Shawn Layden Blasts Xbox Moves, Citing 3 Studio Closures and 30% Margin Claims
Updated
Updated · Kotaku · Jun 17
Shawn Layden Blasts Xbox Moves, Citing 3 Studio Closures and 30% Margin Claims
3 articles · Updated · Kotaku · Jun 17
Summary
LinkedIn comments from former Sony executive Shawn Layden called Xbox’s recent strategy a “basic misunderstanding” of how interactive entertainment works, sharpening criticism of the company’s latest upheaval.
Layden was reacting to a string of Xbox moves cited by consultant Tadhg Kelly: a CEO change, a weak rebrand, new tech-industry hires, pressure on hardware economics, and talk that 30% margins are over while 3% margins are problematic.
Three studios — Ninja Theory, Double Fine and Compulsion Games — were named in comments about potential closures, which Layden likened to a “rapid unscheduled disassembly” and said left him feeling for development teams.
The remarks fit Layden’s longer-running warning that consolidation can slow decision-making and dilute creativity, a concern he raised in 2023 about studios being absorbed into larger game-making machines.