Former PlayStation head explains why even popular gaming franchises need remakes

Nearly 80% of PS4 owners had never played Ratchet & Clank — Sony saw this as a reason to reboot the franchise

Former head of PlayStation in the US Shawn Layden explained during a podcast why companies release remakes and bring back older gaming franchises for a new audience.

Amid the success of the Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake in the press and among players, Layden was asked whether other classic franchises could get a new lease on life. In response, he recalled the reboot of Ratchet & Clank. According to Layden, when he took over Sony Entertainment America, he wanted to get approval to create a new version of the game. However, critics within the company believed that “nobody wants to play these old games.” In his opinion, this attitude prevents publishers from returning to many franchises that audiences once loved.

At the same time, Sony's statistics showed that approximately 80% of PS4 owners had never launched a single Ratchet & Clank game. The company saw this as an opportunity to introduce a new generation of players to the franchise. Layden believes that if the original game is old enough, it has great potential for creating a modern version aimed at a new audience. Despite this, the sentiment within gaming companies is still often: “Nobody wants to play these old games.”