In recent months, Sony has made major investments in the games-as-a-service segment with the acquisition of Bungie, responsible for Destiny, for US$ 3.6 billion and more recently of Haven Studios, owned by Jade Raymond — one of the main responsible behind the creation of franchises like Assassin’s Creed and Watch Dogs. Despite this, the company guarantees that it will not leave PlayStation’s single-player experiences aside.
The statement came from Hermen Hulst, head of the PlayStation Studios division, in an interview with the Games Industry website. In the conversation, the executive commented on the company’s latest acquisition and assured that players will continue to receive experiences focused on the narrative, such as Ghost of Tsushima, The Last of Us, Horizon Forbidden West, among other titles.
“Obviously we will always continue to make these narrative-driven single-player games such as Ghost of Tsushima, The Last of Us and Horizon Forbidden West. But you’ve correctly guessed that we’re investing in games as a service because they’re incredibly exciting for us. It allows us to create bigger worlds, create really meaningful social connections between players,” said Hermen.
Jade Raymond’s Haven Studios joins the PlayStation family and works on new intellectual property focused on multiplayer.Source: Disclosure/PlayStation
It is worth remembering that Sony is already working on at least ten live service games, scheduled to launch by 2026. The information was revealed in a meeting with shareholders, according to a transcript from the VGC website. The site also raises that the company would be interested in publishing at least some of these games beyond the PlayStation platforms, suggesting potential releases on PC and mobile devices.
Haven Studios’ first project has yet to be officially revealed, but it’s already known that the team has been working on a triple-A multiplayer game exclusively for PlayStation for at least a year. In a letter signed by CEO and founder Jade Raymond, it is said that the vision of the project is to build a “systemic and evolving world focused on freedom, emotion and fun”, in order to keep players entertained and engaged for years. That kind of description fits the game-as-a-service formula perfectly.
The acquisition, it is worth noting, also ensures that Haven Studios collaborates with other first-party PlayStation studios such as Guerrilla, Naughty Dog, Insomniac Games and Bungie itself. There is still no prediction of when his first project will be revealed, however.
