New consoles are nearly here, with Sony and Microsoft finally revealing the unique features of the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X. Recently, Sony debuted the console along with the latest entry in theHorizonseriesHorizon: Forbidden West.
Former PlayStation executive Shawn Layden, known to PlayStation fans for hosting numerous Sony conferences throughout his career, weighs in on what he believes is an unsustainable trend within the industry today. Speaking with Gamesbeat’s Dean Takahashi, Layden believes that the industry focus on big sprawling open-world games will result in bloating budgets and less return.
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“I don’t think that, in the next generation, you’re able to take those numbers and multiply them by two and think that you can grow,” he commentedregarding the increasing budgets of modern games. “I think the industry as a whole needs to sit back and go, ‘Alright, what are we building? What’s the audience’s expectation?'”
Layden’s most recent success before his departure from Sony wasThe Last of Us Part 2, a game made while he was a major player at the company, though he left before it launched. Whilethe game has been a critical success for Sony, the attention to detail and the significant increase in length, especially when compared to its predecessor, has also resulted in a much higher development cost.
The Last of Us Part 2has also seen its share of controversy regarding development, with the higher fidelity came a major increase in development time, lasting 6 years. This was compounded withcrunch culture issues at Naughty Dog.
“It’s hard for every adventuregame to shoot for the 50 to 60-hour gameplay milestone,” adds Layden, “Because that’s gonna be so much more expensive to achieve. And in the end, you may close some interesting creators and their stories out of the market if that’s the kind of threshold they have to meet… We have to reevaluate that.”
Layden points out that the increase in budgets for development and marketing are seeing less return with sale prices having not increased alongside them. ThoughThe Last of Us Part 2cost significantly more to develop compared to the original, the price to purchase the game remains the same.Though no prices have been revealed for the upcoming consolesor games quite yet, it will be interesting to see how both companies plan to handle the ever-growing cost of game development.
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