Sony is set to lay off hundreds of employees at its PlayStation division, according to The Verge. Several studios are being affected by this spring cleaning ahead of time, and one of them is likely to be shut down entirely.
“The PlayStation community is very important to us, so I felt it was important to keep you updated on this difficult day for our company,” PlayStation chief Jim Ryan said in a post. “We have made the very difficult decision to announce a global workforce reduction plan of approximately 8%, or approximately 900 people.”
“These are incredibly talented people who have been integral to our success, and we are grateful for their contributions. But the industry has changed dramatically, and we need to prepare our company for the challenges ahead. We need to meet the expectations of developers and players, and continue to advance the technologies of the future in video games. So we have taken a step back to ensure that we are able to bring the best gaming experiences to the community.”
London studio in danger
Among the structures that will pay the price for this decision is the brand’s London studio, which specializes in virtual reality and the production of content for the PSVR. Sony has offered to close it entirely, although that’s not a guarantee at the time of writing. UK law requires a consultation process for mass layoffs, so the future of the facility will depend on the outcome of those discussions.
“The proposed changes mean we’ll enter a period of collective consultation before final decisions are made,” Ryan says. “All employees who take part in that will be informed of the next steps today.” Technically, there’s still some hope for PlayStation London. But either way, things are looking up for the upcoming PS5 title the studio is currently working on.
The capital city won’t be the only facility affected. According to TheGamer, Insomniac Games (Ratchet & Clank, Spyro…) and Naughty Dog (Uncharted, The Last of Us…) are also targeted. The latter are not going to close, but are still heading towards substantial cuts. Ryan also mentioned Firesprite. Ironically, the latter is built around a core group of developers from… Psygnosis, another studio that Sony closed in 2012.
In the United States, on the other hand, employment laws are much less restrictive. Many employees will therefore be faced with a fait accompli and forced to pack their bags as of today. The details of these operations have not yet been revealed.
Video game industry in full purge
This major cleanup comes at a difficult time for the AAA video game industry as a whole. In 2022, more than 8,000 employees in this industry have been laid off. According to IGN, last year, this number surpassed the symbolic mark of 10,000 people. And the trend has not reversed since then, quite the contrary.
It's not even March yet, but more than 6,000 developers, artists and managers have already lost their jobs in 2024. Last January, Microsoft notably sacrificed around 1,900 employees on the altar of profitability. Unity, the company behind the eponymous game engine, laid off around 1,800 people. Riot Games, the studio behind the famous League of Legends, also cut 530 jobs. It will therefore be worth keeping an eye on this trend which could have a significant impact on the video game industry as we know it today.
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