Sony just held a corporate strategy meeting in an attempt to outline its plans for the company’s future – but it’s a separate interview with PlayStation Productions boss Asad Qizilbash that really caught our eye. You may remember Qizilbash from a couple of PlayStation events a few years back – a clearly charismatic speaker who has since led the business push for film and television.
In the interview, Qizilbash is asked what he thinks the future of PlayStation and gaming in general looks like – and his thoughts are actually quite open. Right off the bat, he says, “As for the future of gaming, I imagine that with advances in technology and artificial intelligence, games will become more personalized and allow for customized experiences for each player.”
Basically, Qizilbash anticipates that video games will become more and more about capturing people emotionally through improvements in storytelling and design that seeks to speak directly to the player.
“Technological advances will increase emotional depth in games by allowing characters to be much more emotional and expressive, encouraging more evocative storytelling. This will help a whole generation of creators create much more emotion in stories,” he predicts. .
He continues, “The focus shifts from graphics or visuals to immersive stories that resonate long after the controller is put down.” Interesting.
Qizilbash also believes we’ve taken a bit of a detour when it comes to adapting games into his work, across film and TV: “I really believe that some of the most imaginative worlds and creative stories come from video games. There’s a big shift coming where all the great creators are really leaning into video games because a lot of them grew up playing games.”
We suppose it’s hard to argue with that perspective when it comes across as The last of us they were such a huge success. But how does all of this ultimately relate to the gaming side of things?
Qizilbash seems to think that the two mediums are already intertwined and will only become more difficult to separate: “I believe that technology is democratizing storytelling, making it more accessible and cheaper for creators, and Sony is uniquely positioned to make it possible. Given the current level of video game fidelity, there is an opportunity to repurpose game assets for animation and feature films using Sony’s volume and virtual production capabilities.”
He explains: “Game engines like Unreal extend beyond games and are used for virtual production, allowing creators to focus on storytelling rather than logistical constraints.”