By and large, Sony Interactive Entertainment has strayed away from making multiplayer games, especially this generation. And when it has ventured into that space — with games like Drawn to Death — it has failed.
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The defining feature of Sony’s first-party output this generation has been narrative-driven, single-player games. And in this space, it has been king. Between the likes of God of War, Marvel’s Spider-Man, Bloodborne, Horizon: Zero Dawn, and Uncharted 4: A Thieft’s End, Sony has put out some of the best single-player games this generation, while many publishers move more and more towards the online and multiplayer spaces.
That said, while Sony has committed on multiple occasions to making more narrative-driven single-player games in the future, it may also be looking to try and carve out a piece of the lucrative multiplayer pie for itself.
Speaking to Business Insider, PlayStation boss Shawn Layden at one point found himself talking about multiplayer games and spilling some interesting, teasing tidbits about the future of PlayStation.
“Couch co-op — I mean that’s a whole category I think the industry needs to look back at,” said Layden. “We have that with sports titles, and some racing titles, but not with much else. And I think that speaks to the power of the Internet on the one hand, but otherwise we might wanna revisit that to get more family engagement in the gaming experience.
“But, no, I was referencing more with the things like ‘GTA 5 Online,’ or you look at ‘Call of Duty,’ or ‘Fortnite,’ or any of those experiences,” added Layden, clarifying a previous talking point earlier in the interview. “Worldwide Studios, like I say, we’ve been going really heavy into story-driven gaming. The power of the narrative. Big, spectacular experiences. But not a whole lot in the multiplayer side of things, I think. That’s an area where you will likely see us start to make more noise in the new term.”
As you can see, Layden keeps things a little vague, but from the sounds of it, PlayStation may soon be making some noise in the multiplayer space, possibly as soon as the start of next-gen. I for one wouldn’t mind seeing a PlayStation-themed battle royale game where the likes of Nathan Drake, Crash Bandicoot, Kratos, and others all drop onto an island in a fight to the death. And I know I can’t be the only one who would buy such a game.
