Strategy? RPG? Former head of PlayStation Studios wants to divide games by how they make us feel

Shawn Layden defends a business model where not everything is focusing on which buttons to press when playing.

For decades, video games have been classified by the type of main mechanics in their gameplay. In this way we classify the releases as RPGs, strategy titles, graphic adventures and a long etcetera. It is right? According to a PlayStation veteran, Shawn Layden , perhaps it is time to rethink this division by giving more weight to what it is trying to convey to the user.

Is it a game that will brighten your day or a grim title like The Last of Us 2?Shawn layden“One of the barriers that we continue to have in this business is that we describe video game content by its core mechanics . This is a shooter video game, this is a racing video game,” said the former president of SIE Worldwide Studio in a talk collected by the Axios Gaming portal. “We need to start describing our titles, our IPs, our creative output more in the context of how it makes us feel . Is it a game that will make your day or a gloomy title like The Last of Us: Part II ? We have to look at everything. this more in depth rather than focusing on which buttons are being pressed, “he added.

Analyzing his statements , Shawn Layden seems to want to bring the division between video games closer to cinema, where comedy, drama or intrigue appear as some of the most prolific genres in the sector. In this way, in addition to labeling The Last of Us as an action and adventure title, it should also be referred to as a post-apocalyptic drama, something that does not usually appear in the filter cards of stores.

At the moment we do not know the reactions of the industry to this debate put on the table by the veteran of PlayStation, who also questioned the success of Xbox Game Pass a few weeks ago . According to Shawn Layden, betting on these subscription models are not profitable for their promoters. “You would need to have 500 million subscribers to recover the investment,” he said in this regard.

Sony announced the departure of Shawn Layden as head of PlayStation Studios at the end of 2019. His role is now held by Helmen Hust .