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Thoughts from a 3rd Party Developer on PS5 Transition
Article goes on to talk about the problems between Ryan and Layden. More at the link.
This announcement provided little fanfare on the announcement, especially for someone who has had a long and distinguished career at PlayStation and Sony. Layden himself hasn't tweeted anything on his own personal Twitter account as of publication. GameDaily reached out to Sony for comment, but didn't receive a response before publication.
In a follow up with Polygon, Sony said there was "no other information at this moment."
Layden's exit comes at a time of transitional upheaval, and not just with the next-gen PlayStation 5 looming. There's also the possibility of an internal power struggle, which appears to stem from a corporate restructure back in April 2018, which is when Sony Interactive Entertainment truly went global.
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The biggest issue in merging SIEA, SIEE, and SIEJA is the cavernous difference in product marketplaces. Marketing a product in the North/South American markets is vastly different than doing so in Europe. And neither aligns with how sales work in Japan and Asia.. Suddenly, three teams were working on the same thing without much clarity in reporting structure. This has created chaos, as SIE adjusted to a global mindset. Additionally, Sony reorganization typically impacts senior vice president level and higher, with lower level employees facing a "rolling restructure" as higher-ups figure things out how to manage shifting teams on the fly.
Thoughts from a 3rd Party Developer on PS5 Transition
As the perceived power struggle between Ryan and Layden comes to a head, it's starting to affect the upcoming next-gen transition. An employee at a major third-party publisher with direct knowledge of the situation has told GameDaily the confusion resulting from the global reorganization has made the switch, already difficult as is, even more concerning.
Speaking under the condition of anonymity, GameDaily's source relayed what their company is facing.
"This is the least amount of clarity we've ever had on a new console this close to transition," the source said. "I believe that the [global restructuring] is exponentially exacerbating the already difficult process of transitioning to a new generation. And now we're getting nervous. Read: very nervous."
The third-party nervousness around the PS5's imminent launch isn't directly attributable to either leader, but there has been a fair amount of internal secrecy so that data and information isn't leaked before launch. Internal teams are slow to receive word about the new console, which means that third-party developers and publishers are being kept in the dark far more than in past cycles.
Article goes on to talk about the problems between Ryan and Layden. More at the link.
