Shawn Layden Reveals Why He Left Sony PlayStation

I think he also saw what was coming and understood that change was imminent in how PlayStation would operate, and the market as a whole.

I think getting his name away from that was the best thing for his legacy.

The guy's smart , what better way to resign . and i definitely agree about the industry needing new & young blood , i wish i could get my foot in the door because i've always felt this way for a few years now , just comparing games back then to now.

[Edited for moderation purposes]

I think he made the right choice. I don't know how much corporate power Hermen Hulst really has, but between him and, of course, Jim Ryan, it feels like it's already a whole different operation, and unfortunately not in a particularly good way 😔

I miss Jack Tretton. Shawn Layden was great and a huge reason for the PS4's success. Heck, even Andrew House was better than Jim Ryan. He will be the reason PS5 will likely be the least desirable PlayStation.

That whole thing with what's going on with Horizon just proves that he is not fit for the job. What collector would buy a collector's edition without a game in it? Collectors like to collect games. Ridiculous.

I don't blame him. If he's just flat out tired from the job, why not retire.

He should have done a Toshihiro Nagoshi and implanted younger faces onto his own.

The PS5 is great and has barely hit it's stride. People who are right now declaring the death of PlayStation will feel like right idiots in a few years time.

As for Shawn, generations come and go. There is still plenty of talented people working at Sony and their various gaming studios.

I can understand his getting burnt out but his comment on moving out to allow the younger generation to take over doesn’t seem to totally line up with them moving Jim Ryan in his role.
Only 6 years difference between them.
Most likely a bit more to the story. If there was friction, kudos to him for taking the high road and leaving the details out. Doesn’t do him or the company any good in the long run.

@Col_McCafferty Oh my gosh, thank you.

Almost everyone seems to come to these comment sections and sh** on everything PlayStation on a PlayStation news outlet (which just baffles me). I completely agree. The console isn't even a year old and it came out during one of the worst pandemics in recorded history. So thank you.

@Residentsteven ‘Normal name’? Hermen Hulst is Dutch, he’s hardly going to be called Steve.

I was initially skeptical of him, but he did a good job. Glad to hear he's doing well or at least happy, after moving on.

He is saying a lot without saying a lot. Workplaces can be a horrible place and clearly there was a whole heap of drama. He was never ever gonna say it was a toxic place and I wanted out after a power struggle and I couldn’t be bothered to try and win it. When people leave, good people… they often take the morale high ground and all but no comment. Show he is a decent chap. He could have got loads of kudos for pilling on Jim Ryan…

I think from what we have seen since right two things are true….

Whatever he was saying behind the scenes he was right…

And

He got out at the right time for his own mental health. More power to him.

@Col_McCafferty
There's a difference between spelling DOOM and simply not approving of their new business strategies. Sony were much more transparent and pro consumer through the PS4 gen. Being on top has made them arrogant. And it's not the first time either. I'm still on the blue team, but that doesn't make me blind to these recent changes. Jim Ryan doesn't seem in touch with the community the way Shawn did. Not even close.

Always have to take care of your mental and physical health. He was definitely very active in terms of events and all that. Guy was the face of the biggest brand in gaming for several years and there probably wasn't much let up in the job. I could see that taking a toll on somebody after a while.

A few having a pop at Jim Ryan,
All these PS5 and game pricing decisions won’t be him it will be head office Japan.
Just look at their tv and blu ray player decisions over the years all a bit wrong and from Japan.
Hence their decline to third in the tv market.

@BrettAwesome Pro consumer? What does that even mean? People have been moaning about PS Plus and Now for years, their prices were all of £10 cheaper for games so not that big a deal, they released lots of great games but who's for say they won't do the same this gen either.

Sony are just the current en vogue whipping boys for a minority of very vocal gamers, Xbox the White Knight of gaming and Nintendo beyond reproach. Sony have made the type of games that I like and I'm sure they'll continue to do so.

@Col_McCafferty How can you expect people to acknowledge they're idiots when you yourself can't see how Sony has continued to make anticonsumer moves so far this generation to warrant a backlash?...that's the thing about idiots - they don't know they are one.
PS5 will do fine. They're selling off the 'good will' the PS4 gained them, and the talents of their studios. But let's not pretend they're not currently burning through that good will.

@Bleachedsmiles
It’s a good point.
In the PS3 and PS4 days I was pro Sony and very pro Sony TVs.
But now I’m sitting here with an LG C1 because of their messy around in the tv market and promised updates never delivered.
Also with a series x currently though the PS5 is tempting don’t get me wrong.
But the point the things Sony have done and do make a difference mainly for me in the tv market when it comes to purchases.

@Col_McCafferty
Oh, please. What does it mean? Do you remeber how Sony handled the PS4 launch pr? All about being pro consumer, as opposed to M$ who effed it up so bad they had to spend an entire gen doing damage control. What we're already seeing so early on in this gen is a whole different strategy. Next to no communication, $70 games on PS5 and a general sense they're willing to squeeze every single cent and gram of goodwill out of their loyal fans.

To be fair on that whole armchair analyst thing, he didn’t deny the whole power struggle or something similar. Extra issues could have burnt him out. We don’t know. He also might have wanted to avoid his foot or someone’s foot in his mouth.

Jack tretton and shawn layden was and will always be the best.word up son

@uptownsoul. Yes Pittsburgh Steelers player.i agree.word up son

@Blues2Youse Actual translation: I got boatloads of money so I can just quit and enjoy my money.

@Col_McCafferty I've never seen someone so blindly obsessed with a faceless company as you, I'm sure Sony means a great deal to you and that's great but normal gamers just enjoy games without the strange affiliation to a brand that you clearly enjoy. Playstation is great as is xbox and switch. Maybe chill and see what else is out there??

@Deljo Ha, this is a site dedicated to PlayStation. Is it really that much of a surprise that some people on here like the games they make?

I have had other consoles in the past including a 360, enjoyed gaming on it but as a fan of single player games PlayStation IS the best place to play.

Maybe one day Xbox will deliver single player games of the same quality and I'll have to join their ecosystem but not yet, not yet.

I've been gaming since the early 80's and PS4 gen was a master class. They made it look easy but it was far from it. We saw both MS and Nintendo crash and burn, for different reasons, but burn they did. We must remember PS went in to the generation on the back of months long PS network outage.

I wonder if the console industry would have collapsed further, like many predicated it would without Sony/PS steadying the ship and maintaining a platform on which the others could rebuild? But to all things comes change and to my eyes since Shawn Layden lost the rains PS has taken many poor roads. But the industry today is in great shape and if PS are unable to step up others are lining up to do so.

Happy to see Layden take the high road after a very successful career. Let's see if the Hulst/Ryan duo can produce the same goodwill with there fans. So far it's been a dismal failure communication and PR wise (in my opinion).

@Deljo Its strange, Some people do latch onto companies in a almost quasi religious manor. And while most on here will be Gaming fans with a tilt towards PS there will be those who tie their identity so tightly to the brand they see criticism as a personal slight. But I would presume they are still very young and with time, like most of us do, they will broaden their views and see a larger world in which to enjoy life.

I'm glad Layden is happy now, but his comment still reads like he's deliberately avoiding the nasty parts behind why he left.

Meanwhile, Jim Ryan is probably the worst head of PlayStation ever, and he is clearly not leading the brand down a positive path. Not to mention he's revealing himself as a bulls***er that we cannot trust in any way. He tells us he believes in generations, then lies to us about games having PS4 versions. He tells is that the Horizon Forbidden West upgrade will be free, then charges us for it.

Honist opinion here, I could se him burning out after seeing so my friends retire who would share the weight. Hut man, he left on a awesome high 👍

What? And Jim ryan is supposed to be a new generation? I wouldn't be surprised if he was older than Layden.

It was a shame to lose him cause he genuinely loved sony's library of past games and was the hope to seeing more classic series get the Medievil treatment.
Jim ryan honestly just comes across as a suit.

@get2sammyb thanks for the clarification on that. I didnt realize that.

@Col_McCafferty I think you're spot on. Quite a few people have latched on to this narrative of the once shining city on the hill being destroyed from within. While there are reasonable complaints to be made about $10 pice increase and some self inflicted wounds that stem from consumers now expecting a lot of things to be free, for a swath of gamers Sony now inexplicably embodies "anti-consumerism." I mean, the PS5 launch, for all its supply issues, has crushed the PS4 launch like a grape given the number of fantastic titles available so early in its lifespan.

A funny detail regarding the interview, it seems that Schreier asked him where Deep Down is and he replied "I have no idea."

Sadly, Playstation has been kind of on a downslope since he left

The whole “power struggle” never made sense, Shawn was never the head of playstation like Jim, if anything the power struggle should have been with Hermen. But people will continue to be idiots.

Also Ps5 will be the most successful playstation console, and it will be under Jim Ryans leadership.

Playstation was a better company under shawn layden (and shu), I miss him 😕

Yes, he realized it was time to leave it to young people. Like Ryan and Hulst.......

Why not bring Kutaragi back, the whipper snapper!

Surprised he didn't go with "to spend more time with family" like every politician and corporate leader that's either frogmarched or about to be indicted lol

The avoidance of the question about the power struggle and the odd answer, combined with him serial-liking everything on Facebook that's anti Ryan kind of says everything. I kinda picture he has a shrine of Ryan pictures smeared in pigs blood somewhere in his basement.

He was the last of a dying breed with Sony, and he is surely missed with what we have now. 🙄

@Dezzy70 Very true, Ken Yoshida doesn't get called out in this stuff enough, and as you say, that self destructive pricing has been Sony standard since the 80s. It's not just Shaun but Kaz that was the winning team that's been supplanted.

@Amppari it made sense. Working with Hirai, they worked in sync toward common goals. Then Kodera followed by Ryan, once Hirai wasn't guardian angel from above, he started butting heads with a leader that wanted him to go a different direction. Or so the rumor would suggest.

@Amppari EA was the most successful video games company under Riccitiello. Sometimes short term success comes at the cost of the future unless it's turned around by someone else.

I liked Jack Tretton the most, he was a very public figure. He had a almost celebrity status. Shawn Layden was second but out shined by Shuhei Yoshida as a public figure.

Hermen Hulst is far from leading Playstation in the wrong direction. He is also faced with the challenge of the road blocks of the Covid pandemic! Lets face it he will be judged on the success of PlayStation 5 and its library of games!

@Shepherd_Tallon Spot on. It's ridiculous reading these tired outraged comments coming from people who probably spend 10x what I spend on games and I'm not even complaining. I don't get why it's okay to be outraged but not okay for someone else to be defensive and call them names. It's like join the outrage wagon or else...

It's good to hear some clarification from the man himself. I liked Shawn and wish him all the best in the future.

As for Jim Ryan yes he has said his fair share of bad quotes but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't happy with where Playstation is right now. PS5, while most of it has been cross gen, has had a great 1st year of content compared to pretty much every previous generation.

Plus the fact that it launched in the middle of a global pandemic and was still successful makes it pretty difficult to argue that Jim hasn't also done a great job. He may not have much of a public personality, but as long as Playstation delivers the goods that's all that matters in the end.

@AdamNovice @Amppari It's obvious he didn't just get burnt out and "want a break". Why would he wait two years to let people know why he left, ignoring question after question about it all this time? Why would Sony usher him out the door and never post a thank you or an explanation for Layden's moving on? It's more than obvious he either lost his support at Sony and/or was not happy with some of the people he was working with and/or was forced out.

@Amppari Is that you, Jim? lol

@Dezzy70 You're better off. I have all LG OLED TVs. The Sony A80J I just recently purchased (my wife liked the fact that it had the Rakuten Viki app and therefore didn't require the use of a Roku or Fire Stick) I had to return because of massive lag in Game Mode. I just grabbed another C1 and couldn't be happier.

Shawn Layden is a very classy cat, and I will always be able to relate to him way more than Jim Ryan. I agree that Playstation is in a real good place right now. When it comes to the games, they have the best for my money, and that is what it is about for me. But I love that Xbox is coming on strong. It is good for ALL gamers that the Big 3 are successful, as all of us benefit from the competition. As a side note, all the haters need to wise up on the price of games. $70.00 is not a crazy price for new games. Inflation sucks, and when I look back at buying new games for the NES and SNES for $70.00 or $80.00, $70 now is not bad at all. This is a luxury hobby, no matter how you look at it, so we should not try to pretend that it is not. I have more heartburn with $75 for a new controller 😂.

Good luck to him on whatever comes next.

But With or without him, The PS5 has already become the system to buy this generation.

As long as PS has the amazing support it keeps getting from publishers on day 1 - that is not changing regardless who has what job.

@GADG3Tx87 once again hardcore gamers seem to live in a bubble. You spend so much time on video game websites with like-minded people that you forget about the average consumer who knows nothing about such matters and couldn't care less.

I don't like their actions either, but the Ps5 will be more than fine.

@beebs720 "as all of us benefit from the competition"

In my opinion, this had been repeated thousands of times that it's almost treated like fact, when it couldn't be further from the case. The ps4 did a fantastic job and Sony had very little competition from MS and Ninty. Same with ps2.

Competition hurt psp and killed the psvita (Ninty sealed its fate before it even came out by moneyhatting Capcom for Monster Hunter). And it's hurting ps5 with the acquisition of Bethesda.

Sony is still doing a great job with ps5 in terms of an excellent console with some brilliant games so far, when they're way ahead of competition. I doubt this will change, regardless of competition. If MS gets more desperate, they will simply buy more studios and thus prevent ps5 only players from being able to play certain games. If anything, competition is hurting us, consumers.

@Shepherd_Tallon Finally, a sensible post.

@Shepherd_Tallon This is the most rational post I've seen on Push Square for a while which has unfortunately become a saloon of negativity and nitwits as of late.

@doctommaso
Amazing tv the LG C1 also I found the hdmi hand shaking with other devices just works perfect as where Sony not so well.

@NEStalgia
In the tv market they have slipped to third by charging more but not being any better and actually offering less. Hence my LG C1 tv purchase over my usual loyal Sony tv purchases over the last 20 years.
I’m not saying this will happen in the gaming market but they best not be to cocky like they did with their TVs as you never know in 10 to 20 years they could end up in the same position as the tv market, third place and struggling a bit.

All this talk about power struggles and nonsense, but in my experience when someone leaves a high profile job over night without any communication, it normally means he’s been doing things he shouldn’t(normally involving young female employees) and everyone involved has been forced to sign an NDA in order to receive their hush money payment.

@naruball
Don't be naive. If that were true the Xbox would have done better last gen after the 2013 fiasco. News spreads fast with the help of social media and word of mouth these days.

Most people are already not happy about the £70 price increase for games, that one is already pushing people away. And all you need to do is stand in front of a store shelf to see £70 for Ratchet and Clank or £10 for 200 games per month voucher and they are literally right next to each other.

As for news like this, all it takes is people talking. If you think it goes no further than a website that's the real 'bubble'.

A couple of my friends who don't even use gaming websites have already heard less than 24 hours later. How do you think that happened?
It's already being widely spread on YouTube right now.

@Dezzy70 Enjoy!

@JapaneseSonic So you’d prefer us to just not report on a story PlayStation fans have wanted the answer to for almost two years?

@GADG3Tx87 I tried to buy most expensive Horizon Forbidden West edition at €270 and it was sold out in 6 minutes but a tenner more for a game is a issue?

@Flaming_Kaiser
If it wasn't why would so many people be complaining about it? I can afford the price but that doesn't mean I or others should accept greed blindly. When your competitors are offering a small fee for lots of games where are "average consumers" going to go?

Simple economics. Charge competitively, sell more, make more money long term.

Charge high, sell less, make money short term, lose customers long term.

I'm not a big time CEO but anyone understands how this works.

And your comment "sold in in 6 minutes" how much do you want to bet it was scalpers?

@Col_McCafferty
Hi man. I see you make a lot of sense in your comments. Thanks for that. We need more positivity these days. It’s only video games.
I think many PS fans left push comments over the years because they may have got tired of getting shamed for loving PlayStation gaming.
Personally I have no time for the bickering.
Have a great week end and happy gaming everyone.

@BrettAwesome What is the nonsense about being arrogant? They make high quality games and dont make annoucements when there is nothing to be told? Those horrible arrogant people at Sony its terrible.

@GADG3Tx87
"Don't be naive"

Gotta love the irony. There has been so much bad press for Sony from websites the last year and a half that you'd think their sales would take a nosedive. They haven't. On the contrary, it's the first time ever that a ps console has been out of stock for such a long time.

As for your anecdotal evidence, all three of my buddies who don't follow any video game related websites haven't heard anything. There you go. Argument.

"Most people are already not happy about the £70 price increase for games, that one is already pushing people away. And all you need to do is stand in front of a store shelf to see £70 for Ratchet and Clank or £10 for 200 games per month voucher and they are literally right next to each other."

I love how you think this proves a point. People will buy whatever they consider cool to buy, not what's better value for money. It's been proven countless times. There were consoles that came with 200+ games installed, yet NES sold better than them. People preferred buying the console and then each and every game instead of paying once for everything. A few years ago, gamers even bought the nes classic which cost a fortune for what it offered, just because everyone else was buying it.

@naruball
So your three friends equate to evidence against literally thousands of people spreading the news to general people across social media platforms right now?
Yeah, keep telling yourself that.

And your argument about PS5 not being in stock? It is well known that most of that is due to scalpers because of how many people say they don't have a PS5.

And again the £70-£10 arguments does mean something. General consumers will go with the cheaper option. They don't care for exclusives they just want FIFA or crap like that. You think they're going to pay £60 or £70 for it? When they can play it for £10 on EAPlay? Or GamePass?

I am a big PlayStation fan but you literally cannot defend Sony on this. You will. But there is no conceivable argument that can defend their actions as much as you try.

Call out where they deserve it or end up like Microsoft's Xbox One era.

@JapaneseSonic No, they're not.

@ChrisDeku While I cannot comment on the issue regarding the "affairs", Shawn and Jim are both veteran PS employees, Jim are even there since the beginning. I just don't get why people act like Jim Ryan is some Corporate newcomer that knew nothing about PS? The dude is literally one of the longest staying employees of Playstation.

@Korgon I mean, if a certain person only says perfect answers, that would simply means he calculate every sentence, which goes on to mean that for a good chance he does not "mean it" from time to time. An example would be friendly neighbor uncle Phil. The dude just feel "fake" to me.

@NEStalgia Kutaragi had to bear responsibility for PS3 launch failure, because he wasn't in a good relationship with Sony executives since day one in PS history. And after almost two decades, there aren't many reasons for Sony to get him back any more.

I sent him a connection request on LinkedIn... And he accepted!

Everyone here seems to follow the board at Sony more than they games Sony outputs. Despite the bad press Sony has been thriving yet everyone harkens back to the “good old days” when Sony was... thriving? 🤷🏾‍♂️

My guess is that some of the moves being made people here don’t like but I think they’re looking at the industry as a whole and not just what message boards say. I don’t care much for executives but I will always love when companies, celebrities, politicians, etc. say screw the internet and do that they feel like doing.

@Col_McCafferty dude thank you! I've been aghast with Soo many people declaring PlayStation dead now! They claim game pass has already won Xbox the generation (funny because the PS5 is already outselling the Xbox) plus they claim Sony is being anti-consumer with it's PS4 to PS5 upgrade policies. I personally don't believe Sony is greedy, when I was stuck in lockdown they gave me the uncharted collection & so many other great games to help get me through. When I got my PS5 I instantly had access to some of the greatest PS4 games of the generation, I don't understand the hate Sony is getting right now. I think their decision of making people pay for upgrading to PS5 isn't the biggest deal in the world. I got free PS5 upgrades for borderlands 3, Doom Eternal, Control, star Wars Jedi fallen order & spiderman miles Morales! I mean without those upgrades my PS5 library wouldn't be as vast and it was perfect for games I didn't complete like fallen order & miles Morales to play then in the best version. I really hope people start to realize that PlayStation is NOT dead & that Sony will continue to blow our minds with some if the BEST games ever made! I can't wait for what's to come next! Happy gaming 🙂✌️

@cali_kush70 Thanks mate and to everyone else on this thread that backed me up. Sometimes on this site I almost feel like a lone voice that is enjoying playing on PS and the many many brilliant games that are available on this platform.

Sony aren't perfect but I just judge them by the games and I'm spoilt for choice. There really aren't enough hours in the day!

This year I have played (or replayed); Ghost of Tsushima, Horizon Zero Dawn, Concrete Genie, Uncharted The Lost Legacy, ABZU, Final Fantasy VII remake, Mass Effect 1 & 2 and currently enjoying both Miles Morales and The Last of Us.

Also in my library are Control, A Plague Tale, ME 3 and going to replay God of War and The Last of Us Part II as well at some point. That's enough to take me up to Horizon Forbidden West.

😉

It's all about the games and Sony delivers, with their first party titles and the best third party games on the market. Not saying other platforms are bad but neither Nintendo nor Xbox appeals to me at present. Maybe that will change in the future, we shall see.

Edit - and add Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart to my backlog, excited to play that one as well.

I've searched bargain sites for games since the 360/PS3 era. I rarely ever pay full price for games. During the PS4 era, the only games I paid over £40 for were special editions of HZD, UC4 and TLOU2. Any decent third party titles (cod, bf, rdr2 etc) were all bought for under £40.

I just get this really lazy impression of these people complaining about the $70 price tag. Instead of shopping around they'd rather moan about it in a comment section for upvotes. It doesn't help that to get around the prices, so many folk share accounts with friends and justify Sony using that price point. They don't realise people are paying £35, they just see sales of games at $/£70.

I get the appeal of gamepass. I've used it a few times myself. Most recently to play The Ascent and Hades. But the appeal of it for most come from the £1 deals. They're getting more and more rare. So now you have to pay £10.99 a month (£131 per year) for a bunch of games that probably aren't worth a lot of your time. As opposed to this $/£70 price tag for a top quality AAA game that you KNOW will more than likely be enjoyable. For the time being at least, you're not going to get a game anywhere close to the quality of the majority of PlayStation's exclusives. That's near fact and of course down to personal taste and opinion still.

Gamepass is great but it's NOT the future of gaming.

@Col_McCafferty
All you've done is conclude that any criticism directed at Sony is wrong and equals claiming that Sony is dead, even though no one has said that. You liken being an informed consumer to an almost personal attack against you yourself. I'll reserve my right to spend my money how and where I see fit, no matter how proud you are of your own lack of objectivity.

@BrettAwesome 🤦

@Col_McCafferty hey man absolutely sometimes I feel the same exact way! I get harassment on twitter just because I am in love with my PS5! I get told that PlayStation is dead & game pass is the future and blah blah blah but in ALL honesty I can't even begin to tell you how much I've been enjoying PlayStation! My first console EVER was a PSone for my 5th birthday in 1996 & I've owned every PlayStation console since then. I got my PS5 almost 3 months ago & in that time I've gotten platinum trophy on Rogue Company (which was updated with a PS5 version that runs at a native 4K 60fps) I've played through miles Morales, Days Gone, star wars Jedi fallen order & Doom Eternal.

My library of games is massive and Sony has delivered me some of the BEST gaming experiences during the PS4 era! These games are only PlayStation exclusives which makes my point about Sony giving us the BEST games even more valid! My personal PS4 collection contains; God of War, Horizon Zero Dawn, Bloodborne, Spiderman, infamous second son, killzone shadow fall, ratchet and clank, until dawn, days gone, Uncharted collection, Uncharted 4, last of us remastered, and Ghost of Tsushima. I can't even begin to explain how amazing these games truly are! Sony gave me my first ever 4K gaming experience with my PS4 pro and God of War, I have faith that PlayStation is NOT dead and they will continue to deliver us the most amazingly beautiful games we've ever played! Thank you for responding man, I appreciate your support and input! Long live PlayStation & happy gaming EVERYONE 🙂✌️

@BrettAwesome I agree in calling out Sony for their mistakes but attacking and calling them out are 2 VERY different things! I don't understand the hate people have, like I'm a massive PlayStation fan but I don't hate Xbox not do I hate Xbox players I just prefer PlayStation but there's people out here who literally call names and say you're this or that because you prefer playing on 1 console over the other it's mind boggling to me. I think criticism is important for the games industry as it's the only way to get change, that being said the current climate of hate for playstation seems a little much imo. Paying to upgrade forbidden west from PS4 to PS5 isn't the end of the world and I understand why Sony is doing it. The problem I have is if Sony 'promised' that they'd offer a free PS5 upgrade for forbidden west then I understand being upset for breaking that promise but if they didn't then this is just blown out of proportion. We need to stop attacking one another (not saying you personally just in general) & openly discuss our frustrations with Sony and stuff like that. Criticism is good but bashing is uncalled for.

@cali_kush70
Well,I get where you're coming from. But it has nothing to do with this particular situation of someone lashing out at everyone who has the slightest disapproval of anything Sony does. I am a Sony fan too, but that doesn't take away my right to have an informed opinion, like I'm some heretic who should be burned at the stake. I have seen no one in this section claim Sony is dead, yet this person claims it's all he hears people say. And that rethoric is then applauded by other blind followers who refuse the fact that their preferred company is capable of making bad decisions.

@Dezzy70 Sad thing is they ruined their tv market the same way years ago, fixed it, then did it again.

@daveofduncan Your price argument ignores digital consumers and the all digital version of ps5, however. The price is absolute unless they heavily discount. That's one part of the argument that gets forgotten, including the the comparisons to XB. PS has positioned itself as absolutely extortionate for digital gamers.

@NEStalgia
Yes they did fix it for a while, but then they messed up Dolby Vision wise using a slightly different technique to everyone else.
Then now only 2 HDMI full 4K sockets and one of them is earc no VRR, ALLM, no where near Dolby vision 120hz. On top end 2021 OLED TVs. And Charging slightly more.
Also firmware updates that are promised and never happen.
Sometimes I do wonder about their business model and how they run things in tv world.
It’s mainly because they use off the shelf SOC as Samsung and LG invested and designed and made their own so they know how every transistor works have total control on programming and firmware updates.
Sony made to look incompetent by South Korea, who would thought that in the 80s and 90s.

@NEStalgia did you miss the part where I said digital prices are as high as they are because people account share and Sony check it down as a positive sale at £70?

I didn't ignore digital at all 😂

Also gamepass aside, games are just as expensive on XB.

I'd rather pay a fair price (see my last comment) for a top quality game than £130 for a bunch of games that don't come close.

@daveofduncan I thought you were referring to sharing physical games. Shu taught us how!

As someone that does use game sharing, but uses it the way it was intended, within the same household, I can't even imagine people using it in a way that involves giving non immediate family their accounts. But I suppose people are stupid and such things happen.

If anything though these are then all different schemes to monetize and subsidize one type of players use by charging another. We're kind of suggesting that games aren't really valued at 70, they're just charging the direct customers extra to offset list sales from other customers. Which I've said all along, but it honestly makes me kind of like the idea of a streaming subscription future of paying less, but everybody pays the same.

Sales this gen on both consoles have gone downhill, yeah. Though, so far, only Sony, EA, Activision, and 2K are persuing a price hike.

I've said to others but the new pricing works great if you buy fifa and cod and not much else for the gen. But as a frequent buyer it's just a tipping point now. 3ds era I pre-ordered literally everything that interested me. Even at 60 on PS4 I did. At 70 it's just too ugly a sticker price and too many other things in life have become too expensive to justify that much on a video game. I have crates and crates of games stacked, so I went digital. I don't need more plastic to cram in. But that means no bargain and used hunting. So a digital buy at 70 is just 70. I bought ratchet, but I'm simply not paying that for anything else. MS exclusives I'll play on game pass day 1. Everything third party I can wait for sales. Nintendo won't do sales so I'll pay their 60. Sony..... That's means waiting for price drops but it also means I'm so engaged with the other two so often I'll tend to forget about Sony's games for longer. They'll still be just as good 3 years later when the price is bargain bin. Maybe on Thursday they'll show something impatience will best me though.

And hopefully the sales get better once more games are out and the hardware buying frenzy dies down.

@NEStalgia “ As someone that does use game sharing, but uses it the way it was intended, within the same household, I can't even imagine people using it in a way that involves giving non immediate family their accounts. But I suppose people are stupid and such things happen”

For the sake of complete information, that’s not actually what you do. You sign into your friends PS and mark it as your primary PS4/PS5, and then anyone on that PS, using any account, can play every digital game you own.

You can then play all the games you own on any PS in which you sign in with your account.

@daveofduncan Some of us enjoy playing day one and pre-ordering games. I like to keep it simple and support my local GameStop. And USD doesn’t have a a bunch of discounts for shopping around, particularly if you like to pick up the game instead of shopping online.
It’s not laziness.

@GADG3Tx87 Well im going to be honest with you. You think companies are going to take 100 million budget risks with making games back eventually if they are lucky? There are enough quality games that dont make it. They dont have recurring monetization, no seasonpasses, no gold editions from day 1 and they dont fix their games after it release because its a trainwreck. So something has to give. You want that the game developers get a honest pay with bigger games, better looking games yeah thats not realistic.

One more thing the longer it takes for a game to make back its money the harder it is. The secondhand market and discount are even a bigger issue then.

@Col_McCafferty sales wise, yes. The PS5 is riding the success of the PS4 and the cultural impact of the brand. Experience wise, the jury is still out. I think the hardware is fine. The management and decision making is not endearing anyone, except the most die-hard of the fanboys who think Sony can do no wrong.

@daveofduncan first party games are $60 on Xbox. Not a fanboy, it’s just the truth.

@TheGrizMan they're nowhere near the quality of some of the Sony exclusives. For me at least, that justifies the extra cost.

@Jaz007 I play day one and pre-order occasionally. Still doesn't stop me shopping around for the best price. I'm sorry but it IS laziness to just accept and stump up the cash they ask for.

@daveofduncan Where do you pre-order at brick and mortar while getting those discounts so often? That’s part of the excitement for me. That’s my ritual, not being lazy.
Part of the reason I play day one, is to support the dev.
Explain how this is laziness? It’s like saying you’re impulsive for playing day 1 instead of waiting to pay $20.

@ChrisDeku yuck. Making someone else's ps your primary sounds only slightly less dangerous! At least used properly, in the same house/immediate family, you can get revenge work out the conflict easily

@GADG3Tx87 A lot of people saying they can't get a PS5 doesn't entirely mean it's mostly scalpers buying. There's million upon millions of people who want a PS5, and only so many that can be made in a certain timeframe. Of course you're going to see many people who can't get one. Scalpers do of course make up some of the purchases, but the issue is overblown. Looking on ebay, their prices have been calming down from where it was around launch, which would indicate they're not seeing it as much of a profitable venture as they did before.

Why peaple hate Jim Rayan? The exclusives games are what make a ps4 a best seller. 70 dollars for a game are extreme, i know that, but in spite of put beside indie games in low priority i think jim rayan can make this generation a great one...

I've had some twitter exchanges with Shawn in the past and he seems a decent guy.

@get2sammyb said "Just so we're clear on this, because I see so many make the same mistake, Shawn Layden and Jim Ryan have totally different jobs.

Shawn Layden was never the overall boss of PlayStation like Jim Ryan now is. A lot of people seem to be mistaken by this."

Facts. Glad you posted this clarification.