What Would Be the Future of GAAS Games at PlayStation After Jim Ryan’s Departure From Sony?

On September 29, Jim Ryan shocked the gaming world with his retirement statement. In the statement Ryan issued, he stated he would be retiring from the SIE CEO’s position in March 2024, citing personal reasons as the cause of retirement. However, his announcement induced chaos in the gaming world, as PlayStation is battling the growing forces of Xbox.

And many fans thought Ryan to be the one who steered PlayStation back to the top with his meticulous strategies. But Ryan is ready to hand over the torch to his successor. Meanwhile, a segment of netizens is also happy with this news. They believe Ryan brought in far too many changes to the PlayStation world, some of which fans weren’t too happy about. Now a question that arises is, will his successor bring forth more changes? Or will they be canceling out the work done by Ryan?

Jim Ryan: the man who brought extreme changes to PlayStation

Ryan became the CEO of SIE in February 2019, replacing John (Tsuyoshi) Kodera. And from the start of his reign, Ryan has pushed the boundaries of what PlayStation could do. While some of the policies performed well within the community, some, unfortunately, did not. One of his policies that did not gel well with the community and developers was PlayStation’s shift towards ‘Games as a Service’ titles or GAAS games.

The term GAAS games refers to creating games, mostly multiplayer, that can generate profits over a long period. And developing these cash cow games became the prime focus of PlayStation. However, according to Bloomberg, this shift in policies turned out to be an uncomfortable one for the developers. The studios had spent years building their teams, focusing on single-player experiences, and a complete 180 was a tiring one. 

What happened when PlayStation switched to GAAS games?

Ryan pivoted the development studios under PlayStation to focus on GAAS games. As the CEO of SIE, Jim Ryan made a big case of pushing 10 GAAS titles by 2026. While those solo experiences are still in development by the studios, they had the additional task of procuring multiplayer titles. Naughty Dog, Insomniac Games, and Guerrilla Games are all working to release multiplayer titles of their own. Many multiple titles like The Last of Us Factions have unfortunately entered development hell too. And this trend did not stop with PlayStation’s acquisition of Bungie.

Read More: Keeping Competition Aside, Xbox Boss Phil Spencer Reveals Jim Ryan Is a “Fierce Leader for PlayStation”

Recently, Jim Ryan sang praises for PlayStation’s acquisition of Bungie. He further stated it was a more profitable deal than the Microsoft-Activision deal. Ryan was the forerunner for the acquisition of Bungie. They brought the Destiny series creators on to PlayStation’s quest to make GAAS games. However, Bungie has yet to make PlayStation the service game leader they want to be. But with Ryan going fairly soon, fans have started to wonder what will be the next steps for PlayStation.

Will Ryan’s departure lead to a change in PlayStation’s approach?

Since Jim Ryan is going by April 2024, industry insiders have started to wonder about the lifetime validity of GAAS games. The service games industry was a huge sensation during the COVID-19 times. The majority of players wanted to connect with people, and this led to a boom in GAAS multiplayer games. However, now even hit service games like Fortnite are facing troubles. So this begs a question about Ryan’s decision to push PlayStation studios to produce multiple service games by 2026. 

Furthermore, netizens have started to wonder about the direction PlayStation is going in. Xbox is currently focusing on targeting the mobile industry with the help of Activision Blizzard and King. On the other hand, Nintendo is strongly focused on its hardware division and is planning to increase its workforce. Netizens fear PlayStation is the only one that is missing a clear vision. But there is going to be a new face of PlayStation now who will be calling the shots since April 2024. 

Can the new face of SIE propel the company in a new direction?

There are still speculations on who will be the new face of SIE. Many fans are speculating Herman Hulst, the Head of PlayStation Studios, and Shuhei Yoshida, the Head of the Independent Developer Initiative, are the forerunners in the race. Whoever becomes the face of SIE will surely face a lot of challenges.

The commotion caused by service games and misplaced bets in PS Portal will be one of the immediate concerns of the new CEO. And the damage caused by the Microsoft-Activision deal will also start to take effect when the new CEO assumes their position. Do you think PlayStation will still be pushing GAAS games when the new CEO takes over? Let us know in the comments section below.

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