Former PlayStation Studios boss Shawn Layden recently shared his thoughts on the gaming industry multiple times (we’ve tagged him before). Most recently, he appeared on Kiwi Talkz to discuss Microsoft’s new strategy of bringing their games to rival platforms (most notably, Forza Horizon 5 on PS5).
Layden emphasized the necessity of cross-platform game sales in a world where development costs are steadily rising, which undoubtedly impacts Xbox’s brand as they struggle to instill a fear of missing out (FOMO) in consumers to purchase Xbox hardware for exclusive Xbox games moving forward.
Nevertheless, Layden pointed out that we’ve seen this before when Sega discontinued hardware consoles post-Dreamcast era and pivoted to being a software game seller only, successfully bringing their games to PS2. It was a significant turning point for Sega.
Source: VGC
TLDR: Shawn Layden discusses Microsoft’s new strategy of cross-platform game sales and draws parallels to Sega’s successful transition from hardware to software sales.
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