Is the console gaming industry headed for a decline? Former PlayStation CEO Sean Layden shared his thoughts on the current state of affairs in the industry, as Tweak Town writes.
In terms of revenue, console games are still doing quite well. But console sales are slowing compared to previous generations. Players are buying fewer PlayStations and Xboxes, with a significant portion of PlayStation players still using PS4s. The Nintendo Switch, however, is performing exceptionally well during its mid-generation cycle.
When asked if video game consoles are really in trouble, Leyden said the following:
"If you look at the history of consoles, from PS1 to PS5 and everything associated in those verticals, the global install base in any one of those generations never got over about 250 million. No matter how you rack it up. There's at one point in time when the Wii came out, and thanks to Wii Fit, an extra like 20 million units got sold because everyone thought they could lose weight."But that wasn't sustainable, and that came crashing down. And we're still kind of in the 250 million overall install base of active consoles. I think that's a challenge. We've managed to do a lot over time, and during the pandemic, revenues went up 20-25%, but it was still just getting more money from the same people. It wasn't necessarily bringing new people into the console gaming world, says Sean Leyden.
Leyden served as President and CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment Worldwide Studios from 2014 to 2019, succeeding Jim Ryan. He currently serves as a strategic advisor to the Chinese corporation Tencent.