As you already know, PlayStation announced the layoff of 900 employees today. Not only has this affected the lives of hundreds of people, but multiple unannounced projects have been cancelled. Due to their nature, we don't have much information about these titles. However, A new report has revealed that one of these is a Twisted Metal game as a service.
According to Jason Schreier, a Bloomberg journalist, one of the canceled titles is about a Twisted Metal game as a service, which was run by Firesprite, a UK studio that has also been affected by layoffs. In the report, it is mentioned that this project had not yet been fully greenlit, so it was probably in a pre-production state.
The interesting thing is that The new Twisted Metal was going to be part of the games as a service that were announced a long time ago. This isn't the first time something like this has happened, as the Insomniac Games leak revealed that an online Spider-Man title was also canceled, while Naughty Dog confirmed that The Last of Us Online will not see the light of day.
Although we still don't know what the other titles canceled today were, it is very likely that they were also intended to be games as a service. Let us remember that during Jim Ryan's tenure as CEO of SIE, games-as-a-service projects were promoted, and after his departure from the company, These types of experiences have been canceled one after another, something that makes a lot of sense.
PlayStation has been characterized by offering large AAA experiences, which require years of development and millions of dollars of investment. While games as a service can be seen as a way to generate income on a consistent basis, they also require extensive support, and the guarantee of success is not certain.
Although there is no official information at the moment, it is likely that a large part of the layoffs that took place today have to do with teams that were focused on creating or supporting games as a service. In this way, Ryan's plans are being scrapped little by little, as we see a return to the traditional development formula that has worked for PlayStation over the past few years.
For now, We know that games as a service, like Horizon's MMO and Bungie's Marathon, are still around, although this could change at any time. On related topics, you can learn more about today's layoffs here. Likewise, multiple canceled PlayStation games are confirmed.
Editor's Note:
The industry is learning the hard way that it is not necessary to grow massively, and that games as a service do not have to be a gold mine, but rather an element that complements the experience. It's a big contrast to what we're seeing with Helldivers II, which, despite its resounding success, Arrowhead Game Studios is not hiring more people.
Via: Bloomberg
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