It’s been about two years since Shawn Layden left Sony in a sudden and unexpected way. Since then, fans have been arguing and speculating on the reasons that may have prompted him to give up the Japanese giant and move towards new horizons.
Layden never gave precise details as to why his controversial decision, but in an interview with Bloomberg he finally revealed the reasons behind his departure from Sony: he had gotten to the point of being completely tired and stressed out by the whole industry. videogame taken as a whole, bringing it to a real burnout. In particular, he added that, after having made his contribution to the launch of important PlayStation 4 exclusives such as Horizon Zero Dawn and God of War, he felt that the opportunity had come to give up just after reaching the apex of his career. “It seemed like a good time to take a step back after reaching the pinnacle, and let another generation of executives take over the reins of PlayStation 5,” Layden explains.
The interview then brought up the rumors about alleged tensions between Layden himself and the head of SIE, Jim Ryan, but did not go into the details of the story: “I think I pulled back at the right time, and I couldn’t be happier than that, “he just said. Among other curiosities, Layden revealed that he does not know what happened to Deep Down, the exclusive PS4 of Capcom presented in 2013 but has since disappeared into thin air. In recent times, however, Shawn Layden has revealed that he does not like the acquisitions.