The former CEO and president of Sony Interactive Entertainment America, Shawn Layden, has said the closure of the company’s Japan Studio ‘wasn’t necessarily a surprise to him,’ and has likened its Speaking with IGN Japan at Gamescom Asia recently, Layden touched base on the shuttering of SIE Japan Studio, which housed a number of legacy franchises and talent. Only Team Asobi, the creator of Astro Bot, survived the cull, although they are now operating independently. That was sad. It wasn’t necessarily a surprise. I love Allan [Becker, former head of Japan Studio], and he worked really hard, but there was so much legacy malaise. It’s tough when a studio hasn’t had a hit for a while, then they forget how that feels. You know, if you have a hit once it’s like a drug, man, you’re chasing the next one, right? And then if you don’t have that for a while, you forget what it felt like, and then you start to forget how to get there. There were probably two roads. One was the road they took. The other road was a real tough-love program. And maybe that’s what the Team Asobi thing is. It’s like pruning a bonsai, right? You get it back down to its nub and see if you can grow back out again. Related Content – Upcoming PS5 Games 2024: The Best PS5 Games Coming Soon As previously reported, Layden also commented on the decline of AA development studios in the games industry, stating that he feels relying on blockbuster titles alone is “a death sentence.” In addition to serving as CEO and president of SIE America, Layden went on to assume the role of chairman of SIE Worldwide Studios in March 2018, a position he held until September 2019, at which point he decided to leave Sony. Layden later served as a strategy advisor with Tencent beginning September 2022. [Source – Eurogamer] The post Former Sony Exec Shawn Layden Says The Closure Of Japan Studio ‘Wasn’t Necessarily A Surprise’ To Him appeared first on PlayStation Universe.
Source: https://www.psu.com/news/former-sony-ex ... se-to-him/
