Sony Interactive Entertainmenthas announced that it plans to lay off roughly 8% of PlayStation’s workforce, which equates to around 900 people losing their jobs around the world. While majorPlayStationstudios such as Naughty Dog, Insomniac Games, and Guerrilla Games will be impacted by the layoffs, PlayStation’s London Studio is expected to be closed in its entirety.
Thenews was broken by Jim Ryan, current President and CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment, who said the “the industry has changed immensely,” thus, PlayStation “must future ready itself to set the business up for what lies ahead.” Ryan then shared an email that was sent to the entire company this morning, in which the CEO closed an entire studio in a single bullet point.
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Ryan opened the email by addressing the rapidly changing industry, stating that the company has had discussions over the past few months about changes in the way PlayStation develops, distributes, and launches products. Sony’s CEO then said that they had come to the conclusion that tough decisions have become inevitable.
“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,“Jim Ryan said in a company-wide email.
We won’t be breaking down the entire email, but you can read it on theSony websitefor more details.
Sony Proposes Closing Down PlayStation’s London Studio
Halfway through Ryan’s company-wide email, the CEO confirmed that a proposal to close PlayStation’s London Studio in its entirety was being discussed. While Ryan said that Sony will “enter a period of collective consultation before any final decisions are taken,” finding out that your entire studio is likely going to be closed by including a single bullet point is heartbreaking stuff.
The decision on whether or not PlayStation’s London Studio will be closed is still being discussed at Sony, but the fact that there was no specific mention of the hard work the studio has put in over the last 22 years (30 years if you include the studio’s predecessor, Team Soho), not even a thank you, is outrageous.
London Studio was formed after Team Soho merged with Psygnosis back in 2002. The studio has since gone on to create plenty of PlayStation classics, such as EyeToy: Play, Singstar, and The Getaway: Black Monday. In recent years, London Studio has focused on creating various VR titles, such as PlayStation VR Worlds and Blood & Truth.
But back in 2022, ablog postfrom London Studio confirmed that it was working on an online co-op combat game set in a modern fantasy London. The title, which will likely be canned if London Studio is to be shut down, would have been a PlayStation 5 exclusive and the studio’s “most ambitious project to date.”
Today’s announcement from Sony is the latest in a long line of layoffs in the video game industry, with roughly 6,100 employees having lost their jobs since the beginning of 2024, according tovideogamelayoffs.com. With today’s addition, that figure will rise to approximately 7,000.
