By Sagar V. Mankar 
Former PlayStation executive Shuhei Yoshida has clarified that Sony never pressured its studios to create live service games, despite the company’s previous ambitious push into the genre. In a recent interview with Sacred Symbols+, Yoshida provided insight into how studios approached live service development at Sony.
“From my experience, when studios see the company has a big initiative, [they realize] riding on that gives them a better chance of getting a project approved and supported,” Yoshida explained. “It’s not like [current PS Studios boss Hermen Hulst] is telling teams they need to make live service games, it’s likely mutual.”
This revelation comes amid Sony’s apparent retreat from its once-aggressive live service strategy. At one point, Sony had planned to launch more than 10 live service games before March 2026, with former Sony executive Jim Ryan championing the approach as key to PlayStation’s future growth.
However, recent events suggest a change in direction. Sony has canceled multiple live service projects, including Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us Online and unannounced titles from Bend Studio and Bluepoint Games. Most notably, Sony shut down Concord shortly after its launch, despite years of development and significant investment.
Yoshida’s comments paint a picture of studio decision-making that was more opportunistic than forced. When studios recognized Sony’s strategic direction, some apparently aligned their pitches with that vision to improve their chances of securing approval and resources.
Sony still has several live service projects in development, including a multiplayer Horizon game from Guerrilla, Bungie’s Marathon, and the heist game Fairgame$, though the latter has reportedly been delayed to next year.