Sony cuts 8% of employees in the PlayStation division – Kommersant

A division of Sony Corporation – Sony Interactive Entertainment, which develops PlayStation game consoles and related products, announced about the upcoming reduction of 8% of employees (approximately 900 people). In a statement on the matter, Sony Interactive Entertainment chief Jim Ryan called it an “extremely difficult decision,” citing the need for widespread changes in the industry.

As follows from the statement of the head of the division, the cuts will affect all regions where Sony Interactive Entertainment is represented, that is, North and South America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and the Asia-Pacific region, including Japan. The cuts will also partially affect several branches of PlayStation Studios, which develop computer games. At the same time, according to Mr. Ryan, it is planned to carry out a significant reduction in operations for the development of computer games in the UK, in particular, to close the London studio altogether and to reduce some of the employees at the Firesprite studio.

In its quarterly results published in mid-February, Sony reported about the drop in revenue from sales of the PlayStation game console and the drop in sales of games developed for the PS5 console. After the release of these reports, Sony shares fell sharply, reducing the company’s value by $10 billion. The company at the same time lowered its forecast for sales of game consoles for the entire 2023 fiscal year (ends March 31) from $25 million to $21 million.

Meanwhile, it is not only Sony that is making cuts in the gaming industry. So, Microsoft in January reduced 1.9 thousand employees in the Activision Blizzard and Xbox divisions, which also accounts for about 8% of the workforce.

Alena Miklashevskaya