The former head of SIE Worldwide Studios reflects on what it meant and what the acquisition of Marvel’s parents Spider-Man and Ratchet & Clank will entail.
Shawn Layden, former head of Sony Interactive Entertainment Worldwide Studios since last October, has posted on his personal Twitter account a message that qualifies as one of the greatest achievements of his career to have been part of the purchase of Insomniac Games by PlayStation, an agreement that became effective last August after long negotiations.
Because seizing the Californian team, responsible for sagas such as Ratchet & Clank, Killzone and Marvel’s Spider-Man, will immediately be able to shield those intellectual properties and the future of the company only in the PlayStation ecosystem. “It seems that a lifetime has passed,” he begins by saying, with an attached photograph where the purchase of Insomniac Games from SIE materializes. "It is one of the greatest achievements" in which he was involved during his stage in PlayStation, which was 32 years in total if we count his entire career, where he started from the grassroots.
Seems a lifetime ago. Yet one of the greatest achievements I was fortunate to associate myself with at PlayStation. So good, so right. Continue to greatness you crazy Insomniacs! Fun fact: in the biz this swag is called a "tombstone". Natch pic.twitter.com/4ajnYFLPsg
– Shawn Layden (@ShawnLayden) January 25, 2020
At the stage of Layden as head of SIE Worldwide Studios are some of the biggest commercial successes of the PlayStation brand, starting with PS4. Notably, names like Bloodborne, Uncharted 4, Horizon: Zero Dawn or the adventure of the climber.
At the time, when the news was communicated to the media, he said that “Joining WWS will give the Insomniac family better opportunities to achieve our vision as a study capable of making people's lives more positive,” one of the pillars for the future PlayStation 5, whose launch is expected this Christmas of 2020.
Insomniac Games is already working on its next project after Marvel’s Spider-Man for PlayStation 4, which exceeds 13.2 million units worldwide. It is unknown what they have in hand, if it is only one or if they have several projects underway. This project, whatever it may be, will be exclusive to PlayStation.
