Sony Interactive Entertainment has just announced that it has made the tough decision to lay off roughly 8% (roughly 900 employees) from their workforce. This decision affects many first-party studios that are located in the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, and many other countries.
In a post by the head of PlayStation Studios, Herman Hulst mentions that Insomniac Games, Naughty Dog, as well as the PlayStation Technology, Creative, and Support teams are just some of the affected studios. Furthermore, the PlayStation Studios’ London Studio will close in its entirety, and that there will be reductions in Guerrilla and Firesprite.
If you’re not aware, PlayStation Studios’ London developed the SingStar series, which became extremely popular and helped broadened the appeal of the PlayStation 2 beyond the typical demographics of young male gamers, selling over 20 million copies.
It also created a lot of games for the elusive EyeToy webcam accessory for the PlayStation 2, and assisted the development of other first-party Sony titles, such as Killzone 2 and Little Big Planet. As of 2022, the studio was working on a cooperative multiplayer game for the PlayStation 5, which was set in a modern fantasy London, with the studio calling it the “most ambitious project to-date”, though it is now unknown whether this game will ever see the light of day.
