Former Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) president Shawn Layden addressed the challenges facing the modern gaming industry in a new interview, calling console exclusives the “Achilles heel” of the gaming landscape.
Speaking to VentureBeat, Layden said: “When the costs of a game exceed $200 million, exclusivity is your Achilles' heel. It narrows your target market. Especially when you're in the world of live-service gaming or gaming. Another platform is just another way to open the funnel. [and] attract more people. In a free-to-play world, as we know, 95% of those people will never spend a dime.
“Business is all about conversion,” Layden continued. “You have to improve your odds by opening the funnel. helldivers 2 has shown that for PlayStation, it will come out for PC at the same time. Again, that funnel widens. “You get more people to come in.”
However, the former president of SIE wanted to emphasize the limits of console games as a market. “We're not doing enough to get people who haven't used consoles up until now into console gaming. We're not going to attract them by doing more.” [what] we are doing now. yes 95 [percent] of the world does not want to play Obligations, fortniteand Grand Theft AutoIs the industry simply going to produce more Call of Duty, Fortniteand Grand Theft Auto? “That won't get you anyone else.”
For Layden, the result of this is that “we are simply taking money from the same people. That happened during the pandemic, which caused many companies to overinvest. Look at our numbers rising! We have to chase that rocket!”
We've already seen Xbox attempt to break the mold of console exclusives by releasing four previously Xbox exclusive titles on PlayStation. This includes the swashbuckling cooperative simulator. sea of thieves and indie rhythm game Hifi fever.
For now, it looks like console exclusives are still with us. If you want to see what all the fuss is about, check out our lists of the best PS5 exclusives and the best Xbox Series X games.
