Former Sony Exec Worries Creativity Will Stagnate Due To AAA Sequels & Free Games

from the how-far-we’ve-come dept

I’ve talked about Shawn Layden earlier than. And in admiring phrases, too. Within the wake of the a lot of the trade consolidation we noticed within the online game house final 12 months, his feedback about each what that may imply for creativity inside gaming, the creation of totally new titles, and even moreso what he mentioned in regards to the want for preservation inside the trade, I nodded my head together with him.

Properly, Layden is again in public once more, as soon as once more worrying aloud about creativity within the trade. Besides this time I believe some of that worrying is overwrought.

“It’s a $250 billion international enterprise however the precise variety of gamers doesn’t develop on the identical tempo,” Layden mentioned in his Gamescom Asia interview with Gordon Van Dyke. “So we’re getting more cash from the identical folks. It is advisable get extra folks taking part in video games. How do you do this? We have to get extra folks making video games.” He advised corporations look to empower up-and-coming builders in rising markets like Indonesia and India.

Because the Kotaku put up goes on to notice, there are literally loads of shops for this type of creativity. Granted, there are extra examples of them within the PC gaming house than on consoles, however that’s beginning to change as properly. Indie titles, or so-called AA titles (versus AAA), are showing on gaming consoles increasingly nowadays.

Last year it was Remnant II, a Darkish Souls-infused loot shooter. This 12 months it’s Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2, a shooter connected to an enormous franchise that however manages to ship a great-looking recreation on a budget that was less than half that of Doom Eternal. Possibly subsequent 12 months it will likely be Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, a French Impressionist riff on the Remaining Fantasy turn-based RPG system that appears nice for its surprising $50 price point.

So, okay, a few of this could be coming from a former console boss who’s not within the enterprise. And whereas his want for inventive output and extra numerous titles is laudable, any cries of lament for an trade that’s nonetheless churning out a ton of recent content material appears a bit dramatic for my tastes.

However when he talked in regards to the creativity wanted within the trade, and what he noticed as standing in its manner, one quote stood out to me.

“If we’re simply going to depend on the blockbusters to get us by, I believe that’s a loss of life sentence,” he mentioned throughout an interview with Gordon Van Dyke, co-founder of the indie writer Uncooked Fury, at Gamescom Asia this week, according to Gamesindustry.biz. The ex-PlayStation government blamed nine-figure growth prices for much less willingness amongst massive publishers to take dangers. The result’s video games getting greenlit based mostly on how properly their income may be modeled as an alternative of whether or not they really feel enjoyable and progressive.

“You’re [looking] at sequels, you’re taking a look at copycats, as a result of the finance guys who draw the road say, ‘Properly, if Fortnite made this a lot cash on this period of time, my Fortnite knockoff could make this in that period of time,’” Layden mentioned.

Huh. How far we have now come. You could recall that there was a time, not too way back, the place every kind of oldsters within the so-called copyright industries had been speaking about how “you can not generate profits with free.” A product given away without spending a dime, they argued, couldn’t make the type of cash {that a} tightly protected, non-free product would make. And these feedback had been targeted on the digital media industries.

Properly, apparently now the thought pendulum has swung all the best way in the other way. Right here you have got a former console government saying that some free video games, like Fortnite, are so worthwhile that the finance guys need so many extra of them that it’s impeding on inventive output.

Now, I don’t know that to be truly true. I’m pretty steeped within the gaming trade typically and I don’t see something remotely like a dearth of creativity. However it’s fascinating to see simply how a lot the views of some executives on the subject of free video games has modified.

Filed Beneath: aaa games, blockbusters, fortnite, free to play, indie games, shawn layden, video games