It’s been a bit of a rough year for PlayStation exclusives and the studios that make them. While The Final Shape was generally lauded as an excellent concluding chapter to Destiny 2’s current story arc, Bungie was faced with all kinds of setbacks including canceled projects and layoffs. Elsewhere, Sony’s Firewalk Studios launched Concord, unlaunched it, then closed permanently within the space of a few months after the hero shooter failed to gain traction in a glutted market.
That said, PlayStation still came through this year with a slate of excellent games that will hopefully demonstrate that there’s an appetite for more than just live-service shooters.
XDefiant, Foamstars, Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League, Concord — 2024 has been littered with the bones of live-service shooters that came, went, or are limping along with little fanfare and even fewer players. But Helldivers 2 was something special. It could be the game’s humorous over-the-top take on political propaganda, the developers at Arrowhead Game Studios fully leaning into the bit, or the regular content updates including the new Omens of Tyranny update that launched in early December. But Helldivers 2 managed to be the one live-service multiplayer shooter this year (that doesn’t have Call of Duty in the title) that has the juice to compete against the big forever games like Apex Legends and Fortnite.