There's no doubt that Sony Interactive Entertainment does single-player games very well, and the company has reiterated plans to lean into that strength consistently going forward.
In Sony Group Corporation's financial results presentation today, Sony's senior vice president in charge of finance and IR, Sadahiko Hayakawa, explains that the company intends "to build an optimal title portfolio during the current mid-range plan period." This will combine "single-player games, which are our strength, and which have a higher predictability of becoming hits due to our proven IP, with live-service games that pursue upside, while taking on a certain amount of risk upon release."
Expanding on this, Hayakawa says that the Studio Business expects "sales and profits to decline in the second half of the fiscal year" when compared to the same period of the last one, "when Marvel's Spider-Man 2 and Helldivers 2 were huge hits." With that said, things in the works behind the scenes clearly have Sony feeling confident, as Hayakawa adds: "However, we are making steady progress in the development of new titles and improving our live-service game process. Starting with Ghost of Yotei, which is a sequel to the smash-hit Ghost of Tsushima, we plan to continue releasing major single-player game titles every year from [the] next fiscal year onwards."
Sony's next fiscal year begins in April 2025, so it sounds like Ghost of Yotei's 2025 release just got narrowed down to, well, from then onwards. Death Stranding 2: On the Beach is also slated for a 2025 release, so the lineup of SIE-published single-player PS5 games launching next year is already looking strong.
Sony's commitment to single-player games is nothing new – in May, the CEO of SIE's Studio Business Group, Hermen Hulst, claimed that every calendar year, "we plan to have at least one tentpole single-player launch during the holiday season showcasing our PS5 business and brand, as well as the peak purchasing season for games." However, it's debatable what this year's big holiday release is supposed to be – SIE is publishing Lego Horizon Adventures, which is releasing next week, but it has a co-op mode, so it's not strictly a single-player game even if it can be played solo.
