Sony has reportedly temporarily halted all production of the PlayStation VR2. The company's purported decision to hit pause on PS VR2 manufacturing is said to be a result of the headset's lackluster sales, which caused an inventory buildup.
PlayStation lays off 900 people and shuts down London Studio
27.02.2024 - 15:05 / digitaltrends.com / Jim Ryan / Sony Interactive / London Studio / Tomas Franzese
Sony is the latest company in the video game industry to announce massive layoffs in 2024. We’ve learned that Sony Interactive Entertainment is letting go of about 900 people across several studios; PlayStation’s London Studio will shut down as a result.
In a blog post, soon-to-depart Sony Interactive Entertainment President and CEO Jim Ryan says these cuts amount to about 8% of PlayStation’s workforce. “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 organization is future ready in this rapidly changing industry, we have concluded that tough decisions have become inevitable,” Ryan explains. “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.”
Sony has confirmed that these cuts will impact several PlayStation studios around the world. In the U.S., Ryan says affected employees will be contacted today. In Japan, it plans to “implement a next career support program.” In the U.K., Ryan explains that Sony is entering “a period of collective consultation before any final decisions are taken,” but also outlined what the company plans to do. That includes layoffs at Horizon Call of the Mountain developer Firesprite and “various functions across SIE,” as well as the complete shuttering of PlayStation’s London Studio.
London Studio was founded in 2002 and made a name for itself with the PS2’s EyeToy peripheral and SingStar. In the 2010s, it pivoted to VR and was the studio behind PlayStation VR games like Blood & Truth (pictured above) and PlayStation VR Worlds. It didn’t make any games for Sony’s second VR headset, though. Instead, it was working on a live service fantasy game. Now, it seems like that title and no future projects from London Studio will see the light of day.
Related- One year later, my PlayStation VR2 is collecting dust
- PlayStation State of Play, January 2024: How to watch and what to expect
- Here’s how to get your PlayStation 2023 wrap-up
Across 2023 and 2024, over 17,000 video game developers have lost their jobs. Just this week alone, we’ve also learned about the closure of Saltsea Chronicles studio Gute De Fabrik and layoffs atUntil Dawn developer Supermassive Games.
The website gametalkz.com is an aggregator of news from open sources. The source is indicated at the beginning and at the end of the announcement. You can send a complaint on the news if you find it unreliable.
Top Authors
Popular Topics
gamerant.com
10.03.2024 / 00:58
PlayStation Partner Deviation Games is Shutting Down
Over the past year, layoffs and closures have swept the gaming industry, and PlayStation partner Deviation Games is the latest victim of this misfortune. The studio was founded in 2020 by Jason Blundell and Dave Anthony, both known for their work on the Call of Duty franchise. The studio had partnered with PlayStation in an effort to develop an unannounced AAA title, and there were high fan expectations for the end result of this collaboration because of how these people had shaped the visions of some of the best received Call of Duty games.
pushsquare.com
05.03.2024 / 21:38
Sony Studio Firesprite Accused of Alleged Toxic Culture in Exposé | Push Square
It sounds like all is not well at Sony studio Firesprite, which the platform holder acquired in 2021. Despite moving into expensive new digs in its home city of Liverpool, a Eurogamer report paints an extremely grim picture of the outfit, which is allegedly bleeding staff and lost its managing director Graeme Ankers suddenly last May.
pushsquare.com
05.03.2024 / 21:37
900 PlayStation Employees Laid Off, London Studio Closed | Push Square
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.
pushsquare.com
05.03.2024 / 21:35
Sony's London Studio, Media Molecule Were Reportedly 'Highest on the List' for Closure | Push Square
In case you missed the big news last week, PlayStation joined the rest of the industry in cutting hundreds of jobs across its business. What's more, the platform holder is closing one of its longest-standing developers, London Studio — but it seems another UK team may have been at risk, too.
pushsquare.com
05.03.2024 / 21:32
Unannounced Games from PlayStation Studios Have Been Cancelled | Push Square
Sony has confirmed that «some» unannounced games in development within PlayStation Studios have been cancelled as a result of the decision to lay off around 900 employees. In a separate article from Hermen Hulst, it's explained: «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.»
pushsquare.com
05.03.2024 / 21:28
Horizon Dev Reportedly Loses 10% of Staff After PlayStation Layoffs | Push Square
Of the 900 PlayStation employees that lost their jobs during yesterday's layoffs, it's reported that roughly 40 of them — or 10 per cent of the developer's workforce — belonged to Horizon Forbidden West team Guerrilla Games. Dutch outlet AD shared the news that the layoffs at Guerrilla Games concerned «ten percent of the staff, or about forty of the more than four hundred employees», having spoken to sources.
tech.hindustantimes.com
04.03.2024 / 02:08
Looks Like We're Nearing Peak PlayStation
It should have been a victorious few weeks for Sony Group Corp.'s PlayStation 5. Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, arguably the console's first must-have exclusive title, has been released to rave reviews. Microsoft Corp. has just announced it will allow games previously exclusive to its Xbox machine on rival platforms, tantamount to an admission of defeat in the console wars. And reports swirled that a successor to Nintendo Co.'s Switch is still more than a year away.
gamesindustry.biz
01.03.2024 / 17:29
What led to Sony laying off 900 people? | This Week in Business
Sign up for the GI Daily here to get the biggest news straight to your inbox
thesixthaxis.com
29.02.2024 / 12:57
Deck Nine lays off 20% of its workforce
Deck Nine has announced that it had laid off 20% of its overall workforce, due to the current market situation which has led to a large scale series of redundancies across the video game industry. The developer, which has developer Life Is Strange: True Colors, Life Is Strange: Before The Storm, Life Is Strange Remastered Collection, and The Expanse: A Telltale Series, confirmed the news of X, formerly known as Twitter.
videogameschronicle.com
29.02.2024 / 06:53
Insomniac calls this week’s layoffs ‘a solemn and unprecedented moment’ for the studio
Insomniac Games has released a public statement in response to layoffs at the studio announced this week by parent company Sony Interactive Entertainment.
gamingbolt.com
29.02.2024 / 02:47
EA is Shutting Down Battlefield Studio Ridgeline Games
Electronic Arts has announced that it’s laying off roughly 670 people, and as you might imagine, a number of studios owned by the company are set to be impacted. One of the more severe cases is Ridgeline Games, which is being shuttered entirely. This follows the studio’s head and narrative director Marcus Lehto recently announcing his departure.