Hermen Hulst Talks PlayStation’s Future: More Live Service, More PC, More New Franchises

Hermen Hulst Talks PlayStation’s Future: More Live Service, More PC, More New Franchises

ByNews Polite

For a while now, the PlayStation brand has been evolving. No longer simply meaning the console that sits under your television, the word “PlayStation” now applies to movies, television shows, or even the brand’s console exclusive games appearing on PC.

Now, speaking to a handful of media outlets, Head of PlayStation Studios Hermen Hulst has outlined a bit more of what’s in store for PlayStation’s expanding future.

One clear pillar of PlayStation’s business strategy moving forward is live service games, as previously proven by Sony’s $3.7 billion acquisition of Bungie. According to Hulst, Bungie’s role in the PlayStation family will partially be to serve as an example of how to handle the live service model.

“I’ve been a long-time admirer of Bungie,” the executive told GQ. “They speak our language and so they’ve been doing this for a decade since the original release of Destiny. So the battle scars that they have earned, coupled with their absolute transparency means I can’t think of a better partner to have in that space.”

Meanwhile, Hulst told Axios that PlayStation has greenlit 12 total projects in the live ops space. This lines up with the number Sony CFO Hiroki Totoki said back in February when we learned PlayStation plans to launch more than ten live service games by March 2026. At the time, Totoki also credited the Bungie acquisition as a key reason why developing, releasing, and sustaining so many live service games should be possible in that window.

You can likely expect PlayStation’s live service offerings to be a mix of new IP and recognizable franchises. Hulst told GQ that PlayStation has “about 25 titles in development”, and that roughly half of the projects in development are new IP. He also said that PlayStation is “not excluding bringing some of our beloved existing franchises into live games.”

Sony’s recent AAA offerings have largely forgone multiplayer altogether, with games like The Last of Us Part II, Horizon Forbidden West, Spider-Man: Miles Morales, and the upcoming God of War Ragnarok serving as solo experiences. There are exceptions to that, though, with Ghost of Tsushima Legends and Returnal’s multiplayer support both arriving after launch.

As we know, some Sony studios are instead developing standalone multiplayer projects, rather than grouping them in with single player experiences. We know The Last of Us is getting a standalone multiplayer title, and recent rumors suggest a multiplayer Horizon game could be in the works.

Even though Sony will begin to spend more resources on multiplayer live service offerings, Hulst appears to remain committed to Sony’s flagship single-player titles, telling Axios that the narrative-driven single-player games aren’t going anywhere. They are seemingly taking longer to get here, however, with a history of delays for Horizon Forbidden West and God of War Ragnarok, while Spider-Man 2 is currently the only major Sony-published exclusive on the books for 2023, outside of the company’s PSVR 2 plans.

While the wait continues for new exclusives on PS5, PC players are finally starting to experience some of the best games the PlayStation 4 has to offer. Recently, franchises like God of War, Spider-Man, and Uncharted have started appearing on PC, which will seemingly continue in the future.

Hulst told Reuters that “further investments in areas that will strengthen the expansion on to PC” are a definite possibility.

It’s not just a PS5 and PC party from now on, though. In the interview with Axios, Hulst also mentioned bringing more games to PS4 on a “case-by-case basis,” and discussed building up Sony’s “internal capability” to make mobile games. Earlier this year, Sony formed its PlayStation Studios Mobile Division to start working on mobile games based on new and existing IPs.

Finally, when Hulst was speaking to Reuters about Sony’s recent investment in Elden Ring developer FromSoftware, Hulst said it’s “not unthinkable” that PlayStation Productions could work on an entertainment adaptation of a FromSoftware property. FromSoftware is the developer of Elden Ring, Bloodborne, Sekiro, and the Dark Souls series.

For even more on PlayStation, check out how Sony is apparently planning to make 2 million PSVR 2 units for launch. Or read about how the PS5 has seemingly been jailbroken, with people already installing Hideo Kojima’s PT.

Logan Plant is a freelance writer for IGN covering video game and entertainment news. He has over six years of experience in the gaming industry with bylines at IGN, Nintendo Wire, Switch Player Magazine, and Lifewire. Find him on Twitter @LoganJPlant.