Ex-PlayStation Boss Defends PC Strategy as Sony Pivots Away from Multiplatform Releases

Shawn Layden, the erstwhile President and CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment of America, has explained wherefore PlayStation's PC strategy made sense.

When speaking with the YouTube transmission PSI, Layden was asked astir the worth of exclusives. The erstwhile enforcement explained that it makes consciousness to person games that you tin lone get connected PlayStation, but it besides makes consciousness to marque them disposable to different audiences later. Layden noted that the enlargement into PC was not to marque money, but to turn their IPs beyond those that are already embedded successful the PlayStation ecosystem.

Particularly, that value grew erstwhile PlayStation began making plans to accommodate its IPs into films and TV shows, arsenic it meant that they needed to grow their reach.

"The PC thing, successful my caput astatine the time, was not to marque money, frankly," said Layden. "It was, 'How bash I get my intelligence spot successful beforehand of radical who wouldn't usually spot it? How bash I get the satellite of Horizon to beryllium seen by radical who aren't successful the PlayStation world?' Not needfully due to the fact that they're going to bargain a PlayStation, I wasn't that crazy. But arsenic we instrumentality our [IP] crossed different media, whether it's into film, television, comic books, oregon whatever... you request to person arsenic galore eyeballs that are alert of this quality [and] this story.

"Just concentrating connected the PlayStation colonisation and lone telling them these stories, and past effort to bring it disconnected that level into different media, that's going to beryllium a hellhole of a jump."

Layden went connected to enactment that those who were buying these games connected PC apt weren't going to bargain a PS5 regardless, arsenic the clip betwixt the console mentation and the PC larboard meant that anyone who truly wanted the crippled would've bought a console for it.

"If someone's waiting 18 months for thing to travel connected PC, we didn't suffer a merchantability to them. They weren't going to bargain the hardware anyway." Layden said.

The quality comes pursuing reports that PlayStation is abandoning PC arsenic a level for its narrative-driven single-player games. That means Marvel's Wolverine, Intergalactic, and God of War Laufey volition not travel to PC successful the future. Instead, the institution plans to usage the level for live-service titles, and that's astir it. There's nary case-by-case play here.

PlayStation reportedly felt that the PC versions of its games were inconsistent and weren't driving capable revenue, making them somewhat redundant for the marque going forward. Although the PC releases weren't topping immoderate income charts, they were so reaching radical that different whitethorn not person played these games, similar Layden said. However, successful a clip wherever companies are looking to chopped costs wherever they can, it whitethorn not person been an disbursal that PlayStation could proceed to spare.

Cade Onder is simply a freelancer for IGN's quality team. He covers each things entertainment, including gaming, film, and more. You tin find him connected Twitter @Cade_Onder.