Sony plans more than 10 live service games before March 2026

Earlier this week Sony's acquisition of Bungie for $3.6 billion was about much more than just Destiny came as a surprise. In an investor call today, Sony revealed that it plans to release more than 10 new live service games by March 2026. That's a hugely ambitious plan and marks a huge expansion for Sony's PlayStation games beyond its PlayStation exclusives. traditional console.

"The strategic significance of this acquisition lies not only in obtaining the highly successfulDestinyfranchise, as well as major new IP Bungie is currently developing but also incorporating into the Sony group the expertise and technologies Bungie has developed in the live game services space," says Sony CFO Hiroki Totoki. "Through close collaboration between Bungie and PlayStation Studios, we aim to launch more than 10 live service games by the fiscal year ending March 2026."

It was clear that Sony's acquisition of Bungie was all about competing with Fortnite, but now those ambitions seem even broader. Bungie's upcoming IP, codenamed Matter, is rumored to be a "multiplayer action game" with "character-driven" gameplay. Lat year Bungie said that its next IP will be released before 2025. But that's only one game out of 10, and Eurogamer notes that there are signs of many more in the works. Last of Us developer Naughty Dog has been creating a multiplayer game for years, and Horizon Zero Dawn developer Guerrilla has been hired for online gaming-related features. PlayStation's London Studio is also working on a new online game for PS5.

Sony has been lacking its own live service games, with Microsoft owning Minecraft and Sea of Thieves, and Epic Games dominating with the runaway success of Fortnite. Technology from Destiny and Bungie could very well set Sony up for a successful push into this key part of the gaming market.