Some provoking thoughts from a massive former figure in Sony's development army. What you need to know Shawn Layden is the former Chairman of Sony Worldwide Studios. During Gamelab Live today, Layden noted that the cost of game development is continuing to rise. Layden also explained he'd prefer to see more 12-15 hour games making a return. Shawn Layden, the former Chairman of Sony Worldwide Studios , left abrubtly in September 2019. Since then, he's been on an extended hiatus but he made time to talk with VentureBeat's Dean Takahashi during Gamelab Live today. During the extended talk, Layden noted that the cost of game development will continue to rise even as the pre-remote development world is gone. "That world is gone. That world is now sealed in amber. Everything that was pre-virus is now a historical artifact," he explains, even as he remembers the days that games took $1 million to make — days long gone by, as AAA budgets now range from &