In a statement, Jim Ryan, president and CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment, delivered some bad news regarding PlayStation. He announced a new wave of layoffs that will affect several of the brand's studios.
On the other hand, he announced the closure of another of the PlayStation Studios teams. We are referring to London Studio, founded in 2002 and known for its recent virtual reality games. According to the details, 900 PlayStation employees will be affected by the layoffs.
PlayStation to be hit again by redundancies
Ryan reported that 900 workers will be laid off globally. This represents approximately 8% of its workforce. The layoffs will take place in various undisclosed company departments and studios.
"The PlayStation community means everything to us, so I felt it was important to update you on a difficult day at our company. We have made the extremely hard decision to announce our plan to commence a reduction of our overall headcount globally," Ryan said.
He regretted the news, knowing that there are some very talented people who will have to leave PlayStation. He explained that the decision was made because of changes in the industry and PlayStation's need to prepare for the future.
"We need to deliver on expectations from developers and gamers and continue to propel future technology in gaming, so we took a step back to ensure we are set up to continue bringing the best gaming experiences to the community," Ryan added.
London Studios' days are numbered
In the statement, it explains that all affected US-based employees will be notified of the layoffs today. Elsewhere, PlayStation is preparing big changes to the UK and its studios in the region.
For starters, it plans to close London Studio, known for games such as PlayStation VR Worlds, SingStar Celebration and Blood & Truth, in its entirety. According to various reports, the team was working on a new IP for PlayStation 5, but it's almost a given that it will never see the light of day.
On top of that, PlayStation plans to downsize Firesprite, a studio the company acquired in 2021. Finally, there will be staff cuts within Sony Interactive Entertainment in the region.
"This will not be easy, and I am aware of the impact it will have on wellbeing. Affected employees will receive support, including severance benefits. While these are challenging times, it is not indicative of a lack of strength of our company, our brand, or our industry," Ryan concluded.
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