Sony Interactive Entertainment Has Some Bad News for Us. Layoffs Include Major Studios
Sony is another video game giant that has carried out massive layoffs. The reduction included the company's largest studios, Naughty Dog and Insomniac Games.
The wave of layoffs in the video game industry is also affecting its giants. After Microsoft, Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) announced the layoffs.
The official statement, written by SIE CEO Jim Ryan, stated that around 900 people, or 8% of the current employees, would be affected by the layoffs. They are part of the creative, support, and technology development departments.
The downsizing at Sony impacts employees globally, including certain developers at the company's affiliated studios.
This was confirmed in the next announcement, where it was revealed that employees of studios such as Insomniac Games (Spider-Man series), Naughty Dog (The Last of Us and Uncharted), and Guerrilla Games (Horizon series) lost their jobs.
The closure of London Studio, which released the game Blood & Truth and developed accessories for PlayStation consoles, was also announced, along with job cuts in the Firesprite team (Horizon VR).
Furthermore, a greater number of unspecified teams were expected to be impacted by the layoffs, albeit to a lesser extent.
All these factors combined led to the cancellation of several projects that Sony felt weren't very promising - including the new Twisted Metal.
We looked at our studios and our portfolio, evaluating projects in various stages of development. And have decided that some of those projects will not move forward.
The closure of the London branch is particularly interesting because just 5 days ago, Jim Ryan himself was scheduled to visit the studio and was photographed with members of the team.
Until recently, the studio was supposed to be working on a multiplayer game set in London, which was developed for PS5.
Jim Ryan published a copy of an email message online to ensure transparency, which was sent to all branches of the company.
- Among other things, we can read that the restructuring at Sony had been planned for several months.
- The layoffs were decided due to the evolving economic environment and changes in the development and distribution of products (video games) to the market.
- Ryan made it clear that reducing staff is essential for the company to be prepared for the rapidly changing industry situation.
After careful consideration and many discussions about leadership over the past few months, it has become clear that changes need to be made in order to continue to develop. We had to step back, look at our business holistically, and move forward focusing on the long-term sustainability of the company and delivering the best experiences possible for our community. The goal is to streamline our resources to ensure our continued success and ability to deliver experiences gamers and creators have come to expect from us -- announced Jim Ryan.
It's important to highlight that the layoffs could be one of the final significant decisions made by Jim Ryan at SIE. On April 1st, he will no longer be fulfilling the role of the company's boss after over 30 years.
