Former PlayStation executive Shawn Layden has questioned the long-term prospects of the Xbox Game Pass business model.
During his time atPlayStation, Layden held a number of senior roles including CEO ofSony Interactive EntertainmentAmerica, VP of Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, and president of SCE Japan. He was chairman of worldwide studioswhen he departed in 2019.
In aGamesIndustry.bizinterview published on Tuesday, which focuses on his recent appointment to Streamline Media Group’s advisory board, Layden expressed scepticism about the sustainability ofXboxGame Pass and its potential to expand the console market.
Sony has said on multiple occasions that the Game Pass model wouldn’t work for PlayStation. Speaking toGI.bizlast September, SIE bossJim Ryanclaimed a subscription-type model would be unsustainablefor PlayStation Studios because it often sees its first-party game budgets grow to “well over $100 million”.
Layden, who last year called overall AAA development “not sustainable” and suggested that game length and pricingmay have to be adjusted to combat ballooning game budgets, echoed Ryan’s sentiment.
The number of people who own consoles today is thought to be around 250 million, which is about the same as it was in the late 1990s. And Layden suggested to GI.biz he was doubtful that Xbox Game Pass and its cloud gaming offering are the answer to growing this number.
“Of course, if you add in mobile phones you get to hundreds of millions of players,” Layden said. “But those are related but distinct categories. We’ve learned over time that mobile gaming isn’t necessarily a gateway into console, but just a different thing for people to do at a different time of the day.”
He added: “People don’t buy consoles because they want more steel and plastic in the living room. People buy consoles because they want access to the content. If you can find a way to get the content into people’s homes without a box, then yes, indeed. Everyone has a streaming solution of some form. Most of it is limited by whether you have a decent internet connection. And they haven’t constructed the business model that works yet for that.”
Further reading
Microsoft said in June that it is working with global TV manufacturers to embed the Xbox experiencedirectly into internet-connected TVs, and that it’s building its own streaming devices to bring cloud gaming to any TV or monitor without the need for a console.
“We like the value that Game Pass is today and from a business model it’s completely sustainable the way it is,” he told theDropped Framespodcast.
