Sony will be investing a whopping 300 billion yen (around $2.1 billion) into research and development for its games business, according to a report via Nikkei. The budget will be effective for the company’s next fiscal year, which ends on March 2024.

The 300-billion-yen budget is a few ten billions higher than last year’s R&D spending on games, which totaled at 271.1 billion yen, and more than double the company’s 2020 budget of 144.5 billion yen. This is likely due to Sony’s recent success in its gaming ventures, with the company’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) at around 337 billion yen, 60% higher than its value five years prior.

Much of this year’s budget will apparently be spent on live service titles, a move that Sony seems to be keen on following through, with the company planning on releasing various live service titles by 2026. To support the company’s foray into live service titles, Sony acquired Bungie last year, and given how well the Destiny franchise is doing, the company may want to leverage the studio’s knowhow on live service models to expand its own games catalogue.

Interestingly, Sony is also looking to invest in “extended reality,” or experiences which blend physical and digital spaces. With Apple’s recent Vision Pro announcement, and its promise of delivering even more immersive experiences than ever before, Sony may be looking to pioneer one of the newer fields of gaming.

As Microsoft inches its way into closing its Activision-Blizzard deal, Sony continues to invest in its gaming division in order to keep up with growing competition.

Source: Nikkei