Shawn Layden, the previous CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment America, has by no means been shy about sharing his ideas on the state of the trade, and this time he is taking intention at console unique titles. In an interview with GamesBeat, the trade veteran has known as AAA console exclusives an “Achilles’ heel,” saying corporations want to contemplate how the market has modified.
“When your costs for a game exceed $200 million, exclusivity is your Achilles’ heel,” Layden stated, agreeing that releasing video games throughout platforms is crucial to market progress. “It reduces your addressable market. Particularly when you’re in the world of live service gaming or free-to-play.”
“Another platform is just another way of opening the funnel, getting more people in. In a free-to-play world, as we know, 95% percent of those people will never spend a nickel. The business is all about conversion. You have to improve your odds by cracking the funnel open,” Layden continued. “Helldivers 2 has shown that for PlayStation, coming out on PC at the same time. Again, you get that funnel wider. You get more people in.”
The identical is true for single-player video games, Layden provides, although to a lesser extent. “If you’re spending $250 million, you want to be able to sell it to as many people as possible, even if it’s just 10% more.” The rising value of recreation growth is one thing Layden has spoken on earlier than, calling it an “existential threat” to the trade and advocating for a return to AA-style video games which can be smaller in scope.
In the GamesBeat interview, Layden additionally requires extra innovation particularly within the console house, seeing a necessity for the trade to draw a brand new viewers. “We’re not going to attract them by doing more of the shit we’re doing now,” he says. “If 95% of the world doesn’t want to play Call of Duty, Fortnite, and Grand Theft Auto, is the industry just going to make more Call of Duty, Fortnite and Grand Theft Auto? That’s not going to get you anybody else.”
Now working as an advisor for corporations together with Tencent, Streamline Media Group, and NFT-focused gaming startup Readygg, Layden typically weighs in on the state of the trade, giving his recommendation as a veteran. The former PlayStation CEO wasn’t a fan of Microsoft’s buy of Activision-Blizzard, and has warned of the affect of main corporations like Netflix, Google, Apple, and Amazon on the gaming ecosystem. Despite his warnings and recommendation, Layden commented comparatively optimistically on the mass layoffs within the trade, saying he does not consider the trade’s demise is anyplace shut.
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