Sony Is Laying Off 900 PlayStation Employees, 8 Percent of Workforce

Tom Warren, writing for The Verge:

Sony says it’s laying off around 900 employees of its PlayStation division, a reduction of its global headcount of around 8 percent. Sony’s layoffs will impact a variety of its PlayStation studios, including Insomniac Games, Naughty Dog, Guerrilla Games, and Firesprite. Sony’s layoffs are the latest in a wave that has been impacting the gaming and tech industries throughout 2024.

Seems a little ironic that after all the histrionics over Microsoft deciding to go cross-platform with some of their Xbox exclusive titles — ostensibly giving Sony an edge — that Sony is now having layoffs in their first-party, exclusive game studios.

I hope I don’t jinx them by pointing this out, but you know who isn’t laying anyone off? Nintendo. Chris Adamson, on Mastodon:

Someone want to bring back that Nintendo quote about how they don’t do mass layoffs because it’s bad for morale? Or maybe notice that Nintendo tends to do lots of charming, modestly-ambitious games instead of a handful of $200M AAA blockbusters?

In the end, did Nintendo actually win the Console Wars?

They may not have “won”, but Nintendo has never lost.

★ Wednesday, 28 February 2024