You’ve probably played this game before: You control an underpowered, under-leveled character. You wake up in a dungeon without a map, and the only way out is to simply move forward. Before you begin your escape run, you’re presented with a choice of weapon or item to help you survive the journey. As you crawl through the dungeon, you slay enemy after enemy, looting armor, items, and weapons to make your hero stronger as you fight through each room. Then you die, only to wake up with nothing. However, the rooms and enemies are different when you reenter the dungeon.This is the basic roguelike formula, a genre that’s existed since the release of Rogue in 1980 (though some argue that it debuted slightly before). Rogue is a text-based adventure game inspired by Dungeons & Dragons. It’s a simple title, but an addictive one, and you can see its DNA in many contemporary releases. Sony, in particular, is going all-in on the compulsive gameplay loop by including roguelike mechanics in blockbuster releases such as God of War and The Last of Us.After more than 40 years, why is roguelike gameplay more popular than ever? Let’s dive in.Roguelike vs. RogueliteIn a roguelike title, each play session is different due to procedural generation, altered maps, and new enemies and loot in each room. These design pillars keep the gameplay fresh, but familiar. You’re taught how to interact with the game world and learn its rules and dangers.
Roguelike modes…let developers double-dip on the years of labor that go into creating games.
During the 2008 International Roguelike Development Conference, several developers gave the category a definition. You can read the transcript detailing the elements that comprise a roguelike here.Although the developers at the Roguelike Development Conference didn’t intend to gatekeep the genre, they created a stylistic fork in the road. Another path emerged: The roguelite. A roguelite is a game that features some of a roguelike’s core factors, such as permadeath, random environment generation, resource management, and exploration. The key difference is that a roguelite features level progression that stays with your character after death. In Dead Cells, for example, you unlock weapons that are added to your artillery pool, as well as permanent upgrades that affect traversal.Roguelike and roguelite are often used interchangeably, so keep in mind that genres shouldn’t be treated as strict gospel—video games are art, after all. However, the definitions are useful for quickly getting a sense of what a title is about.
God of War Ragnarök’s Valhalla DLC adds roguelike elements to the base game (Credit: SIE Santa Monica Studio)
PlayStation-LikeGod of War Ragnarök: Valhalla and The Last of Us Part II Remastered add roguelike elements to their incredibly popular base games. At their cores, both titles are linear, cinematic experiences with a beginning, middle, and end. However, new roguelike segments let you solely engage with the thrilling game mechanics. Valhalla features the series’ deliciously brutal combat, but it forces you to make choices along the procedurally generated way. Should you pour resources into your Leviathan Axe? Or should you focus on the Blades of Chaos? By limiting the available options, Valhalla makes you more intimate with the game’s combat by focusing on enemy placement and patterns. Conversely, The Last of Us Part II’s No Return mode opens it up with randomized mods and dynamic combat so that it can truly breathe. And on a reputation level, these roguelike modes stymie the criticism that God of War and The Last of Us want to be more like movies than video games.
The Last of Us Part II: No Return lets you experience the game without the heavy story (Credit: Naughty Dog)
PlayStation’s Live Service StumblesSony’s roguelite pivot didn’t come out of the blue. It’s possible that it was birthed after the company endured several multiplayer missteps while chasing Fortnite money.The PlayStation brand is synonymous with strong, single-player, cinematic video games. As a result, it was surprising when news broke that PlayStation wanted to put all its eggs in a potentially lucrative, Fortnite-shaped basket with live service games—a mistake.The rise and seeming fall of PlayStation’s live service investment started in July 2022, when Sony acquired Bungie for $3.6 billion. Bungie has been in the live service world for many years with its Destiny franchise.In May 2023, a Sony business presentation detailed a large investment in new IP, and that 12 live service games were in production. Later that month, Bloomberg reported that Sony was using Bungie to evaluate the 12 in-development live service titles, which led to the delay of Naughty Dog’s Last of Us: Factions, an online version of the popular series. The main issue cited was the game being unable to “keep players engaged for a long period of time.”
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On a November 9 company earnings call, Sony CFO Hiroki Totoki stated that six of the company’s live service games were being delayed into 2026. On December 6, IGN’s Rebekah Valentine reported on Bungie’s “soul-crushing” atmosphere, with the developer fearing losing its independence via a Sony takeover.Finally, on December 14, Naughty Dog announced the cancellation of Last of Us: Factions.In a roguelike, each session is known as a “run.” Reflecting upon this string of delays, setbacks, and failures, it’s safe to say that Sony’s live service run might’ve been over before it began. Overall, the live service fad is fading, and it’s hard to imagine the gaming landscape featuring as many battle royales in the coming years as it does now. In fact, developer Naughty Dog stated that The Last of Us: Factions was canned because it would take its entire staff to support a live service game; the team would lack the resources to work on the single-player projects that are its bread and butter.Maybe Sony will eventually release a live service title that’s fun and addicting to play. That said, game development is challenging no matter the scope, and roguelike modes are the perfect design compromise that let developers expand a game using existing content.
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Sony Goes RogueCreating new AAA games, especially live service titles that demand strong servers and robust security for purchasing items, requires significant time and money. High-profile failures, such as Anthem, Knockout City, Lawbreakers, Marvel’s Avengers, and Rumbleverse, prove that it’s a difficult genre to make viable.Plus, gamers and shareholders are an infamously fickle lot, so Sony must fill the space between tentpole releases with more modestly sized experiences. After all, producing new visual and audio assets, as well as story beats, doesn’t come easy—it took four years for the rebooted God of War to receive its Ragnarök sequel.Roguelike modes like the ones added to God of War Ragnarök: Valhalla and The Last of Us Part II: Remastered let developers double-dip on the years of labor that go into creating games. Combat, character models, animations, and textures are recycled into a fresh experience. Now fans needn’t walk away from a title after sinking 30 to 40 hours into it. With a roguelike mode, you can play forever—and Sony can potentially monetize it in the future.
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