PlayStation Executive Defends Layoffs, Says They Were Necessary To Run A Business

As a lifelong gamer and a passionate follower of the gaming industry, I find myself deeply saddened by the recent turn of events at Sony Interactive Entertainment. The job cuts, game cancellations, and studio closures have left many in the community feeling disheartened and concerned about the future of PlayStation.


Recently, Sony Interactive Entertainment has been facing challenging times. The PlayStation corporation started off the year by reducing more than 900 jobs and abandoning several games. In July, Sony made redundancies at Bungie, their Destiny studio, and announced reorganization plans for that team. Then in August, Concord, a multiplayer first-person shooter developed by Sony’s Firewalk team, was launched, but it was shut down soon after due to poor performance, with refunds offered. Refunds were also given before the entire studio ultimately closed, reportedly having invested over $200 million in the project. In an interview with Variety, co-CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment, Hermen Hulst, explained that these actions were part of their strategy to maintain a profitable and sustainable business model.

He mentioned that they would address a few points regarding their resource management. It’s crucial for them to ensure the business operates in an eco-friendly manner, which is a responsibility that comes with being a CEO. They don’t take this lightly because it’s deeply personal to them, involving the people they know, their teams, and the positive work environments. However, they have had to implement some redundancies.

Hulst noted that the PlayStation Studios division currently has more employees than it did five years ago, indicating significant expansion. He attributed this growth to both aggressive hiring by the existing teams and strategic mergers and acquisitions.

Hulst’s argument for Sony’s significant reductions mirrors the stance taken by Phil Spencer, CEO of Microsoft Gaming, regarding Xbox’s transformative changes, which included over 2,500 layoffs in the past year and multiple studio shutdowns. In March, Spencer explained that these initial job cuts, announced in January, were crucial for Xbox to transition into a profitable enterprise after the acquisition of Activision Blizzard.

2024, much like 2023, has been a challenging year for job cuts within the video game development teams at Sony, Microsoft, Ubisoft, and numerous other companies. Preliminary figures indicate that over 11,000 positions have been eliminated in the gaming industry this year.

A former PlayStation executive, Chris Deering, recently expressed his views on the job cuts, stating that they are influenced not solely by corporate greed, but also by broader economic trends. However, Deering’s remarks about those who lost their jobs taking a year off at the beach drew significant criticism.

The Communication Workers of America (CWA) Union has expressed disapproval over Sony’s choice to close Firewalk Studios and Concord, expressing regret towards the decision-making processes of video game CEOs they perceive as being too isolated.

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2024-10-31 21:09