Mark Cerny Explains Why PS4 Probably Won’t Have A Mascot

PlayStation 4 chief system architect Mark Cerny is arguably one of the biggest names in the gaming industry at this time, which is amazing considering his humble origins. The man worked on Crash Bandicoot after all, which went on to become the biggest franchise on the PS1. Now he’s working on Knack, which looks to embody a lot of the same philosophies implemented in Crash. But is Cerny aiming to make Knack the official mascot for the PS4? For that matter, will the console even have a mascot?

Speaking to Game Informer, Cerny replied that, “I think we’re well past the era when mascots exist in video games. Even with Crash, we were already moving out of that era. Crash was the top-selling brand on PS1 and NOT its official mascot. A lot of that has to do with that we’re all getting older as we play games, and we want to play games with more mature themes.

“So now, when you look at something like Knack as an adult gamer it really is sort of that throw-back title kind of feeling. Or as a new gamer, maybe somebody who’s just getting into video games or who’s just playing video games on tablets and wants to try out the full console experience, it be can that on-ramp into the world of gaming? But either way, it’s not going to be a large enough part of gaming that a character like this could be a mascot.”

It’s interesting considering that companies like Nintendo and Microsoft still bank heavily on mascots like Mario and Master Chief respectfully. Nonetheless, neither the PS1, PS2 or PS3 needed one to be successful. The PS4 will follow suit when it releases alongside Knack on November 15th in North America and November 29th in Europe.