Ex-Sony boss would consider bringing back PlayStation All-Stars as it's "important" for the brand, even if it didn't live up to Nintendo's Super Smash Bros

PlayStation's former head Shawn Layden has talked about some of the older games he would and wouldn't bring back today, and the results probably won't surprise you.

Speaking to HipHopGamer, the ex-exec broke down his thoughts on the company's middling fighting game mash-up PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale (the PS3's take on Super Smash Bros.), explaining he'd give it an "amber light," not a green light.

"I like the concept of bringing all the characters together. I think we need to really investigate what that basket would look like, who are the characters that resonate the most, who are the classics that you could never leave, there are some characters in the middle [for] DLC later," he said. "Of course, it's kind of an homage to Smash Brothers, but it didn't quite have that kinetic feel like the Smash Bros did. As a brand play - as something to say 'we are PlayStation' - games like that are important."

What else would he bring back? Resistance? "Absolutely. Definitely green." Jak and Daxter. "Absolutely green," he said, before explaining that Ratchet and Clank's PS4 remake wasn't a popular idea with the marketing department before the project's start, either. And SOCOM? "That is tricky. SOCOM was a really important game… it was groundbreaking at the time… I think, as a brand, SOCOM still has value. I think there's another story to be told."

Finally, he also took the time to talk about the early PS4 exclusive The Order: 1886. "Certainly the world was compelling," but Layden would also want to "look at ways we could improve the player mechanics and have more real-time combat sequences [rather than QTEs]," in any kind of comeback. "Probably needs a reworking in terms of the player experience." Layden interestingly never actually completed the roughly 6-hour game, though.

For more really real stuff, check out the upcoming PS5 games of 2025 and beyond.