Jim Ryan says PlayStation has 2 unannounced live service games coming this fiscal year
Sony plans to have launched 12 such titles by 2025
PlayStation is set to release two live service games during its current fiscal year, which ends in March 2023.
That’s according to Sony Interactive Entertainment president Jim Ryan, who said during a business briefing on Thursday that the company currently had what it considered to be one live service game in MLB The Show 22.
MLB The Show’s Diamond Dynasty mode enables players to buy randomised packs of cards to try and build a dream team, either by earning or buying in-game currency.
A slide shared during the briefing showed that the company plans to expand the number of services games by two during its current fiscal year, FY22.
Asked by an analyst if the two additional titles were announced or included a Destiny release from Bungie, the studio it’s set to acquire, Ryan said: “Destiny is not included in the three games slated for FY22. The two others are yet to be announced.”
During the briefing, Ryan said Sony considered live service titles to be “games with no end”. Sony plans to have released 12 such titles by its 2025 fiscal year, a slide shown during the briefing indicated, with three arriving in FY23, four in FY24 and two more in FY25.
During the same briefing, Ryan suggested that at least some of the live service games it has in development are planned for PC.
PlayStation has become known for its blockbuster single-player games such as Spider-Man, The Last of Us and Ghost of Tsushima. But last May, Sony said it planned to “develop more service-led experiences” within its first-party roster.
One of the planned live service games planned to release within the next 10 months could be Naughty Dog‘s in-development The Last of Us multiplayer game.
Naughty Dog has for some time been hiring for its “first standalone multiplayer game”, which could be the result of The Last of Us Part 2’s delayed online mode having been expanded into its own title.
Horizon Forbidden West developer Guerrilla is also staffing up for an online game, job ads have confirmed.
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Another title understood to be in development is a reboot of car combat series Twisted Metal, which could coincide with a planned TV series.
VGC first reported earlier this year that UK-based Firesprite – which was acquired by Sony last year – had taken over an unannounced Twisted Metal project, after a previous version by Destruction All Stars studio Lucid ceased development.
Sony has also signed an original multiplayer project from Firewalk, a new studio founded by Bungie veterans, and will publish the debut title from Deviation Games, a studio headed up by former Call of Duty veterans Dave Anthony and Jason Blundell.
