Ex-PlayStation Exec Shawn Layden Says There's Been a 'Collapse' in Gaming Creativity 1

Shawn Layden, the ex-PlayStation executive who held a number of high-profile roles across Sony Interactive Entertainment, believes there’s been a “collapse” in creativity across the industry due to “studio consolidation and the high cost of production”.

Speaking in Singapore at Gamescom Asia, as reported by GamesIndustry.biz, the executive noted that software used to get greenlit on the basis of whether it’s fun or not. Now it’s all about how much money a release can earn in return.

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“[In the past] we spent a lot more time looking at games and not asking ‘what's your monetisation scheme’ or ‘what's your recurrent revenue plan’ or ‘what's your subscription formula’? We asked the simple question: is it fun? Are we having a good time? If you said yes to those questions, you'd usually get a green light. You didn’t worry so much about the end piece, for better or for worse. Of course back then you didn’t make a game for millions [of] dollars. So your risk tolerance was fairly high.”

Indeed, Layden notes that the industry is beholden to its ever-escalating budgets – and that’s stifling creativity as a consequence. “Today, the entry costs for making a AAA game is in triple digit millions now. I think naturally, risk tolerance drops. And you're [looking] at sequels, you're looking at copycats, because the finance guys who draw the line say, ‘Well, if Fortnite made this much money in this amount of time, my Fortnite knockoff can make this in that amount of time.’”

Layden has spoken for quite some time about the need for shorter games developed in quicker timeframes on smaller budgets. But he also noted that middle-tier games, the so-called AA titles, have largely disappeared. “If you [can become] AAA, you survive, or if you do something interesting in the indie space, you could. But AA is gone. I think that's a threat to the ecosystem if you will,” he explained.

It’s certainly true that those smaller, mid-tier productions are struggling. Earlier this year, Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden released to rave reviews from developer Don’t Nod, but the studio currently finds itself in jeopardy after it failed to meet expectations.

To us, the games industry feels more boom and bust than perhaps it’s ever been. There are occasional breakout success stories, like Helldivers 2 and Palworld – but generally, we’re even seeing major AAA titles like Star Wars Outlaws, with enormous budgets attached, struggle to make an impression.

It’s clear there’s room in the space to succeed: only last week, Silent Hill 2, Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero, and Metaphor: ReFantazio all released to critical acclaim – and have each sold at least one million units to date. But a misstep, with these kinds of budgets attached, can be catastrophic.

And, like Layden says, if there’s no space to fail anymore, then publishers are going to be forced to play it safe.

Do you think there's been a collapse in gaming creativity? (960 votes)

  1. Yes, the games industry doesn't excite me right now63%
  2. Hmm, to some extent but it's a cynical outlook32%
  3. No, I think gaming is as creative as it's ever been5%

[source gamesindustry.biz]