Former CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment Shawn Layden shared what appeared to be a bleak outlook on the Japanese gaming industry in a recent interview.
In a recent interview with IGN Japan, was asked for his insight regarding the current state of the industry, alongside some events during his tenure at Sony. Most notably, he gave his opinion on Sony’s Japan Studio being merged with Team Asobi.
It was a sad event, but not necessarily a surprise. Alan (Alan Becker, head of Japan Studio) was a great guy and he was trying really hard, but the legacy was too big. It’s hard when a studio doesn’t have a hit for a while, and the employees forget what it feels like, and then you start to forget how to make a work a success.
In such a case, I think there are two possible paths. One is the path they actually took. The other is the path of taking very strict and drastic measures out of love. This may be what happened with Team ASOBI. It’s like pruning the branches of a bonsai tree. You cut the branches back close to the trunk and then watch them regrow.
Translation: Google
It’s worth mentioning that Sony Japan is behind iconic franchises such as Ape Escape, Gravity Rush, Shadow of the Colossus, and more.
Layden goes on to criticize Japanese studios for trying to reach global audiences saying that they “have not been successful for a long time”, and even applauds Square Enix for “abandoning its ambition” to expand development overseas.
Back in 2021, Sony’s Japan Studio was merged into Team Asobi, during a time where Sony was restructuring to place more emphasis on American audiences and consolidating resources in California. While at the time, Sony representatives claimed that Japan remains an important market, recent years have seen Japanese developers flee the platform due to growing censorship to appease “global standards“.
Historically, Layden has shared what appear to be pessimistic opinions about the Japanese gaming industry and gaming as a whole, especially since he joined Chinese company Tencent.
Perhaps fittingly, Team Asobi recently wowed the industry with the recent mascot platformer Astro Bot, proving that perhaps the PlayStation isn’t just a console for interactive movies.
