The video game industry is not going through its best moment and not even the biggest companies can escape from this crisis. This is the case of Sony Interactive Entertainment, which has confirmed that it will lay off 900 employees. This would represent a 8% reduction of the current workforce.
Through a statement published by PlayStation Studios, we have learned that these cuts will affect Insomniac Games (Marvel’s Spiderman), Naughty Dog (The Last of Us), Guerrilla Games (Horizon Forbidden West), and Firesprite (Run Sackboy! Run!).
Another one of the big casualties is London Studio, which is closing its doors completely. This studio was founded in 2002 and has been responsible for SingStar, VR Worlds, and Blood & Truth, among others.
In this article signed by Jim Ryan, CEO of PlayStation, he states that they have made the difficult decision to “initiate a global workforce reduction” where employees from around the world “will be affected”. According to Ryan, “the industry has changed enormously and we have to prepare the company for the future that awaits us“.
In another statement, this time signed by Hermen Hulst (president of PlayStation Studios), it has been revealed that Naughty Dog and Insomniac would also suffer these cuts. In addition, it also mentions PS5: “PlayStation 5 is in its fourth year, and we are at a stage where we need to step back and analyze our business needs. At the same time, our industry has experienced continuous and fundamental changes that affect how we create and play games.”
