Former Sony executive Shuhei Yoshida was interviewed by the website Game Developer during the recent Gamescom LATAM event, where he spoke, among other things, about the different approaches that Microsoft and Sony have to gaming subscriptions like Game Pass and PlayStation Plus. Yoshida, who was president of Sony’s Worldwide Studios group for eleven years (2008-2019) and left the company in January, called Microsoft’s stance ‘dangerous’ for developers:
If the only way for people to play games is through subscriptions that’s really dangerous, because what type of games can be created will be dictated by the owner of the subscription services. That’s really, really risky because there always must always be fresh new ideas tried by small developers that create the next wave of development. But if the big companies dictate what games can be created, I don’t think that will advance the industry.
I believe the way Sony approached subscriptions is healthier. You know, not to overpromise and to allow people to spend money to buy the new games. After a couple of years, there won’t be many people willing to buy those games at that initial price, so they’ll be added to the subscription service, and there’ll be more people to try those products in time for the next game in the franchise to come out.
Of course, it’s unsurprising that he would align more with Sony’s policy against adding day-one first-party games to subscriptions. However, it should be noted that Microsoft has stressed on many occasions that they have absolutely no intention of ever removing the customer’s ability to purchase games separately from Game Pass. It was always designed as an additive way to engage, not a complete replacement of direct purchases.
Following his departure from Sony, Yoshida also talked about other topics. A few months ago, he stressed that the man who replaced him as the head of PlayStation Studios, Hermen Hulst, isn’t forcing any of the first-party studios to work on live service games.
Earlier this month, he shared that he played quite a bit of Ghost of Yōtei before leaving Sony, and it’s shaping up to be even better than Ghost of Tsushima. Ghost of Yōtei is now set to launch on October 2.
