PlayStation Shares It Will Continue Its Live-Service Effort Despite Hiccups Like Concord & Marathon

While PlayStation is a shining example of the correct approach to the gaming business model, it has also been through the ringer as well in other attempts. The most brazen proof of this is the firm’s efforts in live-service. Last year, it shipped Concord which only lived for two weeks before pulling the plug on the IP. The weeks after was also met with the demise of the game studio as well.

But despite the fallout of what might be PlayStation’s most expensive investment, it is still adamant on pursuing live-service. Speaking to Famitsu, PlayStation boss Hermen Hulst shares the firm is still committed to delivering in that market. The next pursuit in live-service is Marathon by Bungie. However, the game has been delayed into 2026 earlier this year.

According to a new statement from Sony CFO Lin Tao, live-service remains a prospect despite the early shortcomings so far. “Last year Concord [shut down], and this year Marathon was postponed, so somewhat negative news has been coming out,” Tao explains; Video Game Chronicle transcribed. Tao elsewhere spoke that there is no intent to cancel Marathon despite the lesser reception.

“But if we look at the past five years, five years ago live service games were almost non-existent for PlayStation Studios. We [now] have Helldivers 2, MLB The Show and Gran Turismo 7, and Bungie’s Destiny 2, so we have these four live services contributing to sales and profits in a stable manner.” She also elaborated that almost half of first-party revenue for PlayStation the past quarter was generated from live-service.

“For Q1 the live service ratio was about 40%, for the full year it’s a little less, probably between 20-30%. So in terms of the transformation, it’s not entirely going smoothly, but from a longer-term perspective, if you look at the changes over five years you see that there’s definitely been a change. Of course, we recognise that there are still many issues, so we should learn the lessons from mistakes and make sure that we introduce live service content where there’s less waste and it’s more smooth.”

Also on its radar for release is Fairgame$. Despite the game losing its game director earlier this spring, the game is reportedly tracing very well via internal tests of the project. You can read the full report by heading here.

Are you surprised by this update of PlayStation live-service?