Former PlayStation lead Shawn Layden thinks that "we've lost a lot of the variety in games" releasing these days, with more titles that look like "the game next to it" rather than something entirely unique – and you can thank "the rising cost" of development for that.
It's no secret that game budgets are inflating massively. Earlier this year, it was reported that new AAA games could cost upwards of $300 million to make, and with that in mind, it's little wonder that publishers have such high standards for what actually counts as a success these days. What's more, as Layden, the former president of Sony Interactive Entertainment America, points out, those massive costs are also driving "risk tolerance" extremely low.
