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- PlayStation has cancelled a total of 8 games that were in development from various studios, including many that were purchased recently.
- Following the latest reports, most of these acquisitions have been nothing but wasted money.
- Multiple studios have suffered from cancellations and poor management, with a few even being shut down.
Like many others in the industry, PlayStation has pursued various acquisitions over the last few years. These buyouts have included partner developers like Insomniac Games and famous studios like Bungie, but the overall results have been far from desirable.
Following the recent news of two more live-service cancellations, it has become clear that most of the gaming giant’s purchases have failed to deliver anything substantial.
Why it matters: Because so many developers were purchased over the last few years, billions of dollars were spent on buyouts and game development across these studios in total.
This failure is primarily due to PlayStation’s focus on live-service gaming and the decision to allocate resources toward multiplayer games, particularly from new studios. The following list marks notable acquisitions over the last five to six years.
- Nixxes
- Insomniac
- Housemarque
- Bluepoint
- Firesprite
- Haven
- Firewalk
- Bungie
- Valkyrie Entertainment
- Neon Koi
The first three studios on this list have done great things for PlayStation. Nixxes has been great at releasing polished PC ports, and Insomniac has already released multiple exciting PS5 games, proving to be a worthy acquisition.
Housmarque’s Returnal has also been a bright point of the PS5 generation, but the good news mostly ends here. For starters, Bungie’s acquisition has been nothing short of disastrous for PlayStation, and a comeback is not exactly guaranteed after recent layoffs and reports of poor management.
Bluepoint also recently suffered a major cancellation, which has created doubts about its role at PlayStation in the next four to five years. Elsewhere, teams like Firesprite and Haven have much to prove.
The former was said to be working on a Twisted Metal project that has been cancelled, and Haven’s upcoming Fairgame$ has raised red flags after Concord’s failure. Ultimately, neither studio has met PlayStation’s expectations.
Continuing the disappointment, both Firewalk and Neon Koi were shut down last year despite being fairly recent acquisitions. It should also be noted that roughly 8 of 12 live-service titles planned by PlayStation have been scrapped mid-development.
These include projects from Bluepoint, Bend, Insomniac, Bungie, Deviation Games, London Studios, Firesprite, and Naughty Dog.
- The Last of Us Multiplayer – Cancelled
- Concord – Game And Studio Shut Down Shortly After Launch
- Payback From Bungie – Cancelled
- Twisted Metal From Firesprite – Cancelled
- New Project From Deviation Games – Cancelled
- God of War Title From Bluepoint – Cancelled
- New Project Based on Days Gone’s Gameplay From Bend – Cancelled
- New IP From London Studio – Cancelled And Studio Shut Down
- Spider-Man: The Great Web From Insomniac – Cancelled
- Horizon Multiplayer – In Development
- Horizon MMO – In Development
- Marathon – In Development
What do you think about this outcome? Do you think the GAAS (games as a service) focus was a mistake? Let’s discuss this in the comments and on the Tech4Gamers Forums.
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[News Reporter]
Avinash is currently pursuing a Business degree in Australia. For more than three years, he has been working as a gaming journalist, utilizing his writing skills and love for gaming to report on the latest updates in the industry. Avinash loves to play action games like Devil May Cry and has also been mentioned on highly regarded websites, such as IGN, GamesRadar, GameRant, Dualshockers, CBR, and Gamespot.
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