In what continues to be a very gruesome, tiring, and upsetting trend, Sony has announced that it will be laying off approximately 900 employees, which is around 8% of its workforce, in an attempt to "reduce [its] overall headcount globally". It marks the second-largest layoff in the industry this year.
CEO Jim Ryan announced the news on the Sony Interactive Entertainment blog, in a post titled "Difficult News About Our Workforce". Ryan called it an "extremely hard decision," adding that "employees across the globe, including our studios, are impacted." In an email shared by Ryan which was sent out to the company, it's revealed that the PlayStation Studios in London will close in its entirety. Firesprite, the studio behind the VR game Horizon Call of the Mountain, will see reductions, as well as "reductions in various functions across SIE in the UK."
Details behind layoffs in other regions are a little more vague. Ryan says US employees who are impacted by the layoffs will be notified today, while those in Japan will begin "a next career support program" process. Other countries will see "conversations with those who are potentially at risk or impacted as a result of this proposed course of action."
In the company email, Ryan wrote: "For those who will be leaving SIE: You are leaving this company with our deepest respect and appreciation for all your efforts during your tenure. For those who will be staying at SIE: We will be saying goodbye to friends and colleagues that we cherish during this process, and this will be painful. Your resilience, sensitivity, and adaptiveness will be critical in the weeks and months to come."
London Studio, five days ago https://t.co/CSayOrgmEUFebruary 27, 2024
As for the reason behind cutting 8% of its staff, Ryan blamed "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," calling the decision "inevitable."
It's an exhausting continuation of what has been more than 16,000 layoffs since January 2023. It's only been getting worse since the new year rolled round: we're still barely nine weeks into 2024 and yet we've already seen layoffs such as:
- Activision-Blizzard and Xbox, January 2024 – 1,900 employees
- Behaviour Interactive and CI Games, January 2024 – 40 employees, 10% of workforce respectively
- Lost Boys Interactive, January 2024 – a "sizeable portion"
- Riot Games, January 2024 – 530 employees
- Twitch, January 2024 – over 500 employees
- Airship Syndicate, February 2024 – 12 employees
- Blackbird Interactive, February 2024 – Unspecified number
- Supermassive Games, barely even a day ago – 150 employees at risk
