Ex-PlayStation Boss Says Xbox’s Multiplatform Plan Can Succeed ‘Like Sega’

Shawn Layden, former chairman of Sony Interactive Entertainment Worldwide Studios, has said he feels that Microsoft’s multiformat plan can succeed like SEGA’s previous efforts.

SEGA of course was a hardware manufacturer up until the Dreamcast, which was discontinued in January 2021. Following this, SEGA continued as a third-party video game developer and publisher, bringing the likes of Sonic the Hedgehog and Virtua Fighter to its former competitors’ machines.

Speaking with Kiwi Talkz, Layden was asked what he thinks about Microsoft’s strategy of bringing its first-party titles to rival formats.

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Multiplatform is a strategy, particularly in a world where the cost of development is increasing so dramatically. What does it do to their brand? It makes the conversation harder to create the FOMO (fear of missing out) you’re trying to do that by bringing everyone to your platform by saying, ‘if you’re not here you’re missing out,’ but if it’s available on all platforms, that’s one of your marketing tactics you can’t use.

We’ve seen it before. I was in the business when Sega brought their Dreamcast titles to PS2, in time then Sega became a software-only company, and have had a great transformation in that sense,” Layden continued. “So it does have historical precedence.

Microsoft is continuing to bring its titles to the PS5 this year, with Indiana Jones and the Great Circle and Forza Horizon 5 both coming to Sony’s console this year. There’s also rumours that Halo: The Master Chief Collection is coming to the PS5, as well as titles including Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 and Fable.

[Source – Kiwi Talkz]