Topic: Sony lays off 900 PlayStation employees, closes London studio

https://www.eurogamer.net/sony-laying-off-900-playstation-emp...

The layoffs in the gaming industry aren’t slowing down anytime soon I’m guessing :/

That ******* sucks, I’ve got a mate who works for Sony London.

Ah yes, just what Sony needs this generation. Less talent.

@jump I’m really sorry to hear that, I hope your friend bounces back quick and can find a better opportunity

@jump That sucks, hope he finds better work elsewhere (read: far away from the AAA game industry)

@kkslider5552000 @NarwhalKing thanks, he works as an accountant for them so he can bounce back a lot easier than the coders and developers luckily.

My mind just boggles at all these highly profitable games companies shedding this much talent. They'll never get it back and the massaging of numbers is only ever for the short term.

Experienced developers won't be out of work for long. There's a huge shortage of them in the wider tech industry and once they're used to better pay, shorter hours, and less toxic work environments, very few of them will ever want to go back to making AAA games.

I've met a few refugees from the games industry over the years and they're all glad to be out of it, although there are some who still make indie games in their spare time.

I don't think that's necessarily true, because a good paying job is a good paying job and not everyone pays attention to what company lays off how many (especially if there are various different companies you can point to doing the same thing).

But it would be very funny if it was true. Which is fine for Sony because they hate actually making new games anymore anyway, they clearly don't want to make new games for their console. Last of Us 2 remaster.

Well Sony specifically made a really bad bet on putting a bunch of live service titles into development instead of sticking with their bread and butter, cinematic story action games. Jason Schreier reported for Bloomberg that one title cancelled today was a Twisted Metal live service game:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-02-27/sony-cuts-...
I think this will be a painful year for most developers because we’re seeing a shift in investment and the realizations that a) not everyone can be Fortnite and have consistent live service revenue, and b) Triple AAA scale and scope isn’t sustainable for companies. Ultimately I think there is a brighter future on the way with examples of great double AA titles like Helldivers 2 demonstrating the beauty (and profitability) in restraint and smaller scope. But we’re gonna have to go through some rough waters and see companies course correct to get there.