Speaking with German gaming site golem.de, Shawn Layden spoke about the future of Playstation, including the confirmation of PS5 and the philosophy of no PS4 Pro exclusives.
Layden is the lone suit you saw at Sony’s E3 Press Conference, and the head of Playstation’s North American division.
On games exclusive to PS4 Pro
Golem.de: When will the first game, which runs on the PS4 Pro – but no longer on a Playstation 4?
Shawn Layden: That will never happen!
On PS5 vs mobile phone upgrades
Golem.de: Is the Pro not the entry into the business model that takes place like in smartphones an evolution of hardware – instead of every few years to build a whole new generation?
Layden: With the Playstation 4 Pro we have for the first time implemented this kind of innovation within the life cycle of a console. The Pro is really only to offer advantages such as 4K resolutions and HMD for players who can and want to use that. Add to this a more stable image rate and larger hard disk space. But who has a standard PS4 has no real disadvantages. Each of our games will continue to run on the classic PS4 and possibly slightly better on the Pro.
Golem.de: This means that you are more likely to rely on a real Playstation 5 – whenever that will be?
Layden: Yes. It will probably be some time.
On how he plays games
Golem.de: What was the last game you played?
Shawn Layden: I play quite a lot – most games but only about a third, then I start with a new one. The last thing that really caught me for a long time was Destiny. Since I have completed everything essential – even if you can not actually really finish Destiny.
My Thoughts
This will be the most interesting development in the gaming industry. On the one hand, adopting the mobile phone or PC model will mean faster upgrades and potentially more backwards compatibility. On the other hand, I love the simplicity and rock-solid reliability of consoles. I would hate to buy a new game only to find out it doesn’t run properly or at all on my version of console.
I’m glad to see Sony’s position on not dividing their console base. Sony and Microsoft will probably be watching each other closer than ever to see how these console upgrades work within the market and affect the future of console gaming.
