New PlayStation Boss Supports Single-Player Games, Addresses 'Games As A Service' Concerns

When Andrew House left his role as president of Sony Interactive Entertainment, fans were worried that his replacement would be pushing for more microtransactions. John Kodera, the new president and CEO of SIE and PlayStation, took to Twitter and told fans that that won’t be the case.

“I will do my best to continue the excellent work don by Mr. @AndrewHousePS. About the issue of ‘Games as a Service’, do not worry about it. PlayStation’s vision is totally different,” Kodera said on Twitter.

To be clear, “games as a service” is a broad description for titles that are designed to keep people playing the same game for months or even years as developers keep adding new content on a regular basis. A recent example of this is “PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds.” Its developers plan on adding new content and tweaking the game to make sure players keep coming back, instead of moving on with making a sequel, as pointed out by GameSpot.

Another aspect of the “games as a service” model that’s frowned upon is that it can also lead to players spending more money on microtransactions that involve expansions and other DLCs. Before becoming president and CEO, Kodera ran Sony Network Entertainment, which includes the PlayStation Store. This is why some fans thought he would be pushing for more microtransactions and encourage Sony to use the games-as-a-service model.

PlayStation 4 already has a bunch of titles that use this model, but for the most part it never felt like it was a priority for Sony. The company has been dedicated to publishing major single-player games over the last year, like “Horizon: Zero Dawn,” “Uncharted 4” and “Bloodborne.”

For future releases, the PS4 is expected to even have more single-player AAA titles like “Spider-Man,” “God of War,” “Days Gone,” “Detroit Become Human” and the highly-anticipated “The Last of Us Part 2.” Based on Kodera’s tweet, it looks like fans wouldn’t need to worry as it looks like he intends to continue pushing for more single-player games like his predecessor.

Speaking of single-player games for the PS4, SIE Japan producer Chris Ashimine recently said in an interview with Weekly Famitsu (via ComicBook.com) that a release date announcement for “God Of War” will happen “soon” and fans should look forward to that. Unfortunately, he didn’t provide any information on an exact date or month.