Former PlayStation boss says “games are too long”

Video games are too long these days, and Shawn Layden, former chairman of Sony Interactive Entertainment, agrees. Speaking to Eurogamer on the eve of PlayStation’s 30th anniversary, Layden spoke about how the video game industry is struggling to grow its audience and how developing shorter titles could be the answer.

Layden began by explaining how the cost of producing video games is increasing exponentially across different generations of consoles, which is directly related to the industry’s push for high-fidelity graphics.

“We need to address two or three things specifically,” he said. “One thing is the skyrocketing costs of game development. With each generation, a game costs twice as much to develop. What costs a million dollars on the PS1 then costs two, then four, then 16. This goes exponentially. The PS4 generation that was.” The last time I was associated with it cost $150 million to develop games, if you want to be at the top, and that’s before marketing. So by this calculation, PS5 games should eventually reach $300 to $400 million. and that’s just not sustainable.”

Layden compares the gaming industry to building cathedrals and wonders if it’s worth the incredible amount of work and time to build “these massive buildings for God.” The former executive fears the Triple-A industry can’t get any bigger, but there may be a way to cut corners.

“How do we limit this? How do we bring this back? I think part of that answer is – and it sounds simple, but hear me out – I think games are too long,” he adds.

“I haven’t even opened Red Dead Redemption 2 yet because I don’t have 90 hours. And I’m retired and don’t have 90 hours. For the longest time, we focused on about 100 hours of gameplay.” “That will be 100 hours of gameplay!” That’s the most important thing you need to know. This was in the early years when the average player was 18 to 23 years old. And when you’re 18 to 23 years old, you’re time rich and money poor – the player moved to the late 20s, early 30s – well, the opposite is true, right? Maybe you are not rich in money, but you definitely have little time mismatch with this market, with reality.

Layden expressed his desire to “see a world where you can get 18 to 23 hours of gameplay again” where new player engagement doesn’t decline.

“If only 50 percent of players see the end of your game, what about all the millions you spend on the final level so only half the people see it,” he said.

“So much money goes into creating great gaming experiences and people don’t see it. What would Coppola do if you walked out in the middle of his film? We need to understand – is this a good use of resources? I want a movement.’ This gets more people to finish games, we make it so compelling that they just want to watch it, and it’s not so tedious that they don’t have to spend three months doing it.

On the topic of growing the business, Layden also talked about how the gaming industry is “losing the next generation to TikTok” and the risks associated with bringing PlayStation games to other platforms like Xbox.

Sony is celebrating PlayStation’s 30th anniversary with special, limited-time PS5 themes. With the Game Awards fast approaching, it’s high time to take a first look at Sony’s upcoming games for 2025 and beyond.

Until then, you can enjoy the classic Sly Cooper trilogy on PS Plus. The company also announced that the PS2 is the best-selling console of all time.