PlayStation’s former boss Shawn Layden is sceptical about people buying into expensive next-gen PS6 and Xbox Project Helix consoles if their technical improvements are too minor.
As current generation PS5 and Xbox Series X/S consoles keep getting more expensive, many analysts expect that the next-generation machines could potentially cost around $1,000. That’s not a price tag Layden thinks will move many units, however.
“I do think that we are at a point where if all we’re going to do is, I don’t know, increase ray tracing and jump the teraflops, I don’t know if that message resonates to the consumer to reach into their pocket and pull out $1,000,” he says in an interview with The Expansion Pass podcast. “Has technology reached some kind of plateau, let’s say, where just ‘more faster, more colorful’ is itself not a goal any longer or not a differentiator?”
The ex-Sony executive then likened the jump from the PS1 to the PS2 to the transition from VHS tapes to DVDs. “Once you saw a DVD you could never watch a VHS tape again,” he says, before noting that console generations these days don’t provide as noticeable a difference as they once did.
“And then the plateau begins to hit and the curve isn’t as great. And if people are being asked to even kick up more money for that improved experience, if the improvement is really esoteric… you might want to rethink [purchasing],” he adds.
Layden also gave his thoughts on subscription services like Xbox Game Pass, arguing that it’s much harder for developers to turn a profit when launching games into the service on day one.