A future where all games would be live service games would be a boring future, according to former Sony Interactive Entertainment Worldwide Studios president Shuhei Yoshida.
Speaking with The Guardian in a lengthy interview that addresses a variety of other topics, one of the most recognizable faces from Sony Interactive Entertainment spoke about live service games, highlighting how he wishes the industry would continue to support and chase creative ideas and people who work on such ideas, as a future where games would become all the same, or live service games would be a bit boring for him.
While this statement may sound strange, coming from someone who’s working in a company that has been increasing its effort in creating live service titles, it really isn’t, considering Shuhei Yoshida was leading Sony Interactive Entertainment Worldwide Studios when Journey released, a very creative and unusual game which spearheaded a new wave of indie titles. In the interview with The Guardian, Shuhei Yoshida recalls how the launch of the game is one of the highlights of his career.
Creativity is still going to make a difference in the future of the video games industry, even in the era of AI-powered tools, according to Shuhei Yoshida. AI can produce some very strange things, he said, but these tools must be used properly. As such, AI will change the nature of learning for game developers, making it more efficient and allowing for more beautiful things to be made, possibly making creativity even more important in a future where a developer does not even need to learn how to code and program.
While many are the very creative games that get released, not many of them manage to achieve the same level of popularity as tried and true franchises and select live service games, so Shuhei Yoshida’s feelings on the future of the industry are definitely warranted. Technology advancements will allow for even more creative titles, but if the market will actually embrace them enough to prevent the live service model from being the only feasible release model, only time will tell.
