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Sony announce 900 layoffs across Naughty Dog, Guerilla, Insomniac and PlayStation studios worldwideIt’s proposed that Sony London be closed
It’s proposed that Sony London be closed
Image credit:Sony
Image credit:Sony
Several well-known PlayStation studios are affected, including The Last Of Us developer Naughty Dog, Ratchet & Clank developer Insomniac Games, Horizon developer Guerilla Games and PlayStation VR specialists Firesprite. It’s also proposed that PlayStation close Sony London in their entirety, though the exact scale of the reductions remains to be seen.
“These are incredibly talented people who have been part of our success, and we are very grateful for their contributions,” the statement continues. “However, the industry has changed immensely, and we need to future ready ourselves to set the business up for what lies ahead. 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 appended a copy of the aforesaid email to staff, which includes a brief provisional outline of the likely fallout, block-quoted below:
There will be impact for employees across all SIE regions - Americas, EMEA, Japan, and APAC
Several PlayStation Studios are affected
I know that receiving this news will be hard and unsettling and you are wondering what this means for you. Timelines and procedures for how we approach this will vary based on your location due to local laws and regulations.
For those of you in the US, all impacted employees will be notified today.
In the UK, it is proposed:
That PlayStation Studios' London Studio will close in its entirety;
That there will be reductions in Firesprite studio;
And that there will be reductions in various functions across SIE in the UK.
Best of luck to everybody affected, and to everybody who doesn’t yet know whether they’re affected. I feel especially bad for Sony London, creators of PSVR games like Blood And Truth, a brace of PSP and PlayStation Move titles and, way back in the day, The Getaway, a GTA clone set in Britain. Theyare or were workingon “an online multiplayer game set in a modern day, fantasy London”. AsHit Pointseditor and former Edge editor Nathan Brown points out, the Sony London team posted the below on Twitter just a few days ago, celebrating Jim Ryan’sapproaching retirement(to be clear, he’s not among the layoffs announced today). You feel like Ryan probably should have mentioned how things were going at the time.
Farewell Jim Ryan 👋 🫡pic.twitter.com/En2wEKjUwV— Izzy ❤️🔥 (@izzyfoley94)February 22, 2024
Farewell Jim Ryan 👋 🫡pic.twitter.com/En2wEKjUwV
