Former PlayStation executive Shawn Layden has urged the games industry to revive more “AA” titles: mid-budget games that sit between small independent projects and blockbuster releases. He argues that escalating development costs and the pressure to produce huge hits have made major publishers overly cautious, leaving players with fewer varied, affordable games.

Layden said the traditional blockbuster model has become increasingly difficult to sustain as budgets, team sizes and production times rise. He suggested developers should make shorter, more focused games with clearer creative identities, rather than treating every release as a large-scale, long-term service platform.