Sony Reflects on Live-Service Ambitions — “It’s Not Entirely Going Smoothly”

Concord and Marathon (Credit: Sony)

Sony has acknowledged that its push into live-service games hasn’t exactly gone according to plan — but the company isn’t backing down just yet. During a Q&A session following its Q1 FY25 earnings report, Sony’s Chief Financial Officer Lin Tao addressed growing concerns around the company’s live-service roadmap and shared a realistic view of the challenges and the progress so far.

Tao didn’t sugarcoat things. She pointed to the rocky rollout of games like Concord, which was scrapped within a week after launch, and Marathon, which has been postponed. But despite the rough patches, she stressed that live-service titles have opened up an entirely new revenue stream for PlayStation — one that simply didn’t exist five years ago.

“Last year Concord [shut down], and this year Marathon was postponed,” Tao said (via VGC and ThisWeekInVideoGames). “So somewhat negative news has been coming out. But if we look at the past five years… live service games were almost non-existent for PlayStation Studios.”

Tao highlighted that Helldivers 2, MLB The Show, Gran Turismo 7, and Bungie’s Destiny 2 are all contributing to stable revenue and engagement. In fact, she noted that live-service games made up around 40% of first-party software revenue in Q1, though that figure will likely settle between 20–30% for the full year.

Of course, the transition hasn’t been perfect — and Sony knows it. “It’s not entirely going smoothly,” she admitted, “but from a longer-term perspective, if you look at the changes over five years, there has definitely been a shift.”

Tao also touched on Marathon, one of the more high-profile delays. While there's still no official release date, Sony expects it to launch before the end of the current fiscal year (April 2026). However, Tao made it clear that this isn’t a firm promise. “Based on the progress in the autumn timeframe, we believe we can communicate when we will be launching,” she added.

Interestingly, Sony is also starting to tighten its grip on Bungie. When the Destiny developer was first acquired in 2022, it was given a lot of independence. That’s starting to change. Tao explained that Bungie is gradually becoming more integrated into the PlayStation Studios family. “This type of independence is getting lighter,” she said. “In the long term, you can see this as an ongoing process, so the direction is to become part of PlayStation Studios.”

This lines up with earlier reports — including one from a former Bungie lawyer who said Sony was pushing the studio to treat Destiny 2 more like a proper business, which, in his words, was “actually a good thing.”

Now, it’s worth remembering that Sony originally aimed to launch over 10 live-service games by March 2026 — an ambitious target revealed back in 2022 when former PlayStation boss Jim Ryan was at the helm. Fast forward to today, and it’s clear that goal has hit some turbulence.

Alongside the cancellations of Concord and the delay of Marathon, other live-service titles have reportedly been dropped behind the scenes. These include a God of War multiplayer project at Bluepoint Games and a separate project at Bend Studio. Fairgame$, a heist-based multiplayer title from Haven Studios, has also reportedly been delayed into 2026.

But not everything’s gone sideways. Helldivers 2, developed by Arrowhead Game Studios and published by Sony, turned out to be a breakout hit. It sold over 15 million copies by the end of 2024, making it PlayStation’s fastest-selling game to date. It’s become something of a silver lining in what’s otherwise been a challenging journey for Sony’s live-service ambitions.

Looking ahead, Sony seems to be taking a more measured approach. While live-service titles remain part of the long-term strategy, the company has also been spotlighting upcoming single-player blockbusters like Ghost of Yōtei and Naughty Dog’s Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet.

Tao closed the topic by admitting, “We recognize 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 things go more smoothly.”