Sony, like every other company of its size, has budgetary plans for every financial year. And its spending budget can hint at what Sony’s aims are for the next year. According to a report from Nikkei, Sony intends to expand its research and development budget, specifically related to gaming, by 10% for this year. Sony’s budget will be around $2.17 billion, and shockingly, over half of that will be laser-focused on developing live service games.
The $2.17 billion represents around 40% of Sony’s total research and development budget for the financial year, meaning Sony is putting more into gaming than its semiconductor businesses. And as mentioned above, this increase in spending is specifically for live service titles.
Sony Wants to Double Down on Live Service Games
According to Sony, the company will launch 12 live service games by FY ending 2026. In comparison, the last FY got three live service games. Clearly, Sony was aware of the industry’s shift and has decided to double down on games with longer life spans. Live service games will add up to 55% of the PS5’s development budget and will go up to 60% for the FY ending March 2026.
This is exactly why Sony acquired Bungie before Microsoft could for $3.6 billion: to improve its live service capabilities. Hermen Hulst, Head of PlayStation Studios, said that Bungie is playing a pivotal role in making sure Sony’s live service endeavors are going to be fruitful. This is believed to be part of the reason why Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us Factions hasn’t surfaced for a while. Nikkie’s report also confirmed that nine of the studios Sony has either acquired or invested in will be combined to focus on extended reality development.
After Microsoft’s successful court ruling concerning Activision Blizzard, the competition is heating up. Only time will tell if Sony will be able to keep up with Microsoft’s bottomless pockets.
