Ex-Sony Boss Says Xbox Can Find Multiplatform Software Success, Just Like SEGA – Push Square
GuestGuestLogin | Sign UpPush SquareGuestLogin or Sign UpAt the cost of console “FOMO”Former Sony exec Shawn Layden, who has never been shy about sharing his thoughts on one-time nemesis, Xbox, says Microsoft is incredibly well-positioned to become a multiplatform powerhouse like SEGA, provided the company ditches those pesky consoles.An interview podcast we find ourselves increasingly citing, one that continues to get knowledgeable and interesting guests, Layden appeared on Kiwi Talkz (thanks VGC) and explained his thinking on Microsoft’s battle plan: “Multiplatform is a strategy, particularly in a world where the cost of development is increasing so dramatically. What does it do to their brand? It makes the conversation harder to create FOMO (fear of missing out); you’re trying to do that by bringing everyone to your platform by saying, ‘If you’re not here, you’re missing out,’ but if it’s available on all platforms, that’s one of the marketing tactics you can’t use.”The path Microsoft has apparently chosen for Xbox is not without precedent: “We’ve seen it before. I was in the business when SEGA brought their Dreamcast titles to PS2. In time, SEGA became a software-only company with a great transformation, so it has historical precedence.”PlayStation prophet has the answersFormer boss sticks the boot in Phil Spencer’s commentsWhat do you think? Could you see Xbox one day occupying a SEGA-like position in the industry, known for its beloved gaming IPs, such as Sonic, Persona, and Yakuza/ Like a Dragon, rather than hardware? Let us know in the comments section below.[source youtu.be]About Khayl AdamKhayl Adam is Push Square’s roving Australian correspondent, a reporter tasked with scouring the internet for the richest, most succulent PlayStation stories. With six years of experience as a freelance journalist and mercenary wordsmith, RPGs are his first great love, but strategy and tactics games are a close second, genres in which he is only too happy to specialize.Comments 46Xbox’s biggest advantage is 80% of those studios already did multiplatform so they have the know how.I can definitely see them being a successful 3rd party publisher. I mean they bought two of the biggest 3rd party publishers, so its hard not to be successful, right?Only thing is, at the moment i cant really see them successfully competing in the high end console market anymore. I wonder, what if they just went with the lower tier console (and handheld) next gen? They had more success with their series S console anyway. Instead of competing with Sony in the high end space, they could just corner the lower end niche.There will always be people that will want an affordable way in to gaming, especially how next gen is probably going to be more expensive. That way they can still have their own ecosystem and hardware (which they need for gamepass to thrive) and they can be a fully 3rd party publisher at the same time, without having to compete for market share with Sony in the higher end console space. And if people want to play their games on higher specs, they can go to PC.I think my biggest concern is are people gonna invest in the xbox platform just to pay a monthly fee when they can buy Sony’s platform and just get the games you want along with the sony’s games. The less people who buy the xbox means less people to buy into gamepass is less money for microsoft. It’s a weird situation to be in for them.But there needs to be a competitorI can remember during the Wii U days when I thought Nintendo might have to go the SEGA route. It’s possible Microsoft does, after all software is their main business, but just as possible they turn around and make the next big console. I personally think they took a wrong turn just in the naming conventions, it took some level of knowledge to even know what the latest Xbox was, and if it was that hard to figure out, imagine a casual gamer or parent. (Another similar Wii U moment.) If they try again, I recommend just ditching the Xbox moniker.Finally, someone that makes sense. If Xbox went full blown publisher id still keep my Xbox for my backwards compatible games and finally have new games to play on ps5And people act like this hasn’t been microsoft’s plan all along. THIS is how they compete. Their fingers in everyone’s pie so no matter where you game you make them money. They don’t care about the hardware or the gamers. They make all the money, some of the money (skewed in their favor), or the IP gets destroyed. That is microsoft 101.Ultimately they bought two massive third-party publishers so of course they’re in a good position to become a third-party publisher.They’d have to REALLY f*ck up to not be!At least SEGA had the decency of getting out clean being transparent and not outright lying repeatedly letting users stranded mid-generation as Microsoft is doing, it’s creating bad faith among their most loyal fans.I would like to see Microsoft going 3rd party like SEGA and discontinued their XBOX machines.@IOI only Sega couldn’t find two nickels in their pockets and MS has 3 trillion dollars. I ain’t saying it’s a good idea or bad idea in this comment. I am saying if MS wants to continue to make hardware and Xbox Os for PC handhelds they can easily do that. If they don’t want to then they can let others make “Xbox” consoles and your content moves to that seeing as it’s the same just made by Dell or Asus. They have said they are continuing to make a Xbox console and even handheld. Sega didn’t and couldn’t do that. Again for this comment i am not saying i like or dislike their plans but everyone saying they are leaving hardware forgets to mention they ain’t leaving hardware.@Anti-Matter would you also like $100 dollar copies of God of War and $1000 dollar consoles? Cause if you think that won’t be what Sony does, look no further than Nvidia vs AMD. I am no PC gamer but they are smarter in the sense they ask for AMD to stick around and compete in the higher end GPU market cause as of now Nvidia is charging and doing what they want cause they can. If you think the gaming world is worse for having Xbox in it, careful what you wish for having them out.@HonestHick While I likewise think Xbox provides valuable competition in the gaming landscape, the way the industry’s going, I wouldn’t be so quick to assume Xbox-less Sony could just do whatever the f*** they want.I read an article recently about how the future of gaming will be defined by the Switch 2 and SteamOS. And while I didn’t agree with everything said within, one can’t deny that the traction PCs and Steam Deck-likes are gaining seems poised to completely change the console market as we know it. Not to mention, if Microsoft can ever figure out how to properly market their ‘everything is an Xbox’ proposition, they would corner another gateway into gaming. In a world where half the gaming population has a Switch 2, 70% (they overlap) have either a PC or portable gaming PC, and a decent chunk of the bro-gamer market is perfectly happy with a GamePass sub, where would that leave Playstation 6?Now consider the possibility AAA gaming implodes, and suddenly 90% of new releases can run decently well on even the Switch 2. Anyone who’s serious about them graphics has a high-end PC — which would likely be getting Sony’s biggest games with, at most, a 1-year delay — and everyone else is streaming or playing Mario. What market share does that leave for a traditional, cutting edge gaming console? Certainly it’ll still have a market, but will it really be without competition just because there’s not another traditional, cutting edge gaming console on the market?@RoomWithaMoose i am excited for Switch 2 and for sure will buy one as soon as i find one in stock. But not so sure it will be that much of the gaming space. It highly likely won’t play GTA 6 and GTA6 will be a huge portion of players for years to come when it launches. I do think MS will have a role some how. But i think PC and PS6 will do large numbers going forward along with Switch 2. Hard to tell, but PS6 could easily set the price up and not be all that much bothered. People and myself will buy it. But if they got crazy think well Xbox is gone and people that want to game on PC don’t buy consoles anyway and Switch 2 can’t run said games, they could very easily try and maximize profits.Xbox is to PlayStation is what Sega was to Nintendo.@guardianoftime While I’m not sure exactly what you mean by that, it’s worth noting SEGA was really killed by the insane success of the Playstation 2. That’s after the PSone disrupted the entire console market and handedly bested even the N64.You could say Nintendo won their console war with SEGA. But what really happened was SEGA self-sabotaged with the Saturn, lost a significant cut of the market share to Nintendo post-Genesis, and was finished off by up incomer Playstation. Honestly, the Dreamcast had quite a lot going for it, and probably could’ve sustained SEGA’s hardware manufacturing if all they had to worry about was Nintendo. But Sony was out for blood after Nintendo snubbed them; SEGA was kinda an unintended casualty in the whole thing.Since Microsoft’s perspective hardware failings stem more from over-buying and not differentiating enough from their ‘main’ competitor, I would say the Sony-Microsoft situation is quite a bit different from the Nintendo-SEGA saga.@HonestHick While GTA6 will undoubtedly be immensely successful, I won’t define the entire industry going forward.The Switch was plenty successful without GTA5; I wouldn’t anticipate former’s successor would be significantly hampered by the possible lack of the latter’s. And as for what the means for Playstation: GTA5 is already huge on PC, and I would expect the same of its successor. Regardless of when it shows up on PC. And, perhaps more importantly, GTA6 is a PS5 title. While it could be ported/remade for the next console, I doubt it’ll be much of a system seller for a prospective PS6. Such a console would need to sell itself on its own merits to compete with the morphing industry — at least, assuming the industry does change.I own a series X and a PS5 but with the direction Xbox is heading I’ve said the same thing in the last 2 to 3 years and it always makes Xbox fanboy extremely angry.@guardianoftime it’s sad because Xbox & Sega were both better than their competitors but shot themselves in the foot at critical points@get2sammyb we already have 2 massive 3rd party publishers who r f*ucking up on a massive scale already so I don’t think xbox would have to try hard 😅@RoomWithaMoose great! I see you disagree with me, as I do with yours. I still stick with my opinion and you should stay with yours.playstation can’t be the only one for games (nintendo isn’t a third party machine lets be real), i hope Xbox sticks around . This new era Sony that started under Dim Ryan can’t keep going on For all that Shawn Layden is beloved for his time at Sony, I have to say, he comes across as someone now desperately wanting to be listened to. It’s clear he’s not really been that into the PlayStation story since retiring (and I think that’s entirely reasonable) – but there’s a lot things that he says that are demonstrably wrong. In the way that someone has moved city, and advises friends travelling to that city on what to do – 6 years later…. after a world-altering event.TBH he seems to often say things about problems that are either obvious, or as pointed out in the interview, he actually actively contributed to. He’s not grifting, but I think he’s trying to better ensure his legacy as part of the solution, not the seed of the problem.Don’t get me wrong – PS4 under Layden was amazing… but I also reflect that a lot of the things wrong with PS now, can be traced to the huge-budget-extravaganza-tentpole games that were essential when trying to dominate a close competitor in XBox. Nowadays, the legacy has become a stone on the back of Sony (IMO – as much as I love their SP games).So my question is – why does he do it? Though – I have to say… I’d listen to him infinitely longer than JR… the least charismatic CEO I’ve seen…“Xbox can find multi platform success like Sega”Got no option really. Just like Sega, they are not selling hardware.History really does repeat itself.@nomither6 in what sense was Xbox better than its competitor?If Xbox hardware was no longer made, that leaves PlayStation without competition. That leaves Sony to not abuse that position.As much as I’ve been a loyal PlayStation gamer since 1995, and despise all things Microsoft, there needs to be competition in the gaming industry. Otherwise gamers run the risk of being priced out of the hobby they love, and the incentive to innovate and keep ahead will no longer be there.Xbox needs to exist. It would be great to see another competitive console manufacturer enter the market too.@naruball the 360 😉 since then not as much apart from gamepass 😅The box itself it’s still the best way to play gamepass can’t see them scraping it@CutchuSlow competitor for what? With PS5 you get everything except Nintendo games. PS fans should be happy, not worried. For First party exclusives? Unfortunately since the launch of PS5, Sony aint pumping out so many AAA games as they once did with PS4 & PS3 as they are getting to busy with GaaS.@Decimateh-xblz Tbf Ps3 was better than xbox 360. It sold more too.@GloriosaDaisy sold more but 360 was better was way ahead of its time party chat 8 people and Xbox live arcade for indies was awesome 😎 then they dropped off next gen 😭@Toot1st PC gamepass has every game that Ultimate has except it’s cheaper, Multiplayer is free and you can also buy games from Steam. So no, Xbox is not really the best place to play gamepass.Sega also had to struggle for over a decade after the death of Dreamcast before they finally found a sustainable path.For real, SEGA only became a powerhouse after 2016, before that we had like a 1:5 ratio of good games to commercial failures.@HonestHick Listen, I only play kids games on both Nintendo & PlayStation machines (with a few of specific rated Teen games). I bought my PlayStation machines from PS1 until PS5 just only for playing kids games. I don’t even care and really hate AAA rated 18+ games you mentioned about. Back to topic, currently XBOX Series X have zero exclusive kids games that I can choose and play. I have zero interest with Forza as i never like ultra hyper OMG realistic 8K 120 FPS graphic games, I hate every single rated 18+ games, I only play kids games so the best choice is having both Nintendo and PlayStation machines together. I only have XBOX 360 and OG XBOX games just for playing Dance Dance Revolution games, Kinect games, 3rd party kids games, nothing else. I’m completely different gamer here.MS spent an ungodly amount of cash to secure those multiplatform games though, and at the end of the day Sony will receive 30% of anything they sell for Playstation anyway.With XBOX and Gamepass failing to gain much momentum, I can’t see how this is such a winning strategy.Yeah even though the ps5 is sony weakest generation in terms of exclusive.its the best 3rd party sony ever had.from exclusive 3rd party to now x box games coming to ps5.yeah ps5 is doing they’re thing.word up son@Dr_ENT competition is needed to keep prices down. Otherwise ps6 will probably be like 700 pounds or more.@Decimateh-xblz well unfortunately despite those things the 360 was the reason I moved to PlayStation and I know it was the reason many of my friends did the same…I don’t think people remember how horrible the red ring of death was.I had to send my 360 in four times. I can’t be the only person that got sick of it. The PS3 just worked better.Microsoft could potentially have success if they make a portable that tops Steam Deck and other handheld PCs in price, performance, and ease of use. The home console market is dominated by Sony, but Sony seems reluctant to make a true handheld right now. If Microsoft makes its own version of the Switch that can run game pass and other PC games, I could see it becoming a hit. It might even force Sony to respond.@Kenobi42
I think there still will be competition for Sony, but not in the narrow category of consoles. I think that the fact that Sony has started measuring and reporting their MAUs and player engagement metrics in their financial statements shows that they’re already thinking beyond the console device itself. It’s why they’ve created a device like the Portal – a way to keep you on the platform when the TV is being used by someone else in your household (and, latterly, to allow you to play your games while not even at home).Microsoft’s incentive will be to maximise the amount of time people spend within it’s ecosystem, spending money via XBL. They’re choosing to run with a loss-leader like Gamepass to try and get you in the door, and making every device into an XBox via cloud streaming. And sure, if you want to buy their games on your PlayStation, that’s cool too, MS gets your money that way.Sony will want to attract and keep people on PSN. Sony will do so via having a top-of-the-line dedicated device that sits under your TV, and by having tentpole, best-in-class game experiences that can’t be played first anywhere else.Both those options have their merits, downsides and risks. But one thing they have in common is that you need to be creating great games that get people into your ecosystem.It’s a very interesting time for the industry but I don’t think its fair to say that Sony won’t be feeling the pressure and will stop thinking about the competition.@Ajbr8687 4 times that’s kinda mad I got it once myself n was pretty quick tbh but ye can see why ya left if happened 4 times. Tbh if that happened to me id have probs done same 🤣 glad it didn’t 360 was my fave gen probs well for online cod n party chat n also xbla stuff was next level although ps1 is probs my fave game wise of all time tbh.Yeah, but Sega’s revenue is about 3 billion a year, while PlayStation brings in about ten times as much. Going the multiplatform publisher route is a mere survival strategy. It’s very hard to foster a loyal community of fans without a box to parade around.Sure, Microsoft Games will be massive considering they own the likes of Minecraft and COD, but this obviously wasn’t the original strategy when they started acquiring other publishers.@CutchuSlow I’ve heard there’s an obscure Japanese company called Nintendo doing good things.@HonestHick AMD aren’t even competing with Nvidia on high end this cycle they are only doing midrange to low range. But pricing for those cards in March is what everyone is looking at. Nvidias 5000 cards was a just a paper launch to boost shares they hardly exist as now one can get one, it’s either you’d paid way over MSRP or scalpers got them@Nakatomi_Uk for sure, i would like to see more competition in the GPU space. But it’s just not there. I love the AMD CPU’s but not GPU’s. We need competition in all things or it’s just free money for the other company and they don’t have to innovate or keep their pricing in check. It’s so important. 😊@Decimateh-xblz yeah it was insane and had gotten to the point where I was worried every time I turned on the Xbox. After the fourth time I sent it in and when they sent the new one I instantly went to GameStop to exchange it lol360 was a great platform and I have a lot of nostalgia for that platform because it was during college when I had a lot of time to play games…I just got super unlucky with the hardware. 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