Sony has publicly announced that it will be laying off approximately 900 employees in its PlayStation sector as part of significant reductions within the company. The layoffs will amount to an 8% reduction in the division’s global workforce. Additionally, the company’s London Studio in the U.K. will be closing down.
PlayStation’s chief, Jim Ryan, communicated to employees that, after lengthy discussion among the leadership team, changes were necessary for the company’s growth and development. The layoff decision was made to allow the company to focus on its long-term sustainability and strive for improving the experiences offered to their community.
Hermen Hulst, head of PlayStation studios, in a separate announcement informed the staff about its implications on Insomniac Games, Naughty Dog, Guerrilla and Firesprite studios. It was noted that the layoffs would affect employees in the Americas, Japan, as well as the EMEA and APAC regions. Hulst further added that some continuing projects at different stages of development would be shelved.
The announced layoffs occur in the aftermath of a reduced sales forecast for the PlayStation 5. Sony had previously warned about declining demand and consequently reduced its sales expectations from 25 million to 21 million consoles in its fiscal year. This announcement negatively impacted Sony shares.
Sony follows other companies in the gaming industry, such as Microsoft and Unity, in a wave of recent layoffs. Even outside of the gaming sector, numerous other companies, including Google, Snapchat, eBay, PayPal, DocuSign, Okta, Block, Discord, Twitch, and Duolingo, have all implemented significant layoffs within the last month.
