Rumors have been swirling for almost a year now that the next generation of Sony hardware will include both a standard PS6 home console and some sort of handheld device, but according to someone with a whole lot of knowledge and insight into PlayStation hardware launches, that’s a recipe for failure.
Shawn Layden, former chairman of SIE Worldwide Studios, recently appeared on the Trophy Room: A PlayStation Show podcast, and he cautioned his former employer against releasing both a handheld and home console at the same time. Having been with PlayStation through the launch of the PSP and PS Vita, Layden says “it was difficult to support both a console and a handheld at the same time,” adding, “you almost have to create two companies.”
“While they are complimentary, they can also be intention in where you’re going, what you’re trying to say. And the console, which is the bigger dollar, the bigger audience, has more weight in the marketing room. And you see PSP marketing dollars just like go away,” Layden says.
Latest Videos FromGamesRadar+
He then goes into a lengthy anecdote (timestamp) about being admonished by Sony’s CFO for failing to sell enough PS3s even though PSP sales were “off the chart,” but Layden eventually returns to his central point: Sony can be successful in the next console generation, but only if it can focus on supporting just one platform at a time, rather than trying to juggle two distinct machines, i.e. PSP and PS3.
“If Sony only does a handheld next, then I think they have a good chance of winning,” says Layden. “But if they’re going to launch a handheld and a console at the same time, the company just doesn’t have – I don’t think any company has the ability to be successful with both.”
This isn’t the first time Layden has tried to sway PlayStation from launching a home console and handheld in the same generation, having previously attributed the problem to “development resources” as well as “marketing resources.”