Former PlayStation executive: only a universal game format can smash the 250 Million console cap

Former Sony executive Shawn Layden, who stepped down as chairman of SIE Worldwide Studios in 2019 after spending three decades at the company, recently shared his thoughts in an interview, stating that the industry is stuck in a rut when it comes to expanding its audience. He believes the only way to make a breakthrough is to create a single gaming format that everyone can build on, similar to how DVDs or VHS tapes once were the norm.

Layden’s always had some hot takes on video game industry trends. In a recent interview with YouTubers Naomi Kyle and Pause for Thought, he said that the number of consoles sold per generation hasn’t really changed over the years. He explained:

We talk about gaming being behind this $250 billion industry, which it is, and have hundreds of millions of users, which it does. But of course, that includes, if you’re playing Wordle, you’re a gamer. If you’re playing Candy Crush, you’re a gamer in that number.

But the number of discrete consoles sold over any particular generation caps out at about 250 million.

He shared a few examples, such as the heyday of the PlayStation 1, the Sega Saturn, and the Nintendo 64. Even those cult-classic consoles hovered around his supposed figure. While the only outlier in the category was the Wii, and that’s because many non-gamers jumped in on the Wii-trend for games like Wii Fit.

Layden feels that the market is 'trapped', or somewhat limited, and he further explained this by saying:

If you line up all the PS1s, Sega Saturns, and N64s, and you go by generations, it’s all about 250. The one time it spiked to almost 300 was when the generation that had the Wii thought you could buy the Wii Fit and lose weight. So, we got some non-traditional gaming audience to buy into the gaming industry at that time.

But that was an anomaly, and we’ve still flattened out. We need to crack that cap, that barrier. The only way we can do that is if, and I know people call me crazy and throw stones at me when I say this, but you know, Sony’s Betamax format lost to VHS for one reason: VHS licensed its format across many different manufacturers.

However, Layden isn’t calling for the end of everything that makes consoles unique to their own platform. In the same interview, he further mentioned:

I don’t think every game has to be console exclusive, but I do accept the fact that if you’re going to have platform companies like Sony and Nintendo, there is a huge value to the brand of having strong exclusives.

Buy the Sony PlayStation 5 console on Amazon here