Industry opinion and internal developments have sparked intense debate over leadership at the top of Sony's gaming division, with analysts and commentators arguing that Hermen Hulst has failed to steer first-party development effectively, leaving PS Studios needs for a structural change increasingly urgent.
While PlayStation continues to forecast record-breaking financial performance for the current fiscal year—bolstered by iterative successes and reliable mainstays like MLB The Show, God of War Ragnarok, and the breakout hit Helldivers 2—critics point to widespread missteps across new projects and acquisitions.
The Live-Service Struggle and Project Cancellations
The push into live-service games has faced severe setbacks. Concord was infamously shut down and refunded within weeks of release, while multi-year efforts on multiplayer projects like the cancelled standalone The Last of Us online game cost years of Naughty Dog's development cycle without a new title shipping this generation.
Additional pressure surrounds studio closures and downsized projects. Bluepoint Games was shuttered following unreleased prototypes, and Bend Studio has not followed up on Days Gone. Meanwhile, the acquisition of Bungie resulted in heavy staff layoffs and a substantial write-down after Marathon and Destiny struggled to maintain their audiences.
Horizon Hunters Gathering Reboot
The turning point for many critics arrived with August 2026 reports detailing changes at Guerrilla Games. The Amsterdam-based studio has spent years working on Horizon Hunters Gathering, a co-op action game that is now being repurposed into a smaller-scale online product. Bloomberg reported that the project faces cancellation if it fails to impress by the end of the year.
With only a tiny team prototyping a true single-player sequel to Horizon Forbidden West, fans face a potential five-year gap or more before Aloy's next major adventure arrives. As major studios remain years behind schedule under Hulst's remit, questions over the long-term direction of PlayStation's first-party lineup remain central to the ongoing industry conversation.