Despite only being released on PlayStation and PC, the unexpected success of Helldivers 2 has kicked off conversations regarding the changing dynamics in the game industry. Most of the AAA titles that are being developed nowadays require massive budgets that go as high as a couple of hundred millions, and although they usually belong to popular franchises with pre-established fanbases, they struggle to break even.
This leads to layoffs and studio shutdowns, which is something that became prominent last year and continues in 2024, bringing up an interesting question: Does the industry truly need franchises like Call of Duty and Grand Theft Auto in this day and age?
Former PlayStation Boss Thinks Exclusivity Hurts Big-Budget Games
Former Sony Interactive Entertainment President and CEO Shawn Layden had a discussion with VentureBeat about the current state of the game industry and how, in the ongoing gaming landscape, platform exclusivity ends up hurting more than being beneficial.
The previous head of PlayStation, who ran things from 2014 to 2019, talked about how expensive it has become to create games due to the scope of AAA titles and that limiting them to one console or audience doesn’t seem to make sense anymore since the publishers have to make their money back somehow; it’s still a business at its core.
There are plenty of games these days whose cost is more than “$200 million” to develop, and Layden believes that in their cases, being exclusive becomes the “Achilles’ heel” for the teams behind them.
The former PlayStation boss continued by focusing on “the world of live service gaming or free-to-play” titles, saying that “95% of those people will never spend a nickel,” which isn’t helpful since “the business is all about conversion.” This is where the exemplary triumph of Helldivers 2 comes into the conversation, as it didn’t exclusively launch for PlayStation and owes a lot of its success to its simultaneous PC release.
Arrowhead’s surprise hit completely embraced its “addressable market,” as it opened “the funnel” and got “more people in.”
Does the Gaming Industry Really Need More Call of Duty or GTA?
Layden believes that the companies behind consoles are not doing enough to bring “non-console people into console gaming,” especially if they do not change their approach to the rapidly evolving industry.
If 95% of the world doesn’t want to play Call of Duty, Fortnite, and Grand Theft Auto, is the industry just going to make more Call of Duty, Fortnite, and Grand Theft Auto? That’s not going to get you anybody else.
If anything, Helldivers 2 has proven that if a title brings two distant communities together and provides them with an amazingly fun time, it does not matter if the game is not another installment in a well-known franchise.
Do you think the industry still needs franchises like CoD and Grand Theft Auto? Let us know in the comments!
