Sony Aims to Power Up Online Gaming

Sony is seeking to boost online gaming to the next level with a pair of new adventures in the pipeline. The company's 1999 EverQuest was the first massive online game to rocket to popularity, but rivals like World of Warcraft have since taken the lead. With spy shooter game The Agency and the tweener-targeting Free Realms, Sony hopes to get back on top.

"For the past nine years, it’s been the same formula—basically, kill stuff," said the president of Sony Online, who insists the gaming world is due for a shakeup. "If we’re going to expand the audience to one that’s a lot broader, both in age range and sex, we’re going to need to reinvent." (More multiplayer games stories.)