Measurements indicate that the centrality dependence of the direct photon multiplicity scales approximately with the number of binary nucleon collisions. Importantly, these same measurements suggest that this scaling does not depend on the cutoff used to define the photon multiplicity. In this work we provide a theoretical perspective on these observations. We emphasize the importance of stronger experimental constraints, in particular for the cutoff independence of the centrality scaling. We highlight the importance of revisiting theoretical studies of jet-medium photons and of medium-modified prompt photons to clarify their contribution to the direct photon multiplicity, as well as the magnitude and direction of their momentum anisotropy.