Sony aims to "increase the number of active users on PC" amid live-service push

Sony has said it intends to increase its PC player base as it pushes into the live-service space.

In its new corporate strategy report, SIE sounded hopeful that its acquisition of original Halo developer and Destiny creator Bungie would help bolster its live-service operation. In addition, the company suggested that its push into live-service could expand the amount of people playing the ever-growing catalog of PlayStation games on PC.

Although we've heard a fair bit about Sony's larger strategy around live-service, we've still yet to see the fruits of its labor. We've heard reports that The Last of Us multiplayer project will be free-to-play and "very, very live-servicey,", but that's still unconfirmed. Meanwhile, PlayStation London's yet-untitled fantasy online co-op game definitely sounds like a live-service game, but we still don't know much about it.

Then there's Haven Studios, which PlayStation has said it specifically picked up because it had "a lot of experience with live-service games." Again, we know something's in the oven but it's unclear exactly what, beyond the fact that it's in the increasingly broad live-service category.

PlayStation London PS5 game — (Image credit: PlayStation London)

Deviation Games, a studio set up by former Treyarch developers, announced that they were working on a PlayStation game in June 2021, but recently the company suffered some substantial layoffs (via VideoGamer), painting a grim picture for the future of the project.

Finally, we have Bungie, Sony's would-be Trump card in its race to live-service prominence. We've seen no signs of Destiny 2 slowing down any time soon with Season of the Deep set to go live next week, and the studio has yet to reveal its next project, but reports suggest it could be a revival of the Marathon in the vein of Escape from Tarkov.

In February of 2022, Sony said it would release 10 PS5 multiplayer games by 2026, and just a few weeks ago added that its live-service offerings would range in scope and genre. Last October, it suggested PlayStation live-service games could hit PC "day and date" with PS5, so it's very possible the aforementioned projects will be available to PC gamers right at launch.

In the meantime, here are the best PS5 games and the best PC games to play today.

After earning an English degree from ASU, I worked as a corporate copy editor while freelancing for places like SFX Magazine, Screen Rant, Game Revolution, and MMORPG on the side. I got my big break here in 2019 with a freelance news gig, and I was hired on as GamesRadar's west coast Staff Writer in 2021. That means I'm responsible for managing the site's western regional executive branch, AKA my home office, and writing about whatever horror game I'm too afraid to finish.