Sony announced that it would lay off around 900 employees or 8% of the total workforce at PlayStation with offices across the globe being affected. First-party studios, too, will be shedding workers in this wave of layoffs with Firesprite and Guerilla, the co-developers of PSVR2 title Horizon Call of the Mountain, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 developer Insomniac, and The Last of Us studio Naughty Dog being named. PlayStation’s London studio, which has been on VR development duty recently, will be shut down entirely.
A statement on Sony’s website by CEO Jim Ryan revealed the news and contains the email sent by the chief to employees today. “Today, I am writing with sad news,” Ryan began. “Through discussions over the past few months about the evolving economic landscape, changes in the way we develop, distribute, and launch products, and ensuring our organization is future ready in this rapidly changing industry, we have concluded that tough decisions have become inevitable. The leadership team and I made the incredibly difficult decision to restructure operations, which regrettably includes a reduction in our workforce impacting very talented individuals who have contributed to our success.”
“After careful consideration and many leadership discussions over several months, it has become clear changes need to be made to continue to grow the business and develop the company,” Ryan explained. “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.”
“This will not be easy, and I am aware of the impact it will have on wellbeing. Affected employees will receive support, including severance benefits. While these are challenging times, it is not indicative of a lack of strength of our company, our brand, or our industry. Our goal is to remain agile and adaptable and to continue to focus on delivering the best gaming experiences possible now and in the future,” Ryan concluded his message.
Sony recently announced that it was testing PSVR2’s PC compatibility to broaden the library of available games the hardware could be used with in a bid to reverse its fortunes. It also revealed that it expects PS5 sales to slow down from this point onwards, stating it had very few games in development that would be ready for release in the near future.
Since 2023, big players like Embracer, Amazon, Riot Games, and Microsoft have been cutting jobs in the industry. Smaller studios like Supermassive and ZA/UM add to the woes with their own job cuts.
More must-reads: