Hermen Hulst Talks PlayStation’s Future: More Live Service, More PC, More New Franchises
The PlayStation brand has evolved for some time now. The word ‘PlayStation’ no longer simply means the console underneath the TV, but has come to apply to movies, TV shows and even the branded console-exclusive games that appear on his PC. .
PlayStation Studios head Hermen Hulst spoke with a handful of media outlets to outline a little more of what’s in store for PlayStation’s expanding future.
One of the defining pillars of PlayStation’s business strategy moving forward is live service gaming, as previously evidenced by Sony’s $3.7 billion acquisition of Bungie. Hulst said part of his Bungie role in the PlayStation family is to serve as an example of how to handle the live service model.
“I’ve been a longtime Bungie fan,” exec said GQ“We’ve been doing this in the 10 years since Destiny’s original release because they speak our language. I can’t imagine finding a better partner at .”
Meanwhile, Halst said Axios PlayStation has greenlit a total of 12 projects in its live operations space. This comes after he learned in February that PlayStation plans to release more than 10 of his live service games by March 2026, said Totoki Hiroki, his CFO at Sony. Match the numbers. You should be able to maintain a great many live service games in that window.
You can expect PlayStation’s live service to be a mix of new IPs and well-known franchises. Hulst told his GQ that PlayStation has “about 25 titles in development” and about half of the projects in development are new IP. He also said that PlayStation “is not ruling out bringing some of our beloved existing franchises to live games.”
Sony’s recent AAA offerings have abandoned multiplayer entirely, with games like The Last of Us Part II, Horizon Forbidden West, Spider-Man: Miles Morales, and the upcoming God of War Ragnarok Works as a solo experience. The exception, however, is that both Ghost of Tsushima Legends and Returnal’s multiplayer support will arrive after launch.
As you know, some Sony studios are developing standalone multiplayer projects rather than grouping them in single player experiences. We know The Last of Us will be a standalone multiplayer title, and recent rumors suggest a multiplayer Horizon game may be in the works.
Sony will begin devoting more resources to offering a multiplayer live service, but Hulst appears to remain committed to Sony’s flagship single-player title, telling Axios that narrative-driven single-player games are going nowhere. However, with Horizon Forbidden West and God of War Ragnarok’s history of delays, it looks like it’s taking a while to get here, but Spider-Man 2 is now coming to Sony in 2023. is the only major book published by and the company has no books. Plans for PSVR2.
While we continue to wait for new limited editions for PS5, PC players are finally starting to experience some of the best games the PlayStation 4 has to offer. It’s starting to show up, and it looks like this will continue.
Furst said Reuters “Further investment in areas to strengthen deployment to PC” is a definite possibility.
However, it’s not just the PS5 and PC party from now on. In an interview with Axios, Hulst also noted that he will bring more games “on a case-by-case basis” to the PS4, and also talked about building Sony’s “internal capabilities” to create his games for mobile. Did. Earlier this year, Sony established the PlayStation Studios Mobile Division. Mobile He will start working on games based on new and existing IPs.
Finally, when Hulst told Reuters about Sony’s recent investment in Elden Ring developer FromSoftware, Hulst said it was “not inconceivable” that PlayStation Productions could work on turning FromSoftware properties into entertainment. FromSoftware is the developer behind the Elden Ring, Bloodborne, Sekiro, and Dark Souls series.
For more on PlayStation, see Sony planning 2 million units for PSVR 2 launch. Or read about how the PS5 appears to be jailbroken. People have already installed Hideo Kojima’s his PT.
Logan Plant is a freelance writer for IGN covering video game and entertainment news. He has over 6 years of experience in the games industry and has bylines for IGN, Nintendo Wire, Switch Player Magazine and Lifewire. Find him on Twitter @LoganJPlant.
