Really good and interesting interview with Shawn Layden, tells you about what Sony are doing going forward:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/gaming/w...ions-shawn-layden-death-stranding-spider-man/
I enjoyed reading through that; thanks for posting. I like Layden. He gets a lot of sh*t, because he lacks the charisma or bro appeal of Phil, but he's sharp, has deep roots in gaming, and has a sense of humor.
A few notes:
1. He seemed out of touch when saying he didn't hear any negative feedback about the Sony conference. The dangers of being a CEO, I guess. Surrounded by people telling you everything is wonderful.
2. The idea of full-sized spinoffs like Uncharted Lost Legacy is an interesting possibility for "monetizing," one I hadn't thought of.
3. I like how he says his job is not to tell his studios (at least Naughty Dog and Guerilla) what to do, but to provide them an environment that supports creativity.
4. Loved what he said here (asked about the differences between MS's GaaS and Sony's approach):
“My philosophy is to play to my strengths,” he argues. “And if you look at the studios we have - Naughty Dog, Guerrilla, Santa Monica Studios, Japan Studios -
that’s what we do well. We do story. We create characters. I was so gratified to see the response to [Horizon Zero Dawn protagonist] Aloy when she showed up on the screen and the crowd went wild.
“Those are the kind of things we do well. It’s what we’re known for. It really speaks to our entertainment DNA. We wish to entertain. We wish to make you happy. We wish to make you cry. That whole range of emotions we can pluck at to make you have a great experience.
“Games as a service? We have a bit of that with our MLB [The Show] title - it’s got the same virtual currency a lot of sports have - and we have other titles that come up that play in that space.
But if you want to make a big generalisation about what does Worldwide Studios do? We’re big on character. We’re big on story.”
Right on.
