most played games list. Indeed, it may be that Sony plans to scale back on multiplayer games but not outright abandon them. And as long as delusions of being the next Fortnite persist, studio executives will continue to force title after title, stumbling over the corpses of dead live-service games with each step.
Original interview by Lewis Gordon at The Ringer. For more coverage, check out our other games section.
