The crisis currently affecting the video game industry has exposed the limits of some of its traditional models. One of these is in the business of exclusivities and AAA titles, as development costs have skyrocketed, rendering the model unsustainable. What to do in such a situation? Former PlayStation head, Shawn Layden, shared his thoughts.
Shawn Layden Believes Exclusivity Has Become a Problem for AAA Games
During an interview with VentureBeat, Shawn Layden, the former head of PlayStation before the Jim Ryan era, addressed the crisis in AAA game development. These games are becoming increasingly expensive and require more years of work, and exclusive titles are not selling as expected, at least according to partners and executives.
Shawn Layden considered exclusivity to be detrimental to AAA games in these times, as it becomes challenging for them to thrive as a business if they are only available on one platform. "When the costs of a game exceed $200 million, exclusivity becomes the Achilles' heel. It narrows down your target market, especially in the world of live-service or free-to-play games. Another platform is just another way to open the funnel, to attract more people. In a free-to-play world, as we know, 95% of those people will never spend a dime. The business is about conversion. You have to improve your odds by opening the funnel. Helldivers 2 proved this for PlayStation, releasing on PC simultaneously. For single-player games, it's not the same demand. But if you're spending $250 million, you want to be able to sell it to as many people as possible, even if it's just 10% more."
Former PlayStation Head Prefers Support for AA Games
However, Shawn Layden believes that the potential lies in the development of AA games, titles with not-so-generous budgets and therefore fewer demands, offering greater creative freedom and a sensible proposition: "I fear we bought into the AAA, 80 hours of gameplay, 50 or more GB, and if we can't achieve that, then we can't do anything. I look forward to the return of AA games. I'm all in on that. I look back at the PS2 era and beyond, and there was a lot of variety. You had God of War and Assassin's Creed. But you also had Loco Roco, SingStar, and Dance Dance Revolution. You had this whole spectrum of entertainment opportunities getting $7 to $12 million per release. Why not take a chance and see what happens? Katamari Damacy couldn't be built today because you can't even explain what it is. But now the risk tolerance is very low. You end up with imitations and sequels and nothing else."
What are your thoughts on Shawn Layden's statements? Do you prefer no more AAA exclusives and having them on other platforms, or do you advocate more for AA games?
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