PlayStation Confirms It Will Never Abandon Single-Player Games

PlayStation has pledged its commitment to delivering “highly narrative-driven” single-player games, and I’m so very glad to hear it.

I don’t think it’s controversial to say that such games are the very lifeblood of PlayStation.

To see that evidenced, you only need to look at some of the company’s biggest first-party franchises; The Last of Us, God of War, Marvel’s Spider-Man, Horizon, and Uncharted all tick the boxes of being both narrative-driven and single-player.

There’s Ghost of Tsushima, Astro Bot, Ratchet & Clank … the list goes on.

Which does lead you to wonder why fans might need reassurance that single-player games aren’t going anywhere.

Well, you may be familiar with the fact that in the last couple of years, Sony embarked on a rather fruitless mission to conquer the live-service realm of gaming.

It’s reported that Sony greenlit 10 live-service PlayStation titles, many of which have since been cancelled.

Concord is, to date, the biggest flop of all said live-service attempts.

Concord spent a whopping eight years in development yet was delisted after just two weeks; that would have been a huge financial loss for Sony.

We know that a multiplayer game set within The Last of Us universe at Naughty Dog was canned, as was an unknown multiplayer title in development with Bend Studio.

A Twisted Metal live-service title was also reportedly amongst those cancelled, as was a Marvel’s Spider-Man multiplayer spin-off.

Bungie’s Marathon remains in development, as does a Horizon multiplayer entry from Guerrilla Games which I’m imagining we could see land before a third mainline entry.

But it doesn’t seem this obsession with live-service is at the forefront of Sony’s mind any longer.

As reported by TweakTown, Sony has reiterated its commitment to single-player games within a new corporate report filing.

It’s not an extensive declaration, but the report does state that "highly narrative-driven single-player games” are a key growth opportunity.

In all honesty, these types of companies are always going to follow the money; in this instance, it’s just a relief that that aligns with what we, as the players, want.

PlayStation’s upcoming announced first-party titles prove that we’re in safe hands.

Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet is on the way in the coming years from Naughty Dog, with SuckerPunch’s Ghost of Yōtei set to land in a matter of weeks.

Hopefully, both projects will prove that Sony is at its best when it's delivering the story-driven single-player releases fans yearn for.