Console sales disappoint, Sony to cut 900 jobs

Sony announced on Tuesday that it is laying off 8% of PlayStation’s global workforce, becoming the latest technology company to cut jobs. Calling the move “tragic news,” PlayStation chief Jim Ryan said the cuts would affect 900 people worldwide, including at the video game studio.

PlayStation London Studios, founded in 2002 and specializing in virtual reality game projects, will close its doors completely, the Japanese entertainment giant said. A separate statement said US studios Insomniac Games and Naughty Dog were also affected.

Sales targets not met

PlayStation Studios head Herman Hulst said the company needed more resources to focus on mobile and PC games. “We looked at our studio and our portfolio, evaluated projects at various stages of development and decided that some of them would not go forward,” he said.

“Our philosophy has always been to encourage creative experimentation. Sometimes big ideas don’t make big games,” added Herman Hulst. The social plan comes after Sony warned this month that sales of the PlayStation 5 would not meet initial targets, while the flagship console is in its fourth year on sale.

Sony’s video game business took a big hit with “Marvel’s Spider-Man 2,” which was released on PS5 in October last year and became the fastest-selling PlayStation Studio game in the world. 24 hours after its release.

Competition from Switch and Xbox

But the PlayStation 5 faces fierce competition from the Nintendo Switch, and after the American group acquired Activision Blizzard, the publisher of “Call of Duty,” its rivalry with Microsoft’s Xbox could intensify. In January, Microsoft announced layoffs of 1,900 people, or 8% of its staff, in its “games” division to integrate its acquisition of Activision.

In total, “tech” companies lost 260,000 jobs last year, according to layoffs.fyi, a California site that tracks sector growth. Since the beginning of the year, 171 companies have laid off about 44,000 people, according to the site.