Video games have gotten large, and quite expensive, both to make and buy. Some might argue, myself included, they are generally a bit too big for their own good, and the bloating budgets aren't helpful for the industry. Former Sony Interactive Entertainment Worldwide Studios CEO Shawn Layden agrees, and he believes if publishers focus on smaller releases, it'll help everyone.

He provided his views during an appearance on the Expansion Pass podcast. "I've been involved with plenty of games that are 80, 90, 100 hours of gameplay," he starts. "And I'll be the first one to say they're not all quality hours. You know, some of that is running across the desert to get the red key to open the red door when you come back."

He believes development more broadly should circle around to projects that are contained and captivating. "So I would rather see a world where we have good 20 to 25 hour games that are just action-packed like a John Woo film that you just, you can't put down the controller," he adds.

One need only see how many games, especially in the triple-A space, have sandboxes to see his point. Your Assassin's Creeds and Final Fantasy games and the likes of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 - they all require a considerable amount of time and energy to complete, and there's a certain amount of faff in each.

I say that with love, too. The first two installments of the Final Fantasy 7 remake trilogy are among my favorites of this decade thus far, and the same for all three of Insomniac's Spider-Man games.

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