Sony taking live services very seriously, recruiting some of the best in the biz

Sony is taking its new live service games very seriously and is working some of the best talent in the business to bring its billion-dollar plans to reality.

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Sony is going all-in on live service games. First Sony Interactive Entertainment acquired Bungie for $3.7 billion, sweeping up Destiny while also securing critical expertise in a big power buy. While Bungie will still retain creative independence under Sony, the Halo- and Destiny-maker will advise, consult, and help guide Sony's new fledgling live game ambitions.

More recently there are reports that Sony and Guerrilla Games are working closely with the online game experts at NC Soft on a new MMORPG set in the Horizon universe. Having developed games like the classic Lineage from the late 90s, NC Soft's know-how stretches across decades and the South Korean company's expertise has brought in nearly $14 billion in lifetime revenues across its five biggest games.

Now there is confirmation that Naughty Dog, who is making a big live game based around The Last of Us universe, has recruited the systems designer for the most lucrative live game on the planet. Anders Howard, who helped design the core systems of Fortnite's ultra-powerful battle pass, has joined Naughty Dog as lead monetization designer.

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A bit ago, Howard updated his LinkedIn profile to confirm his new position with the tagline: "New adventures await!"

Howard not only helped create one of the most disruptive and industry-defining monetization tools in the modern video games industry, but also consulted on battle pass designs for Rocket League and Fall Guys.

These are just some of the major investments and plans that Sony is laying out for its big live games push. There are a multitude of first-party PlayStation online-driven experiences in development including:

PlayStation Live Games

(Special thanks to Zuby_Tech for the list and breakdown)

• Bungie - Destiny 2/New IP
• Bungie - Squad-based Tarkov-like extraction shooter set in Marathon universe
• Haven - New AAA live game
• Jetpack Interactive - New live game based on "prized IP"
• Naughty Dog - Last of Us live game
• Firesprite - Twisted Metal F2P game & new multiplayer shooter
• NCSoft- HZD multiplayer/co-op
• Insomniac Games - New multiplayer game
• Firewalk - New multiplayer IP
• London Studio - Online co-op fantasy game set in mythical London