Ex-PlayStation head says the AA middle ground between GTA and indies is “gone,” and relying on blockbusters to “get us through” is “a death sentence”

Former PlayStation boss Shawn Layden believes that “AA is gone,” leaving a gap between AAA and indie games and forming “a threat to the ecosystem” of the games industry.

In a talk during Gamescom Asia (reported on by GamesIndustry.biz), Layden, who previously served as both president and CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment America and chairman of SIE Worldwide Studios, argues that games are now developed differently to how they once were. For a start, he says, “you’d usually get a green light” on a game if you could simply say it was fun, thanks to a “fairly high” risk tolerance which came as a result of games not costing “millions” to make.

That’s obviously changed, with “the entry costs for making a AAA game is in triple digit millions now,” and Layden argues: “We’re seeing a collapse of creativity in games today [with] studio consolidation and the high cost of production.” He goes on to say that the games industry is now missing its “middle piece” between “Call of Duty, Grand Theft Auto, indie stuff,” where previously, “Interplay, Gremlin, Ocean, THQ, all those companies, made their money.” He adds: “AA is gone. I think that’s a threat to the ecosystem if you will.”

While it’s a positive thing that “the standard quality of video games is pretty high now compared to ten years ago,” Layden wants to see more “interest and excitement and exposure for these lower budget, but super creative and super unusual [type] of games,” and he thinks the alternative could be dire. “Because if we’re just going to rely on the blockbusters to get us through, I think that’s a death sentence,” he adds. 

As well as being able to pursue the idea of being “the new thing,” Layden says AA games have strength in the fact that their “time to market should be faster.” He elaborates: “You know, to get 1,500 developers to do the next [GTA], that’s not the place you need to go for your AA. If you’re a developer, you’ve got to be able to say, ‘I can get something up and running in two to three and a half years.'”

With games like GTA 6 on the horizon, and a constant push of hype towards the likes of Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, it’s fair to say that blockbusters are definitely dominating the games space more and more – perhaps, as Layden suggests, the balance is becoming skewed. However, there are still plenty of titles coming out from smaller and independent developers, too – just look at one of this year’s biggest breakout hits, Balatro. Layden’s perspective is an interesting one, though – here’s hoping that we’re not on track for that “death sentence” he’s afraid of.

Be sure to check out our roundup of upcoming indie games for 2024 and beyond for more games to look forward to.