PS5 Exec: “We Cancel So Many Games”

PlayStation boss Shuhei Yoshida has discussed the company’s production pipelines, saying the giant cancels “so many games.” In an interview with The Guardian, Yoshida said part of the pain of making new games is knowing that they won’t all be seen through to release.

“PlayStation embraces new ideas, and many of them fail. We do a prototype, we evaluate, we decide whether to spend more time and resources, or we just stop. We cancel so many games,” Yoshida said. “I usually try to convince the developer that I’m trying to save them from getting stuck with this project.”

The executive went on to say that PlayStation works with “people who have very strong ideas,” which makes suggesting changes or cancelling games outright “so hard.”

“It’s all about talent in this industry. I have tried to help them as much as I could,” Yoshida said.

Sony reportedly canceled a Days Gone sequel. Additionally, reporter Jason Schreier said Sony canceled a new Uncharted game.

Before this, another gaming giant–Blizzard–said it cancels about 50% of the games it begins development on. “The truth is, behind the curtain, it’s a horror show. But most people outside of Blizzard don’t realize around half of our titles don’t see the light of day,” Blizzard co-founder Allen Adham said.

In other news about cancelled games, a developer who worked on Star Wars: Battlefront III recently said the game was shut down “two yards from the finish line.”

As for PlayStation, its latest big release was the Burning Shores expansion for Horizon Forbidden West. Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, which is exclusive to PS5, is rumored to release in September.