PlayStation President Reveals Why They Cancel ‘So Many Games’ Despite Embracing New Ideas

Shuhei Yoshida is one of the names behind the global success of Sony’s PlayStation. Back in 1993, Yoshida joined the company as a business developer. Being the only team member without an engineering background, Yoshida felt a little out of place at first, but soon he became an integral part of Sony’s video game legacy. 

In 2008, he took the role of president for Sony Interactive Entertainment. He was in that position for more than a decade. In his long years with the brand, Yoshida had a first-hand role in many important decisions made by the company. In a recent interview, the former boss of PlayStation shared some interesting inside stories. 

The former president shares why PlayStation cancel “so many games”

In a recent conversation with The Guardian, Yoshida shared that the company is always ready to embrace new ideas. But most of them fail. At first, it may look very harsh on their part but, after running a lot of tests and prototypes, PlayStation determines which game would be most promising for the company. 

“We do a prototype, we evaluate, we decide whether to spend more time and resources, or we just stop,” continued Yoshida. “We cancel so many games.” According to Yoshida, PS works closely with highly talented individuals with strong ideas, and it is never easy to tell them their project won’t be seeing the light of day. 

Read more: Learning From the BAFTA Award Winner Shuhei Yoshida, God of War Ragnarok Could Have Costed PlayStation $200 Million

But canceling games that don’t work out is an essential step for a humongous company like Sony’s PlayStation. As it is highly important to free the developers who are stuck with a particular game that the company believes won’t be able to perform. Even though the company has dropped a lot of titles, Yoshida always tried from the back to help these passionate individuals in every way possible. 

“We tend to work with people who have very strong ideas, we love these people, so trying to change or stop their project is so hard,” Yoshida said. “It’s all about talent in this industry. I have tried to help them as much as I could,” he further added. Other than working on big AAA games, Yoshida also produced masterclass Indie games like Journey, to show support and contribution to the independent scene. 

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What do you think about the practices of Sony? Do you think they are too harsh or are they right? Let us know in the comments below!