Live games are like 'a mirage on the top of a sand dune,' former PlayStation boss says

Ex-PlayStation Worldwide Studios boss Shawn Layden cautions game developers to be careful about entering the live service arena, warning that the games industry is basically built on the bones of Fortnite contenders.

2

Breaking into the live service market is so hard that some companies just buy their way into it--Microsoft comes to mind with its Mojang and Activision acquisitions, so does Sony with its Bungie buyout. Here at TweakTown, we've been talking about live games for years and put together an Engagement Cycle that we think developers have to achieve and maintain to break into the market. It's an exhaustive list of things that a game must perpetually keep in motion, and for most companies, that's unsustainable. This is the message around ex-PlayStation boss Shawn Layden's recent interviews--that live games come with pitfalls.

"The highway is littered with people wanting to take on Fortnite, with people trying to do Overwatch with different skins," Layden said in a recent interview with Inverse.

• Read more: Ex-Sony boss on game budgets: 'Unless you're Rockstar, don't expect to sell 25 million units'
• Read more: Sony started doing 'stupid sh*t' when Jim Ryan took over as PlayStation CEO, analyst says
• Read more: Ex-PlayStation boss says Game Pass may not be healthy for game developers

The reality is that live games are a kind of pipe dream for a lot of developers, especially right now as the games industry collectively downsizes. While breakout hits can absolutely happen out of nowhere, the odds of something taking on Call of Duty or Fortnite are very slim. It's not impossible, just highly unlikely--almost as unlikely as a mirage being real.

"It's like a mirage on the top of a sand dune. You pursue it. You can't quite get there. Or if you do get there, what you brought to the party no one wants to play anyway," Layden says.