Ex-PlayStation Boss Believes Exclusives Make Consoles ‘Sing’

With consoles becoming more and more similar, former PlayStation executive Shawn Layden has shared his thoughts on the discussion.

In a recent interview on the Pause for Thought podcast, he explained that while not every game needs to be exclusive to consoles, he feels linking certain games to specific platforms is what truly makes them special.

He said:

Strong exclusive games are incredibly valuable for a brand. If Mario suddenly appeared on PlayStation, it would be a massive shift – like something you’d never expect. The same is true for Nathan Drake and the Uncharted series. These exclusives really make a gaming platform stand out and thrive.

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It’s ironic that Nathan Drake’s adventures – specifically Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End and Uncharted: The Lost Legacy – are already playable on PC, since Naughty Dog released a remastered collection for computers not long ago.

Sony’s strategy with exclusive games on the PlayStation 5 has been somewhat inconsistent. While many of their single-player games eventually come to PC, they’ve also had surprising hits like Helldivers 2 that have been released on Xbox Series X|S.

Layden admitted this was the thinking, explaining that online multiplayer games generally need a big player base to be successful.

He also pointed out that offering exclusive content helps maximize the potential of specific hardware.

When developing software for many different systems, you often have to limit yourself to the features that work on all of them. However, if you create something specifically for one platform, you can take full advantage of everything it offers.

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2025-12-28 17:37