PlayStation is getting back to what it’s good at
PlayStation is getting back to what it’s good at
PlayStation 正回归其擅长的领域
After some high-profile live-service disasters, PlayStation is putting more focus on premium single-player games. 在经历了几次备受瞩目的“实时服务型游戏”（live-service）灾难后，PlayStation 正将重心重新转向高质量的单机游戏。
PlayStation used its most recent State of Play showcase to make it clear where its focus is. After a series of costly live-service stumbles, it’s getting back to focusing on premium, narrative-driven, single-player games. That statement was made clear with how it started and ended the hourlong show. PlayStation 在最近的“State of Play”发布会上明确了其战略重心。在经历了一系列代价高昂的实时服务型游戏挫折后，它正回归到以叙事驱动的高质量单机游戏上。这一点在长达一小时的发布会开场与结尾中表现得尤为明显。
The showcase began with an extended look at gameplay from Marvel’s Wolverine, the new superhero title from Insomniac Games. Over seven minutes of bloody action, Logan sliced and diced his way through a bunch of baddies as he tried to rescue some captured mutants, briefly teaming up with Jean Grey for some help taking them down. Insomniac is well-known for its excellent single-player adventures, like Ratchet & Clank and the recent Spider-Man games, and Wolverine seems poised to keep up the tradition when it launches in September. 发布会以《漫威金刚狼》（Marvel’s Wolverine）的实机演示拉开序幕，这是 Insomniac Games 开发的全新超级英雄游戏。在长达七分钟的血腥战斗中，罗根（Logan）一路斩杀敌人，试图营救被俘的变种人，期间还与琴·葛雷（Jean Grey）短暂联手。Insomniac 以其出色的单机冒险游戏而闻名，如《瑞奇与叮当》（Ratchet & Clank）和近期的《蜘蛛侠》（Spider-Man）系列，《金刚狼》似乎也准备在九月发售时延续这一传统。
The show ended with a major reveal: God of War Laufey, the next mainline, single-player entry in the God of War series from Santa Monica Studio. Laufey stars Faye, Kratos’ wife, and based on the extensive 23-minute trailer shown during the showcase, it looks to have all of the hallmarks of the recent God of War games: gripping combat, a magical world to explore, and charming, chatty companions. In this case, it’s a gelatinous cube voiced by Jack Quaid and sentient ribbons attached to Faye’s sword. 发布会以一个重磅消息收尾：《战神：劳菲》（God of War Laufey），这是圣莫尼卡工作室（Santa Monica Studio）《战神》系列下一部正统单机续作。《劳菲》以奎托斯的妻子菲（Faye）为主角。根据发布会上长达 23 分钟的预告片来看，它具备了近期《战神》游戏的所有标志性元素：扣人心弦的战斗、充满魔力的探索世界，以及迷人且话痨的同伴。这一次，同伴是一个由杰克·奎德（Jack Quaid）配音的凝胶状立方体，以及附着在菲之剑上的有感知力的丝带。
Sandwiched between those showcase titles was a number of third-party games that were similarly single-player focused. Many are launching over the next few months, like Remedy Entertainment’s Control Resonant and Konami’s Silent Hill: Townfall on September 24th and Capcom’s Onimusha: Way of the Sword on September 25th. Some were farther out, like Crystal Dynamics’ Tomb Raider reboot in February. PlayStation also showed off its own slasher sequel with Until Dawn 2, which launches sometime next year. 在这些重头戏之间，还穿插了许多同样专注于单机体验的第三方游戏。许多游戏将在未来几个月内发布，例如 Remedy Entertainment 的《控制：共鸣》（Control Resonant）、科乐美（Konami）9 月 24 日发售的《寂静岭：城镇陨落》（Silent Hill: Townfall），以及卡普空（Capcom）9 月 25 日发售的《鬼武者：剑之道》（Onimusha: Way of the Sword）。有些游戏发布时间较远，比如水晶动力（Crystal Dynamics）明年二月推出的《古墓丽影》（Tomb Raider）重启版。PlayStation 还展示了其自家的恐怖游戏续作《直到黎明 2》（Until Dawn 2），该作将于明年某个时间发布。
What wasn’t present at State of Play was much in the way of live-service or multiplayer games. The main exception was a look at season 2 of Marathon, the struggling extraction shooter from Destiny developer Bungie. But there was nothing about Fairgames, Horizon’s co-op spinoff, or any brand-new, live-service title from Sony. 在本次 State of Play 中，几乎没有出现实时服务型或多人游戏的身影。唯一的例外是《马拉松》（Marathon）的第二赛季预告，这是《命运》（Destiny）开发商 Bungie 旗下陷入困境的撤离类射击游戏。但关于《Fairgames》、《地平线》（Horizon）的合作衍生作，或是索尼任何全新的实时服务型游戏，均只字未提。
This shouldn’t be too much of a surprise. Sony’s live-service push, for the most part, hasn’t worked out, despite the company making it a key pillar of its strategy. Much like the rest of the industry, it has had more misses than hits. Helldivers 2 is a big success and Gran Turismo 7 is chugging along. But other games haven’t been so lucky, with rounds of layoffs at Marathon and Destiny 2 developer Bungie, the abrupt shutdown of the very expensive Concord, the cancellation of a The Last of Us multiplayer game and an unannounced live-service God of War game, and no Fairgames in sight despite being revealed nearly three years ago. 这并不令人意外。尽管索尼将实时服务型游戏作为其战略的核心支柱，但从目前来看，这一举措并未奏效。和整个行业一样，索尼的尝试往往是失败多于成功。《绝地潜兵 2》（Helldivers 2）取得了巨大成功，《GT赛车 7》（Gran Turismo 7）也表现平稳。但其他游戏就没那么幸运了：Bungie 经历了多轮裁员，耗资巨大的《星鸣特攻》（Concord）突然关停，《最后生还者》（The Last of Us）的多人游戏项目被取消，一款未公布的《战神》实时服务游戏也被砍掉，而《Fairgames》自三年前公布以来至今杳无音讯。
This doesn’t mean that Sony is completely retreating from live-service games. There are likely some unannounced projects, and new titles have been announced as recently as February. It’s also worth noting that past State of Plays have had a similar focus on single-player titles, albeit with few major first-party Sony releases. But at a time when the console space is struggling, and Sony in particular has seen a significant drop in first-party game sales (not to mention hardware sales), getting back to basics makes a lot of sense. The PlayStation brand is closely associated with single-player epics like The Last of Us and God of War, and the State of Play was a chance to show that they’re still a priority for Sony. 这并不意味着索尼完全放弃了实时服务型游戏。可能还有一些未公布的项目，且就在今年二月还有新游戏发布。值得注意的是，过去的 State of Play 也曾侧重于单机游戏，尽管当时索尼的第一方大作较少。但在主机市场陷入困境、尤其是索尼第一方游戏销量（更不用说硬件销量）大幅下滑的当下，回归基本面是非常明智的。PlayStation 品牌与《最后生还者》和《战神》等单机史诗大作紧密相连，而这次 State of Play 正是一个契机，向外界证明这些作品依然是索尼的重中之重。
And while the rest of this year seems largely sorted for PlayStation, there are still a lot of question marks about its future: Laufey, the remakes of the original God of War trilogy, and Naughty Dog’s Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet are all without release dates. 虽然 PlayStation 今年余下的时间安排似乎已基本确定，但其未来仍存在许多问号：《劳菲》、初代《战神》三部曲的重制版，以及顽皮狗（Naughty Dog）的《星际：异端先知》（Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet）都尚未确定发售日期。
Actually playing those games is a more expensive proposition than ever. But in stepping back from live-service games, Sony has a much clearer path to convincing people to do that: Make memorable, expansive single-player games that you can’t play anywhere else. 如今游玩这些游戏的成本比以往任何时候都要高。但通过从实时服务型游戏撤退，索尼找到了一条更清晰的道路来说服玩家：制作那些在其他任何地方都无法体验到的、令人难忘且宏大的单机游戏。