Former PlayStation executive Shawn Layden said that the rising costs of game development are leading to consolidation and a lack of diversity. In an interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Layden said that the increased costs of game development are not sustainable, especially since the number of people who own consoles today is roughly the same as in the late 1990s–about 240 to 260 million. Layden gave the interview after joining the advisory board for Streamline Media Group, where he will help provide strategy for both games and business.
He said instead of increasing the audience size, the industry has just gotten people to spend more money on games. Layden said that smaller studios will soon get priced out of making games. This isn’t the first time Layden has said that the cost of game development is ballooning in an unsustainable way.