The video game industry layoffs continue with Sony’s gaming division PlayStation this week announcing it would be axing “about 8% or about 900 people” across its workforce as part of an organisational restructure.
This impacts employees “across all SIE regions” and several PlayStation studios. In the UK, PlayStation’s London studio is shutting down and there will be staff reductions at Firesprite studio. Staff cuts have also impacted Naughty Dog, Insomniac Games and Guerrilla Games, and some unannounced projects have been cancelled.
SIE President & CEO Jim Ryan: “Ensuring our organization is future ready in this rapidly changing industry, we have concluded that tough decisions have become inevitable…It has become clear changes need to be made to continue to grow the business and develop the company. 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.”
In related news, Deck Nine Games (one of the developers behind the Life is Strange games) has announced it is laying off 20% of its staff, after being affected by the game industry’s “worsening marketing conditions”.
Deck Nine Games: “These people are amazing, talented, and awesome developers. They have made a huge impact during their time at Deck Nine Games and we did not take this decision lightly. Please hire these people if you can, they’re amazing.”
Supermassive Games (The Dark Pictures Anthology, Little Nightmares III) also released a statement yesterday announcing a reorganisation.
These latest layoffs follow companies like Microsoft, Riot Games, and Embracer Group letting go of staff in recent months as part of company restructures. You can check out our sibling site Push Square to learn more about everything going on with PlayStation right now.
