Shawn Layden, formerly the president and CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment America, said that companies like Google, Amazon and Apple threaten the stability of the gaming industry.
At the GamesIndustry.biz Investment Summit in Seattle, Layden – now a strategic advisor at Tencent Games – relayed what he considers to be the three most significant concerns to developers and publishers. He started by specifying that acquisitions have the potential to be “the enemy of creativity”.
“I also think rising costs in gaming are an existential threat to all of us. And the entry of non-endemics into the sector – otherwise known as the ‘barbarians at the gate,'” Layden continued.
“Right now we see all the big players going, ‘Oh, gaming? It’s bringing in billions of dollars a year? I want a piece of that.’ And so we have Google, Netflix, Apple and Amazon wanting to get piece and trying to disrupt our industry.”
He explicated that Apple’s choice to “[convince] everyone that 99 cents per song was a good idea” caused a ripple effect in the music industry. Similarly, streaming films and TV shows from home thanks to Amazon and Netflix has led to major shifts in production practices.
“I’m hoping gaming will be the first industry where we disrupt ourselves,” Layden said. “Where it doesn’t take a Google or an Amazon to completely flip the table. We should be smart enough to see these changes coming and prepare ourselves for that eventuality.”
Layden also added that some of these non-endemics are aware that “just having tech doesn’t mean you can make a game”. This was potentially in reference to the shutdown of Google Stadia and the loss of Amazon Games games until New World and Lost Ark found their footing.
In other gaming news, SAG-AFTRA will vote to strike against video game publishers such as Activision, Epic Games and WB Games if a resolution is not reached on the new Interactive Media Agreement.
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