Sony’s decision to back out of E3 2019 left people scratching their heads last year, but Sony’s Shawn Layden has confirmed the company is looking for more modern outlets and platforms to announce its titles and consoles.
Speaking to CNET, Layden said: “So the [E3] trade show became a trade show without a lot of trade activity. The world has changed, but E3 hasn’t necessarily changed with it.”
So we know Sony won’t be at the event later this year, but what does that mean the company focusing on right now? Well, simply put, it’s focusing on high-quality games of course.
“I think we’ve done a lot over the last three or four years to get us to a place right now where we’re building fewer games per year than ever before, but we’re spending more time, more energy, certainly more money, on making them,” said Layden.
Layden added: “with our decision to do fewer games — bigger games — over longer periods of time, we got to a point where [E3 2019] was not a time for us to have a new thing to say. And we feel like if we ring the bell and people show up here in force, people have expectation ‘Oh, they’re going to tell us something.'”
It can’t be denied that recent PlayStation exclusives like Marvel’s Spider-Man and God Of War amazed PS gamers all over the world upon release. GOW even scooped Game Of The Year at The Game Awards 2018, proving Layden’s point about quality over quantity.
Quality games won’t just bring in the initial sales for a company, but will also continue to grow their fanbases and potentially even become a mainstay in the gaming market. Surely we all know by now that no-one wants to play a rushed cash-grab title that a company has pushed to release without even being a finished product…
Interestingly, gamers themselves are becoming more receptive to companies choosing to delay their games to make sure they’re perfect on release. Though a game delay is still news that can break hearts, people are now praising publishers like Nintendo for going back to the drawing board when they aren’t happy with the result.
I am both saddened and yet filled with hope and faith over the #MetroidPrime4 announcement. Classy move, Nintendo.
— J Dowanthony Roberts (@BowtieBartend) January 25, 2019
Big ups to @Nintendo for being honest about #MetroidPrime4. Rather wait and do it right than drop when it’s shit. Other devs should learn from this.
— slim1 (@NoID81524912) January 25, 2019
With fewer projects to juggle, and assumedly more dedicated staff members per project, it’s a safe bet to say Sony won’t be releasing any disappointing titles in the coming months.
Hopefully it’s something that’ll continue all the way up to the upcoming PlayStation 5…?
Featured Image Credit: Santa Monica Studio