Sony has today confirmed around 900 PlayStation employees — or around eight per cent of its workforce — are being laid off in order to «future ready ourselves to set the business up for what lies ahead». As a result of the downsizing, PlayStation's own London Studio is being closed completely and Firesprite will be reduced in size. The staff reductions will also hit Naughty Dog, Insomniac Games, and Guerrilla Games. Some unannounced games have been cancelled.
PlayStation Chairman: There's Room for Improvement When It Comes to Business | Push Square
20.02.2024 - 00:43 / pushsquare.com / Jim Ryan / Sony / Nintendo
Hiroki Totoki has a lot of titles at Sony; in addition to being president, COO, and CFO of the corporation, he's more recently stepped into the role of PlayStation chairman as Jim Ryan winds down his time at the company. He's among the company's top dogs, then — but what does he make of Sony Interactive Entertainment since he became more directly involved? Speaking on a recent earnings call, he seems happy with PlayStation's first-party teams, but has some concerns about the business side of things.
In meeting with management teams and visiting the studios themselves, Totoki says «everyone is working really hard to fulfill their responsibility to try to optimise the business», but feels there's a lack of understanding about «overall growth and sustainable profitability or increasing margin». He says that's SIE's main problem.
«I try to understand what is happening in the company, in the industry, and also in the perspective of the analysts, and try to explain in a transparent manner so that people can recognise and notice these issues so that we can have a harmonised approach going forward,» Totoki says. He further comments that the studios and the people within them are «very highly motivated» with «great creative minds», but that there's «room for improvement» when it comes to the business itself. «And that's got to do about how to use the money or about the schedule of development or how to fulfill one's accountability towards development, et cetera.»
In other words, Totoki is looking for ways that PlayStation can not only grow, but also be more efficient in terms of money. It's no secret that production budgets are through the roof for games at this scale, and that they take tens or hundreds of people years and years to develop. It sounds as though there's a desire from Totoki to find a more sustainable balance between making the sort of games that fans expect from Sony, and keeping costs down to ensure those games make a better financial return.
It'll be very interesting to see whether Sony's gaming business makes any discernible changes in the next few years or so. What do you make of these quotes from Hiroki Totoki? Discuss in the comments section below.
Having grown up alongside PlayStation, Stephen has developed an eclectic taste in video games and a wide knowledge of the medium, from small indie gems to the biggest AAA blockbusters. Ever hopeful that the Burnout series makes a miraculous return.
All I can think of is new Infamous and Killzone. Heck, I would even take a proper first two games remasters..
There are not enough live service games. That needs to change.
Improving the business side of things due to razor thin margins was exactly what I said was their issue at the last earnings
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