Former PlayStation executive Shawn Layden recently said in an interview with The Ringer that so-called "live-service games" are "actually not real games at all."He even said that this type of work would be more accurately described as "a repetitive action engagement device".

So what is a real "game"? Layden explained that a game must have three core elements: "I need a story, a character, and a world." He said: "Horizon, God of War, and Uncharted all have these three things."

Layden points out, "If you're making a service game, you just need a repetitive action that most players can understand, a world that allows like-minded players to communicate with each other, and mechanics that players want to play again and again."

Layden left Sony in 2019.He did not clearly state the reason for his departure, but revealed in the interview that at the time Sony was investing heavily in service-based games, and "this was not my strong point."At the time, Sony planned to launch as many as 12 service-based games by 2026, but later cut the target in half.Some of them, such as Star Wars, failed miserably, but Submarine 2 and others were huge successes.

Game industry researcher Joost van Dreunen said in an interview with The Ringer that Sony's failure in service-based games is "stinging, but not fatal."He added: "Even if the service-based game strategy fails, PS5's overall business remains solid. The real risk is not a collapse, but a waste of time and money that could have been used to strengthen Sony's areas of strength."

Sony has invested more than $1.45 billion in Fortnite developer Epic Games, so it's still expected to benefit as Fortnite continues to grow.At the same time, Sony is still investing in self-developed service game projects, and its next blockbuster game is "Marathon" developed by Bungie.However, the work has been delayed and has even been involved in an art resource theft scandal, so the future is quite bumpy.

Layden warned that companies should not rely on service-based games to "save their business."“If you get into this just because you’re dreaming about big money rolling in every day — for the vast majority of companies, that’s just not going to happen,” he said.

In 2023, Connie Booth, a key figure at PlayStation, left the company after more than 30 years.She never publicly explained why she left, but former PlayStation developer, Twisted Metal creator, and God of War co-creator David Scott Jaffe said Booth was actually fired.

"She was fired. She wasn't 'let go,' she wasn't retired, she wasn't voluntarily resigning," Jaffe said.

He further pointed out that former PlayStation head Jim Ryan had asked his studios to produce more "games-as-a-service" games, and this policy caused dissatisfaction among many developers within PlayStation.

Jeff said: "All these problems were ultimately blamed on Connie, and she took all the blame."

At present, Sony has confirmed that it will no longer advance Naughty Dog’s “The Last of Us Online”, which Neil Druckmann once called the company’s “most ambitious project in history.”Sony was also rumored to have considered developing a "God of War" service game, but that was later canceled.

Another upcoming service-based game is "Fairgame$", but Sony has also been silent on the project recently, and many senior executives of its development team, including the founder of the studio, have resigned.Despite all the setbacks, Sony has repeatedly emphasized that the company will continue to be committed to the field of service-oriented games and said it has learned lessons from the failure of "Star Wars Agent".