Shawn Layden, the well-known former PlayStation executive, has once again shared strong opinions about the gaming market. This time, he stated that live-service games are not real video games.
From his point of view, they are nothing more than repetitive interaction devices.
What Makes a Real Video Game, According to Shawn Layden
Speaking with The Ringer (thanks GameSpot), Layden explained that a real video game needs three elements: “For me, a game—because of where I come from—means I need three things. I need a story, I need a character, and I need a world. And Horizon, God of War, and Uncharted have all three of those things.
If you’re doing a live-service game, you just need a repetitive action that most people can get their head around, an ability to communicate in that world with other like-minded people, and [the player’s] desire to do it again and again and again.”
Layden left Sony in 2019. He never said exactly why he departed, but in the interview, he mentioned that live-service games were not part of his “skill set.” At that time, Sony began investing heavily in live-service titles, aiming for a dozen of them by 2026. Later, the company cut that target in half, and some of the released games — such as Concord — failed. However, there have also been successes, such as Helldivers 2.
Layden also stated that companies should not rely on live-service games to boost their business. “If you’re trying to go into that space because you have this illusion in your mind of big sacks of money coming every day for the rest of your life, for most it doesn’t happen,” he said.
In other news, Shawn Layden thinks AI in gaming is overrated, comparing its usefulness to developers with Excel for accountants.
