Sony says live service push doesn’t mean it’s leaving single-player games behind

PlayStation Studios head Herman Hulst has said Sony’s growing focus on live service games doesn’t mean it’s planning to stop making the single-player story-based experiences the company is famous for.

Sony said in May that it’s planning to have 12 live service titles in the market by its fiscal year ending in March 2026 – up from three during the current business year.

The traditionally console-focused company also expects half of its annual releases to be on PC and mobile by 2025.

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In a new interview with Axios, Hulst said the company best known for producing story-based franchises like Uncharted and God of War is “diversifying” but remains committed to single-player games.

“We have a history and a reputation for building these incredible narrative-driven single-player games, such as The Last of Us and Horizon and the upcoming God of War Ragnarok,” Hulst said.

He said many of Sony’s leading developers want to keep creating these types of experiences and will continue to do so.

“Some of our biggest titles in the single player narrative-driven space are also our most profitable titles,” according to Hulst.

Sony says live service push doesn’t mean it’s leaving single-player games behind
PlayStation Studios chief Hermen Hulst

He also said Sony could still develop games for PS4, despite no first-party titles being confirmed for the console beyond this November’s God of War Ragnarök.

“We certainly don’t want to forget the millions of active players on PS4, and we want to ensure there are great games for them as well,” he said. “We’re evaluating it on a case-by-case basis.”