By Former PlayStation commander Shawn Layden—who steered Sony‘s gaming arm for the bulk of the celebrated PS4 era—believes the medium has essentially topped out technologically, adding that most gamers wouldn’t spot the change from 90fps to 120fps if it slapped them in the face. (I’m the average eye he’s roasting.)
His remarks land at a moment when generational leaps feel increasingly tame. The leap from 2D to 3D redefined the art form; the Xbox → Xbox 360 leap delivered HD visuals and serious online infrastructure. Next to that, the PS5 and Xbox Series X|S deliver more polish than revolution.
“I’d say we’ve basically flattened at the tech curve,” he told gamesindustry.biz. “How many players can honestly distinguish between 90 FPS and 120 FPS?”
So what’s the next frontier for hardware firms? Layden argues the priority should slide toward lower prices, simpler devices, and room for more hardware brands to jump in—rather than chasing razor-thin visual gains our retinas barely register.
“Just drop the price and boil it down,” he proposed. “Let’s chase that. And let’s open the floor to additional hardware makers.”
The veteran exec has become a frequent commentator of late. Layden also recently praised mid-tier projects such as Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 for injecting variety into a landscape where devs are allegedly “sick of cranking out the same formula” and mega-studios have unsustainably ballooned.