Former PlayStation executive Shawn Layden has said that the cost of developing AAA games will continue to hurt the industry, which is currently reeling from ongoing layoffs. Offering his advice on making games faster and cheaper, Layden said that devs need to stop chasing lengthy games and photorealism where it’s not needed.
Only a small percentage of players are finishing lengthy AAA games, says Shawn Layden
The need to stop obsessing over realistic graphics and game length are just two recommendations out of many that Layden offered to GamesIndustry.biz, but they stick out the most. He pointed out that only 32% of players are finishing the games they start, so devs are “making a lot of game that 68% of the people aren’t seeing.”
Layden didn’t say where he got the data he’s quoting, but we have seen trophy statistics for some major games, like Red Dead Redemption 2, that suggest that a large number of players aren’t actually finishing games.
Speaking of photorealism, Layden said that some of the graphical improvements that devs are chasing are barely noticed by the average player, but they are costing a lot of time and resources to implement. “We’re in the realm of differences that only dogs can hear,” he remarked.
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