Sony has announced it will lay off 900 staff from its PlayStation studios in the coming weeks, accounting for an 8% reduction of its global Playstation workforce. Studios including Insomniac Games, Naughty Dog, Guerrilla Games and Firesprite will be impacted, and PlayStation’s London Studio (SingStar, Blood & Truth, Erica) will likely shut down entirely.
In a blog post, current Sony Interactive Entertainment president and CEO Jim Ryan called the news “difficult” and praised the “incredible talent” of those being laid off. According to Ryan, the move was only made as “the industry has changed immensely” and Sony needs to “future ready [itself] to set the business up for what lies ahead.”
“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 organisation is future ready in this rapidly changing industry, we have concluded that tough decisions have become inevitable,” Ryan said, in an email to staff.
Read: Microsoft lays off 1,900 workers at Xbox, Activision Blizzard and ZeniMax
“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 … 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.”
In the coming weeks, staff will be informed of their employment status, based on regional law. In the US, staff will be informed of redundancies today. In the UK, there will be a period of consultation. In Japan, employees will have access to a “next career” support program.
As a result of these layoffs, some in-development games have been cancelled. A live service Twisted Metal game from Firesprite is believed to be one of the projects halted as part of Sony’s structural overhaul, and it sounds like it’s not the only project shuttered at PlayStation.
We’re likely to learn more about these layoffs and impacted teams in the coming weeks.
