Shawn Layden Left Sony Partly Due to Sony’s Focus on Live-Service Games

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In a recent revelation, I, a former admirer of Shawn Layden‘s, shared insights into the factors that led to his exit from Sony, where he served as Chairman of SIE Worldwide Studios from 2014 to 2019.

In the previous era of gaming consoles, PlayStation showcased numerous critically successful blockbuster games, including both continuations of established series and fresh intellectual properties.

At that moment, I found myself immersed in an extraordinary collection of captivating solo games, including the likes of God of War, Ghost of Tsushima, and Spider-Man, which made their debut on my PlayStation 4.

After departing from Sony at the end of 2019, Sony’s approach underwent a substantial shift when the PlayStation 5 was launched in 2020.

Sony Made A Major Turn Towards Live Service Gaming

At that point, both Jim Ryan, then PlayStation’s CEO, and Herman Hulst, leader of Sony Interactive Entertainment, underlined the significance of interactive games that require continuous service, subscriptions, and related offerings.

During a recent podcast conversation, Shawn Layden, a long-time Sony employee with over three decades of service, explained that the company’s latest strategy was a key factor influencing his decision to part ways: it held substantial weight in his choice to depart.

frankly speaking, the firm was contemplating significant changes in the direction of the platform, focusing more on game services, live-service gaming, subscriptions, and recurrent income – areas I’m less familiar with.

I primarily create games such as God of War, Spider-Man, The Last of Us, Uncharted, and Horizon. I didn’t feel ready or equipped to venture into the realm of live-service gaming. With my 32-year tenure at Sony coming to an end, it felt like the right moment to step down.

It’s clear that the live-service approach hasn’t been successful, as evidenced by the fact that Concord vanished just two weeks after its rocky debut, and the company responsible for it has closed permanently.

Numerous games under development for extended periods were ultimately scrapped, among them being the multiplayer-centric versions of The Last of Us Online and a God of War spin-off with a focus on multiplayer. Even Destiny 2, now owned by Sony, has experienced a decline in recent updates.

Sony hasn’t abandoned the idea of live-service strategies; instead, they are actively working on several live-service projects at present, including FairGame$ and Horizon Online.

In a more recent discussion, Shuhei Yoshida stated that live-service games aren’t mandated by Sony for game developers; instead, these decisions are made collectively. This year, a representative from Sony also expressed their intention to carry on producing both single-player and multiplayer titles.

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2025-03-27 02:09