Live-Service Games Are Not Real Games, Former PlayStation Boss Says

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Shawn Layden, a former PlayStation executive, doesn’t consider games with a ‘live-service’ model to be true games. He described them as more of a continuously repeating activity designed to keep players engaged rather than a traditional gaming experience.

So, what actually makes a game? According to Layden in an interview with The Ringer, a good game needs three key things: a compelling story, a memorable character, and a well-developed world. He pointed to games like Horizon, God of War, and Uncharted as examples that successfully combine these elements. However, he explained that live-service games are different. Those games only require a simple, repeatable activity, a way for players to connect with each other, and the motivation to keep playing over and over.

Shawn Layden departed from Sony in 2019 and, while he hasn’t publicly detailed his reasons, recently shared that focusing on ongoing, live-service games wasn’t his strong suit. This came as Sony was making a big push into live-service titles, initially aiming to launch a dozen by 2026. They later scaled back that goal, and their results have been mixed – some games, like Concord, didn’t perform well, while others, such as Helldivers 2, have been huge hits.

I was reading an interview with Joost van Dreunen over at The Ringer, and he was talking about Sony’s attempts with live-service games. He basically said they haven’t quite hit the mark, but it’s not the end of the world. He thinks even if these live-service games don’t take off, the PS5 is still doing really well. The biggest problem, he explained, isn’t that Sony will fail, but that they’re spending resources on something new when they’re already so good at making the games we all love.

Sony has put over $1.45 billion into Epic Games, the company behind Fortnite, and will likely profit as the game’s popularity continues to increase. Sony is also focusing on its own ongoing-service games, with Bungie’s Marathon as its next major launch. However, Marathon’s development hasn’t been smooth sailing – it’s faced delays and is currently dealing with accusations of art theft.

Shawn Layden advises companies against relying on live-service games to fix financial problems. He explained that the idea of constant, large profits from these games is often unrealistic, and most companies won’t achieve that level of success.

Connie Booth, a long-time and key employee at PlayStation, left the company in 2023 after more than 30 years of service. While she hasn’t publicly stated why she left, David Scott Jaffe – known for creating Twisted Metal and co-creating God of War – claims she was let go.

“She was fired. She was not let go. She didn’t retire. She didn’t quit. She was fired,” Jaffe said.

According to Jaffe, Jim Ryan, when he led PlayStation, pushed for more games that were constantly updated with new content rather than traditional, finished games. This direction apparently frustrated many developers at PlayStation. Jaffe claims that Connie is now being held responsible for these decisions and the resulting discontent.

Sony has canceled plans for a live-service game based on The Last of Us, which Naughty Dog described as their most ambitious project yet. There were also reportedly early plans for a live-service God of War game, but that project seems to have been scrapped as well.

So, Sony’s got another live service game in the works called Fairgame$, but honestly, it’s been radio silence on that one lately. It’s a little worrying because a bunch of the top people working on it, even the studio head, have moved on. Still, Sony keeps saying they’re all-in on live service games and that they’re taking the lessons learned from the Concord launch to heart. Hopefully, that means Fairgame$ will be different!

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2025-10-24 21:10