Former PlayStation head honcho Shawn Layden is not a fan of live service. This he made clear in an interview with The Ringer where he spoke at length about how these "aren't even real games". Layden clarified and told the interviewer that he believes strongly that games need a solid backbone consisting of both story, characters, and world building, something he thinks that live-service completely lacks.
"For me, a game means I need three things. I need a story, I need a character, and I need a world," he explained. "If you're doing a live-service game, you just need a repetitive action that most people can get their head around."
Layden further explained that games in the genre lure players in with constant updates, microtransactions and an endless grind, all of which are completely pointless. It's just the same thing over and over again he exclaims, no story, no emotion, just an endless cycle of "sameness", keeping players engaged for as long as possible.
It is however rather hard to ignore how dominant live-service games have become, with over 70% of American gamers claiming to own or have played at least one of the top ten most popular live-service games currently available.
Do you agree with Layden's statement?