This morning, Sony revealed that it is adding to the ever-growing pile of industry layoffs. In official posts, the company announced it had “initiated a reduction” in workforce. These cuts will impact a variety of PlayStation’s first-party studios including Insomniac Games, Guerrilla, Naughty Dog, Firesprite, and more, with the biggest cut hitting PlayStation’s London Studio, which is being closed down in its entirety. In total, Jim Ryan, President and CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment, estimates that the layoffs will affect around 900 people, or 8% of the current workforce, and multiple games are being canceled as a result.
“We had to step back, look at our business holistically, and move forward focusing on the long-term sustainability of the company and delivering the best experiences possible for our community,” wrote Ryan in an email shared with Sony employees and posted on the Sony Interactive Entertainment website. “The goal is to streamline our resources to ensure our continued success and ability to deliver experiences gamers and creators have come to expect from us.”
Studios across the US and UK will be impacted, and London Studio, which has developed PSVR games like 2019’s Blood and Truth and was currently working on a multiplayer title set in a fantasy London, is being shuttered. On X (formerly Twitter), London Studio Associate Art Manager Izzy Foley posted about the closure. “I have nothing to say. I’m in tears.” Another recent tweet, from Hit Points by Nathan Brown, calls attention to the fact that just a few days ago, Jim Ryan attended a gathering at London Studio celebrating his impending retirement.
“We looked at our studios and our portfolio, evaluating projects in various stages of development, and have decided that some of those projects will not move forward,” wrote PlayStation Studios chief Hermen Hulst in another blog post. This round of layoffs adds to the over 6,000 layoffs the industry has already experienced in 2024 across studios big and small.