In a shocking move, Sony announced on Tuesday that it will be laying off approximately 900 employees in its PlayStation division. This decision comes as the company joins a growing list of organizations making major cuts in recent weeks and months. The cuts, which will affect 8% of the division’s global workforce, were also accompanied by the news that Sony will be closing its London Studio in the U.K.
“After careful consideration and many leadership discussions over several months, it has become clear changes need to be made to continue to grow the business and develop the company,” said PlayStation chief Jim Ryan in a memo to employees. “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.”
In a separate statement, head of PlayStation Studios Hermen Hulst revealed that the cuts will impact several of the company’s studios, including Insomniac Games, Naughty Dog, Guerrilla, and Firesprite. The affected employees will come from the Americas, Japan, EMEA, and APAC regions. Hulst also mentioned that some ongoing projects in various stages of development will not be moving forward.
This news follows Sony’s recent sales forecast for the PlayStation 5, in which the company warned of decreasing demand. Sony lowered its projections to 21 million units sold in its fiscal year, down from the previous estimate of 25 million consoles. This announcement caused Sony shares to plummet.
However, Sony is not alone in the gaming industry when it comes to layoffs. Last month, Microsoft cut 1,900 positions within Activision Blizzard and Xbox, while Unity laid off 25% of its workforce. Other major companies, such as Google, Snapchat, eBay, PayPal, DocuSign, Okta, Block, Discord, Twitch, and Duolingo, have all announced significant layoffs in the past month.
