The former PlayStation executive, Shawn Layden, has said that Microsoft’s multiplatform plan can succeed as Sega’s, but that will make Microsoft build “FOMO” for Xbox consoles.
Layden, who was president of the company’s world studies group when Sony left in 2019, recently appeared on the Kiwi Talkz YouTube channel. Among the topics discussed was the recent Microsoft initiative to launch its main games in PlayStation 5.
“The multiplatform is a strategy, particularly in a world where the cost of development is increasing so dramatically,” Layden said when his opinion was asked about the new Microsoft approach.
“What does his brand do? It makes the conversation more difficult to create the FOMO (fear of getting lost), it is trying to do it by bringing everyone to its platform saying: “If you are not being lost”, but it is available on all platforms, that is one of His marketing tactics that he cannot use. “
Recently, multiple Xbox exclusive for PS5 have been announced, more recently Forza Horizon 5, and Indiana Jones and the big circle, and Chief Phil Spencer has said that “there are no red lines” for what could come later.
“We have seen it before. He was in business when Sega brought his dream titles to PS2, over time, then Sega became a software only company, and I had a great transformation in that regard, ”Layden continued. “Then it has historical precedence.”
The final console of SEGA, The Dreamcast, was launched in 1998 and was discontinued in March 2001. After this, Sega began publishing titles on other platforms, with a varied success. However, in the last decade, the company has taken advantage of the Atlus developer to create multiple of the best qualified JRPGs of all time.
This has coincided with an explosion in popularity for its series like a Dragon (previously Yakuza), and Crossmedia success with franchises such as Sonic The Hedgehog.
Earlier this week, another former Sony executive said that “there were no victims,” in the Xbox multiplatform era.
The former PlayStation vice president said that Xbox is now “an entertainment supplier” and not “just a record producer and record distributor.”
“Then, if we think about that, the analogy that perhaps PlayStation is HBO, Microsoft is Netflix and Nintendo is Disney, then its work is to obtain incredibly interactive and attractive entertainment for as many people as possible.”