The annus horribilis for developers continues, yesterday, in fact, Sony announced 900 layoffs in the Playstation division
After the leaks that hit Insomniac, the developers of the Burbank team couldn’t even breathe because like a bolt from the blue Sony announced a series of layoffs that will impact 900 positions in its internal teams. There is talk of a cut of the 10% of the workforce which adds to the over 6000 layoffs that occurred in the first two months of the year alone.
Among the affected software houses there are the spearheads of the Japanese publisher’s production, including Naughty Dog, fresh off the cancellation of their latest project and Guerrilla. The worst fate, however, is the one that happened to London Studio. The developers, who until five days ago had celebrated Jim Ryan’s retirement, found themselves fired on the spot. The entire studio was shut down and projects in the works canceled unceremoniously.
Layoffs in Playstation: why?
According to Hermen Hulst, head of Playstation Studios, the layoffs were one painful but obligatory choice. In fact, Sony had lost over 10 billion Yen on the stock market after recording disappointing profits and announcing that no first party sequels would be released until March 2025. To make the situation worse, other dramatic news also arrives.
Among the numerous trashed projects, according to Jason Schreier, there would also be a live service di Twisted Metal in development at Firesprite studios. The PlayStation lineup is visibly thinning out for the foreseeable future and it now seems that Jim Ryan’s strategy has completely derailed. There are rumors of a total paradigm shift to adapt production to the new challenges of a growing market. This could involve asimultaneous release of Sony games also on PC as already happened for Helldivers 2, Arrowhead’s resounding success. Little is known but one thing is certain: the industry is changing.
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