An Important Update from PlayStation Studios

Herman Hulst writes: Today, Sony Interactive Entertainment initiated a reduction in our workforce – including within PlayStation Studios – and I wanted to talk about the impact that will have. 

These decisions have been extremely difficult, but they are necessary, and I think it’s important to be transparent:

The US based studios and groups impacted by a reduction in workforce are:

Insomniac Games, Naughty Dog, as well as our Technology, Creative, and Support teams

In UK and European based studios, it is proposed:

That PlayStation Studios’ London Studio will close in its entirety;

That there will be reductions in Guerrilla and Firesprite

[BeHunted]

PlayStation employed 8,000 people as of August 2023, which meant that 11.25% (900) of the employees had been laid off.

[Sonic1881]

Didn't Microsoft layoff over 1,000 employers not too long ago? It's happening all over the gaming industry

https://www.theverge.com/20...

https://www.google.com/amp/...

[Cacabunga]

I think sony are really stupid and underperforming this gen with their gaming division..
if they announced more projects, none of this would have happened.. after closing Japan studio, now another legendary studio from London is closing..
it also turned out that the investments they have done by buying Bungie and others still hasnt given any result and benefit..

Jim Ryan, Herman Hulst on top of the chain should first be removed instantly they are amateur management..

[Christopher]

All of these companies are making profit and yet to keep profit margins they MUST get rid of people and force them to live with the increased cost world we live in.

It happening elsewhere doesn't excuse the economic issue and destabilization of the industry when it comes to people leaving it because of the larger number of firings. That's a lot of very knowledgeable and talented people leaving the industry for profit margins.

[ChasterMies]

Microsoft laid off a thousands across the company, including in the Xbox division, before buying Activision and more recently 1900 employees from Activision studios. Every tech company and game publisher is laying off workers. Maybe margins on software are falling. Maybe they expect AI to pick up the slack for less.

[-Foxtrot]

Cacabunga

“Jim Ryan, Herman Hulst on top of the chain should first be removed instantly they are amateur management.”

Well Jim is gone at least but I doubt it was “early retirement”…it’s complete and utter bullshit. No person puts a plan like moving their studios into GaaS projects and decides to bail before the fruits of that plan can be harvested

Sony saw they were in trouble thanks to him, the GaaS model has slowly started dying and they are either stuck with the projects that are almost done or the ones they’ve now cancelled while they could.

[TiredGamer]

Running a business is not a charity. Just because you are "making a profit" doesn't mean that you can continue to resource and fund parts of your operation that are not providing a return on investment. That's how good companies die - by not adapting, by not changing, and by not reducing areas of the business that are actually a drain on operations. Just look at the graveyard of the thousands of businesses that have come before.

Layoffs and cancellations suck, but they are and have been facts of doing business. Refining operations helps to preserve the rest of the company and the rest of the employees from complete dissolution.

[CrimsonWing69]

@Foxtrot

Yea but look at the success of Helldivers 2. 3 Mill sold already and nobody has complained that it's a GaaS game.

Hell, at one story I had someone comment to me that they didn't think Helldivers 2 was selling micro-transactions and is GaaS done well, when the reality of it is they are selling micro-transactions. Is there a GaaS game that doesn't rely on recurring revenue? That's literally the whole philosophy around the design, make an incomplete game with a budget spread out over many years and pray that consumer whales keep dumping money into it through its entire lifecycle.

People are loving Helldivers 2 and as a result you can bet that the door is now WIDE open. 2025 will be Sony's GaaS releases from the great Jimbo initiative. I do know there was the talks that Sony may have cancelled a handful, but with Helldivers 2 succeeding and Spider-Man 3 having some weird GaaS design around it, I think we've pushed the industry in the direction of this being a success. I do hope gamers enjoy.

[GamerRN]

@Sonic1881

Microsoft, if you read the article, has over 22,000 employees in the XBox division. They laid off approximately 8 percent, and all the Sony fans commented that they were the devil. Sony just laid off a larger percentage of staff, and your response is to point to Microsoft?

Anyway, the point is, the gaming market has stagnated, and it's time for a change. I think its more related to COVID and the upcoming recession, but I dont think the big companies are willing to weather the storm,

[Lightning77]

Yeah it made news everywhere what's your point?

Oh it's.. Whataboutism diversion tactic.

[Einhander1972]

It was 1900, but Microsoft has fired over 5000 people from it's gaming division recently.

[ModsDoBetter]

Whataboutism.

[-Foxtrot]

@CrimsonWing

The difference is Helldivers 2 is not a first party game

The issue with Jim is his GaaS plan involved his core first party single player driven studios which has totally f***** their steady flow they had going on

So it’s a different scenario

Helldivers 2s success did not come at the expense of derailing some great studios within Sonys gaming division

[Christopher]

***Running a business is not a charity. Just because you are "making a profit" doesn't mean that you can continue to resource and fund parts of your operation that are not providing a return on investment.***

Here's the problem, the people who are not utilizing those resources properly are not getting fired. A great developer on a project that some exec pushed and is a failure isn't their fault, it's the exec's fault. But who pays the price? The developer.

This concept of the people at top can just keep failing and others take the fall is the problem. And those people making those failing decisions? Still getting paid, still developer experience to go elsewhere, still costing other people livelihoods.

Running a business in this day and age treats employees as being disposable while hiding the failures of those in charge. Yay? Jim's one decision cost at least 900 employees their livelihood and not one exec at the top is able to find a way to use those resources. It's never possible to reallocate resources today, they must be let go.

[Sonic1881]

@GamerRN

My point is that it's happening in the whole gaming industry and not just Sony. I can't speak on Nintendo because I don't know their situation. This is just the beginning, I see more layoffs incoming from Sony and Microsoft

[Gamer75]

They did and people on here criticized them over it and Sony deserve to also be criticized

[itsmebryan]

@sonic
What does that have to do with what @BeHunted said. It's sounds like a deflection.
Like I have been saying Sony is not doing well and I hope they get back on track. No, first party AAA games for a year , layoffs, 26% drop in operating income,
etc..

First smart decision was to follow Microsoft to PC with games day and date.

They were leaving too much money on the table.

[Notellin]

There are zero excuses for these layoffs. Insomniac games is printing them money.

This is absolutely disgusting and unacceptable.

[senorfartcushion]

IT DOESN'T MATTER ABOUT WHO DID WHAT.

FANBOYS ARE HELPING RUIN THE GAMING INDUSTRY WITH THEIR COMPLICIT IDIOCY.

The companies don't care about you and will make your gaming experience worse the longer you're forcing yourself to be loyal.

[MrBaskerville]

7000 layoffs in a year, if I'm not mistsken. A large portion of us were fired during january and february. Aiming high for new records!

[Redemption-64]

@Cacabunga

No one with an iQ above room temperature would expect the Bungie acquisition to show results within 2 years or less, especially with games talking 4-6 years to develop.

[Obscure_Observer]

"PlayStation employed 8,000 people as of August 2023. This means that 11.25% (900) of the employers have been laid off."

That´s a lot!

Another veteran Playstation first party studio got the Axe!

Another first party game canned. Hundreds of developers fired.

Another sad day in the gaming industry.

[ifinitygamer]

@ariv88, actually it's more than Microsoft by percentage - Microsoft laid off about 8.6% of its workforce, 1,900 of 22,000 people. It's a bad day for everyone, but don't spread misinformation while also calling someone else a troll.

[Shikoku]

@ifinitygamer

That's why percentage aren't useful here stop spreading misinformation. 900 is less than 1900 period full stop. Also Sony didn't do a merger with another giant company then lay people off.

[GamerRN]

@shikoku

Percentages are very important. Yes, 1,900 is greater than 900, Im very proud of your keen math skills...

But, 11.25% is greater than 8.6%...

The bottom line is, both companies made comparable lay offs, and its a sign of an upcoming change...

[Einhander1972]

That 1900 was only Microsoft's latest round, they have fired over 5000 people from their gaming division and over 20,000 people across the company in the past 2 years.

[ravens52]

He speaks the truth. Smdh it's crazy what's going on in the gaming industry.

[Philaroni]

I hate to say this, but its going to get worse. I mostly work in IT now and even though its not reported here. Its hitting everyone. I think it was CITI group that just talked about laying off 20K people...

"Earlier this month, the third-largest U.S. bank announced plans to reduce its headcount by 20,000 people over the next two years."

https://www.reuters.com/bus...

I just don't want people to pretend its just gaming and such. Its becoming a massive thing.

[COS]

@Einhander1972

I would stick to the gaming industry numbers, Microsoft has 222k employees, Sony has 113K.

[Redemption-64]

@GamerRN

Percentages are useless if you ignore other numbers. For example, MS laid off 10K people around January 2023 and about another 10K before the acquisition closed. This was followed by the 1900 last month. The only way to say Sony's Percentage is higher is to ignore all the layoffs from MS last year and only focus on this year only

[FinalFantasyFanatic]

@dumahim,
Holy moly, I've never seen that happen, even when he is right, everyone is taking Ls in the industry lately.

[RaidenBlack]

According to Bloomberg's Jason Schreier, Sony has also canceled the new Twisted Metal live service game in early development at Firesprite for PlayStation 5 and PC.

[Lightning77]

Is saw that. I'm very, very upset about canning the Twisted Metal game. Sony wants LS games then cans it it makes no sense. Twisted Metal makes perfect sense for LS game imo.

Dark Day today that's for sure.

[RaidenBlack]

@Lightning77
Yea, agreed .... Twisted Metal absolutely makes sense as a live-service game ... canning that and still shipping other shooter live-service games seems bizarre
Haven Studios' live service game is a heist one ... even if we consider it being a cool project, can it be Twisted Metal level cool?

[derek]

@Lighting, and between you and Sony they actually know what state the project is in and how viable it is going forward.

[Lightning77]

Fairgames. I guess it can be but I dont know if it'll be as, I guess, interesting as Twister Metal? We get the general premise of Twisted Metal, car combat, customization etc. If Fairgames could could be a very different take since it is a Extraction shooter.

I think TM could be that game to headline Sony's LS games by using a fairly popular name like TM. Now perhaps they'll use something like Fairgames or Concord to headline their LS now.

[anast]

It was a wise decision. The crowd that was clamoring for this game was relatively small. I'm curious why they thought bringing this game back was actually a good idea. It would have done well under a million sales.

[MrNinosan]

It's actually 8% based in what Jim Ryan have announced, but it's still very sad, just as all the lay offs lately.

[thorstein]

It's sick no matter who does it.

Profits over people.

Payroll should always come before profit.

[MrNinosan]

Well with your thinking, next to zero companies would exist.
Business need to think profit first to survive, however tough it sounds.

[crazyCoconuts]

seems there are some parts of the world that still aren't getting econ textbooks

[Ps5conehead]

Without profit there’s no payroll

[thorstein]

Without employees there's no profit. Wow. If only a few of you had passed high school econ class and English rhetoric then you'd know that ad hominem, red herrings are fallacies used when someone doesn't have an argument.

MrN. Not for profit capitalism exists. I have np problem with profit at all costs capitalism dying.

[MagUk]

Yeah but….. what about Microsoft.

[derek]

@Cacabunga and Foxtrot, you guys continue to live in an alternate reality. No playstation has not been "underperforming" this gen, and yes Jim Ryan retired after 30 years on the job now in his 60s. Both of you provide no objective measure to support your nonsensical claims. It's sucks that people lost their jobs today full stop, but corporate restructuring is a reality even in the best economic times. To claim gaas was a mistake is stupid/short-sighted especially given that Sony just launched it most successful gaas game to date.

[derek]

@GamerRn, no what people like me stated in regards the recent abk layoffs was that it was highly predictable and that many of the xbox dopes who argued the acquisition would be great for abk employees looked pretty dumb in making such claims. Microsoft even got a stupid trade union to back the acquisition which has since blown up in their face.

[COS]

Not that Sony is doing everything right, but I think the layoffs have more to do with the state of the industry. The Tech sector in general does a majority of layoffs this time of year. If you look at the gaming industry in general, mobile is growing at a significantly higher rate than console. 2.8 Console vs 10% Mobile. Covid factor is gone, people aren't staying home as much to play games, and Developers are way behind on games. It is a madrid of alot of bad things happening in a close timeframe.

[OtterX]

London Studio complete closure is devastating to hear. I was hoping for a Blood & Truth 2 on PSVR2, or at least a Remaster....part 1 was sooo good! :(

[crazyCoconuts]

To make matters worse there's a rumor going around that a Twisted Metal game was cancelled (probably theirs?)
To play that game in VR with a wheel, using cross play with non-VR players would have been amazing.
I'm not gonna cry about it, but... oh... crap.... alright, i guess i will a little :'-(

[darthv72]

that was sad to read

[ApocalypseShadow]

Agreed. This is utter bullshit of profits over people. Was also hoping that Blood and Truth 2 might be coming. Canning the studio won't allow that to happen.

I was just telling someone recently that in PM that Sony needs to do something than ride on profits. This sucks.

[solideagle]

I don't understand reductions in insomniac games. They just delivered Spiderman 2. Maybe contractors were let go.

After Japan now London :(

[porkChop]

Contractors wouldn't be counted as full time staff. These were actual Insomniac devs.

[MrBaskerville]

I think higher ups might be of the opinion that they spent too much money on Spiderman 2 and wanted them to scale down.

Another theory I have, is that they hired people for some gaas project and has now canned it. Have a feeling that Sony is pivoting away from gaas again, which is why the whole operation has stalled and why people are loosing their jobs.

No matter what, it's poor decision making of CEOS that has caused this. CEOS that continue to earn millions.

[FinalFantasyFanatic]

What was even the thought process behind closing Japan down?

[shadowT]

Yes, at least a PS5 remaster.

[Asterphoenix]

It's gutting that employees are getting laid of. It's everywhere all for the sake of higher ups keeping their dollars 😭.

[FinalFantasyFanatic]

I don't understand why gutting the CEO's pay isn't the first thing companies do, it's obviously bad management, you could probably save a portion of those jobs by docking their pay. I recall that a Nintendo CEO docked his own pay to keep staff at one point when the company wasn't doing too hot.

[VincentVanBro]

Yikes 😩 more industry layoffs.

[maniacmayhem]

Damn, London Studios is shutting down, Sony VR going PC, layoffs across the board and this is despite console sales which goes to show that this industry needs to change because the cost of AAA development is just way too ridiculously high.

Looks like those Insomniac leaks were on point

[InUrFoxHole]

Yeah unfortunately sounds like they're gonna rely on PC to support VR. Gaming overall is in a bad spot right now.

[darthv72]

they are going to rely on PC for more support in general.

[FinalFantasyFanatic]

Not everything needs to be an AAA game though, you can have perfectly fun games without throwing a huge budget at it. Rather than being overly ambitious or half-assing it and spending a lot of money on development, I'd be happy with a more budget experiences that are complete, bug-free and fun.

[ocelot07]

Sickening.

[TheColbertinator]

The VR investment was such a wash

[Neonridr]

I'm starting to regret buying this headset a little. Should have just stuck with my Q3 and waited to see what Valve had in store for their next headset.

[ocelot07]

Not going to lie. From Christmas until last week I was thinking of selling my psvr2. The headset in my opinion is the best vr headset around and I have tried the quest 2 and 3. As well as valve index.

However the lack of must have titles have been a little dry for me. But now that PC support is coming to his year I'm excited and I'm keeping it.

[Neonridr]

@ocelot07 - I'll end up keeping mine too, I've enjoyed playing the Resident Evil games and I'm looking forward to finally starting Walking Dead S&S Ch 2.

I will wait to see more what PC support actually looks like and how it handles it. I'm just disappointed with how Sony literally threw a couple of titles at us and now it feels like they don't even care anymore. We just passed a year with the hardware too, which is nuts.

[ApocalypseShadow]

I've been waiting for something like Blood and Truth 2 or some new action game. GT7 and a few other games are cool looking. But not enough. I went and bought a Quest 3 after that last State of Play.

I don't like Facebook. But the headset is good enough all around except for that battery. Thankfully I have an Anker Battery to play longer.

Even I'm disappointed on Sony's efforts in VR. And that's not good.

[Neonridr]

@Apocalypse - I saw that you had responded so I braced for impact before loading up the page. But you are spot on. I want to love this thing, it's a great piece of tech. I just wish the games were there. I hope opening up support for PC helps VR out in general. Because we get a lot of stagnation coupled with a sprinkle of innovation here and there.

[maniacmayhem]

It was an expensive niche device that provided very little outside of its gimmick and in terms of experience.

The fact that Sony wasn't even supporting it with their own big name studios should have told people everything.

[TheColbertinator]

When Sony stopped supporting the Vita I knew it was over. I will never forgive them for that.

[GamingSinceForever]

That definitely sucks. Hopefully those affected can get back to work as soon as possible.

The Insomniac layoffs was especially surprising because they were the one studio getting product out.

But hey if Google and Microsoft aren’t immune to a rift, it should be no surprise that Sony isn’t either.

[I_am_Batman]

If I'm surprised about anything, it's that Media Molecule isn't even mentioned in the blogpost at all. I honestly would've expected them to be on the chopping block alongside London Studio at this point.

[darthv72]

I think they are working with Team Asobi on that 'rumored' Astro game. Sony wouldnt want to cut them but London was mostly doing sing star stuff as far as i know. Well... maybe a few other projects too.

[thorstein]

"The Insomniac layoffs was especially surprising because they were the one studio getting product out."

No good deed goes unpunished.

[Ironmike]

If things don't change on all fronts on all consoles kiss goodbye to ur hobby

[InUrFoxHole]

It will still be here... just less diverse imo. No one will want to take chances

[Crows90]

Indies don't seem to be too concerned about taking chances...

[DarXyde]

They already don't.

The solution is to stop worrying about making these insanely high budget games.

Drop your budget, sell cheaper. Don't worry about all this bells and whistles stuff. If you have to make games look like PS2 titles at 120fps with ray tracing, do it. All of the visual fidelity stuff is second to the game being good.

Persona games don't push hardware and they're easily some of the best games available on the platforms they release.

[frostypants]

LOL it's still a multi-billion dollar industry. Consolidation isn't a sign of any sort of end. A lot of this is a product of going from an era of irresponsibly low interest rates (i.e. cheap growth) to much higher interest rates in a short period. This is what happens across a lot of sectors. Buckle up, we're living in the start of an economics lesson.

[anast]

Consoles are going in the future fore sure, but not within the next 20 years. This will give us enough time to find something else to do. In the meantime, I'm going to enjoy the ride.

[purple101]

TRAGIC, love Sony but level of respect has dropped. if they make blunders Iike this more often, it will not go well for them.

could they not just shuffle some people around, to where they were needed best/most!!!

god damn

[frostypants]

This is industry wide. Why would you expect them to be immune?

[purple101]

Wether immune or not, I wanted them to weather the storm, they still make profits, so no need for this, unless its just to increase said profits,

so what if those games (in development) didn't make huge profit, as long as they broke even, or better, and benefited the gamers, who cares, ohh yeh.. management.

god damn shambles.

[Neonridr]

I hope this doesn't mean that with them laying off some staff at Firesprite and closing London that even less VR content is coming from them.

[Plague-Doctor27]

That is exactly what it means. London Studio was basically behind all their VR technology

[Neonridr]

and Firesprite was behind Call of the Mountain. This sucks because this is Sony sort of giving up on their hardware which just turned 1 year old.

[Barlos]

Bad times in the industry right now. I hope everyone affected gets alternative work very soon.

I know what they're going through. I lost a job in December 2022 after I'd been working for the company 8 years. I started a new job in January 2023 only to lose it in July 2023. Got a new job in September and now I'm losing it at the end of next month. Times are tough out there.

[LoveSpuds]

Jeez, that's tough going mate, hope things settle down for you soon.

[Barlos]

Thanks, it's bad everywhere right now unfortunately

[shadowT]

PSVR2 is dead

[k2d]

On LIFE SUPPORT with GT7, actually..!

The occasional Resident Evil title is good, but I'm not that into horror in VR.

The hardware really only needs ONE Skyrim or Alyx type of game, with a bit of replayability to fall back on. Without it, the barrier of entry to strap in gets too high.

[Reborn]

I mean, no one is surprised anymore.

Sony has just been leaving top quality IPs untouched for years. London could have easily been sent to work on Getaway or something. Sad state and I think more people are now going to be super cautious about entering this industry. Firing and hiring is normal, yes. But when you see 900 people just get axed that's wild, especially in London where costs are flying high and having a job doesn't equate to a good standard of living.

[northpaws]

Naughty Dog, I understand, they don't need all those people they hired for the MP game.

But Insomniac too? That's not cool, they have been carrying the gen for PS5 in terms of PS5 only exclusives.

And London Studio... they should make more exclusive VR games, which PSVR2 needs, I hardly touched my VR since I bought it, kinda sad that is closed as well as I enjoyed Blood & Truth and always wanted a more advanced one.

[JunonZanon]

Agreed. Surprised with Insomniac, they have proven time and time again they are in the top 3 studios in the world right now.

[Zodiac]

Remember when Iwata and other Nintendo execs took like a 50% paycut and more to prevent layoffs. It stills begs the question of why a company sitting on a mountain of cash even needed to fire anyone, but still.

[Cuzizkool]

This. Nintendo has scummy law practices, but they are listed as the richest company in Japan with high employee retention and satisfaction ratings. Gotta give credit where it’s due.

[H9]

Bless Iwata's Soul

[RhinoGamer88]

Any corporate C-suite or V-suite layoffs? #doubtit

[Crows90]

Something to think about before glorifying the idea of working at these gaming studios.

[TwoPicklesGood]

Oof, that's rough.

[Ozzy2407]

I would of thought some of these people could of been reposted if you look on the Playstation careers page there's jobs vacancies on there that i'm sure some of these people could do.

[Travesty]

Unfortunately this is happening across the board. London Studio, like Japan Studio I had fond memories of in the ps2 and ps3 era.
Hopefully they can find a way retain talent like they did with Team Asobi from Japan Studio once it was dissolved.
I hope they will get over this rough hunch and look back at it and become stronger.

[1nsomniac]

Hey Sony (as well as every other company), how about instead of playing the victim card of “this has been an incredibly difficult decision but a necessity”. How about you publish your gross profit margin, share holders, corporate head annual salary increases and bonuses along side your pleadings for forgiveness…

[Einhander1972]

This is what I was saying would happen years ago, the switch from direct sales to subscriptions has devastated the industry to the point where it can no longer support the type of big budget games we have had for so long.

This is the beginning of the end for AAA gaming.

[Obscure_Observer]

"This is what I was saying would happen years ago, the switch from direct sales to subscriptions has devastated the industry to the point where it can no longer support the type of big budget games we have had for so long."

So you been saying uninformed and ignorant things for years...

Shawn Layden was spot on when he´d predict what would happen to the AAA industry if development costs continues to increase by double at each generation, in a time that development costs for playstation´s AAA games were around of 80-150 Million.

NOT SUSTAINABLE!

"The problem with that model is it's just not sustainable," he said, explaining that the current generation has seen the cost of development reach between $80 million and $150 million for most AAA games -- excluding marketing costs -- with production taking up to five years from start to finish.

"I don't think that, in the next generation, you can take those numbers and multiply them by two and think that you can grow," he continued. "I think the industry as a whole needs to sit back and go, 'Alright, what are we building? What's the audience expectation? What is the best way to get our story across, and say what we need to say?'

https://www.gamesindustry.b...

Shawn Layden warned Sony and the whole industry about the risks of the ever increasing costs of AAA games only to get his a$$ fired, while both Jimbo and Hulst got promoted by Yoshida.

After more than 300 Million spent on Spider-Man 2, here we are!

Sony is the only one responsible for all this mess! Period!

[neomahi]

[RESPONSE PART II]

This is an industry problem, Xbox are laying off their workforce too, and who does that effect? Everyone. Where are game designers gonna catch on? They don't, so where they work? Lowes, Walmart, McDonalds, janitorial and then what happens to those people? They're living on the street while game developers went from $65,000/yr to $28,000/yr and economy suffers and gets worse, crime goes up, government assistance goes up, because companies are smart in their hiring to begin with or people would be studying medical field or government jobs with NSA or FBI or something like that, they wouldn't be studying game development. ITS EVERYONE, not just PlayStation, but if your teams aren't being productive, it's a top down issue. Hulst ought to be under the magnifying glass as to why his teams aren't developing, that's his job is to make sure they're producing, not looking for reasons to cut his force, that's his and Jim Ryan's fault or Neil Druckmanns, those are the ones you're looking to fire and replace with someone else who can get the job done. This isn't good for gaming, period. Why is Hulst being transparent? Because he's a good guy? No. Because they're about to lay off a crap ton of people and they're gonna start talking to they think it softens the blow or excuses them. THEY SHOULD BE ASHAMED FOR DOING THAT TO PEOPLE, they should've been smarter in their hiring process. This is bad.

Gaming just isn't as fun anymore. The PS3 had a mass of games I was always looking forward to. PS4, eh, there were games but nothing I was losing my mind over and PS5..... I just don't care anymore. Mobile type games are taking over and all this Games as a Service type stuff isn't good for the industry, it's all bad and it's going to cause another gaming crash, gaming isn't as much fun as it once was....... Maybe it's time for a crash to wake everyone up again

[terstomp]

Very much agree. Well said.

[neomahi]

[RESPONSE PART I]

As consumers that buy games and hardware, how long are we going to allow this happen? We've lost jobs and have wondered what on earth we're going to do to survive, how we're going to feed our families and keep a roof over their head. You'd think that entertainment companies would be wise in their hiring process, and think about those kinds of things. What are we looking at long-term. But, it's always like: You're a piece of tissue paper and not a human being. The thought is: Man, with all of these new studio startups in a multi-billion dollar industry, they're doing pretty good, getting a new job should be a snap. But, the industry is hurting as a whole clearly and Executives keep wanting more and more money, it's greed so the little man that makes you what you are, as Hulst puts it "valuable", well, then why are you canning them? Why are you laying off Naughty Dog employees when it's Neil Druckmann that's focusing only on him. What has the team done under his leadership? Nothing, because he's feeding his own ego focusing on The Last of Us and it's TV series. They haven't shipped ONE GAME on the PlayStation 5 and have instead focused on their new political agenda, I think that's why The Last of Us co-creator Bruce Straley left, he saw that coming and didn't morally want to do it, so he acted with class and simply bowed out. Under Evan Wells and Christophe Balestra the PS3 shipped 4 games, three Uncharted games and The Last of Us will 3 out of 4 of those having a multiplayer component to them. Under Druckmann, nothing, just remasters and remakes. It's the leadership that aren't doing their jobs and sucking up all the funding on their three houses and personal jets. Iwata took a pay cut to keep Nintendo employees afloat in their rough days, because he knew who it was that created software to move that hardware. They're just letting studios sit around and laziness produces nothing. The PS5 has been the worst console in PlayStation history because it has nothing. They're getting ready to launch a PS5 Pro, but why do we need one? I just finished playing Horizon Forbidden West on my PS4 Pro. And if they do go to PS5 console exclusivity, it's not because the PS4 can't handle it, it's because the PS5 isn't much different or more advanced, it's an incremental upgrade just like iPhones are every year and they just want to sell PS5s instead of selling us a machine full of tech and innovation like they used to. If Sony does go PC only, it's not that big of a deal or a shock because consoles are mini PCs anyway, why do you think they have no shame on porting games after a year? Nintendo isn't

[terstomp]

Well said. It's is the greed at the top end. The pursuit for ever increasing profits for shareholders and the top end. They will be getting bonus for the layoffs. Jim Ryan who is leaving soon will no doubt be getting a bonus on exit because of this. They don't care. They say nice words which just automatically rolls off their tongue, but they don't mean it of course. The people who do the work don't matter to them.

[Reaper22_]

You cant just blame Jim Ryan for the inevitable. Layoffs happen in all industries. There is no way that Sony is gonna sustain their gaming business with mostly single player games regardless of who is in charge. The rising costs of some AAA games are becoming astronomical and there's no way the industry can survive. The difference between Microsoft and Sony is that Microsoft is just putting it out there and being up front. Sony is going a similar route but not as open. The PC is only the start. Years from now we may see more AAA games being multiplatform.
There is a reason that millions of Fords are sold but not Lamborghinis.

[ModsDoBetter]

*grabs popcorn*
Let the spin doctors work their magic.

[Gameseeker_Frampt]

If Sony can't afford to keep its talent and studios open, where is all the money going to from the increased game and PS+ costs? We were already told that gamers had to pay for the changes in the economy and now that we have, we still get less games and smaller studios.

I guess all those record profits and sales records this generation don't really mean anything in the face of corporate greed/mismanagement.

[SPEAKxTHExTRUTH]

Wow it’s a much different tone in here compared to the tone in the MS thread when they reported laying people off. Like I said before anyone who has ever had a real job knows there’s no such thing as job security.

[Sgt_Slaughter]

First they downgrade projections, now they layoff 11.25% of their workforce.

This is highly disappointing in an industry/era where there already has been too much of this going on.

[ravens52]

Crazy smdh. Wtf is going on in the industry. Shame.

[WolfSeed]

A.I. continues to ravage...

[Profchaos]

Can people take a second and realise they are talking about actual people losing their jobs instead of comparing PS to Xbox

[derek]

Terrible news for those who lost or will be losing their job. Sucks for anyone who loses a job 99% of us rely on to support ourselves and our families.

[Travesty]

Like I said before it sucks right now.. but look at the entire industry.. Microsoft, Google, and even Meta and other tech companies were hit with layoffs. 21,000 so far this year.
And if you count the 10,000+ jobs from Microsoft over the last year it’s above 32,000..

It’s not just one industry but multiple industries hurting. I mean it isn’t hard to find information on a google search.
The industry as whole is restructuring, and there’s no alibi to fix it.
So far Nintendo is the only hardware company that hasn’t hit a layoff that I’m aware of and kudos to them.

[Profchaos]

I think you're right about Nintendo although we traditionally don't hear about job losses in Japan were a lot of their development studios are based plus I think it's all hands on deck there at the moment producing as much launch content for the switch 2 as possible.

[isarai]

Definitely vindication for people like me that just felt like they've been lacking. No arguing now, things definitely aren't going so smoothly. Crazy to hear London is getting shut down, and the layoffs are sad to hear. It's at least a silver lining to see them be transparent about it, address it directly, and share their plans to restructure some things, hopefully things get back on track after this cause it's been a very underwhelming generation from PlayStations 1st party

[SubtilizZer]

So I guess Sony is accepting defeat and getting out of the console business? Just like Microsoft because if I remember correctly that’s what a load of people on this very website were saying and agreeing with last month.

[DiRtY]

Here is a short overview, eventhough it is depressing.

Riot Games: -11% of the workforce
Microsoft: -8% of the workforce
Sony: -11% of the workforce
Bungie (Sony as well): -8% of the workforce

In case you were still wondering where the industry is heading when it comes to "exclusives":

Hermen Hulst, head of PlayStation Studios, said "Delivering and sustaining social, online experiences – allowing PlayStation gamers to explore our worlds in different ways – as well as launching games on additional devices such as PC and Mobile, requires a different approach and different resources,”

[__y2jb]

The truth is that nothing has really changed. The same gamers are out there willing to buy the same titles they always liked. It seems to me that management across the industry needs to just get a grip and release some good games.
Instead I fear we are moving toward endless Marvel licenced games and GASS titles all in pursuit of endless growth, which we all know is impossible.

[terstomp]

You nailed it there, the 'pursuit of endless growth'. And subscriptions, they believe, are the answer to that. GAAS.

[terstomp]

Sony should fire all the US/western management team, and bring it back in-house to Japan. The pursuit of endless growth for shareholders and the top end with US/western style capitalism is not working for them. Employees are bearing the cost of their greed.

[ITPython]

Hopefully Sony uses this as an opportunity to get rid of the woke infestation that plagues their best studios (especially Naughty Dog, Insomniac and Guerilla -- which have been getting progressively more woke).

Sadly they will probably just get rid of good people and keep all of the woke and DEI paperweight hires. But fingers crossed Sony sees the writing on the wall and cleans house before it is too late. Otherwise they are done for.

[aconnellan]

What woke infestation do you mean?

[vikingland1]

This is what happens when inflation hits and sales stop growing.

[YourMommySpoils]

If workers want a good, healthy life, I wouldn't recommend working in the same industry for more than a few years anyway. A change is always good and move on, rather than continue the same monotonous job.

[P_Bomb]

So many layoffs. Fubar!

[Skuletor]

Guess we'll never be getting The Getaway 3 now.

[Deeeeznuuuts]

Such a shame what's happening in the industry, I have a couple friends who are and luckily they still have jobs.

Doesn't matter what console you prefer, if you dislike a certain studio, end of the day, each one of these numbers is a human being who's worked stupidly hard, more than likely gotten themselves in debt to fund their education for the industry and this effects them all, it's sad

[LeShin]

This is happening all over the world in all sectors. I work for a trading company in the UK, and they've just laid off 300 people in 3 months . Metro bank laid off 800 people. It's going to get a lot worse everywhere

[Reaper22_]

I dont know why people are acting so surprised. When Microsoft recently laid off workers from their gaming division, so many people here were acting like Sony is immune to layoffs. I said this is gonna be happening to them as well. For years now I've been saying gaming can't sustain itself without laying off people. So the next time a SP game sells 4 million copies just remember a sequel will have to sell 10 to 15 million because of the rising cost of making a game.

For the ones who laughed when Microsoft layed off people, I told you the things that make you laugh can also make you cry. Microsoft needs sony and vice versa if they are going to continue to thrive in the industry. Don't be so naive and think that gaming is about what you (the individual) want. At the end of the day they are always gonna do what's in their best interest. They're gonna make money with or without you.

[DarXyde]

So the execs cut their compensation before laying people off...

... Right, Herman?

Corporations being corporate. Imagine coming from Guerilla and you just cut 40% of the people on your old team. Foul play, Sony. Look, I get that there is a lot of hardship right now, but again, you're going after the talent before you reel in your own compensation.

You can't do shit like this at such a contentious time. My guess? They're timing this with the end of the fiscal year.

If so, absolute dick move. I'll be waiting to see what they say about their earnings.

Solidarity with the talent. May you land on your feet very soon.

[ZeekQuattro]

A videogame crash of some kind is looking more and more likely. Nintendo. You got this.

[Yi-Long]

To Sony, and so many other companies in this industry, the short-term satisfaction and happiness of their shareholders means so much more to them than their employees, their products, and their customers.

[TriniOutsider]

This gonna be happening a lot going forward.

[hiawa23]

There is clearly some kind of stagnation going on in the gaming industry this gen. Blame it on Covid, or the parts shortage, or global forces, and it really is not just the gaming industry that has seen these layoffs. Something clearly changed this gen as we have not seen the amount of game releases this gen and it is leading me to believe there may be gaming crash coming as this slowdown has even hit Sony's release schedule. Many seem to be saying these 3 4 5 6 year single platform dev time it takes to make these AA AAA games don't seem to be sustainable anymore which is why we are seeing more console games going PC and other platforms to get the games in as many gamers hands as possible. What concerns me are the gamers whose first response is this toxic console war mindset which is to once again pit Sony against MS instead of just acknowledging laying people off is bad for all gamers as many us game on all of the platforms and as gamers want what is best for all gamers not praise one platform while bashing and wishing bad on the other platforms. I am hoping for the best.

[DarXyde]

You want to know what I think? It's 3 things:

1. Wages have stagnated. A reminder that the federal minimum wage in the world's largest gaming economy has remained the same since George W. Bush. As a result, other wages are suppressed. How can people buy games like they used to under these conditions, especially with inflation being what it is? This would likely mean games should cost $80-$90 each, but if wages went up properly, it would probably feel more like $50 games with the current minimum wage. Costs keep increasing when the means to buy goods and services remains the same. Untenable.

2. The execs don't want to lose their compensation. It's selfish and they would sooner destroy the livelihoods of the people who made them than forego compensation. According to Net Worth Post, Hulst on his own is worth $11M. Absolutely no reason he can't live on savings for a while. Totoki's reported compensation in 2022 is $1.5M. It doesn't make sense.

3. Paving the way to rationalize use of AI.

[ShamefulJosher]

and they said live service games were a boon to the industry!

[Aaroncls7]

Aw man, I hope this doesnt mean we stop getting ugly women and social propaganda in ps games.

[Dompoesmod]

Like in Stellar blade and Final Fantasy 7 rebirth? I see Microsoft leading the charge with gorgeous, amazing, stunning ladies in the new Fable. Maybe that's your type? Great point you make

[Aaroncls7]

Pffft, screw xbox and their fable ugly female on the promo.
screw them too for weirdifying cortana on infinite
Not every person that rips on sony is an xbot, my lil' pony.

[Hedstrom]

So sad to see the axe keeps carving through studios and developers in 2024 :(

[Tzuno]

They can make a huge profit if they choose to remake a lot of PS1 gems as a timed exclusive, the suits are not gamers, they think with their DK.

[Pyrofire95]

I think they've lost there way to a degree. PS used to be where you could get a smattering of cool, often unique/weird games, they didn't have to be big block busters.
While all these narrative action games are cool and great games, Jim Ryan has killed new experiences, experimentation, and personality. Obviously each game evolves somewhat with every game but when a game comes out only every 4+ years, the room for innovation has been suffocated.
Instead of producing smaller $40 games that only take 2 years to make they bet it all on monster projects that are borderline unsustainable and what results is layoffs.
Their quest for big blockbusters have put pressure on gamers themselves now; charging $70 to crawl back profits, instead of making better use of the droves of talented people at their disposal. Now some of them has been disposed.
Sonys bread and butter now isn't good or interesting game design, it's narratives and set pieces; that doesn't sound like games.

[gold_drake]

can u imagine, that after just 5 days after they had a "farewell party" for Jim, they've all been laid off?

the absolute audacity

[TheEroica]

Ps5 is the most underwhelming console Sony has ever produced. Buyers remorse must be high... I mean, remakes and not much else... Handholdy cinematic nothingburger games.

[glenn1979]

The cost of AAA in the gaming indusrty is to much, there needs to be changes

[Kaozz1979]

All hail to the KI! Just my opinion that this is a big reason why it happens everywhere in gaming.

[Wrex369]

If I were thinking of joining the industry now I would be hightailing to pivot right out of it. When first party are laying off there is no safe place. Doesn’t matter where, the gaming industry isn’t making enough, I guess.

[hiroyukisanada]

This is absolutely awful, man. Between Sony and MS, that's 2,800 people in the industry without jobs in a few short weeks.
Another reason consolidation should not be cheered on.
Sad day for the industry.