Shawn Layden Says He Left PlayStation Partly Due to Live-Service Focus
March 27, 2025, 02:07 PM
Former PlayStation executive Shawn Layden, who departed Sony in 2019, recently appeared on the Save State Plus podcast, where he revealed that one of the key reasons behind his departure was the company’s increasing focus on live-service games.
To be honest, you know, the company was making some strategic decisions about where they want to take the platform in the future with a heavy emphasis in games as a service, live-service gaming, subscription formulas, recurring revenue, whatnot, and that was kind of not my wheelhouse.
I just make things like God of War and Spider-Man and Last of Us and Uncharted and Horizon. I didn’t have the vision or the energy to try to, you know, take it to this this new area of live-service gaming so, all that considered, it seemed like a good time to step down after 32 years at Sony.
Recently, reports surfaced that Sony had canceled two live-service projects, including one set in the God of War universe. Additionally, Naughty Dog confirmed it had scrapped The Last of Us Online to focus on Intergalactic.
-
Fallout Fans Remaking Canceled Third Entry in New Vegas Engine — Playable Demo Available
-
Insider Reveals First PS6 Details — 2nm, 30 TFLOPS, and Smart AI
-
Artist of Cancelled Sequel Batman: Arkham Knight Showed Batbike Concept Art
-
Developer of Cancelled Twisted Metal Reboot Released Screenshots and Game Details
-
Insider: Respawn Canceled Another Game, But It's Not the Next Titanfall