PlayStation’s leadership has spoken out following the cancellation of multiple live service projects, including the high-profile failure of Concord. Hermen Hulst, head of PlayStation Studios, explained in a recent interview (via Genki_JPN) that the company has learned hard lessons from the experience and will be more deliberate moving forward.
“I don’t want teams to always play it safe, but I would like for us, when we fail, to fail early and cheaply,” Hulst said, acknowledging the risks involved in ambitious projects. He went on to explain that the number of live service releases was never the main priority. “The number [of live-service releases] is not so important. What is important to me is having a diverse set of player experiences and a set of communities.”
The executive further elaborated that Sony Interactive Entertainment has since tightened oversight across its studios. “We have since put in place much more rigorous and more frequent testing in very many different ways. The advantage of every failure… is that people now understand how necessary that [oversight] is,” Hulst stated. He also highlighted the company’s long-term perspective on IP creation, noting that PlayStation aims to build concepts that can grow into iconic franchises and extend beyond gaming.
Concord, a multiplayer hero shooter developed by Firewalk Studios, was canceled earlier this year despite an initial budget estimated at over 200 million US dollars. The collapse of the project had wide-reaching consequences, leading to stricter evaluations of in-development games and the cancellation of multiple live service titles across PlayStation Studios.
Industry journalist Jeff Grubb previously reported that the fallout from Concord left Sony “shell shocked.” According to his sources, both Bend Studio and Bluepoint Games saw their live service projects canceled as a direct result of Sony’s pivot. While those teams may now move toward smaller or more traditional projects, the shift signals a notable change in strategy after years of heavy investment in the live service space.
In total, Sony has canceled eight of the twelve live service titles that were once part of its portfolio. With Concord’s failure now shaping future decisions, it appears that PlayStation is opting for caution, focusing on maintaining a balance of experiences rather than pursuing live service dominance at all costs.
