Former PlayStation Boss Says Japanese Studios Have “Been Struggling” Since PS3

Summary

• PS3 revolutionized online gaming but posed challenges for Japanese devs.
• Japanese studios struggled with the transition to high-end PC experiences.
• Layden suggests studios like Capcom and Sega are adapting well while others need to refocus.

The PlayStation 3 launched over 18 years ago now. Despite a tough beginning, the console pioneered online gaming for Sony and launched the company into the high-definition era, becoming the sixth-best-selling home console of all time with over 87 million units sold.

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But, while the console spelled the start of good things for PlayStation, it reportedly had a major knock-on effect on Japanese developers, leaving them to "try to get back to the top of the top of Olympus."

The PlayStation 3 Left Japanese Devs "Struggling".

In a Gamescom Asia interview with IGN Japan, former PlayStation boss Shawn Layden shared that the PlayStation 1 and 2 were ideal for Japanese developers.

He said, "They basically took their experience in the arcade business and translated it into the home, right? That was the selling point. PlayStation 1, Ridge Racer in your house, Tekken in your house. But the way you develop an arcade experience is completely different from how you develop a console experience. Now, PlayStation 1, they just translated it, and that seemed to be enough, because it was novel."

Unfortunately for these Japanese studios, that "skill set and expertise didn't really translate into the console experience."

"When you got to PS3, and you had the Cell processor, and how do you code for that? And it was no longer an upgraded arcade experience, it was a high-end PC experience you're offering at home. And I think that's where the disconnect came for a lot of Japanese developers. And Japanese developers have been struggling ever since to try to get back to the top of the top of Olympus," Layden said.

Japanese developers have been struggling ever since to try to get back to the top of the top of Olympus.

Layden feels that "there's a lot of legacy, historically super-talented teams that haven't tasted success for a while and are still struggling to get back to it," but says, "Capcom is prosecuting that problem fairly directly. I think Sega finds itself in a pretty good place. Bandai Namco has got some refactoring to do. Koei Tecmo has its market, owns that market, and they seem happy with that...How many different versions of FF7 have been made?! Square Enix. I think when they abandoned their overseas developer/publisher ambitions and brought it back to home truths, that was a good move for them."

The company's former boss also shared that "It wasn't necessarily a surprise" that Japan Studio closed down with the studio not having a "hit for a while." However, he says "Maybe that's what the Team Asobi thing is. It's like pruning a bonsai, right? You get it back down to its nub and see if you can grow back out again."

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