Ken Kutaragi predicts a paradigm change for the games industry
Speaking at Game Republic New Horizons in Middlesbrough, the PlayStation creator said multi-year teams of several thousand people are almost impossible to sustain.
Ken Kutaragi, the creator of the PlayStation and former CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment, said the games industry is heading for a paradigm change, during a keynote at the second Game Republic New Horizons event in Middlesbrough on October 15. According to gamesindustry.biz, Kutaragi argued that building games over several years with teams of several thousand people is almost impossible.
He also said gaming platforms have become super expensive, and that he expects the industry to shift toward a new way of working.
Kutaragi now heads two companies, Cyber AI Entertainment and Ascent Robotics, and is dean of the Faculty of Information Science at the University of Kindai. He said he no longer has time to play games because of the demands of managing the two businesses.
From the Super Famicom to the PlayStation
Kutaragi designed the sound chip for Nintendo's Super Famicom and worked on a CD-ROM add-on dubbed the Play Station, before Nintendo chose to partner with Philips instead of Sony for the add-on. Sony's PlayStation was released in Japan in 1994, and Kutaragi went on to lead Sony Computer Entertainment as CEO.
In 2007 he stepped down into a non-executive role after being replaced by Kaz Hirai.
Quick answers
Where did Ken Kutaragi speak about the games industry in 2026?
He gave a keynote at the second Game Republic New Horizons event in Middlesbrough on October 15, 2026.
What did Kutaragi say about game development teams?
He said building games over several years with several thousand people is almost impossible, and that gaming platforms have become super expensive.