Tag: Shawn Layden
News Ex-PS5 Exec Shawn Layden Isn't Holding Back His Feelings on Xbox
Former boss sticks the boot in Phil Spencer's comments
In the aftermath of its unfathomable $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard, the top brass at Microsoft has been eager to express its dislike of Sony’s marketing alliance with the Call of Duty franchise. Speaking with IGN, boss Phil Spencer insisted he wants to give players the choice...
News Exclusivity Is the Achilles' Heel of Huge Blockbusters, Says Former PlayStation Exec
Well-liked suit Shawn Layden chimes in on industry trends
There’s a huge amount of chatter about exclusivity in the aftermath of Microsoft’s decision to port select titles to PlayStation and choppy waters in the industry at large. This year alone has seen thousands of game developers laid off, as the industry
News Ex-PlayStation Exec Shawn Layden Is Concerned About the Rising Cost of AAA Games
The price is right?
During the latter stages of his tenure at PlayStation, former executive Shawn Layden oversaw some of the biggest first-party projects in his organisation’s history, including Horizon Zero Dawn and God of War. But the suit’s history in the gaming industry, as he’s eager to point out frequently, stretches back decades, to the...
News Shawn Layden Reveals Why He Left Sony PlayStation
Became burnt out
It's been almost two years since former Sony Worldwide Studios head Shawn Layden suddenly left the company, announced to the world with nothing more than a tweet. Fans have speculated the reasoning since time and time again, but now the man himself has broken his silence. Speaking to Bloomberg, Layden explains he was becoming bur
News Former Sony Boss Fearful of Industry Consolidation
Studio buyouts not the right way to do things
It's been almost two years since former Sony worldwide studios chairman Shawn Layden very hurriedly left PlayStation, with nothing but a tweet marking his departure. There have always been questions asked about what happened in the time since, but today the businessman announces he has taken up a...
News PlayStation Fans Are Missing Shawn Layden, And He's Liking All the Tweets
Feels good, man
Shawn Layden was, for a little while, the public face of PlayStation – and fans grew to love him. The executive, who had a long history at Sony taking him from Europe to Japan, became a household name when he replaced Jack Tretton as the boss of Sony Computer Entertainment America. He’d later go on to become chairman of Worldwide...
News Ex-PlayStation Boss Wants to See 15 Hour AAA Titles Return
Short but sweet
Games have been getting longer, there’s no doubt about that. The Last of Us: Part II, which launched last week, is a great example of this: while its predecessor could be completed in around 15 hours, its successor can take upwards of 30 hours – depending how you play. God of War followed a similar trajectory, moving from tight...
News Former SIE Chairman Shawn Layden Proves There's No Bad Blood with Congratulatory Tweets
Wishes Hermen Hulst the best
The former head of Sony's Worldwide Studios left the company rather abruptly in late September, without a reason given. While there wasn't much of a suggestion of ill will between the two parties, it's nice to know that Shawn Layden's departure hasn't left behind any bad blood. The man himself has been active on Twitter...
News Sony Worldwide Studios Chairman Shawn Layden Leaving PlayStation
He'll be greatly missed
In an unexpected post on Twitter this evening, PlayStation has announced the departure of Sony Interactive Entertainment Worldwide Studios Chairman, Shawn Layden. Those of you who have been following the platform holder over the past five or so years will recognise the executive from various E3 press conferences – including...
News Sony: We Empower Our Studios to Push the Boundaries of Gaming
The results speak for themselves
Not every game in Sony’s first-party portfolio is a smash hit, but between projects like Dreams and God of War, it’s clear that the company gives its studios an unparalleled sense of freedom. Speaking at the Collision conference in Toronto yesterday, Worldwide Studios chairman Shawn Layden touched upon this a...
The game... Is fun
Reggie Fils-Aimé, one of the most well known figures in modern gaming, has announced his retirement. Reggie has been at Nintendo since 2003, working his way up to the position of President of Nintendo of America. He may be leaving, but we'll always remember the memes. Jokes aside, Reggie has long been an inspiration to just...
News PlayStation Coy on Communication Plans for 2019
No word on when we'll get updates from Sony this year
Sony said at the end of last year that it’s looking to crank up communication with PlayStation fans in 2019, but in a rare interview, Worldwide Studios chairman Shawn Layden failed to express exactly what the organisation has in store. To make matters more infuriating, this is the first time a...
News Sony Will Leave No Gamer Behind, Says There's Life in Local Consoles Yet
Investment in streaming will continue, though
You wouldn’t know that Sony’s the only major gaming manufacturer with a cloud-based streaming solution, would you? There’s so much babble about Microsoft, Google, and Apple at the moment that it can be easy to forget that PlayStation Now exists, works relatively well, and continues to expand around...
News PlayStation's Studio Acquisition Strategy Focused on Firms with Best Cultural Fit
Platform holder always exploring opportunities
In the good old days, the console war was fought with games: Uncharted vs. Gears of War! Halo vs. God of War! And so on… But if you’ve been on a forum in the past six months or so, you’ll note that the trench lines are now drawn using studio acquisitions. Microsoft’s spending spree has got some...
News Shawn Layden Explains Sony's Decision to Pull Out of E3 2019
"The world has changed"
Sony has been tight-lipped about its future plans for quite some time now, with one of its last major announcements being its withdrawal from Electronic Entertainment Expo 2019. The company has been a big presence at the show since the beginning, but this year, it won't be in attendance. Why? Well, PlayStation bigwig Shawn...
News Sony: The World's Got All the Battle Royale It Needs Right Now
Company won't make me-too decisions
When you consider that PlayStation already plays host to every third-party property that matters, we suppose it’s a bit silly for Sony to be chasing trends with exclusive titles. This is something it did in the past, with so-called “Halo killers” like Killzone and Resistance – but more recently it’s...
News Shawn Layden on Sony's Silence: See You in the New Year
What's the company cooking?
PlayStation chief Shawn Layden briefly appeared during The Game Awards 2018 last night to open the show alongside Nintendo boss Reggie Fils-Aime and Xbox overlord Phil Spencer – but while the latter two appeared later in the stream to chat about their respective platforms, Layden stayed out of the limelight. This...
News No, Enabling Cross-Play Isn't as Easy as People Like to Think, Says PlayStation Boss
Shawn Layden explains
You all know by now that Sony has changed its policy on cross-platform play, right? The bombshell dropped earlier in the week, but why did it take the company so long to implement the change? Well, according to PlayStation boss Shawn Layden, enabling cross-play isn't an easy process, despite what you may have read in comments...
News Shawn Layden Shares the Highs and Lows of a 30 Year PlayStation Career
Ups and downs
Shawn Layden may be the “suit” you see on stage at E3, but the executive has a 30 year history with PlayStation, spanning multiple roles across various different continents. The current Worldwide Studios chairman previously spent time as the head of SIEJ, and also worked in London for a while as well. It means that the...
News We Want to Make People Think and Laugh and Cry, Says Sony
The thing that "knits" it all together
Sometimes, it’s hard not to see games as perennial underachievers. There are many entertaining experiences out there, yes – but occasionally the medium feels far too risk-averse to realise its true potential. There will, of course, always be a place for score-chasing romps and time-wasting toys, but titles...
News Sony Feels It Has the 'Right Amount' of First-Party Teams
Success measured by significant, impactful, important content
Enthusiast forums can be reactionary to say the least, so when Microsoft announced that it had acquired a handful of new studios, one popular point of conversation was how Sony should respond. Of course this line of thinking ignores the fact that the Japanese giant already has a robust...
News Sony Explains Its First, Best, Must Philosophy to PS4 Exclusives
Layden shares the company's secret
Sony’s first-party output has been very strong since the PlayStation 3 days, but thanks to the success of the PlayStation 4, it’s starting to see the commercial rewards. And speaking as part of a Game Lab panel in Spain this week, exec Shawn Layden outlined the organisation's “first, best, must” mantra,...
News Sony Confident of Cross-Console Play Solution
"We're looking at a lot of the possibilities"
The whole cross-console saga has been rumbling for over a year now, and whichever side of the fence you sit on, it’s perhaps fair to say that Sony’s response hasn’t been great to date. Veteran executive Shawn Layden, talking to Eurogamer.net at Gamelab i
PSX 2017 Sony Commits to Single Player, Jokes About Service Games
Layden lays the smackdown
Sony does make service-based games; MLB The Show 17 and Gran Turismo Sport are examples of that business model in action. However, the platform holder’s also one of the few publishers doubling down on single player titles right now, and speaking at PSX 2017 overnight, PlayStation boss Shawn Layden has noted the...
News Sony Foresees a Big Year for Its Japanese Studios
Trio of titles on the way
Sony is anticipating a big end to the year for its various Japanese developers. The release schedule for the second half of 2017 includes three titles from its Eastern first-parties: Knack 2 from Japan Studio, Gran Turismo Sport from Polyphony Digital, and Everybody’s Golf from Clap-Hanz in collaboration once again with...
News Sony: Our Exclusives Are Big on Character and Story
But it's not all you'll find on PS4
There’s talk of the traditional single player campaign dying out, and looking at E3 2017 there was certainly some evidence of that. Ubisoft’s press conference was filled wall-to-wall with service-based experiences – and not even the long-awaited Beyond Good & Evil 2 could escape the model’s grasp...
News PlayStation Chief Shawn Layden Doesn't Enjoy Gaming Exec Fame
Meme streak
They get turned into superheroes in GIFs and some even idolise them, but it’s important to remember that gaming executives are exactly that: gaming executives. They’re hired to make difficult (and, honestly, often boring) business decisions – not act like rock stars. And in a wide-ranging interview with Polygon, current PlayStation...
E3 2016 Sony Will Not Bifurcate the Market with PS4K
Not about creating haves and have-nots
Sony may not have shown the PlayStation 4K at E3 2016 this week, but its messaging has been razor sharp: the iterative console represents a step-forward for gamers looking for the best possible performance, but no one will get left behind. It's an option – and it will be sold concurrently alongside the...
News Virtual Reality's Time Has Come, Says Sony
Shawn Layden promises news next week
Sony's set to hold a big PlayStation VR presentation at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco next week, with launch plans likely to be made official by the manufacturer. And speaking on the latest episode of the PlayStation Blogcast, president Shawn Layden has reiterated that, hinting that there's big...
News Sony's Been Prepping for E3 2016 Since the Start of the Year
But what's it planning?
We tend to ban the word 'E3' here at Push Square Towers until at least May, but that's not possible if you work at PlayStation HQ. In an interview with SCEA president Shawn Layden on the latest PlayStation Blogcast, the animated suit alluded that the company's been planning for the Los Angeles-based event for three months...
News Shawn Layden Thinks Sony's PSX 2015 Presser Ended with a 'Drop the Mic' Moment
He's talking about that Paragon trailer
Maybe Sony Computer Entertainment America's CEO Shawn Layden has a different perception of the phrase 'drop the mic', because we're pretty sure that Sony failed to do so at its recent PlayStation Experience 2015 press conference. For those who missed it, the Japanese company closed its keynote with a CG...
PSX 2015 Shawn Layden Trolled Us All with Crash Bandicoot Shirt
Boo this man
Not like this, Shawn Layden! We were starting to really like SCEA's new president, but you absolutely can't walk on stage at a PlayStation press conference wearing a Crash Bandicoot t-shirt if you're not going to… Y'know, at least announce that the orange furred favourite is making a comeback. Our live chat was absolutely packed with...
News Sony Looking into PaRappa the Rapper Release on PSN
You gotta believe
Vib Ribbon’s recent release on the PlayStation Network has proven that new SCEA boss Shawn Layden has his heart in the right place. While he may not yet have a commanding stage presence like his predecessor Jack Tretton, the suit certainly knows PlayStation through and through, having previously worked with the firm in both...
News We'd Like to Fill the Whole Year with PS4 Exclusives, Says Sony
Even spread
Sony’s been heavily criticised this holiday for failing to match the exclusive output of its competitors. With just DriveClub and LittleBigPlanet 3 representing the bulk of its retail titles for the PlayStation 4, its lineup has looked a little thin – but speaking in an interview with Venture Beat, SCEA boss S
News Sony: DriveClub Tried to Be the Greatest Thing Ever, but Hit a Hiccup
"It's no fun being safe"
Shawn Layden may not be the most interesting man ever on an E3 stage, but he comes across differently in this interview with IGN. The new SCEA boss was asked about the disastrous state of DriveClub, and he defended Evolution Studios, indicating that he’d rather they attempted t
