Sony cancels 9 games amid fan backlash

Sony faces significant obstacles following its unsuccessful attempt to launch 12 live-service games by 2025. The company's recent abrupt cancellation of nine projects has sparked considerable frustration among its player base.

A Shifted Strategy Backfires

Back in 2022, former Sony Interactive Entertainment president Jim Ryan announced ambitious plans to release a dozen live-service titles by 2025, aiming to adapt to evolving market trends. However, this strategy faced skepticism from gamers concerned about Sony potentially neglecting its acclaimed single-player franchises. Despite assurances that traditional narrative-driven games would continue, recent developments suggest otherwise.

The Fallout: Canceled Projects Revealed

Out of the planned 12 titles, only Helldivers 2 has achieved notable success, while nine projects met cancellation. Among the scrapped games were Concord, Payback, and several high-profile titles including:

• The Last of Us: Factions
• Spider-Man: The Great Web
• A God of War universe game from Bluepoint Games
• Bend Studio's multiplayer project
• Twisted Metal revival by Firesprite
• London Studio's unannounced fantasy game
• Bungie's Payback
• Deviation Games' networking project

These cancellations represent a major setback for Sony's live-service ambitions, drawing criticism from fans who believe the company diverted too far from its single-player strengths in pursuit of gaming trends. The shelved projects from Bend Studio and Bluepoint Games suggest lengthy delays before players might see these studios' next releases.