Hermen Hulst, CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment Studio Business Group and PlayStation Studios, shed light on the company’s current strategy. In an interview with Famitsu to celebrate PlayStation’s 30th anniversary, he talked of focusing on live service games and being open to leveraging ‘legacy IPs.’ Hulst emphasized the value of PlayStation’s extensive IP catalog, describing it as a critical asset.
“We continue to explore opportunities to leverage our legacy IP and develop new franchises,” he stated. Fans eager for remakes and remasters may find hope in his comments. Nevertheless, it can also be seen as a knee-jerk reaction to Astro Bot‘s success, a game that features dozens of cameos from PlayStation games.
On the other hand, PlayStation does seem open to lending out its IP to any willing developers who would put in the hard work. Freedom Wars, which was a joint project between Japan Studio and Dimps for PS Vita, is now getting a remaster published by Bandai Namco.
Speaking of third parties, external collaborations also play a significant role in PlayStation’s strategy. Games like Koei Tecmo’s Rise of the Ronin and SHIFT UP’s Stellar Blade have both been well-received.
“Creativity and great games can come from everywhere. It is important to have a wide variety of games in our portfolio that can be enjoyed by all types of players,” Hulst said. “Our aim is to publish games from the world’s best creators, both internal and external, and we have had a lot of success by working closely with external development studios.”
Still, live service games remain a cornerstone of PlayStation’s future, with the success of Helldivers 2 as its testament. He highlighted the importance of continuous content delivery and making them multiplatform, which has helped the game maintain a strong player base.
“While consoles remain our core business, expanding to PC and other platforms will enable us to offer our games to a wider audience,” emphasized Hulst. “Our priority is to provide the best experience to our players, and as part of that, we are also promoting the integration of PSN accounts on PC.”
However, it has been a growing pain for the company so far. The closure of Neon Koi and Concord‘s Firewalk Studios as well as delaying half of its live service projects underscores the challenges in this space.
“Going forward, we will continue to focus on developing live services along with the story-driven single-player games that our players want,” he added.
Hulst also explains plans to ‘maximize’ synergy between console and mobile for PlayStation’s IPs, starting with Netease’s Destiny: Rising. In 2023, the company also made a partnership with the Korean giant NCSoft.
The PlayStation CEO mentioned the company’s effort to translate its new and legacy IPs into different media like movies and TV shows. Uncharted, The Last of Us, and Twisted Metal adaptations have all been considered a success and a ‘very effective way’ to reach new audiences.
“Right now, we have many projects underway, and I am very much looking forward to seeing them completed,” said Hulst.
