Sony Interactive Entertainment announced they are significantly cutting their workforce and it will affect a number of its major studios including Insomniac Games, Naughty Dog, Guerilla, and Firesprite.
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 (2023), Insomniac Games
In a blog post, President and CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment Jim Ryan announced, “We have made the extremely hard decision to announce our plan to commence a reduction of our overall headcount globally by about 8% or about 900 people, subject to local law and consultation processes. Employees across the globe, including our studios, are impacted.”
Ryan went on to explain, “The industry has changed immensely, and we need to future ready ourselves to set the business up for what lies ahead. We need to deliver on expectations from developers and gamers and continue to propel future technology in gaming, so we took a step back to ensure we are set up to continue bringing the best gaming experiences to the community.”
The Last of Us Part II Remastered (2024), Naughty Dog
Ryan went on to share an email he shared with Sony employees where he explained the layoffs are a result of “the evolving economic landscape, changes in the way we develop, distribute, and launch products, and ensuring our organization is future ready in this rapidly changing industry, we have concluded that tough decisions have become inevitable.”
He then revealed, “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.”
Horizon: Call of the Mountain (2023), Guerilla Games and Firesprite
Ryan then detailed who all will be affected, “There will be impact for employees across all SIE regions – Americas, EMEA, Japan, and APAC ” and “several PlayStation Studios are affected.”
He also revealed that PlayStation Studios’ London Studio will close completely and there will be reductions at Firesprite studio. He also announced “reductions in various functions across SIE in the UK.”
Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection (2015), Naughty Dog
In a separate blog post head of PlayStation Studios Herman Hulst provided more details including that there will be reductions at “Insomniac Games, Naughty Dog, as well as our Technology, Creative, and Support teams.”
Hulst also revealed there would be reductions at Guerilla. He also confirmed there would be “some smaller reductions in other teams across PlayStation Studios.
Horizon Zero Dawn (2017), Guerilla Games
Hulst also reiterated Ryan’s explanation as to why these reductions are happening, “Our industry has experienced continuing and fundamental change which affects how we all create, and play, games. Delivering the immersive, narrative-driven stories that PlayStation Studios is known for, at the quality bar that we aspire to, requires a re-evaluation of how we operate.”
He continued, “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.”
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 (2023), Insomniac Games
Interestingly, he also said, “To take on these challenges, PlayStation Studios had to grow. We have brought brilliant and successful Studios into our family. We have invested in new technology and partnerships. We have recruited talent from across our industry and beyond.”
“But growth itself is not an ambition,” he declared. “PlayStation Studios is committed to continually discovering ways to work together; collaborating and combining our efforts to ensure that we are able to craft games that push the boundaries of play and deliver what you expect from us.”
Hulst also confirmed that a number of games and projects that were in development are getting scrapped, “We looked at our studios and our portfolio, evaluating projects in various stages of development, and have decided that some of those projects will not move forward. I want to be clear that the decision to stop work on these projects is not a reflection on the talent or passion of team members.”
Horizon Zero Dawn (2017), Guerilla Games
What do you make of these massive layoffs at Sony?
In other words, we’re replacing people with A.I. and you will have to play all our games online so we can take advantage of it.